Re: New Coach : Mon Aug 07, 2023 9:22 pm
sally cinnamon wrote:
The issue with this appointment isn't that he is a first time head coach. Holbrook, Maguire, Tony Smith were all assistants in the NRL and came here and did well. Going back further, Trent Robinson, Matthew Elliot and Shaun McRae.
The issue is that he comes with the kind of baggage that would be screaming red flags if he was a player. Loads of driving offences, fined by the NRL for taking drugs and threatening another player. You need the coach to have a higher level of character and reliability, like Holbrook, Maguire and those guys do.
This appointment feels like a bit of a gimmick like you get football clubs appointing guys like Di Canio or Lee Bowyer or Joey Barton as manager.
I also don't want Gleeson here as coach. Whilst I liked him as a player, he was part of the culture problem that hampered us in the Cullen era and everybody generally accepts that it was right for TS to move him on (although he did win Super League with Wigan). If we have Burgess and Long or Long/Gleeson it doesn't feel like we're going to sort out the culture does it.
The issue is that he comes with the kind of baggage that would be screaming red flags if he was a player. Loads of driving offences, fined by the NRL for taking drugs and threatening another player. You need the coach to have a higher level of character and reliability, like Holbrook, Maguire and those guys do.
This appointment feels like a bit of a gimmick like you get football clubs appointing guys like Di Canio or Lee Bowyer or Joey Barton as manager.
I also don't want Gleeson here as coach. Whilst I liked him as a player, he was part of the culture problem that hampered us in the Cullen era and everybody generally accepts that it was right for TS to move him on (although he did win Super League with Wigan). If we have Burgess and Long or Long/Gleeson it doesn't feel like we're going to sort out the culture does it.
We've ALWAYS been known as a drinking club, and to have those 2 (potentially) coming here, is a recipe for disaster. Wasn't Long referred to as the George Best of St Helens. I've heard some tales regarding Gleeson, too.
A couple of party animals. Great.
Burgess' charge sheet doesn't make pretty reading, either. He's here, now. I'm not overly impressed, but we've got him.
Good luck. He (and us) will need it.