Ewen McKenzie: Wallaby Coach

[I like to watch]

Fuck me dead: the ARU makes a timely and sound decision and effectively admits a major error. Could this be real?

What about due process?
Link may well be the best man for the job,but there should have been a process to select him.
Whispering in a few ears at the official function to make sure the right people are behind it,is OK for 2nd division subbies. Not for the biggest coaching job in the land.
I heard on the weekend that Pulver couldn't even properly organise the trivia night at the Oz champs last week.
He is going to make JON look like the fucking Messiah.

 

[p.Tah]

^ IMHO we NEED Topo Rodriquez as out Scrummaging coach.

A man mad enough to write a book called "The Art of Scrummaging" is surely mad enough to take on the hardest job in Australian Sport.

I think I'm more insane. I read the book. Fascinating but bloody hell a book on the scrum.

 

[Fire]

What about due process?
Link may well be the best man for the job,but there should have been a process to select him.
Whispering in a few ears at the official function to make sure the right people are behind it,is OK for 2nd division subbies. Not for the biggest coaching job in the land.
I heard on the weekend that Pulver couldn't even properly organise the trivia night at the Oz champs last week.
He is going to make JON look like the fucking Messiah.

IIRC, the ARU appointed a committee to select a head coach long before the third test. I think the ARU were always going to part ways with Deans at the end of the year. I don't think this decision was reactionary at all, the ARU didn't want to pay Deans out but wanted a new coach, they set out a process and at the first viable opportunity they went through with the decision to appoint McKenzie, who I assume was the committees choice.

 

[Gnostic]

What about due process?
Link may well be the best man for the job,but there should have been a process to select him.
Whispering in a few ears at the official function to make sure the right people are behind it,is OK for 2nd division subbies. Not for the biggest coaching job in the land.
I heard on the weekend that Pulver couldn't even properly organise the trivia night at the Oz champs last week.
He is going to make JON look like the fucking Messiah.

Unlike when Deans was appointed there aren't any alternatives running around Super Rugby. No Wallabies coach would be appointed from a NH club side and maybe consideration could be given to an Australian coaching a foreign test side eg. Scott Johnson. So the only options were Link, White, Foley, Cheika and Hill. Nucifora wouldn't get invited to apply and if he did it wouldn't get anywhere given the results with the U19 side the past years. As for the other assistants around Oz and O/S they would need to hold down a head coaching spot at Super Level or Test level overseas before being considered.

a)Hill and Cheika are in their first years as Super Rugby head coaches and Hill has just been told he won't be getting a second year.
b)Foley has improved the Force from a shambles, but will need to show significant results to erase the horrors of his years at the Tahs.

So we are left with White and Link. White is into his second year o a 4 year contract and plan at the Brumbies. He is a proven test coach without doubt, but there are a few downsides not least of which is a prevailing perception wrongly or rightly that the Wallabies position should be an Australian one.

So we are left with Link as the only viable option at this time, with the possibility that perhaps Scott Johnson could have applied (but given his history under Connolly what is the likelihood he would be considered seriously).

As critical as I was about the sham process that took place to appoint Deans, the situation on this occasion is completely different.

 

[Train Without a Station]

What about due process?
Link may well be the best man for the job,but there should have been a process to select him.
Whispering in a few ears at the official function to make sure the right people are behind it,is OK for 2nd division subbies. Not for the biggest coaching job in the land.
I heard on the weekend that Pulver couldn't even properly organise the trivia night at the Oz champs last week.
He is going to make JON look like the fucking Messiah.

That implies that there were viable candidates in the far corners of earth for the role. There were 2 candidates with the credentials needed. They chose one. Where's the issue? This isn't an admin role at the local council, it's a position with limited candidates with public CV's, further limited by contract status.

 

[Froggy]

A good decision. Jake White is a good coach, but I prefer the style of play Link coaches.

I think perhaps more has been blamed on RD than is fair, but as coach (or CEO, or owner of a small business) you live or die on your results. That's just the way it is out here in the real world. RD didn't produce the results, so off he goes.

Links biggest problem now will be expectations. A bit like Barry O'Farrell in NSW, the previous lot had been so bad the expectations placed on the change were unrealistic. It will take some time for Link to rebuild this team, he won't win all the silverware back in one year.

 

[Pfitzy]

I think I'm more insane. I read the book. Fascinating but bloody hell a book on the scrum.

Could easily make a trilogy out of it.

