Reds 2014

[Train Without a Station]

Your last sentence is spot on. Booting him with no replacement only leads to a rushed decision which will lead to further changes. What if the best candidate isn't available for a year?

 

[Parse]

How bad do you have to be to be worse then RG's record with over 12months of preparation? Hell, they could most probably grab Scott Allen (from that other online sports site) and even he'd do a better job of coaching then RG. In answer to your question - put in an interim coach if the best isn't available for a year. I don't think we can do much worse.

 

[Train Without a Station]

We have only suffered one bad loss. It could get significantly worse.

 

[yumoo]

Why doesn't someone give RG the Bob Dwyer Coaching Manual, now for only $55 !

 

[Sandpit Fan]

Why doesn't someone give RG the Bob Dwyer Coaching Manual, now for only $55 !

Sure we could have a quick whip around and come up with that much

 

[USARugger]

Well, that one hurt. Looking forward..

I'd probably either give Browning the 6 jersey or start playing him significantly earlier in matches starting next round to get him more acclimated to Super Rugby. Schatz is a lot more important to both our offensive and defensive line outs than Quirk is and in every other department they are more or less on the same level so far.

Other than play rotation and maybe bolstering our breakdown a bit I'm running out of reasons to see why Saia is being started over Hanson, ever.

That said, our breakdown work has been on pretty nasty downward spiral the past month or so. The rucking from the backs is just totally unacceptable at this level far too often.

We're really lacking some cohesiveness as a 15-man unit on both sides of the ball right now. The most immediate example that comes to mind on attack would be Harris' attempted offload to Beau on attack and the 1st Corey Jane try (I'm re-watching the match right now so my memory is biased towards the first 20-25 mins).

Harris should have never tried to throw that offload because Beau should have been screaming that he was being blocked by the Hurricanes' runner. Schatz should have never been that far out of the defensive line because he should have been getting screamed at by Quirk (and at least 2 or 3 other people) to get back into the line..you also just don't drift up 3m in front of the line and sit there, that's seriously schoolboy stuff..can't really use fatigue as an excuse either because they were barely through the 1st quarter of the match at that point.

Stuff like this just looks like a series of communication breakdowns and potentially brain explosions to me. Not good because this kind of stuff seems a whole load harder to fix than something more tangible like a dis-functioning line out, poor scrum, bad kicking, etc.

I hope that there's someone in the Reds coaching or leadership group that has recognized the reasons why these communication breakdowns are occurring and has, or is developing a plan of action to address them. It's very frustrating as a fan because aside from the breakdown this "lack of cohesion" is the Reds' biggest demon right now, but the reasons behind why it's happening are more or less totally a mystery to anyone not actually involved in the Reds organization.

Oh yeah, let's never do that crap with the props again either.

At this point it's looking like the Reds' shopping list for next season may look something like this:

1. Our own iteration of JacPot, this could be Browning but only time is going to reveal that.
2. A gain-line dominating or play-making center. I'm not sure if it matters much whether it is at 12 or 13 but we desperately need either a gain line monster or a slick ball runner/2nd play maker at 13 or 12 respectively. CFS could fill that gain line role and he looked pretty good with ball in hand against the 'Canes so we'll have to see. Harris is quietly having one of his best seasons as far as attack is concerned (and also doing a pretty good job defensively) but without a really demanding threat at 13 he simply doesn't offer enough to keep other teams from just piling the pressure onto Cooper.
3. A 15 that can kick. In my mind, we just simply need one at this point. Harris' kicking out of hand can be pretty dire at times and he just is not fast enough to play 15 either. Lucas doesn't really have the distance on his kick and Toua just can't kick at all. Without a legitimate third kicking option it's just too easy to pressure our kicking axis as opposed to trying to do the same thing to a team like the Brumbies. Maybe we will luck out and the Brums will win the comp this year and we can get Jesse to come back home.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

There's at least one coach in Sydney, albeit tarred with the brush of the dingo, worth considering based on his achievements: Phil Blake.

 

[Ignoto]

How is putting pressure on the coach going to help anyone?
I'm pretty sure he is doing his best.

