On the chopping block (clockwise from left): Dragons coach Steve Price, Warriors boss Matt Elliott and the Broncos' Anthony Griffin. Source: The Daily Telegraph
THE NRL season is just three games old and already the careers of three coaches hang by a thread.
St George Illawarra coach Steve Price, Matt Elliott at the Warriors and Brisbane's Anthony Griffin are under increasing pressure to manufacture success at their clubs.
Price watched on last night as his side slumped to their third successive defeat this season - a 30-17 loss to Canberra at Canberra Stadium.
"The only way out is to unite and fight our way out of this," Price said last night.
The Warriors were hammered 28-4 by the Sharks, and Griffin's Broncos were somehow unable to score a point in their 8-0 loss despite dominating possession. The Dragons and Warriors are yet to post a win, while the Broncos' lonely win came against St George Illawarra in round two.
The Warriors appear a shambles on the field, and are yet to score a point in the first half of any of their three matches.
The Dragons failed to make the finals under Price last year with club management bidding strongly - yet unsuccessfully - to lure Craig Bellamy from Melbourne.
Price must at least make the finals this year to be re-signed.
"I will put my hand up,'' Price said. "At the end of the day, the coaching staff and players are all in this together. I have said for a number of weeks that our effort has been tremendous.''
Dragons skipper Ben Creagh was refusing to panic, saying: "It is only round three - we are lucky that way.
"A few of us have been in similar situations before.
"It's not panic stations. We are only one good win away from turning around our season. We have to keep our heads up and stay confident.''
After losing to Cronulla yesterday at Sharks Stadium, the Warriors have now lost their past 11 games stretching back to round 18 last year.
Elliott admitted he needed to find some answers.
"We need to have a look at our preparation, there's some work to do,'' Elliott said.
"We've lost some players to injury so we're asking a lot of young inexperienced players to play top quality opposition.''
In Brisbane, the pressure on Griffin is already telling.
His post-match press conference on Saturday night lasted just 90 seconds and he chose to talk only about the Roosters and not his misfiring halves, Scott Prince and Peter Wallace.
"It's just one of those games and it was always going to be one of those games - a real slugfest. They got that one try which was the difference,'' Griffin said.
Then the club closed its sheds to the media, a direct breach of NRL guidelines, which will should result in a fine this week.
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