 

[Gnostic]

Actually Froggy I don't think it will take all that long. I think we under-estimate the talent that is available. With a cohesive and complete game plan I think you will see players previously labelled as average Mr Tradesman only excel. Players selected in position and teams with complete skill sets. Win or lose at least we will get to see some rugby with great skill execution as the balance of the team will be such that players will complement each other, just how a team is supposed to.

 

[Train Without a Station]

Greater than the sum of it's parts perhaps Gnostic?

 

[RedsHappy]

I must on this moving and historic day record that I for one will miss Bruce Ross' regular updates and careful revisions to the GAGR Specially Deciphered & Comprehensive Dictionary of Robbie-isms.

 

[Pfitzy]

Whispering in a few ears at the official function to make sure the right people are behind it,is OK for 2nd division subbies.

Works for 1st Division too I hear.

Fuck due process - the people have spoken! Not like its going to make a difference which coach we have, as long as they put the best players in the best positions and give them a game plan that LOOKS like a game plan.

 

[KevinO]

I think what most fans want to see is:

• Beat the Boks home and away
• Beat Los Pumas home and away
• Win one Bledisloe test and be competitive in the others
• Win at least 3, probably 4 games on spring tour (remember 5 games on tour - if we lose to lions then win grand slam do we balance out?)
• Pick players in their right positions
• No 4am cock-ups

You forgot score more than 1 try per game average.

 

[Gnostic]

Greater than the sum of it's parts perhaps Gnostic?

Just like a TEAM should be.

I must say I am feeling very buoyed by this news.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Just like a TEAM should be.

I must say I am feeling very buoyed by this news.

Me too Gnostic. It's like a great weight has been lifted from the Australian rugby collectives shoulders. I mean Deans no ill-will and wish him all the best for the future but time's up fella.

Link has all the runs on the board and must be given the job now.

 

[Rob42]

Was Todd Louden an assistant coach for Link at the Tahs, or have I got my timing mixed up?

 

[Pfitzy]

You are correct - he was there for at least the year we made the final against the Crusaders.

 

[I like to watch]

Unlike when Deans was appointed there aren't any alternatives running around Super Rugby. No Wallabies coach would be appointed from a NH club side and maybe consideration could be given to an Australian coaching a foreign test side eg. Scott Johnson. So the only options were Link, White, Foley, Cheika and Hill. Nucifora wouldn't get invited to apply and if he did it wouldn't get anywhere given the results with the U19 side the past years. As for the other assistants around Oz and O/S they would need to hold down a head coaching spot at Super Level or Test level overseas before being considered.

a)Hill and Cheika are in their first years as Super Rugby head coaches and Hill has just been told he won't be getting a second year.
b)Foley has improved the Force from a shambles, but will need to show significant results to erase the horrors of his years at the Tahs.

So we are left with White and Link. White is into his second year o a 4 year contract and plan at the Brumbies. He is a proven test coach without doubt, but there are a few downsides not least of which is a prevailing perception wrongly or rightly that the Wallabies position should be an Australian one.

So we are left with Link as the only viable option at this time, with the possibility that perhaps Scott Johnson could have applied (but given his history under Connolly what is the likelihood he would be considered seriously).

As critical as I was about the sham process that took place to appoint Deans, the situation on this occasion is completely different.

I agree that it would appear there were only 2 strong candidates.
But there has been no interview process that I am aware of.
Regardless, if we believe they have made the right decision.There should have been a sound process behind any appointment.

How is this different? I would have thought appointing a new coach,required a much more formal process than extending a contract?

 

[Inside Shoulder]

I agree that it would appear there were only 2 strong candidates.
But there has been no interview process that I am aware of.
Regardless, if we believe they have made the right decision.There should have been a sound process behind any appointment.

How is this different? I would have thought appointing a new coach,required a much more formal process than extending a contract?

But what does a formal interview add: in one sense these blokes have been interviewed on a weekly basis for several seasons in White's case and longer in the case of Link.
I struggle to envisage anything that they could say in an interview that would convince me one way or the other, and anything they did say I'd want to check against their actual coaching record and be dubious of unless I saw or heard of it being manifest in prior coaching gigs.
The problem with the Deans reappointment was that it was underhanded and took no account of the fact that his biggest test, and KPI, lay ahead of him: the timing was irrational.

 

[Train Without a Station]

Interviews could only lead to the inferior candidate interviewing better and getting the job. Results are what counts and they are public knowledge.

 

[p.Tah]

I just want to get in very very very early. Sack Link.

3 Bledisloe Cups, 2 Rugby Championships, a RWC and a Grand Slam and an 82% winning percentage. What the hell has he done for us?