How does doing your best mean anything? If this is RG at his best then Jesus he need to walk away from coaching rugby because it's just not his thing.

The Reds need to be very careful after this season which is a complete and utter failure. The Broncos are starting to come good again, meaning they'll draw a bigger crowd ie the band wagoners. Then you'll have fans who aren't willing to fork out $500 a season on platinum and something like $800 for Ruby just to watch the Reds lose every match.

It's really starting to look like the Reds of 2008!

 

[twenty seven]

Ed Quirk has had his head down arse up and has worked hard in all games. He has put his body on the line and made some serious tackles to save the Reds. He is building a real engine out on the paddock and never gives up.
Seriously, I have come to admire his tenacity.

 

[Ruggo]

All our back row players are class but the issue to me is they don't balance each other in combination. I don't think they are playing badly but they are just not playing with the attributes we are lacking. The entire Reds pack is formed with high workload grafters but we just need some genuine line benders to balance it out. Given our nature of hard working grafters, we probably can afford to carry an impact player with not such a high work rate.

In the backs, the inside ball runner is still missing. I think we have the options but it looks like it is either not being coached into the game plan or the players are not providing the vision or initiative to deploy it on the paddock.

 

[Ruggo]

If we are going to go for a new coach (which I am starting to think we should), there is one bloke we should be head hunting. He won't come cheap and I don't know when he is off contract but I think he is the bloke that can work wonders with the strengths within our cattle. That man in my view is Wayne Smith.

 

[wamberal]

I do not think it is time for total panic. That Canes side is very good when things go their way. Their backrow in particular were just totally dominant.


Why did Daley and Finger start against a good scrummaging pack?

I was not particularly impressed with the Reds backrow, unlike many others here. Robinson looks busy, but not sure that he actually produces too much. Beef up the backrow, somehow. When is Gill back?

Harris is a plodder, Davies is a defensive liability. Lucas is just too small for full back in today's game.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Im not a robinson fan.
But if not for him last night then mein gott in himmel

 

[Ruggo]

I do not think it is time for total panic. That Canes side is very good when things go their way. Their backrow in particular were just totally dominant.


Why did Daley and Finger start against a good scrummaging pack?

I was not particularly impressed with the Reds backrow, unlike many others here. Robinson looks busy, but not sure that he actually produces too much. Beef up the backrow, somehow. When is Gill back?

Harris is a plodder, Davies is a defensive liability. Lucas is just too small for full back in today's game.

Daley without doubt but why does the myth about Fainga'a's scrum work live on? The evidence just doesn't support it anymore.

 

[Brumby Runner]

All our back row players are class but the issue to me is they don't balance each other in combination. I don't think they are playing badly but they are just not playing with the attributes we are lacking. The entire Reds pack is formed with high workload grafters but we just need some genuine line benders to balance it out. Given our nature of hard working grafters, we probably can afford to carry an impact player with not such a high work rate.

In the backs, the inside ball runner is still missing. I think we have the options but it looks like it is either not being coached into the game plan or the players are not providing the vision or initiative to deploy it on the paddock.

I am not, and never have been a fan of Graham as coach. The decline of the Reds in the past two seasons was forecast by many when he was appointed as Link's successor. However, he is not the whole problem. The playing roster is really below Super standard. Aside from Slipper this year, the pack has had very little to offer in the way of strong, attacking play. The backrow are all toilers but without Gill are not much chop. Why the Reds persist with Rob Simmons is anybody's guess, but my own is that there are no better options available to the coaching staff. EO'D is hardly a Super standard player.

The backline offers very little also now that Will is palying well below his standards. Quade is like a shag on a rock with so little support from his outside backs. I am looking forward to seeing him link with the Brumbies' backline come test time.

Not sure where the solutions to the Reds' problems are. Up and comers like CFS, JJT and Browning still have their shortcomings and again are very similar to the players they will replace.

Apart from replacing Graham and perhaps some of the assistants, the Reds need to go on a recruiting hunt for about 5 or 6 players of Super/International standard to add some size to the forwards and line breaking ability in the backs.

At least, that's the way I see it.

