Adam O'Brien replacement?

O’Brien did identify something a lot of us have noticed in the presser, that they have an issue in a game, work on fixing the issue for next week, and then the next week that particular issue is fixed but something else isn’t up to snuff. That’s been a pattern for a long time with him.

Blame the players if you like, but that’s 3 years with this training group and he still hasn’t figured out what will get them hitting their KPI’s consistently, and they just look more and more confused and disconnected every week.

It’s too long. It hasn’t taken that long for other coaches to fix that kind of issue. I don’t know how anyone could assume it’s gonna get better.
 
Interesting from the presser that OB thanked the Knights for the "support" in going after Parr and hiring him.

Makes it sound like OB was saying this guy, we need him here.
 
The Walker Bros also have a pretty rotten record as coaches in QCup aside from that one year.

They kind of took everyone by surprise, then other teams figured them out.

No one’s hired them since for a reserve grade gig let alone firsts.

They wouldn’t be top of my list.
 
Quinny said:
So what does the list of coaches look like?

Flanagan
Maguire
Ciraldo
Morris
Green
Ryles
Fittler
Mary

Maybe someone left field like a Buderus.

Can’t say any excite me greatly.
Click to expand...

Clear best, safest option:

Flanagan

Would also be happy with:

Morris

Ehhh fine I guess:

Maguire

Punts we could take which I could live with, high risk high reward:

Slater
Ciraldo
Ryles

Nope:

Green

**** no:

Mary

Are you out of your god damned mind?:

Fittler
 
A lot of names get thrown around about who should replace AOB, I really like Matt Lantry. Someone who never gets mentioned. Anyone that has had any involvement with him knows how good he is.

He probably knows more about RL in Newcastle and what works and what doesn’t than anybody.

He was a Knights junior himself starting in Harold Mathews and later Reserves, then a stint with the Eels and back to the Knights in 2005 as a junior development officer. I think he had injury problems when he was at the Eels from memory.

Over the years he had various coaching roles including times back at the Knights as an assistant coach with SG Ball team and a stint in the Super League as an assistant coach with Huddersfield and back to the Knights again as NSW Cup Coach in 2015 and won the GF.

I know there were issues when he left the Knights again at the end of 2016 where the reserve grade side won only two games and the wooden spoon, but that was the year the Knights had a rubbish first grade side that won 1 game and the spoon and Lantry was left with the dregs of a rubbish squad.

The club was in absolute turmoil at the time, so who knows what went on.

Some blokes just have it as a RL coach and Lantry does.

We don’t want a recycled coach like Green or Maguire or Mary and nobody wants Shane Flanagan for obvious reasons and definitely not his son.

And all these assistant coaches who get mentioned all the time are a lottery, many have never had an actual head coaching position of any note, like AOB. Craig Fitzgibbon was the one assistant coach everybody knew would be a very good First Grade coach.

The Walker brothers would be a disaster. You can’t have players running backwards and sideways and around in circles and towards their own try line at NRL level, although some of our players do that now anyway. And you’d have to play that style through all the grades down to the juniors. That would be an absolute disaster.

Everybody wants to see the Walker brothers coach an NRL team, just not THEIR team.

Bringing in Peter Parr as Director of Football was one of the few smart things the Knights have done for a long time. Now, please, for the love of God, get rid of AOB and give Lantry the gig.

And our assistant coaches are rubbish too. Let Lantry, Parr and Bedsy sort

out the assistants for next year. Peters is going to the UK I think, but they all need to go. They’re all useless.

I don’t expect anyone will agree with me on my Lantry for head coach spiel. But just throwing it out there. And a quality Coach Whisperer would help too, I know one who is available.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Or the even worse outcome, he stays on, Wests really struggle for direction without Hastings, we squeak out a 16-12 win, and he stays on.

Come on Jock. Your time has come. Take your revenge for us choosing Phoenix over you.
Click to expand...
Lmao

And, there's another L just floating in the ether. We picked Crossland over Jock Madden. Without mentioning the star who went to Melbourne.
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
Or the even worse outcome, he stays on, Wests really struggle for direction without Hastings, we squeak out a 16-12 win, and he stays on.

Come on Jock. Your time has come. Take your revenge for us choosing Phoenix over you.
Click to expand...
It's very hard to argue that the club made the wrong decision - except in hindsight.
Phoenix was already close to 6 foot, fit as a fiddle, loved to defend, loved to train and had a boot like a mule and could run like a back.
Jock was about 5'4" and skinny and he pretty much left all the hard work to Phoenix and only showed up on the 5th play.
Wee Jock has packed on the beef since then and worked hard on all the physical aspects of the game, while Phoenix missed a couple of years with a groin injury and still hasn't got back his speed or the distance he used to get from kicking.
You never know what's going to happen, but when they were 17 it was a no brainer to pick Phoenix, even though Jock was the brains of the outfit and knocked Mathews and Ball out of the ballpark.
 
Billy said:
It's very hard to argue that the club made the wrong decision - except in hindsight.
Phoenix was already close to 6 foot, fit as a fiddle, loved to defend, loved to train and had a boot like a mule and could run like a back.
Jock was about 5'4" and skinny and he pretty much left all the hard work to Phoenix and only showed up on the 5th play.
Wee Jock has packed on the beef since then and worked hard on all the physical aspects of the game, while Phoenix missed a couple of years with a groin injury and still hasn't got back his speed or the distance he used to get from kicking.
You never know what's going to happen, but when they were 17 it was a no brainer to pick Phoenix, even though Jock was the brains of the outfit and knocked Mathews and Ball out of the ballpark.
Click to expand...

We’re far from alone in making this mistake, but gee, so many of the origin stories of the all time greats kind of resemble this - passed over in their youth for better athletes but less naturally gifted footy players.

Not saying Jock is gonna be an all time great, but I think we should have learned by now to bet on the player not the athlete.

The only reason Johnathon Thurston got a go is because he was happy to train & play for free, and he ended up at Canterbury initially because his manager lived close by so he could live with him for free - the manager promised JT’s mum he’d take care of him.

Just think - for a fairly nominal fee by playing contract standards, the Knights could have put themselves in a position to replace the greatest #7 of all time with the next best the day after Joey retired 😂
 
HarVeeGee13 said:
We’re far from alone in making this mistake, but gee, so many of the origin stories of the all time greats kind of resemble this - passed over in their youth for better athletes but less naturally gifted footy players.

Not saying Jock is gonna be an all time great, but I think we should have learned by now to bet on the player not the athlete.

The only reason Johnathon Thurston got a go is because he was happy to train & play for free, and he ended up at Canterbury initially because his manager lived close by so he could live with him for free - the manager promised JT’s mum he’d take care of him.

Just think - for a fairly nominal fee by playing contract standards, the Knights could have put themselves in a position to replace the greatest #7 of all time with the next best the day after Joey retired 😂
Click to expand...
counter to that is dom young though. Just shows its an art not a science. Or maybe you give extra time to prove themselves to both extremely great athletes and extremely of talented but smaller guys.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top