Sydney Roosters' half Luke Keary believes club assistant coach Jason Ryles is ready for his first head coaching job.
Ryles has been widely suggested as in the race to land either the Melbourne Storm or St George Illawarra Dragons' head coaching job from the start of next year.
The Dragons have asked current boss Anthony Griffin to reapply for his role if he wishes to keep coaching into 2024 and beyond, with the club courting a number of options who could replace him.
Ryles, who played more than 150 NRL games for the club during his first-grade career before also representing the Sydney Roosters and Storm, is believed to be at the head of the list. Other ex-players in Dean Young and Ben Hornby, as well as Des Hasler and Shane Flanagan, are also believed to have been mentioned.
At the Storm, Craig Bellamy is likely in his final season with the clipboard. No official announcement has been made as yet, but every indication suggests the Storm will need to go in a new direction for 2024 after Bellamy accepted the 2023 season late in the piece.
The Storm have earmarked Ryles, Brett White (who is currently at the Gold Coast Titans) and Billy Slater (who coaches at State of Origin level for Queensland) as the likely successors.
Ryles is on-contract with the Roosters as part of Trent Robinson's staff until the end of 2024 though, having originally moved from the Storm's assistant staff after Craig Fitzgibbon landed his first head coaching job at the Cronulla Sharks.
It's believed Ryles has reservations about breaking the last year of his contract at the tri-colours, but the club are unlikely to stand in his way.
Keary, speaking to News Corp, said Ryles is virtually the same person as Fitzgibbon and ready to assume control of a first-grade team.
“He's in your Craig Fitzgibbon mould," Keary said.
“He's where Fitzy was – he's done enough. You can see that they know their way around everything. Rylsey is definitely ready.
“He has a big focus on defence which Fitzy had. They're so similar. When Fitzy left and Rylsey came in, it was almost like the same person.
“I think any job that comes up in the next couple of years, his name will be at the forefront. He deserves it.”
Ryles, once a stint at the Caltans Dragons in 2009 is included, played 271 games at the top tier of rugby league, to go with 15 Tests for Australia between 2001 and 2005, and eight State of Origins for New South Wales between 2002 and 2005.