 

[RedsHappy]

If we are going to go for a new coach (which I am starting to think we should), there is one bloke we should be head hunting. He won't come cheap and I don't know when he is off contract but I think he is the bloke that can work wonders with the strengths within our cattle. That man in my view is Wayne Smith.

No question: he would be outstanding. Everywhere he's gone he's improved teams, skills, players. His rugby nous is exceptional. He's also not a big head and never speaks without thoughtful consideration as to what needs saying, and no more.

I think though he's rejected overtures from outside NZ before, and many have understandably come over recent years. He's indicated he prefers to stay within the NZ rugby system and the NZRU has openly supported him in that.

But time changes things. It maybe worth the QRU's while to attempt an approach.

Btw: this type of search for genuinely world class candidates to coach the Reds is precisely what should have happened in 2012 when Link decided he wanted grander vistas and roles.

Instead we had zero apparent structured, rigorous and objective search process, we just picked what we avowedly described as 'a willing tutor' who'd sit at the feet of the triumphant Reds Superior Culture and Great QLD Winning System and gradually absorb its talented ways so they could be replicated once Link left. We used the wrong criteria, the wrong attitude, and deployed the wrong process. The ultimate results we see now should surprise none of us.

Now is the time to have the institutional courage to repair that major blunder. If we emulate the ARU/Deans era of endless years of self-serving excuses for endless fan-destroying mediocrity the economic and fan base damage to the viability basis of the QRU could well be severe and, given the tragic and highly fragile state of the code nationally, potentially irreversible.

 

[RedsHappy]

@ Brumby Runner

You make some excellent points.

Though the problem of endemically bad coaching is that it can deteriorate good and even excellent players as their confidence and self-belief falls away, and simultaneously they receive too little high quality individual developmental coaching re their weak spots, skills development etc.

This all worsens the coaching system's deficient outcomes as it makes individual players look worse than they would be in genuinely well coached systems and team cultures.

Examples for me would be how the new Brums coaching team under White rapidly improved 'ordinary' players from 2012 onwards, and similarly with Link's oversight of the Reds from 2010.

And look too at how Link and McKay gradually but assuredly got QC (Quade Cooper)'s game and individual skills on an impressive upward path throughout 2013's Test season. Observers here and elsewhere were raving about QC (Quade Cooper)'s contributions in almost all of that year's EOYT and too the last 2013 match vs the ABs

I don't disagree with much of your analysis, I just wanted to add this point, which I think is an important dimension of the current Reds decline into utter mediocrity of outcomes.

 

[Ruggo]

I never supported the way Woody was recruited. It was all very public service in my view. None the less, when he had the job it was only fair to see what he could bring before passing judgement. Not to mention having met the man in person, he was a really nice bloke. I didn't want to see him fail. I think we do need to move on now but whoever gets the job needs the same freedoms Link had in late 2009 and 2010 to put his mark on the Reds setup.

 

[Redsfan]

It's hard to disagree with anybody who says that our recruitment was poor for the last couple of seasons. EO'D was probably supposed to be another Van Roller, but that hasn't worked out so well. I'd try to lure back Blair Connor, sign a big overseas 13, and somebody with a kicking game at 15 (maybe look to the islands?).

I'm not sure who I'd cut- nobody is particularly terrible, but the team just doesn't have the right balance. Toua probably needs to be cut adrift, unfortunately. JJ Taulagi doesn't really seem up to it (yet).

As for coach, bring back Phil Mooney!

 

[twenty seven]

It's hard to disagree with anybody who says that our recruitment was poor for the last couple of seasons. EO'D was probably supposed to be another Van Roller, but that hasn't worked out so well. I'd try to lure back Blair Connor, sign a big overseas 13, and somebody with a kicking game at 15 (maybe look to the islands?).

I'm not sure who I'd cut- nobody is particularly terrible, but the team just doesn't have the right balance. Toua probably needs to be cut adrift, unfortunately. JJ Taulagi doesn't really seem up to it (yet).

As for coach, bring back Phil Mooney!

Listening to the commentators during the Reds match - it is the first time I have NEVER heard them claim one of their own; I am referring to JJ Taulagi.