From The Couch: Round 14
From The Couch: Round 14
The Saints Finally Pull The Pin … Many Years Too Late: Paul McGregor, as an NRL head coach, was the personification of mediocre. He was not awful. He was not embarrassing. But he was a long way from good and an eternity away from above average. The Saints never came last on his watch. His players, for the most part, played reasonably hard for him. There were very few wipeout season. Only last year did the team fail to win 10 games. McGregor’s tenure though was marked by uber-conservatism, a reluctance to embrace modern thinking, a refusal to hold underperforming senior players accountable, complete indecisiveness, poor recruitment and an inability to build an identity. It is quite unbelievable that a coach who performed to such a sub-average level keep a job in such a cut-throat game for seven seasons. McGregor, by all reports, is a fantastic bloke. He was widely liked. Players respected him. He was tough. He just was not cut out to be an NRL head coach though and the fact the Saints kept willing it to happen has set them back a long way.
Never Make An Official Complaint: There is nothing more amusing in Rugby League than “the official complaint”. Referees care little for the views of players not named Cameron Smith at any point unless it comes to sordid matters such as eye gouging or biting. Shaun Johnson was certainly not making an official complaint. “I don’t want a penalty” he told referee Henry Perenara. Henry was having none of it. There was clear video evidence of Kevin Proctor biting Johnson and the Titans 250-gamer was subsequently dismissed. Johnson got very forgetful and very quiet after the game. Proctor continues to deny the allegation. The video evidence is damning though and for once, the antiquated notion of an official complaint will mean nothing.
Pangai Plays It Like He Always Does … Dumb: Tevita Pangai Jnr is renowned for one style of Rugby League … dumb Rugby League. He plays reckless, he plays lazy and he plays stupid. It is no surprise he has spent 12 weeks on the sideline since the start of last year through suspension. His performance over the last week was truly astonishing. After a completely inept performance against the Rabbitohs, he visited a bikie barbershop opening, that was caught up in a police raid. He was then reported to have rang other clubs begging for an offer and slamming everything at the Broncos in the process. He is now absolute poison. He has no leverage. He has had his style and personality completely gutted by the most respected coach in the NRL. He will never play for Brisbane again. And he has been banned indefinitely by the NRL. If anyone wants an example of what not to do, this is it.
Kyle Feldt is the Most Selfish and Most Overrated Player in the NRL: Kyle Feldt should sign with the Broncos. His selfishness would be a perfect fit. Kyle Feldt has cost the Cowboys so many games over the years with his inability to catch a football or his penchant to rush in for no reason at all, only to leave his side exposed. He kicks at an exceptionally poor 66%. And now, in an act of equal parts stupidity and selfishness, he has cost the Cowboys a game with a ridiculously unnecessary strip with 90 seconds remaining on the last tackle of what would likely have been the last full set the Cowboys had to defend.
Steve Clark Pulls Off One for the Ages: There have been a plethora of bad Bunker decisions over the years with some mind-boggling calls par for the course. Never has a video referee looked so out of his depth though than Steven Clark did in the Raiders-Broncos game. Clark made his senior debut in 1992 yet 28 years on it is clear he has been put into a role and he does not know all the rules. He had to be told by on-field official Chris Sutton that he could not make a certain ruling. He failed to look at a clear head-high tackle until Sutton sent it back to him a second time. He made some bizarre decisions and was clearly unaware of the rules. It is a disgrace that in a sport worth so much money that someone who clearly does not understand what is going on is put in a senior decision-making role.
2020 Field Goal Update – 14: Adam Reynolds kicked a field goal with a minute remaining to give Souths a famous win over an imploding Cowboys team that threw victory away.
Fun Fact #1: The Dragons had just a single winning season in the seven McGregor was at the helm
Fun Fact #2: Paul McGregor is the longest tenured coach in Dragons history with 152 games in charge – one more than Nathan Brown – with only Roy Masters at 162 games having led the Saints for longer in their 99-year history.
Fun Fact #3: According to Davd Middleton, Kevin Proctor became the first player to be sent off for biting.
Betting Market of the Week: The Broncos’ next disaster will be:
$3.50: Announcing the signing of Mitchell Pearce on $1.5M a season
$2.80: Dean Pay joining as attacking coach
$2.20: Payne Haas arrested and charged with murder
$1.90: Tom Dearden signs with the Titans
$1.40: Tevita Pangai’s deal is extended
Moronic Coaching Decision of the Week: Josh Hannay does not have a lot of options to work with but he does not need to be playing Ben Hampton at five-eighth. Arguably no player in the comp has more try causes per game. It is a complete myth that he is fast. He has not discernible ball skills. Hannay needs to get Drinkwater into the halves.
The Coaching Crosshairs: The NRL moved on its fourth coach last week with Paul McGregor sacked. One coach who has not been announced but was an unbackable favourite to get a gig was Todd Payten with the North Queensland Cowboys. Those odds are drifting though with the Cowboys believed to be deeply unimpressed that Payten had Brett Finch in the coaching box for the game against the Panthers. Finch has numerous off-field issues and is not in the Warriors’ bubble. Payten remains favourite to get the Cowboys coaching job but he is no good thing.
Rumour Mill: The rumour mill has never been as vicious as it was this week in regards to Anthony Seibold. Such was their maliciousness that Seibold has announced he is seeking legal representation. There is speculation that there have been many more Covid breaches than is being reported now.
Beard Watch: Kotoni Staggs’s moustache probably isn’t what he is most famous for but it is absolutely outstanding.
Watch It: This week, for no particular reason, we go back to 1974 and a random array of clips from TCN9. Watch it here.