Steve Price only has to look at what happened to the last NRL coach to follow in Wayne Bennett's footsteps to know the enormity of the task he faces at St George Illawarra.
Like Price, Ivan Henjak served an apprenticeship under Bennett before assuming the top job at Brisbane in 2009.
He took the Broncos to within one win of a grand final appearance in his first season, yet little more than 12 months later was shown the door.
Price was Bennett's right hand man as the most successful coach in NRL history orchestrated the end of one of the game's longest droughts by delivering the Dragons the 2010 premiership.
With Bennett's off-season departure to Newcastle, Price now assumes control of a squad containing 12 of the 17 players involved in that grand final win.
But the new boss said his players could no longer rely on past glories, just as he refuses to be judged in relation to what went before him.
"I don't look at it like that," Price said of being compared to Bennett, who stands alone with seven premierships.
"That's in the past now, our focus is 2012 and I can't control that.
"All I can do is do the best I can do for the Dragons footy club in 2012 and that starts from training, leaving no stone unturned in our preparation."
While there's little doubting the Bennett influence, Price wants it known that he is his own man.
His first priority has been to mix up an attack that became a bit predictable by the end of Bennett's reign, with halves Jamie Soward and Ben Hornby being given greater freedom with the ball.
He's also had to replace departed stars Darius Boyd and Mark Gasnier - with those positions to be covered by the Stanley brothers Kyle and Chase.
But while tactics and personnel decisions will play a significant role in the level of Price's success in 2012, how he gets his message across will be just as important.
NZN