Official Craig Fitzgibbon

[BurgoShark]

Our strike is pretty good. Like we score a lot of points per game. But i think its our attack in general that needs work in terms of patience, decision making and just simplifying the game plan at times

Defence has been an issue this year. Leaking a lot of soft points. Games against Manly, Warriors and Penrith especially we leaked bulk points on very quick periods in those games. Not good enough

Panthers, Manly and first Warriors game each had 2 tries against from kicks. Can’t say the defence was perfect, but also can’t put the loss on poor defence if someone doesn’t field a kick or the opposition gets a golden bounce.

Second Warriors game defence was great until Wilton went off. **** the bed after that.

Worst defensive efforts of the season imo were first halves v Storm and Dolphins.

 

[Jaz]

Dolphins game was the worst of the season IMO. Super depressing – I feel bad for everyone who flew up to Magic Round for it.

 

[HaroldBishop]

Dolphins game was the worst of the season IMO. Super depressing – I feel bad for everyone who flew up to Magic Round for it.

Yeah that was utter garbage. Anyone who brings that up should be banned.

 

[XGinga]

Get a new attack coach, he's over rated. Is our attack that great, most of it is focused on Hynes anyway, being involved in everything, where its like a one man show with the same moves which the inform teams shut down.

Soooo overrated that Billy Slater chooses to have him coach along side him and Cameron Smith. 5th best attacking side of last year and only 26 points behind first. Our attack must be horrible...

We even improved from the year before where we were 7th. Hannay must not be doing anything and is crap at his job.

Most interim coaches move on when not given the Head Coach gig. Gives the new incoming coach a fresh start and outlook also. Its like we've continued on from how we were in 2021 just with new recruits. Hannay and Fitz are both laid back coaches also

He's got wraps, but dont hear much of his name when it comes to clubs looking for a new head coach

Fitz was most likely asked hey do you want to start fresh with completely new staff or do you want Hannay the guys that knows this team and how the players work as you assistant. By the looks of things he was happy with him staying.
Like I said in my reply. Hannay and Fitz may seem laid back to the media. You have no idea what happens behind closed doors.

He's got wraps, but dont hear much of his name when it comes to clubs looking for a new head coach

Tell me three other assistants being chased right now to be head coach. Do you know how many assistant coaches are in the league? Probably at least 50. All of them must be crap because the 17 clubs aren't chasing all of them to be their head coach.

And maybe Hannay has been asked to be head coach somewhere and has advised he does not want to be a head coach. Which is why his name is never mentioned.

Toovey!

Why not, coached manly to a prelim and a grand final following year, maybe he can help Fitz do the same he can work with Nicho and Brailey being an ex halfback and dummy half. Fitz is a rookie, so maybe an old head with him would work, atleast he's not laid back haha

Yeah why not, lets choose the coach that hasn't been in an NRL system since 2015 as our assistant. Instead of the current QLD maroons attack coach and a coach that has been in our system. Game has changed a lot since 2015 but I am sure he will be fine.

This will be Fitz third year and we have made finals in both his first two. Let him and Hannay cook.

 

[bort]

The counter argument of our attack can't have actually been good or we would have beaten more teams doesn't carry much weight either, as it was rare we found ourselves pounding the line and unable to crack it.
More common we'd make dumb errors and let good teams mount pressure on us. The our try line D would crumple.

Don't think Toovs or Maloney can coach a player to consistently bust through tackles on their 10 to go the length and score.

Raiders just appointed Justin Giteau to assistant coach - how come they didn't hire Toovs or a prominent ex player?

 

[Flanno]

Dolphins game was the worst of the season IMO. Super depressing – I feel bad for everyone who flew up to Magic Round for it.

I’m sure they drank their sorrows away!

 

[Jaz]

I’m sure they drank their sorrows away!

You'd have to! I went up for Magic Round in 2021 when we got smashed by the Rabbitohs. 20-6 at halftime.

Magic Round is a lot of fun but I'm torn about next year. Can't stand losing to the Roosters.

 

[Western Sharkie]

@XGinga
I was joking.

