Leaguel Counsel - Episode 5

In this week’s show we touch on touring in Manilla, Richie’s crush on Tommy T, Des Hasler’s future and the highly anticipated Kieran Foran debut.

As of writing this article Ivan Cleary appears poised to sign with the Wests Tigers, it seems the Dogs just won’t act swiftly enough to beat them to sign the only half decent coaching candidate in Australia.

Don’t get me wrong Cleary has some pedigree, looking back now getting the 2011 Warriors to the GF (after being moved on mid-season!) was a miracle.

Is that Warriors side low key one of the worst teams to make a decider in the last 20 years? I can only think of the 2014 Dogs and 2010 Roosters as being worse.

Back to Cleary, if you had an inkling and we all can see the writing on the kennel wall that Des’s days in Belmore are numbered, would you pimp yourself out to the Dog before signing for the Tigers?

Why shouldn’t he? Players do it all the time and if the dogs are even half serious about moving Des on at the end of the year then why cut bait with Des and sign Cleary now!

Let’s just say Cleary had both offers in front of his cappuccino to mull over (I don’t know why but Ivan strikes me as a cappuccino drinker, maybe he took his time to graduate from a mocha and saw the cap as a happy medium) who should he choose?

The Dogs have the infrastructure and a history of success on their side that has proven time and again a great carrot for free agent signings. The down side is they have only one real blue chip player in David Klemmer, an average halves pairing and a littering of former stars not delivering to their current salaries.

On the other hand the Tigers are a mess and have been since the back end of the Sheens era, their board it seems are constantly at war over something and they have to keep 2 different sets of members happy. As frequent listeners to the podcast can attest we, aren’t the biggest fans of Brooks and Moses (Moses reminds me of one of those old turnstiles at your school swimming pool that you used to push past in order to save the fifty cents weekend entry fee) but the roster has tantalising potential in Woods, Tedesco, Nofoaluma, Taylor and Tim Simona (sorry too soon) that could be the fastest route to success for Cleary.

The shelf life of an NRL coach is short and despite being universally loved Cleary has been dumped from both his jobs, if coaches are ultimately judged by success then although it seems like going against the grain he must take the Tigers job.

A complete rebuild in Canterbury does have its upside but would you be comfortable taking over from a coach who made 2 Grand Finals and 5 Finals appearances in 5 years and still might get fired?

Let’s take a moment to really appreciate on of the great Des Hasler halftime spray’s.