Latest news with #Fittler
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Shouldn't be involved': Wayne Bennett hit with staggering ban by NRL
The Australian Rugby League Commission has effectively banned Wayne Bennett from becoming the next Kangaroos coach after insisting the job must go to someone without any ties to an NRL team. And it fires Brad Fittler and Cameron Smith into a battle for the prestigious role. Mal Meninga relinquished his duties as Kangaroos coach on Friday, stepping down after nine years in charge to take on the Perth Bears job. Meninga was unveiled as Perth's inaugural coach, and will set about compiling their roster with immediate effect before they enter the NRL competition in 2027. It means the NRL will have to appoint a new Kangaroos coach before the revamped Ashes series against England later this year. Meninga had previously expressed his hope that he would still be able to lead Australia in the Ashes, but the NRL wants his sole focus to be on the Bears. There had been speculation that South Sydney coach Bennett would put his hand up to lead the Kangaroos, after he previously coached Australia in 1998, 2004 and 2005. But NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said in Sydney on Friday that the ARL Commission wants the national team coach to be someone with no ties to club footy, and Bennett is under contract with Souths until the end of 2027. "The commission has a long-held policy that the Kangaroos coach shouldn't be involved in coaching clubs as well, and that policy is going to continue," Abdo said. "We are all very excited for the end-of-season tour, it's been a long time in waiting, and of course we have a World Cup next year. Today was about announcing Mal as the Perth Bears coach, and now with that secured the commission will turn its attention to the right candidate for the Kangaroos." Fittler, Smith and Kevin Walters have all been floated as the front-runners for the Kangaroos job. It puts Fittler and Smith in a somewhat awkward situation considering they're colleagues at Channel 9 and regularly appear on-air together. Smith has no experience as a head coach, but previously worked as an assistant to Billy Slater with the Queensland State of Origin team. The Melbourne Storm legend is regarded as one of the leading brains in the NRL, but has no desire to coach at club level. RELATED: Michael Maguire confirms axing of State of Origin player at Broncos Door ajar for Reece Walsh as Ponga on cusp of State of Origin ban Fittler coach the NSW team from 2018 to 2023, winning three out of six series in charge of the Blues. He returned to coaching last year to lead the Prime Minister's XIII team in the one-off Test match against PNG. The 53-year-old had an ill-fated stint as Sydney Roosters coach from 2007 to 2009, winning just 25 out of 58 games. As for Walters, he's the man with the most recent coaching experience after leading the Brisbane Broncos from 2021 to 2024. He helped the Broncos make the grand final in 2023, but was sacked at the end of last season after missing the finals. The 57-year-old also coached Queensland in Origin from 2016 to 2019 for a 50 per cent winning record. After formally accepting the Bears role on Friday, Meninga stressed that the Kangaroos coach is a "full-time job". He said: "It's not just coaching the team, there's a couple of other commitments. From a transition point of view I'll hopefully be a part of all that. "I have loved the opportunity to coach the Australian team and build the international program. I'm satisfied with the job I did with the national program, I'm really comfortable with the fact that I'm moving on." with AAP
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
NRL sounds out Fittler for Kangaroos job as Meninga to be announced as Bears coach
The NRL have approached Brad Fittler to gauge his interest in replacing Mal Meninga as Australian coach after a decade at the helm. With Meninga set to be announced as the inaugural coach of the Perth Bears in the coming days, the NRL has turned its attention to finding his replacement as national coach. As reported by this masthead last week, the NRL did not want Meninga to continue as Australian coach and want to find a new leader to take the Kangaroos to England at the end of the year for the first Ashes series in more than two decades. Fittler is the frontrunner for the job and was contacted by the NRL on Wednesday. The other options the NRL are considering include former Australian captain Cameron Smith and ex-Broncos coach Kevin Walters. Smith has made his interest known both publicly and privately, but it is unclear if the NRL has sounded him about the role. Fittler is the preferred candidate because of his previous six-year tenure with the NSW Blues and his experience in dealing with camp environments. Fittler also received the backing of Phil Gould to take over from Meninga. 'He's done his time,' Gould said on Wide World of Sports' Six Tackles with Gus. 'I think with the Australia job it is very, very handy if you have experience in and around the Australian camp situation. I think for those players who make that level of football... to have (a coach that's) been in and around what the Australian camp looks like, feels like, how it should be run, is hugely advantageous.
