This morning Kevin Moore boarded a plane with his Bulldogs side in preparation for Friday nights showdown with the New Zealand Warriors. Not long after arriving in Auckland, Moore announced that he would stand down from the position of Bulldogs coach with immediate effect.
Assistant coach Jim Dymock will take over with many suggesting that Ricky Stuart will end up coaching the club.
The writing had been on the wall for Moore for quite some time.
After a very good first season with the Bulldogs in 2009, 2010 saw everything turn pear shaped. The Bulldogs got old, fast, and it looked like there wasn’t really a great deal anyone could do about their tumble down the ladder.
To the clubs credit, they went on a big recruitment drive, signing the likes of Frank Pritchard, Greg Eastwood and Trent Hodkinson in an effort to retool and rebuild.
This Bulldogs team is a pretty decent lineup, but you can see with the way they are playing right now, they are not getting what they need in terms of motivation and game plan, and that falls on the coaches shoulders.
I think for me the biggest sign that Moore maybe wasn’t up to the first grade coaching level was the play of Jamal Idris. Idris is an amazing athlete, but he has a few issues in his game that have never been addressed. A good coach would have worked to improve Idris’ game, but that hasn’t happened for what ever reason.
To Kevin Moore’s credit, when he was told he would not be retained as coach beyond this season, he chose to step down with immediate effect. In doing so he retains his his self respect and integrity.
Hello Matthew Elliott…
I hope Kevin Moore gets another job within the game some time soon. He might not be cut out to be a first grade coach, few are, but he is a real Rugby League man who I think would be great in some sort of administrative role.
I also hope that he remains part of the Bulldogs club in some capacity once he moves past the inevitable and understandable feelings he will be going through right now.
Rugby League coaching at the first grade level has really changed over the last decade. I think it takes a certain type of person to be a first grade coach. You can know everything there is to know about Rugby League, and it doesn’t guarantee that you would make a good NRL coach.
I think Kevin Moore falls into that area of having a great knowledge of the game, but just not being wired the way an NRL coach needs to be.
Good luck to Kevin Moore with what ever he decides to do from now on. Its a shame things didn’t work out at the Bulldogs, but I’m pretty sure he will find himself retained within the game in some capacity.
