Super Freak
International Captain
Forum Staff
- Jan 25, 2014
- 44,119
- 33,258
WATCHING Anthony Griffin leave the Broncos was among the toughest moments I’ve witnessed in Brisbane’s long and decorated history.
I was Broncos skipper when ‘‘Hook’’ coached Brisbane to within one win of a grand final in 2011. And I was a member of the Broncos board that terminated Griffin’s contract in 2014 when it became apparent Wayne Bennett, the club’s foundation coach, was ready to come home.
On Saturday night, the worlds of Griffin and Bennett collide when the Broncos and Penrith do battle at Pepper Stadium.
It’s fair to say Brisbane’s grand-final appearance last October vindicated the decision to go back to the future with Bennett.
But for all the pain Griffin endured in the wake of his departure, and his subsequent 12-month hiatus, it could be the learning curve that makes Hook a formidable coaching force at Penrith.
It’s never easy to move a coach on. It impacts a lot of people. It affects livelihoods. It affects families. It affects relationships the coach has with players, but Griffin gained a lot of respect and credibility with the dignity he showed in copping his fate on the chin.
The Broncos do not have a history of sacking coaches and people are entitled to ask why the club released Griffin with another 12 months to run on his contract.
These days, the NRL is a cutthroat competition. You need results. The Broncos’ charter is to be a top-four club and we had a period of results that were below our expectations.
Griffin had the respect of the playing group, but when Wayne indicated he was ready to come back to the Broncos, it’s difficult to resist the greatest coach of all time.
No one on the board expected Bennett to deliver results so rapidly, but what couldn’t be ignored was his gravitas and pulling power.
Without Wayne, it’s highly unlikely the Broncos would have signed the likes of Darius Boyd and Adam Blair. Those two guys were pillars in Brisbane’s charge to the grand final last year and of all Wayne’s great strengths, perhaps his most critical is his knack of attracting the right players for his roster at the right time.
None of the Bennett platitudes should be seen as a denigration of Griffin, who stabilised the Broncos after some difficult years under his predecessor Ivan Henjak.
In many ways, I see a lot of synergies between Griffin and Bennett. In terms of their coaching methodology, they do not overload the playing group tactically. There’s no paralysis by analysis. They both like their squads to compete on every play and, above all, they demand total respect for the jumper.
A quarter of the Broncos team that runs out on Saturday have long-time links to Griffin and that’s a testament to his mentoring ability.
Alex Glenn, Andrew McCullough, Josh McGuire and Ben Hunt are all survivors of the inaugural Brisbane under-20s squad which Griffin steered to the 2008 NYC grand final.
Hook may not be driven by revenge on Saturday, but I’m expecting his Penrith team to come out swinging. Griffin has a bit of mongrel in him and he likes his forwards to adopt a similar mentality. He likes his teams to be physical and not be intimidated by the contest.
In times of adversity, Griffin is a man who rises to the challenge. Some coaches never recover from being axed, but I hope Hook learnt from his Broncos experience. It might just make him a better coach at the Panthers.
I was Broncos skipper when ‘‘Hook’’ coached Brisbane to within one win of a grand final in 2011. And I was a member of the Broncos board that terminated Griffin’s contract in 2014 when it became apparent Wayne Bennett, the club’s foundation coach, was ready to come home.
On Saturday night, the worlds of Griffin and Bennett collide when the Broncos and Penrith do battle at Pepper Stadium.
It’s fair to say Brisbane’s grand-final appearance last October vindicated the decision to go back to the future with Bennett.
But for all the pain Griffin endured in the wake of his departure, and his subsequent 12-month hiatus, it could be the learning curve that makes Hook a formidable coaching force at Penrith.
It’s never easy to move a coach on. It impacts a lot of people. It affects livelihoods. It affects families. It affects relationships the coach has with players, but Griffin gained a lot of respect and credibility with the dignity he showed in copping his fate on the chin.
The Broncos do not have a history of sacking coaches and people are entitled to ask why the club released Griffin with another 12 months to run on his contract.
These days, the NRL is a cutthroat competition. You need results. The Broncos’ charter is to be a top-four club and we had a period of results that were below our expectations.
Griffin had the respect of the playing group, but when Wayne indicated he was ready to come back to the Broncos, it’s difficult to resist the greatest coach of all time.
No one on the board expected Bennett to deliver results so rapidly, but what couldn’t be ignored was his gravitas and pulling power.
Without Wayne, it’s highly unlikely the Broncos would have signed the likes of Darius Boyd and Adam Blair. Those two guys were pillars in Brisbane’s charge to the grand final last year and of all Wayne’s great strengths, perhaps his most critical is his knack of attracting the right players for his roster at the right time.
None of the Bennett platitudes should be seen as a denigration of Griffin, who stabilised the Broncos after some difficult years under his predecessor Ivan Henjak.
In many ways, I see a lot of synergies between Griffin and Bennett. In terms of their coaching methodology, they do not overload the playing group tactically. There’s no paralysis by analysis. They both like their squads to compete on every play and, above all, they demand total respect for the jumper.
A quarter of the Broncos team that runs out on Saturday have long-time links to Griffin and that’s a testament to his mentoring ability.
Alex Glenn, Andrew McCullough, Josh McGuire and Ben Hunt are all survivors of the inaugural Brisbane under-20s squad which Griffin steered to the 2008 NYC grand final.
Hook may not be driven by revenge on Saturday, but I’m expecting his Penrith team to come out swinging. Griffin has a bit of mongrel in him and he likes his forwards to adopt a similar mentality. He likes his teams to be physical and not be intimidated by the contest.
In times of adversity, Griffin is a man who rises to the challenge. Some coaches never recover from being axed, but I hope Hook learnt from his Broncos experience. It might just make him a better coach at the Panthers.
