Link to Australia?

[waratahjesus]

why did robbie deans country pass him up for the top job?
politics, so the rugby mad country of NZ reappointed a guy that let them down cos they dont like robbie?
what did robbie do wrong?
why are we paying more for robbie than they are for henry?

 

[chief]

Stade Francais was worse that shite under Link. QLD have been very impressive under Link but we are only 5 games into the season. I like Link, he is a v good coach but I think Deans is still the best coach around. Feel free to look at his super rugby record. Has it occured to anyone that the Reds involved with the aussie squad have improved quite a lot?

We can look at his Super 14 record all day long, but it still doesn't change the fact that Deans had All Blacks. And aplenty of them in his side. Mauger, McCaw (at his finest), Carter, Thorn that is just to name a few. We should also take a look at his Wallabies record, which is pretty poor. He has had 2 years, to find a Flyhalf and Halfback who performs on the International Stage consistently, he still hasn't quite found that particular Flyhalf after those two years. It took a while to find a suitable replacement for Gregan with Cordingley only playing a handful of matches, and Burgess week in and week out under performing with slow ball.

I know its early, but Link has transformed Anthony and Saaia Fainga'a into some of the best in their position of this year. He has probably made Deans reassess his selection process for the Wallabies, with what he is creating and how he is doing it. Higginbotham has been performing then one of the best players in the world and the Wallabies captain. We have Daniel Braid who is just pressing for All Blacks selection. I know for a fact, Phil Mooney was /is not a shit coach, Ewen McKenzie is, with the right bunch of players.

 

[fatprop]

I think the secret to being deemed a success with some of these sides is lucking out and getting a decent 10.

Deans went from Mehrtens to Carter at the Crusaders, that makes life a bit easier for a coach.

The same with the Brumbies coaches enjoying Larkham's services

It gets harder for coaches when the 10 is less than perfect as with Link at the Tahs and he compromised play to work around that. Now he has a decent 10 he is a superstar coach, well at least for the first few weeks.

On Deans, I still think he is a fantastic coach and who plays rugby the way it should be played positively, athletically with ball in hand attempting to make things happen, not react.

 

[TheRiddler]

Hickey for Wob's head coach :lmao:

Please dont make those kind of jokes. They are not in the slightest bit funny and even the thought of this one has in fact now ruined my day.

 

[Ruggo]

What I give Link credit for is the amaizing turn around in attitude amongst the Reds players. Both link and Robbie have proven reputations in regard to this. They both exel in player managment.

I can see Link doing a great job carrying on with the work Robbie is doing.

I agree with fatprop in regards to the 10. Pick Cooper at 10 and watch the rest of the Wallaby backline fire. I fail to see a reason why Robbie needs to perservere with this Gitau at 10 crap any longer.

 

[the gambler]

I think Robbie was the perfect choice at the time he was selected.

I think he has slightly underwhelmed since having the job, however he was basically employed, rightly or wrongly, with more than one eye on winning the World Cup and I believe the Wallabies are a much better chance of doing that than we were 2 years ago.

Link has proven himself to be excellent at rebuilding culture and belief (remember all that crap about the Tahs bus being driven around Canberra) and will hopefully make a great national coach when his time comes

 

[DPK]

What I give Link credit for is the amaizing turn around in attitude amongst the Reds players. Both link and Robbie have proven reputations in regard to this. They both exel in player managment.

I can see Link doing a great job carrying on with the work Robbie is doing.

I agree with fatprop in regards to the 10. Pick Cooper at 10 and watch the rest of the Wallaby backline fire. I fail to see a reason why Robbie needs to perservere with this Gitau at 10 crap any longer.

I think Deans was playing it safe. Giteau is a highly skilled and experienced (and notable ie. household name) player, so in the eyes of the ARU, the other players and the public it would look like a normal, good selection. Picking an occasionally brain-explosion prone player, fresh to the test arena is a bold/stupid move, depending on how it turns out.

 

[Spook]

Cooper was not ready to be the Wallaby fly half ready after the S14 last year. QLD were dire whilst Giteau was probably the best fly half in the comp (The Giteau inspired Force beat all Aussie teams comfortably). Cooper started to build during the EOYT tour and also did well off the bench in the 3Ns. Genia is another eased into international rugby by Deans. It's a new season and Cooper and Genia are just getting better. Genia is in his own class and Cooper is the form fly half in Oz. Robbie has played this beautfully thus far.

Some of you blokes have extremely poor memories. :

 

[Cutter]

Cooper was not ready to be the Wallaby fly half ready after the S14 last year. QLD were dire whilst Giteau was probably the best fly half in the comp (The Giteau inspired Force beat all Aussie teams comfortably). Cooper started to build during the EOYT tour and also did well off the bench in the 3Ns. Genia is another eased into international rugby by Deans. It's a new season and Cooper and Genia are just getting better. Genia is in his own class and Cooper is the form fly half in Oz. Robbie has played this beautfully thus far.

Some of you blokes have extremely poor memories. :

Spot on Spook.

 

[Aussie D]

No offense to Link as I am happy with the job he is doing but he has only been there for 5 months (?) and had a great foundation laid by Phil Mooney. It would have been interesting to see if the team had performed any differently if Mooney had remained in charge. I'd like to see Link remain at the Reds until 2013 (with Robbie remaining the Wallaby coach) and if the Reds side continues to improve and starts to be a genuine title threat then give him the Wallaby job after the Lions tour.

 

[fatprop]

No offense to Link as I am happy with the job he is doing but he has only been there for 5 months (?) and had a great foundation laid by Phil Mooney. It would have been interesting to see if the team had performed any differently if Mooney had remained in charge. I'd like to see Link remain at the Reds until 2013 (with Robbie remaining the Wallaby coach) and if the Reds side continues to improve and starts to be a genuine title threat then give him the Wallaby job after the Lions tour.

Listening to Link, they changed a lot of things very quickly, the training ethic/culture, the attack structure & defensive structure.

Mooney's "foundation" had little defense & unfit players.