I’ve previously backed Hannay and have stated that I didn’t think our attack was an issue in most parts

In saying that Toovey would help instill some “guts and determination” of the 80’s back into our squad (I feel we need a lift in that area)

 

[XGinga]

@XGinga
I was joking.

I’ve previously backed Hannay and have stated that I didn’t think our attack was an issue in most parts

In saying that Toovey would help instill some “guts and determination” of the 80’s back into our squad (I feel we need a lift in that area)

Yeah sorry for dragging you in. I only included as without your comment Sharkfoxes had not context.
I wouldn't mind Toovey working with us in some way just not to replace Hanany as main assistant coach.

 

[BurgoShark]

The counter argument of our attack can't have actually been good or we would have beaten more teams doesn't carry much weight either, as it was rare we found ourselves pounding the line and unable to crack it.
More common we'd make dumb errors and let good teams mount pressure on us. The our try line D would crumple.

Don't think Toovs or Maloney can coach a player to consistently bust through tackles on their 10 to go the length and score.

Raiders just appointed Justin Giteau to assistant coach - how come they didn't hire Toovs or a prominent ex player?

What you are saying here is that the Sharks were a fairly good team in terms of turning good-ball in to points. I'd agree with that.

It depends what you consider "attack" to be though I guess. Is dropping the ball 10m out from your own line considered part of your attack? I think it is - but it's not something that a new attacking coach is going to have much influence on.

As far as games where the Sharks spent a whole bunch of time attacking the other team's line and lost, the Broncos game in Rd14 was the only obvious one. There were other games where they probably had enough good quality possession to win and didn't (Rd 1, 3, 5 and 21) but Nicho missed two of those and in the other two scoring points wasn't an issue (they scored 5 tries in each game). For the most part in the games the Sharks lost 5 the issue was getting the ball to the attacking end rather than lack of execution when they got there. There are definitely some attacking deficiencies which contributed to that (e.g. errors, poor yardage sets, poor end of sets, etc.).

This is total runs by all forwards (including Brailey) inside 25. Raw numbers. no modelling.

Blue = win, Black = loss by 9 points or less, Grey = loss by 10 points or more

 

[bort]

What you are saying here is that the Sharks were a fairly good team in terms of turning good-ball in to points. I'd agree with that.

It depends what you consider "attack" to be though I guess. Is dropping the ball 10m out from your own line considered part of your attack? I think it is - but it's not something that a new attacking coach is going to have much influence on.

Is someone trying to truck the ball out from deep in their own end 'attack'? Not really, but the attacking coach and probably head coach would likely have input on how we approach it. Likely some of the more positional coaches too.

None of them are coaching to make dumb errors and mistake though and like you say hard to guarantee a new attack coach could do everything else as well or better and stamp out errors.

As far as games where the Sharks spent a whole bunch of time attacking the other team's line and lost, the Broncos game in Rd14 was the only obvious one. There were other games where they probably had enough good quality possession to win and didn't (Rd 1, 3, 5 and 21) but Nicho missed two of those and in the other two scoring points wasn't an issue (they scored 5 tries in each game). For the most part in the games the Sharks lost 5 the issue was getting the ball to the attacking end rather than lack of execution when they got there. There are definitely some attacking deficiencies which contributed to that (e.g. errors, poor yardage sets, poor end of sets, etc.).

I nearly wrote Broncos game but thought oh Burgo will show me a graph that says I'm wrong haha

I think errors, poor yardage sets, poor end of sets all are far from the sole responsibility of the attack coach. Hannay but also Fitz and Holdsworth would all have a lot of contribution to end of sets I'd think - more or less pending field position.
Similarly yardage sets I envisage are not the main focus of the attack coach although he main be involved in planning them, and watching over practice of them.
Not sure who our 'errors' and 'penalties on tackle 2 when we have them pinned in their end' coaches are but they definitely need to be sacked...

Good field position turns into points fairly well so I think overall Hannay appears to be doing a good job, although I don't know how much responsibility he has in achieving good field position. If that is mostly him then probably needs more focus.
Every team finds everything harder against the good teams than the weak teams.

