NRL great hits out at 'total bull***t' coaching shenanigans
In the wake of Nathan Brown being sacked by the Warriors and the axe looming over Michael Maguire at Wests Tigers, NRL legend Mark Geyer says he's fed up.
The rugby league great says he has had enough of the NRL coaching 'merry-go-round' he says has plagued the league over recent seasons.
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Brown was sacked by the Warriors on Tuesday morning after he declared he would not be willing to join the team when they return to New Zealand next season, having been based in Queensland during pandemic-enforced border closures.
There have also been reports Maguire's last game as coach of the Tigers will be this weekend, as the club completes an internal review set to be handed down next week.
Maguire, in brief comments to Fox League, said reports of his demise were news to him, but on Tuesday morning it was all too much for Geyer.
The Triple M host welcomed listeners with carnival music and sarcastically encouraged them to enjoy the 'latest episode of the coaching merry-go-round', which he went on to describe as 'total bull***t'.
Geyer predicted the same handful of names would be associated with each job, pointing the finger at clubs chasing quick success as opposed to allowing coaches time to bed themselves in and establish a culture.
“Today we’re going to hear that Paul Green, Shane Flanagan, Kristian Woolf, maybe Cameron Ciraldo are going to be linked to all of these clubs. It’s so detrimental," Geyer said.
“It’s going to take a coach a good two or three years to do something with these teams that are floundering.
"The Dogs, the Tigers, the Warriors. Even the Titans coach is under the pump, Justin Holbrook.
“It’s going to take at least two or three years to walk in and change and get his own DNA on the club. Why wouldn’t you persevere with what you’ve got? And bite down on your mouthguard and say: ‘let’s get out of this together’.
“I just don’t get it. It’s the merry-go-round that just keeps swapping the horses … It’s total bull***t to be honest.”
Nathan Brown out for New Zealand as Maguire faces pressure
Brown met with Warriors officials on Tuesday morning, before they agreed to end his one-and-a-half-year stint as coach early after five straight losses.
New Zealand great Stacey Jones has been appointed on an interim basis, as the Auckland-based club start their search for a full-time replacement.
Brown had been contracted at the Warriors until the end of next year, but had already told officials he did not want to move back to New Zealand long-term and could not commit beyond that.
Ultimately though, the club's poor start to 2022 and Saturday night's horror outing against Manly meant officials decided to move the coach on far quicker.
"Nathan told us he had made a personal decision that for family reasons he wouldn't be able to relocate to New Zealand as originally planned for the long term," CEO Cameron George said.
"We fully appreciate his position and the call he has made.
"Given those circumstances we agreed we needed to make an immediate change.
"It's tough for everyone involved but, in the best interests of the club, we felt we had to go in a different direction now.
“Nathan has worked so hard for our club and we are extremely disappointed it has come to this. We’re truly grateful for what he has done and wish him and his family all the very best for the future.”
As for Maguire, News Corp's Phil Rothfield said it was becoming clear that Tigers officials were keen to move on from him.
“Just before we came on air I spoke to some key powerbrokers at the Tigers. Madge’s demise, from what I can gather, is closer,” Rothfield said.
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