i would get him back playing for the middle 8's

Sky Sports have just said that Anthony Griffin will be Leeds Rhinos head coach in 2019 below Kevin Sinfield.

don't watch much NRL but done a great job. losing his job when he did was a shock mind. possibly sacked as they knew he was coming over? just asking

Great news - will help make the club a better set up from the ground up. Watch our juniors flourish over the next few years.



Nope, sacked because he clashed with Gus Gould as he wouldn't let Gould dictate how the team should play and be coached. They made a play for Ivan Cleary (partly coz he's good, but mainly so they'll keep his son who's off contract next year and has stated he wants to play for his dad) and it was gonna come out in the media, so binned Griffin off as they knew the storm that was coming. Plus if he won the comp this year, which is a real possibility, they'd look ridiculous then sacking him at year end.

A man with a point to prove then. Don't know owt about him but that's no bad thing.

cheers Ted

Could scupper Segeyaro's stated ambition to return to Leeds one day

+50 admiration points then.

If true, it's about as good an appointment as we could make. I wonder if he'd come over before the end of the season? www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-09/g ... n/10092126

If true, it's about as good an appointment as we could make. I wonder if he'd come over before the end of the season? www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-09/g ... n/10092126

Good move.don't know much about him but he must have some pedigree looking at how Penrith have been going and as others have said will have a point to prove and be hungry to do well. No baggage and no loyalty to anyone currently in the squad too which is a bonus as far as a clear out goes which is obviously needed.

The one thing people won't like is how he comes across in the media and interviews. He's not comfortable doing media work at all and comes across as awkward (even more than McD) and a bit dry, almost abrupt, but I pressume Sinfield will pick up this element and still be the face of the team.
If anyone watches his recent interview on NRL360 followinf his sacking where he gives his side of the story, you'll see that he's a thoroughly decent bloke who's stood by his principles and not bent over for Gould. His players love him - Gould has claimed he lost the dressing too., but this is already being proven to be wrong. The players he's fallen out with in the past have been idiots or loose off the field (Moylan, Segeyaro, Soward) - they all copped the treatment they deserved.
Hats off to GH on this one I reckon.

I don’t know much about him but he does sound like a good fit for the club as long as he’d be comfortable with the director of Rugby thing, but if he is uncomfortable with the nedia side of things, knowing he won’t have to desl with that (if sinfield does) then that might appeal to him. Phil Gould is an absolute knob so Griffins n not getting on with him is a tick in the box for me.

Griffin admitted himself that he stuffed up with Moylan, who was supposed to be the star at the Panthers for the next decade. I've no doubt he's good at some things, but just pretending that all the issues reported about him are spin or upset former players is as daft as believing its all true. Some of the issues reported at the Panthers were also spoken about at the Broncos. He's also literally talking nonsense about junior development. The 16 debutants under his watch were all in the Penrith junior system before he arrived there, and some of their best juniors started first team before he arrived.

All of that doesn't mean to say he couldn't do a really good job elsewhere or at Leeds, and if he was to be head coach from next season I'd desperately try to get him over now because we need all the help we can get. But nobody's perfect, including Griffin. What worries me to a degree is that some of the issues raised about him with respect to delegation and not listening were issues BM was supposed to have as well.

Hope this is true. Surely it'll be announced soon if so, need some news like this to announce season ticket prices for 2019

I wouldn't announce anything unless he were able to come over this season. Completely unfair on Lowes to do otherwise..

I'll overlook that if he also oversees 4 GF wins

Well he would say that wouldn’t he?

Had it just been just the issues Sinfield spoke of we would have seen the usual and expected bounce effect from the arrival of a new coach. But performances on the field have grown worse especially in defense and with only one win out of five proves the new set up is out of its depth.

Sinfield used to speak of honesty a lot when he was the captain but now in interviews just comes out with the tired old cliches of “making giant strides” of “turning the corner” of “training well and being ready for a win” none of which is true. His delivery is monotone and boring and you can see he lacks the personality to enthuse and motivate so necessary for coaching.

We need a proven top Aussie coach and if we get one I do not see a role for someone totally inexperienced in management and unqualified in coaching to be his boss.

I do, especially when GH retires. Kevin is perfect for the CEO role, he knows the club so well, and gas the connections with the RFL.

The set up we have at the moment is something of a holding pattern, until the right coach is available, I don’t believe it was ever the “plan A”, because I think that GH didn’t expect BMD to throw his toys out of his pram (although it was plain to see he would do).

The bonus of bringing in a current NRL coach (well, almost), is that he may be able to attract good players he has a past working relationship with, not to mention knowing the wider pool in the NRL. This surely bodes well for future recruitment... If, of course, there's anything in this rumour at all.

Once you get into the "anything goes" mindset/culture that cannot be easily changing. Evolution of culture is very high end change management and takes time. This will not change until next season when the ring leaders are gone and all the players have time to mentally exit where they are and mentally move into a different environment - probably pre-season.

Leeds looked OK earlier in the year before teams started to get their act together e.g Huddersfield. The performances haven't got worse they have just plateaued and other teams have improved. The current standard is the best this team can produce and without a significant change of personnel this will continue.

The arrogance of some players is there for all to see - losing games doesn't matter. Whatever you say about Sinfield he was a winner and knew when it was required to dig deep. Sadly this current crop of players don't have that within them - many were carried along on the back of the likes of Sinfield/Peacock/McGuire/Burrow players who knew what it took to face adversity and overcome it.

What makes you think Sinny has the financial or management expertise to be a CEO. Being a former great rugby player and captain does not mean you would be a success at running a sweetie shop let alone being in charge of multi million pound business with huge property assets. Yes he could be a PR man but as a CEO in name only would need other professionals to run the business in the same way he will need a professional coach to run the team.

So what you are saying is that the root problem was not the coach but the players, or more specifically the lack of adequate replacements of former star players. On this we can agree.

The fault lies with GH and the moths in his wallet.

Saying the fault lies in just one place or the other is a bit simplistic. You don't go from the heights we have experienced to where we are now by one thing only going wrong.

The team has been (criminally) under funded for years, and the players have been allowed to let standards drop below what should reasonably be expected of them. There is more than one "culprit" here.

I don't think he has all the knowledge and experience at the moment, and like anyone moving into a new position he will need to acquire it. What I do believe is that Kevin is intelligent enough, and has shown enough Leadership characteristics, to be afforded the time to develop the skills and knowledge that is required by a CEO. He also has an expert (who's taken his eye off the ball in the last couple of years granted) to teach him over the next year or two.

I actually typed out a much longer and more precise response but my bl00dy connection was lost and so was the post...

Still unable to accept his hero carrys any blame or accountability whatsoever.