A
ak47
Guest
:bravo: :cheers: :bleh!: Well well well - The Mighty Raiders will be the machine they used to be in the coming years............the Warren Ryan is no slouch in the rugby league world.
Ryan to assist Raiders
By Brent Read
May 19, 2006
DUAL premiership-winning coach Warren Ryan has agreed to take up a consultancy role with Canberra next season, giving incoming coach Neil Henry one of the sharpest minds in the game to work with.
The Australian revealed in March that Canberra was ready to approach Ryan to gauge his interest in assuming a part-time position with the club.
However, Ryan was only secured after Henry, appointed last month to replace Penrith-bound Matthew Elliott next season, agreed to bring the 65-year-old on board.
Ryan is regarded as one of the most astute tacticians the game has known, having coached Newtown, Balmain, Wests, Canterbury and Newcastle during a first-grade career stretching over 17 seasons and 411 games.
He has been out of frontline coaching since parting ways with Newcastle at the end of 2000. Even so, he remains a highly respected figure as both a media analyst and sounding board to some of the game's coaches.
It is understood Ryan will not have a hands-on role with the team. Rather, he will cast his eye over the Raiders's set-up and provide advice to Henry on opposition players and teams as the season progresses.
"When we were talking to Neil about the position we asked him if it would be an assistance to have someone of the calibre of Warren Ryan to bounce things off," said Canberra chief executive Simon Hawkins.
"We didn't force it on Neil. It was entirely up to him. He saw there could be some positives in it for him."
Ryan and Henry had not met before holding recent talks, which confirmed the pair would join forces next season.
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Henry is in camp with the Queensland State of Origin side.
Meanwhile, Canberra playmaker Jason Smith is expected to miss at least two weeks with a broken hand.
:bana: :cheers:
