The NRL will come together this weekend for the “Unite for Daniel Round” following the former coach’s tragic accident.
Whether he was coaching the Auckland Warriors or New Zealand, St Helens or Parramatta, or occupying the hot-seat as the NRL referees’ boss, Daniel Anderson was known for his humility in jobs that required large servings of ego and pride.
He was left quadriplegic, although he’s returned to his job as Roosters head of recruitment in recent weeks and goes into the office twice a week. As a young man, Anderson taught mathematics at St Gregory’s College Campbelltown and counted Robinson, and future NRL stars Trent Barrett and Russell Richardson among his pupils. “There’s a certainty to maths that I like,” Anderson says. “You get instant feedback. And it was easy to mark.”As an “incomplete” quadriplegic, though, there’s no certainty about his immediate or long-term future; he doesn’t know how much movement he will regain.
“The best games the Warriors played were against the Broncos,” he recalls. “We loved playing them. I loved the match-ups with Wayne [Bennett]. He’s an icon who has been stupidly successful, but I fancied myself against his teams. I had a style of coaching and team that I felt could push a button on them. I didn’t have to throw a lot of burley in the water to get them aroused for Broncos games. We were big and mean and happy to take on bullies.
“Lost opportunity if anything,” Anderson reflects. “It was turbulent. I went in there under [former chief executive] Denis Fitzgerald, and I was the last person [left] from that era. I didn’t see it [getting sacked] coming, but I knew I was on the outer. Most coaches who have been moved on before they finish, can sense it.
Anderson was, according to Graham, a man manager cast from the same mould as Bennett — not that he saw everything his players were up to.In those days, St Helens were like the Broncos, usually playing on a Friday night, which gave them a full weekend off. It meant they did just two weight sessions per week.
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