Speaking the day after learning his contract would not be renewed at the end of this season, Fittler said his inexperience and lack of rule brought about his downfall.

''One thing that's very important about coaching is you need the strength, you need autonomy,'' he said. ''That's the only thing.''

Fittler said he ''most probably'' didn't have that autonomy.

''I'm an inexperienced coach ... [but] the buck stops with you so you need to run the show.''

There's little doubt veteran coach Smith would have that autonomy, with Roosters chief executive Steve Noyce admitting the transformation Smith had overseen at Newcastle over the past three seasons had been instrumental in the Roosters' decision to bring him in.

Noyce said talks had begun with Smith less than a fortnight ago.

''You look at the landscape and see what sort of characteristics you need,'' Noyce said.

''One of the things you look at at Newcastle two great players left the club in Joey [Andrew Johns] and Danny Buderus, and then Brian moved some other players on and it sort of brought transformational change through fairly quickly.''

Whether Fittler had sufficient power will never been known but there is little doubt being found drunk outside a Townsville hotel room last month hurt his case for a contract extension.

The Roosters have been beset by off-field drama throughout 2009, the latest being Nate Myles' defecation in the hallway of a Central Coast hotel earlier this month.

''The off-field things that's not good for your brand and that caused damage to our club and good management is about addressing those things and looking for change,'' Noyce said of Smith's impending arrival.

Asked about the possibility of a player clean-out, Noyce said, ''He needs to come down and assess what the situation is ... each club has its own unique set of circumstances.