France’s gain is Warriors’ loss as Mcnamara heads off

OPINION: Fascinating news about Steve Mcnamara.

The Warriors assistant, who was formerly head coach of England and an assistant at the Sydney Roosters, is said to be off to France to coach the Catalan Dragons.

Steve Who, you might say. It’s not like, with a 6-8 record this season, that the Warriors have the the NRL title at their mercy. It’s just that Mcnamara is arguably the most important member of the Warriors’ staff.

You’ve got head coach Stephen Kearney, who remains unproven at this level. He might turn out to be one of the great NRL coaches. For now, though, he’s not. Nor was Andrew Mcfadden, which is why the Warriors canned him. Then there’s Stacey Jones; beloved explayer, but you doubt he’ll be the man Brisbane or Melbourne recruit to replace Wayne Bennett and Craig Bellamy.

The Warriors have the Bulldogs, Manly (twice), Penrith, the Cowboys, Cronulla, Newcastle, Canberra, South Sydney and the Tigers to play before the end of the season. Talent-wise, the Warriors could win them all. Realistically, six wins would be good.

An experienced, successful coach wouldn’t hurt.

Des and the Dogs

The fortunes of Des Hasler and the Bulldogs continue to generate discussion. He’s said, mostly on the back of what he achieved at Manly, to be one of the game’s truly elite coaches. No-one’s more thorough, apparently, and the Bulldogs are among the bestprepared teams in the competition.

Only, some of the players look in poor shape and lacking in basic catching and passing skills.

Put it this way; who else can’t wait to see how Sam Kasiano goes at Melbourne next year?

You’d bank on Bellamy getting way more out of the former Kiwis prop than Hasler ever has.

Better late than never

Good of Queensland to get around to picking a competitive State of Origin side.

You’d still have to back New South Wales, on home soil at ANZ Stadium, to win the series next Wednesday. But at least the match should be a contest.

Compelling stuff

Thursday is a while ago now, but it’s hard to shake the memory of Melbourne’s 18-13 win over Cronulla.

Melbourne and Cronulla are good teams who dislike each other and have a huge amount invested in the result. Their clash last week was a great advertisement for the code and it would be no shock if they went on to meet again in the grand final.

Elsewhere

Johnathan Thurston’s return from injury immediately elevated the Cowboys back into the premiership discussion. One testmatch cakewalk over the Kiwis aside, Thurston hadn’t played for two months and yet he had way too much nous and skill for Parramatta.

Penrith pipping Canberra 24-20 was good for a couple of reasons. First, Penrith are fun and the competition will be enhanced if they have a lengthy playoff run this season. Then there was the enjoyment of watching Raiders coach Ricky Stuart squirm his way through the post-match press conference. No-one cops defeats worse than him.