Mark Levy is the big of 2GB's Wide World of Sports vigor show. Tune successful from 6pm-7pm, Monday to Thursday!
Who is the top rugby league manager of each time?
Is it Jack Gibson, Wayne Bennett oregon Craig Bellamy, who's one-win distant from equalling a grounds that's stood for 46 years?
I've ever said it's intolerable and unfair to comparison players and coaches from antithetic eras, but it's worthy debating erstwhile you see Bellamy could this week travel successful the footsteps of the legendary Jack Gibson, who modernised the crippled successful the 1970s.
The 'Master Coach' guided Eastern Suburbs to consecutive expansive last victories successful 1974-75, earlier taking the Parramatta Eels to 3 premierships betwixt 1981-83.
It was successful 1975, Gibson coached the Roosters to a grounds 19 consecutive victories and they went connected to assertion back-to-back premierships; accelerated guardant to 2021 and Bellamy's Melbourne Storm is connected the aforesaid trajectory.
Eighth Immortal Andrew Johns precocious declared connected Freddy and the Eighth that Bellamy is the top manager of each clip and it surely got radical talking.
'Joey' rattled disconnected Bellamy's grounds of "20 years coaching, 9 expansive finals, helium hasn't missed the semis; missed it once, erstwhile they got caught rorting the cap. Best manager ever".
So, however bash you justice the GOAT?
Is it the fig of premiership victories?
Is it occurrence astatine aggregate clubs?
Is it the civilization that's created wrong a team?
Is it the consistency of a shot side?
Everyone has their ain idiosyncratic criteria and I'd adhd 1 more: bash footballers go amended players erstwhile they're coached by an idiosyncratic similar Bellamy, Gibson oregon Bennett?
Craig Bellamy ticks each of those boxes.
To suffer superstars similar Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk, and to rebuild your playing roster with young blokes who you've identified done shot manager Frank Ponissi and to inactive support a precocious level of occurrence is thing abbreviated of extraordinary.
Factor successful the players who person go superstars successful their ain close nether the Melbourne coach: Ryan Papenhuyzen, Josh Addo-Carr, Harry Grant, Nicho Hynes and Jahrome Hughes. There's nary different mode to picture Craig Bellamy, different than a genius.
He's an astonishing bargaining spot and it's nary wonderment the rising stars of the crippled similar Xavier Coates privation to beryllium a portion of the authorities astatine the Melbourne Storm. There are immoderate players who decorativeness their careers without playing finals footy, truthful could you ideate saying nary to the Storm if they came knocking connected your door?
Craig Bellamy's grounds speaks for itself. In 18 years arsenic the caput coach, he's won 3 titles, he's taken the Storm to the expansive last 9 times and aft re-signing with the club, I person nary uncertainty the occurrence volition proceed for years to come.
I hold with Andrew Johns. Bellamy is the GOAT.
Wayne Bennett besides has to beryllium respected erstwhile you're talking astir the top manager of each time. The 71 year-old is simply a seven-time premiership victor and he's won 5 of 7 bid with the Queensland Maroons, including past year's decider with a squad of players labelled the "worst" successful State of Origin history.
It's been 10 years since his past premiership, but the South Sydney Rabbitohs are timing their tally to perfection and could extremity up farewelling their manager and their skipper Adam Reynolds with different premiership ring. Bennett could go the archetypal manager to triumph premierships with 3 antithetic clubs.
That's thing that cannot beryllium underestimated, but there's an unspoken broadside to Bennett's coaching vocation and that's the messiness helium leaves behind. Steve Price replaced him astatine the St George Illawarra Dragons and inherited a dog's breakfast, and the aforesaid tin beryllium said for the Newcastle Knights, who are inactive moving their mode done the Nathan Tinkler authorities successful the Hunter.
Bennett finishes up astatine Redfern astatine the extremity of this play and the South Sydney roster for adjacent twelvemonth is simply a shadiness of what the Bunnies are putting connected the tract astatine the moment. They'll beryllium relying connected lower-grade players who person hardly had immoderate footy implicit the past 2 years due to the fact that of COVID-19.
So, erstwhile you origin successful the achievements of each 3 coaches, who's your prime for the top of each time?
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