Matty Johns - Head Coach?

jamesgould said:
Used to dream of batting like Mark Waugh as a kid! So stylish.

Unfortunately I ended up with the gritty battling technique of Steve, with the runs output of Mark haha.

He was still a quality batsman in my book, though.
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Better than my record (the style and grace of Darren Lehmann mixed with the runs output of Courtney Walsh).
 
Listened to his podcast today where he addresses it.

Few comments:
- a team that’s underperforming, but you can see potential would be the preferred destination
- unlikely to move interstate
- he never specified in any conversations he had if it was as an assistant or head coach
- third party approach / questioned him
- references “if I lose my stuff with the media I have nothing to fall back on, except footy”

Mostly screamed to me: “I hope my Fox contract is renewed, but if it’s not, maybe I need to keep my options open”. And I wouldn’t put it past him to know how to work the media into talking him up and filtering this news out there.



I think he would be a great person to have around a club. I don’t think he’d make a great head coach. Even on his jovial pod, the family make references to how stressed he gets about things. Can’t see him wanting to take on a full time head coaching gig.

If it was in an assistant/advisor role, we’d be silly not to enquire. Charismatic, knows the game, very knowledgeable, premiership winner and I think he’d develop a good rapport with the team.
 
I am getting the impression That Gardner is not willing to make the call so is happy to have people seek the right replacement. This is the second time a third party has undermined O’Brien. While Johns has never admitted to it being us, it is pretty clear it is. And I would not write off him taking the gig at all. One thing Matt would be able to get is great assistants.
 
bremsstrahlung said:
Mostly screamed to me: “I hope my Fox contract is renewed, but if it’s not, maybe I need to keep my options open”. And I wouldn’t put it past him to know how to work the media into talking him up and filtering this news out there.
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I think you're right.

The NRL rights deal is coming up and V'landys is (sensibly) trying to sell it everywhere.

Why the NRL wants Paramount to enter bidding war for rights

ARL boss Peter V’landys has embarked on an ambitious attempt to get Paramount interested in bidding for the next round of NRL rights.
www.mediaweek.com.au www.mediaweek.com.au

"The Foxtel Group has hung out for For Sale sign, so that is the main concern for Abdo and V’landys. Under News Corp management, there are great synergies between Fox Sports, Kayo Sports and the News Corp publishing properties. Those synergies vanish with a new owner of the subscription TV business."

There's no guarantee that whoever buys Foxtel will see the NRL as core to their business. So Matty etc could be out of a job but I'd guess he'd also be a good pickup for whoever buys the streaming rights (not sure of his ratings but I assume they're good and the cost to produce his shows can't be too high).

As for coaching, I agree he would be great to have around any club, especially on the man management side of things, not to mention passing on the skills he's learned. And maybe one day, as head coach, as a rookie with no current coaching experience, it would be an absolute punt.

Speaking of which, my bet is whoever buys Fox keeps the NRL or whoever gets the streaming rights hires Matty anyway.
 
Have they said anything about the NRL?

Edit: Here it is...

"And we currently represent AFL and NRL internationally … we'll now be able to push that through 200 countries."
www.abc.net.au

Foxtel had a pay TV monopoly, now it's been sold to DAZN

News Corp chief Robert Thomson has heralded the deal as 'a victory for News Corp shareholders, DAZN, and sports fans in Australia and around the world'.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au

Sounds like the new owners will be bidding for the NRL
 
I'd be surprised if they don't bid for and win the streaming rights to the NRL. In which case I can't imagine Matty has too much to worry about with regard to his media career. Might be a result for us sports fans with better offerings through Kayo. We'll see I guess.
 
Beatell said:
DAZN will need to improve their streaming service in Australia, its currently rubbish. Literally cant watch anything live without it dropping out or glitching. Woeful
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It had always worked great for me in NZ, but the Fury Usyk 2 fight it completely died and wouldn't even load a split second.
 
Vlandys may learn the biggest lesson of them all. That the NRL is not the sure sell he thinks it is. DAZN are loaded. They could not give a toss about who they upset. So if PVL walks in There with an aggressive attitude he may land on his arse and have to beg the free to airs to take it. A much lower offer may follow and that will be a disaster. Cos let us be real. Fox see the NRL as a vanity piece they throw endless money at. A media and headline magnet. Post COVID reality has hit hard; I expect a rather measured Fox coverage of the game this season. They are all fighting for their futures.
 
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NRL ratings are looking pretty good:
footyindustry.com

2024 Rugby League TV Ratings - SportsIndustryAU

Rugby League
footyindustry.com

Breaking records and up for the 4th consecutive year...
insidersport.com

NRL remains one of Australia’s most viewed sports leagues

The 2024 National Rugby League (NRL) season is breaking records across domestic Australian sports broadcasting partner Foxtel Group’s networks. Viewership rose across the group’s Foxtel, Foxtel Now, Foxtel Go and Kayo Sports channels. Kayo in particular
insidersport.com insidersport.com

And this is at a time when both the AFL and NRL are breaking attendance records:
ministryofsport.com

AFL and NRL Break All-Time Attendance Records in 2024 - Ministry of Sport

NRL and AFL achieve record-breaking attendance figures in 2024, highlighting growing interest in live sports.
ministryofsport.com ministryofsport.com

So IDK that I agree that V'landys is not in a good negotiating position. The NRL is a valuable product and as much as I didn't like V'landys fiddling with the rules at the start of his tenure, and I didn't buy the "I could have been an NRL first grader but I chose to be an accountant" BS the bloke knows how to sell.
 
Seth Gecko said:
Vlandys may learn the biggest lesson of them all. That the NRL is not the sure sell he thinks it is. DAZN are loaded. They could not give a toss about who they upset. So if PVL walks in There with an aggressive attitude he may land on his arse and have to beg the free to airs to take it. A much lower offer may follow and that will be a disaster. Cos let us be real. Fox see the NRL as a vanity piece they throw endless money at. A media and headline magnet. Post COVID reality has hit hard; I expect a rather measured Fox coverage of the game this season. They are all fighting for their futures.
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He has that attitude because it’s the biggest rating sports broadcasts in Australia. Australians love sport that’s mega bucks and he’s not underselling the nrls value. That’s great for us. More money in the end means better product
 
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Live sport is about the only thing that still gets ratings or subscriptions on tv. And the NRL has been the best rating sport in Australia recently. So it will be a major stuff up if PVL doesn’t cash in. Mind you, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s sold it for a song!

I do find the narrative interesting, remember Dave Smith? He played hardball on the tv rights, and got the best deal I think we’ve had, despite constant abuse from News Limited and pretty much being forced to resign to seal the deal.

This time it’s PVL is going to pressure the companies and get us the best deal ever, woo!!!

But anyway, this has again drifted way off topic.
 
Seth Gecko said:
I am getting the impression That Gardner is not willing to make the call so is happy to have people seek the right replacement. This is the second time a third party has undermined O’Brien. While Johns has never admitted to it being us, it is pretty clear it is. And I would not write off him taking the gig at all. One thing Matt would be able to get is great assistants.
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Eh there is nothing to suggest it is us especially with O'Brien being contracted through till 27 and them openly saying they have no interest in paying out coaches early.
 
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