 

[BurgoShark]

Is someone trying to truck the ball out from deep in their own end 'attack'? Not really, but the attacking coach and probably head coach would likely have input on how we approach it. Likely some of the more positional coaches too.

Open to interpretation, but if we are using the simplest definition of "stuff you do when you have the ball" then yeah. Trucking out of your own end is certainly part of your attack. You can't be a good attacking team without doing that consistently well.

None of them are coaching to make dumb errors and mistake though and like you say hard to guarantee a new attack coach could do everything else as well or better and stamp out errors.

I nearly wrote Broncos game but thought oh Burgo will show me a graph that says I'm wrong haha

I think errors, poor yardage sets, poor end of sets all are far from the sole responsibility of the attack coach. Hannay but also Fitz and Holdsworth would all have a lot of contribution to end of sets I'd think - more or less pending field position.
Similarly yardage sets I envisage are not the main focus of the attack coach although he main be involved in planning them, and watching over practice of them.
Not sure who our 'errors' and 'penalties on tackle 2 when we have them pinned in their end' coaches are but they definitely need to be sacked...

Good field position turns into points fairly well so I think overall Hannay appears to be doing a good job, although I don't know how much responsibility he has in achieving good field position. If that is mostly him then probably needs more focus.
Every team finds everything harder against the good teams than the weak teams.

Yeah agreed. I wasn't really saying one way or the other whether a specific coach has a big say in any of this. Just differentiating between the Sharks "attack" and "good ball attack".

 

[BurgoShark]

Every team finds everything harder against the good teams than the weak teams.

The flipside to this of course is how good a job teams do of pinning the Sharks in their own end.

In general, the top teams outside of Brisbane did a much better job of forcing the Sharks to bring the ball out of their own end - which would naturally mean that they have a harder time of moving it to the other end.

Broncos game was a weird one. It felt like the Sharks outplayed them in a lot of ways, but the Broncos just kept getting bounces go their way.

 

[Sparkles]

Open to interpretation, but if we are using the simplest definition of "stuff you do when you have the ball" then yeah. Trucking out of your own end is certainly part of your attack. You can't be a good attacking team without doing that consistently well.

I guess the fundamental parts of attack (holding, passing the ball, play the balls, involvement(?)) fall under the attacking coach? As tackling technique would be the remit of the defensive coach? It wouldn't make sense to have a fundamentals coach who covers all the basic stuff... though it would be good to have someone specific to answer to if you **** up any of the fundamentals

 

[bort]

I guess the fundamental parts of attack (holding, passing the ball, play the balls, involvement(?)) fall under the attacking coach? As tackling technique would be the remit of the defensive coach? It wouldn't make sense to have a fundamentals coach who covers all the basic stuff... though it would be good to have someone specific to answer to if you **** up any of the fundamentals

To some extent the guys may have their roles but you would also use the most suited one for any given thing.
Hannay is attack coach but who is to say DJ wouldn't be the more suited one to coach something like passing.

Hannay would presumably have the bulk of the say on good ball attacking shape. If you are doing the right thing in that your involvement may be pretty irrelevant. Nobody should be worried about winger just staying on his wing most of the time in these circumstances, either gets passed it or doesn't.
But not sure Hannay would specifically decide the team tactic for bringing the ball out of the ****. He could but it wouldn't surprise me if it was Fitz or even Price. Trucking from 5-10m from your own tryline is a very different style of set vs attacking inside opposition 20m (which I guess would be the main thing Hannay is responsible for)

Makes sense tackling technique falls under defensive coach although in our circumstance Fitz would probably be pretty involved in that you'd think (former D coach and jiu jitsu fiend).

 

[BurgoShark]

I guess the fundamental parts of attack (holding, passing the ball, play the balls, involvement(?)) fall under the attacking coach? As tackling technique would be the remit of the defensive coach? It wouldn't make sense to have a fundamentals coach who covers all the basic stuff... though it would be good to have someone specific to answer to if you **** up any of the fundamentals

I'd say individual skills coaches would be responsible for any the application of this stuff. E.g. Defensive/Attack/Head coach might identify an issue with a player's tackle technique or ptb but probably wouldn't be the guy actually working on it with the player in most cases. He'd put a video together and have a skills coach do it I reckon.

