I don't really take much notice of ESL achievements. He has made the most of having loaded rosters at the Chooks so he deserves credit for that.
I think you're undervaluing what he accomplished at the Dragons. They were a basket case under Walters and Robbo turned them into a force to be reckoned with and he based that on defence just as he did as the defensive coach of the Roosters (2010) and again when he returned in 2013.
It's a hell of a lot easier to install an attitude like that with the players he has at his disposal. Maybe I am undervaluing his achievement at the Dragons if he did something similar in the NRL it would be more impressive though.
No argument. But along with that he's taken quite a few 'also rans' and turned them into rep players, Issac Liu, Siua Tukeiaho, Tetevano, Victor Radley (future), Joey Manu, Latrell Mitchell and Lindsay Collins will be a SOO rep within a year or two.
Justin Holbrook is another I'm keen to see how he goes.
If Holbrook gets the Titans firing it would look far better on his coaching resume than premierships with a stacked roster.
Disagree. As it was discussed in the "if we have another bad start to the year" thread, improvement in a team can be very subjective, winning is the only thing that matters in sport.
Winning a premiership is ultimately the best feeling. But knowing that you punched above your weight in a competition also offers an immense measure of satisfaction. So if Holbrook was to take the same team that has been struggling for a long while and pushes them one or two rounds into the finals, it will be like a cyclist getting on the podium of a motorbike race to their fans. In time he'll have the chance to improve the roster. But for the moment he will raise his market value by getting his squad to overachieve.
Don't get me wrong I think Robinson is a fair coach, better that Walters, easily IMHO. But the devil is in the detail, in 2011 Robinson added 12 players compared to the 2010 team, so hardly "the same squad". The likes of Blanche (Irish international), Dureau (signed from the Knights, 237 points, the #1 goal kicker), Farrar (ex Manly, Andrew's nephew), Henderson (ex Roosters, Scottish international) , Paea (signed from the Roosters, Tongan international) , Menzies (yes Steve Menzies, he scored 14 tries that year), Pelissier (French International), Millard (ex Bulldog, Fiji international), Baitieri (signed from the Roosters, French international) and Pala (Tigers, French international). Catalans have never been really short of decent budget, note this year's team includes Maloney, Folau, Drinkwater, Casty, Moa, 2 x Tomkins and our very own Kasiano.
Fair points. I would argue he turned us around as we finished 11th in 2011 and 13th in 2012 and we were heading backwards under Smith.
Sorry I don't agree; Jack Gibson once said that the best coaches were coaches who were the best recruiters, so I'd give all the credit to Nick Politis and the brown paper bags.
Do you really want me to do it again with the Chooks 2013 team upgrades that make any comparison to 2011/2012 teams meaningless? Oh, OK, but only because you asked nicely, the 2013 recruits (I think most will need no introduction);
He's still head and shoulders above Matt ElliotThis guy could coach that team at the Roosters to a GF
You've engaged in a fair bit of hyperbole there as only Jennings, SBW, Moa and O'Donnell were international/SOO level players at that time. So as far as the other 6 go, they became international/SOO level players as part of the Roosters squad.
Roosters leaked 576 points in 2016, 4th worst in the comp. Even during our shitty years under Hasler with our half decent roster, our defence was still pretty solid and never finished the top four in points conceded.