The Age
5 days ago
- Sport
- The Age
NRL sounds out Fittler for Kangaroos job as Meninga to be announced as Bears coach
The NRL have approached Brad Fittler to gauge his interest in replacing Mal Meninga as Australian coach after a decade at the helm. With Meninga set to be announced as the inaugural coach of the Perth Bears in the coming days, the NRL has turned its attention to finding his replacement as national coach. As reported by this masthead last week, the NRL did not want Meninga to continue as Australian coach and want to find a new leader to take the Kangaroos to England at the end of the year for the first Ashes series in more than two decades. Fittler is the frontrunner for the job and was contacted by the NRL on Wednesday. The other options the NRL are considering include former Australian captain Cameron Smith and ex-Broncos coach Kevin Walters. Smith has made his interest known both publicly and privately, but it is unclear if the NRL has sounded him about the role. Fittler is the preferred candidate because of his previous six-year tenure with the NSW Blues and his experience in dealing with camp environments. Fittler also received the backing of Phil Gould to take over from Meninga. 'He's done his time,' Gould said on Wide World of Sports' Six Tackles with Gus. 'I think with the Australia job it is very, very handy if you have experience in and around the Australian camp situation. I think for those players who make that level of football... to have (a coach that's) been in and around what the Australian camp looks like, feels like, how it should be run, is hugely advantageous.
Sydney Morning Herald
02-06-2025
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Could change the way the game is played': Where does Galvin fit at Belmore?
Still, Fittler posits a scrum base set-up that builds on the foot speed, small forwards and short passing that Canterbury's attack has developed effectively this season, with Galvin in the seven. 'If you sat with Burton, and then Galvin, one's a left-footer, one's a right-footer, you play Galvin on the right,' Fittler said on The Sunday Footy Show. 'These days, locks are pretty much like halves, people like [Bulldogs utility] Bailey Hayward. 'You could play someone in the middle as a link to both of [halves]. And then all of a sudden, the game really changes. 'The one thing you could also do is stop sitting your halfback in the line so you get 120-kilo blokes running at them, but sit him behind the line, so he can pop in wherever he needs to. This could be a game-changer.' Like the high-energy, desperate defence Ciraldo crafted for Ivan Cleary at Penrith, Fittler's suggestion sounds a lot like the Panthers' championing of Isaah Yeo as the best ball-playing lock in the game. Off-air, the former NSW coach explains further. That Canterbury's lightweight forwards like Hayward, Kurt Mann, Jaemon Salmon and Josh Curran produce such a constant, rolling threat and such a constant ability to ball-play, that the Bulldogs could camp themselves up on the advantage line with numerous fast-moving parts, and largely jettison the long-shift plays that are everywhere you look in the modern game. Galvin could end up defending like 'Allan Langer, Ricky Stuart and Greg Alexander used to' Fittler says - somewhat out of the way, saved for attacking duties and until his 190-centimetre frame fills out. First though, Ciraldo is working out where the Tiger-turned-Bulldog fits into his 17 against Parramatta next Monday. No call will be made until the coach has seen Galvin train alongside his new teammates this week, but jettisoning the more-than serviceable Toby Sexton as game-managing No.7 would be a hell of a call. Sexton will eventually make way and land a deal somewhere in the NRL next season. Introducing Galvin off the bench alongside Hayward against the Eels is the safest play, seemingly without the same undersized issues that playing two utilities would do at other clubs. What's one more utility to a Canterbury side that thrives on them? As for Galvin's halfback hopes, Andrew and Matty Johns are among those that don't see it. Cooper Cronk - a utility turned champion No.7 himself through hard work and smarts - has his doubts as well. What the teen tyro does have is a pure halfback's sheer want to be involved in the game. Throughout his 18 months of first-grade, Galvin has averaged around 52 touches per game, a level of involvement that leads all five-eighths in that period and trails only a few on-ball halfbacks like Nathan Cleary, Isaiya Katoa and Nicho Hynes. Loading Of playmakers genuinely taking on the defence in a statistic the NRL terms 'line-engaged runs', only Katoa has done so more often than Galvin this year. His base-level play-making temperament appeals to coaches just as much as his rare skill and ability. It doesn't change the concern that the Bulldogs risk running without direction. Guiding Canterbury around the paddock was a role Burton struggled with when he played halfback, while this is Sexton's greatest asset. Hayward might offer another answer as well given his prowess when stepping into the halves this season, most notably in stirring wins over Cronulla at Shark Park and the Raiders in Canberra.