Defensive coach I think would be more responsible for "systems". i.e. when do we pressure from inside and when don't we, do out middles travel East-West, what are our calls to lock in at the ruck, which marker systems are we playing in different parts of the field, do we want 3 in the tackle at the expense of maybe leaving a guy on the ground, or just 2 in the tackle and always 10 in the line at the expense of giving up a little faster ptb, and how do we adjust this in different parts of the field, what are we going to do differently this week to stop Teddy compared to what we did last week to shut down Latrell, and so on...

Some of this the D coach would own himself, some Fitz would delegate to him, and some they'd do together.

 

[bort]

That's all fair.

Especially for something like tackle technique it's actually probably pretty split around...

Fitz may lead some wrestle and then maybe have someone else who takes some (especially around split between standing wrestle and ground).

Someone like Gal may coach forwards tackling technique, someone else coach halves and centres, someone again coaching wings and fullback (tackling players on breaks, tackling players into corners, using sideline as a defender, working together to trap a player on a break etc).
Even within that Luke Lewis may chime in with specific tips for edge and how to work with their outside.
All working to Price's structures (approved and supported by Fitz) but with quite different tackle styles within them.

Not too sure who is all on our coaching staff but you get the idea.

 

[Shortfin Mako]

I struggle to see what he’s added to this footy team that John Morris wouldn’t of added

For a defensive genius our defence isn’t great at all and our attack largely relies on Hynes magic when we come up against a decent team, his bench decisions have been questionable, he cannot get his players up for big games, sharks are the new chokers is now a thing and his recruitment policy has not provided any positive gains

Now that he’s shedded Moylan after wrongly extending him, Tracey and Graham retiring let’s see what he does with the extra $ ; He is in a perfect position to sign one of the games best props which is what this team needs more than anything but does he ignore that and keep extending players we already have like Uele and Hunt making that same mistake ?

We’ve also had two soft draws and two early embarrassing exits in the finals

I am not comparing him to John Morris. I just try to look at it independently. Having said that, I do not think JM could have recruited Hynes and Finucane. You can argue the latter's contribution but at the time we were happy.

I do not think comparing him to JM does any good. It's best to let go. This is his 3rd year and we expect to see some positive results - not just making the finals on the back of soft draws.

 

[Sparkles]

To some extent the guys may have their roles but you would also use the most suited one for any given thing.
Hannay is attack coach but who is to say DJ wouldn't be the more suited one to coach something like passing.

Hannay would presumably have the bulk of the say on good ball attacking shape. If you are doing the right thing in that your involvement may be pretty irrelevant. Nobody should be worried about winger just staying on his wing most of the time in these circumstances, either gets passed it or doesn't.
But not sure Hannay would specifically decide the team tactic for bringing the ball out of the ****. He could but it wouldn't surprise me if it was Fitz or even Price. Trucking from 5-10m from your own tryline is a very different style of set vs attacking inside opposition 20m (which I guess would be the main thing Hannay is responsible for)

Makes sense tackling technique falls under defensive coach although in our circumstance Fitz would probably be pretty involved in that you'd think (former D coach and jiu jitsu fiend).

Just like any organisation I suppose. Clear responsibilities and roles helps get the best outcomes. So long as that's established you'll have good accountability. Then you can figure out if people are doing their jobs well or the above is out of whack

 

[Shortfin Mako]

Change the assistants, start with Hannay, shouldve let him go after being interim. Both him and Fitz seem similar in their manner, decision making and approach to coaching. Not blaming Hannay for our failures, but need someone new in the coaching staff, with a fresh view and footy brain that can add something new or switch up how we play.

Hannay is the QLD attack coach and they kick NSW butt all over the place so I do not think he is the problem.

Maybe it was a cultural issue and now that the "old guard" is gone, things may change. We need to wait and see.