Strewthcobber
Mark Ella (57)
He plays for Kobe Steelers in JTL. Contracted through 2020
Brumbies 2020
- Thread starter RugbyReg
- Start date
Tomikin
Simon Poidevin (60)
RoffsChoice
Jim Lenehan (48)
Regardless, accoring to Lord Laurie, it won't be at the Brumbies!
RoffsChoice
Jim Lenehan (48)
Clawhammer
Herbert Moran (7)
I'm somewhat torn by the prospect of a Nic White return. I rate him highly, but question whether we really want Powell relegated to bench role.
RoffsChoice
Jim Lenehan (48)
Good news is that White's success is not strictly tied to athleticism, so age is less of a concern for us. Not being able to retain Lonergan and Powell is a concern.
Slim 293
Stirling Mortlock (74)
Tomikin
Simon Poidevin (60)
Powell and White would be good to have, but I guess unlike props they usually play most of the game, Prop's starting and finishing usually trade alot anyway.
mst
Peter Johnson (47)
Yep! The only thing that has changed in his near 2 years at at helm is to workout how to use the squad he was gifted finally (similar to his Vikings success when he was gifted a multi-premiership winning team) - in an unusual year where the performance of most teams has also been all over the place.
Good on him for finally getting it to work. I shook his hand and congratulated him on well job well done this season (thus far) a a few weeks ago. Still doesn't mean I think he is the right man for the job.
RoffsChoice
Jim Lenehan (48)
I have begun to wonder if McKellar's issue is being unable to get his systems to click in the first half of the season. We saw that it took 10 games for us to start being competitive with good teams last year, and we were on track for an abysmal season at the halfway mark this year. But suddenly it clicked.
Is he getting better at this? If so, will there maybe be a time in the future where this systems lag is less than three weeks? I don't know.
What I do know is that I totally respect how the Brumbies fans feel that they last five years have been massively underwhelming for a side which has had the talent to get to at least one final, and that a coach who happens to get the players to work well together isn't necessarily the best available coach. Wanting the best for the Brumbies does not equal hating the coach, and MST has put this perfectly.
Brumby Runner
David Wilson (68)
During his time as coach of the ACT Vikings in the NRC I was a sceptic of McKellars coaching abilities. He seemed to concentrate almost entirely on a forwards strategy and actually had the rolling maul operating with so much forward momentum that opposition teams just had to shear off to the side to score against the Brumbies maul still going up field at 100mph.
I wasn't impressed when he was named Brumbies head coach. But I have come to change my mind.
He has stated publicly what he wants to achieve as far as style of play is concerned and is now delivering. A lot may be down of Hewat as attack coach but as McKellar is also the forwards coach and the pack is performing as one of the best in Super Rugby I don't think he can be expected to do a whole lot better than he is.
The Brumbies are now the best coached side in the country. If we had any of Gibson, Thorn or Wessels (or in my worst nightmares, Cheika) in charge, I think we'd be a lot less successful.
I wasn't impressed when he was named Brumbies head coach. But I have come to change my mind.
He has stated publicly what he wants to achieve as far as style of play is concerned and is now delivering. A lot may be down of Hewat as attack coach but as McKellar is also the forwards coach and the pack is performing as one of the best in Super Rugby I don't think he can be expected to do a whole lot better than he is.
The Brumbies are now the best coached side in the country. If we had any of Gibson, Thorn or Wessels (or in my worst nightmares, Cheika) in charge, I think we'd be a lot less successful.
RoffsChoice
Jim Lenehan (48)
I think we're seeing that, time and again, tacticians and technical coaches are more successful than coaches who lean heavily into motivational skills. Thorn and Cheika are culture coaches, who care more about intent than form. Gibson and Wessels seem to care mostly about results, but the former doesn't really know how to get them, and the latter can't unify the cores of two teams so his tactical skills are generally useless.
I don't know how much of a tactician McKellar is, but he clearly has a technical legacy. I wonder how much squad management is done directly and how much is managed by assistants or influential players. But when you have guys like Hewat and Fisher there, you know the tactical side is probably covered and that you will have options; you just need to pick the right one.
I hope to see Nic White go to the Rebels to replace Genia. Powell is doing an excellent job and Lonergan seems set to be a better player still. They're both local boys, so it would be preferable to see them stay at the Brumbies at least as long as they're playing in Australia. The distinctly mediocre Matt Lucas has re-signed for a year, but even if he goes at the end of 2020, I maintain that White, Powell and Lonergan is just too much talent in one position for one team.