The Age
02-06-2025
- Sport
- The Age
‘Could change the way the game is played': Where does Galvin fit at Belmore?
Still, Fittler posits a scrum base set-up that builds on the foot speed, small forwards and short passing that Canterbury's attack has developed effectively this season, with Galvin in the seven. 'If you sat with Burton, and then Galvin, one's a left-footer, one's a right-footer, you play Galvin on the right,' Fittler said on The Sunday Footy Show. 'These days, locks are pretty much like halves, people like [Bulldogs utility] Bailey Hayward. 'You could play someone in the middle as a link to both of [halves]. And then all of a sudden, the game really changes. 'The one thing you could also do is stop sitting your halfback in the line so you get 120-kilo blokes running at them, but sit him behind the line, so he can pop in wherever he needs to. This could be a game-changer.' Like the high-energy, desperate defence Ciraldo crafted for Ivan Cleary at Penrith, Fittler's suggestion sounds a lot like the Panthers' championing of Isaah Yeo as the best ball-playing lock in the game. Off-air, the former NSW coach explains further. That Canterbury's lightweight forwards like Hayward, Kurt Mann, Jaemon Salmon and Josh Curran produce such a constant, rolling threat and such a constant ability to ball-play, that the Bulldogs could camp themselves up on the advantage line with numerous fast-moving parts, and largely jettison the long-shift plays that are everywhere you look in the modern game. Galvin could end up defending like 'Allan Langer, Ricky Stuart and Greg Alexander used to' Fittler says - somewhat out of the way, saved for attacking duties and until his 190-centimetre frame fills out. First though, Ciraldo is working out where the Tiger-turned-Bulldog fits into his 17 against Parramatta next Monday. No call will be made until the coach has seen Galvin train alongside his new teammates this week, but jettisoning the more-than serviceable Toby Sexton as game-managing No.7 would be a hell of a call. Sexton will eventually make way and land a deal somewhere in the NRL next season. Introducing Galvin off the bench alongside Hayward against the Eels is the safest play, seemingly without the same undersized issues that playing two utilities would do at other clubs. What's one more utility to a Canterbury side that thrives on them? As for Galvin's halfback hopes, Andrew and Matty Johns are among those that don't see it. Cooper Cronk - a utility turned champion No.7 himself through hard work and smarts - has his doubts as well. What the teen tyro does have is a pure halfback's sheer want to be involved in the game. Throughout his 18 months of first-grade, Galvin has averaged around 52 touches per game, a level of involvement that leads all five-eighths in that period and trails only a few on-ball halfbacks like Nathan Cleary, Isaiya Katoa and Nicho Hynes. Loading Of playmakers genuinely taking on the defence in a statistic the NRL terms 'line-engaged runs', only Katoa has done so more often than Galvin this year. His base-level play-making temperament appeals to coaches just as much as his rare skill and ability. It doesn't change the concern that the Bulldogs risk running without direction. Guiding Canterbury around the paddock was a role Burton struggled with when he played halfback, while this is Sexton's greatest asset. Hayward might offer another answer as well given his prowess when stepping into the halves this season, most notably in stirring wins over Cronulla at Shark Park and the Raiders in Canberra.
