Are we seeing the end of an epoch in which coaches ruled NRL clubs?

Regularly reaching the finals is clearly not enough for Canterbury, who are reportedly close to axing Des Hasler – at least at the end of 2017 - despite him being one of the most successful coaches in the competition.

But an interesting sidelight to the development would be the cultural change within the club, and within the competition as a whole.

There is no doubt in the mind of this columnist that Hasler runs the Bulldogs in most of the tangible ways that you can measure authority within an organisation. His tentacles extend beyond coaching the football team to things such as its media policy, off-field policy, team facilities and the entire tone of the organisation.