Past Roger Merrett - Coach (1998)

[Grimreepah]

 

[Grimreepah]

Jason Akermanis

Club legend Roger Merrett took over as caretaker coach with the clear hope of being appointed head coach the following year.

Unfortunately, we went on to win the wooden spoon and the place was divided. There was the Roger group, and then the rest who wanted a clear, new direction with an experienced leader in charge.

The chairman at the time, Alan Piper, asked head recruiter Scott Clayton to give him one reason why Merrett shouldn't get the job permanently.

Scotty pretty much gave him 10.

 

[Grimreepah]

Jason Akermanis

Eventually the president, Alan Piper, called "Swooper" to tell him his time was up. Enter caretaker coach and club legend Roger Merrett. Everyone respected Rog, but he was your old-fashioned hardarse. He was hard to please, but made it public he wanted the job.

As a player - and maybe I was very young and very naive - I thought if you were such a good assistant coach, shouldn't the team be running better? In that period I didn't feel much love from Rog and he was making me work double-time for my spot. On the field I was panicky and not myself. Some players thrived because, all of a sudden, Rog was giving them a go where "Swooper" wasn't.

After the traditional first-up win things went back to the inconsistent pattern we were locked in under "Swooper" and we finished bottom for the first time. It was a hard task for Rog. He wanted the job, but the group probably didn't want him. He was trying too hard. It felt like there was no point planning for the future because we couldn't see one together.

 

[Mr Ripper]

Wasn't Noel Gordon still in charge when the Northey-Merrett business went down?