Reds 2017

[No4918]

Happy with Stiles (or maybe it's just relief this is all over). While the global search found another coach under a rock in the car park I'm glad they didn't find the rock MOC was under as he failed all his areas of responsibility. Stiles will need good assistants as any coach at this level does. I'm happy if he continues to look after the set piece and think he has the management nous to pull the rest of the coaching team and players together.

Hopefully Cooper is now secured in the next few days in time for a membership drive on the back of two big announcements.

 

[Train Without a Station]

I do wonder if Blackadder's coaching ability has been overrated here.

Perusal of a few Veitchy on Sport posts shows not a lot of love for him over the Tasman.

Beyond that we have the fact that he has come out publicly in the past and said he struggles to manage his All Blacks/coach a team with them in it, and the fact that the Crusaders machine did regress under his stewardship.

For all the "Ballymore" car park comments, between that and the rumor Reg posted, if Blackadder was the most outstanding candidate, perhaps the candidates were not actually that outstanding.

 

[Thinker]

I wrote a long rant about the appointment but want t move forward as much as possible as they will be getting my cash no matter what.

I will say this

Stiles was certainly not the worst candidate on that list, but certainly not the best.

I half wonder if Stiles is a controllable selection for Herbert and Cordingley who seem to have appointed themselves the Messiahs of QLD Rugby, despite their efforts doing everything to reduce it to what we see now. A Lancaster, Blackadder and possibly Taylor type would have wanted more control on operations and list management I would assume.

All other candidates will walk into head coaching gigs elsewhere (or Test level assistants). This was really it in the short-term for Stiles, there are no other short term options anywhere near this level for him. HC here (or Japan) or assistant in Europe maybe. He understands the way Herbert and Cordingley run things. This is not a good way to be. The coach needs control and most importantly, needs to have earnt that control. We have neither.

Given our terrible on-field results, poor list building and retention, and awful (soon to be catastrophic) financial performance, why are these guys given a free pass?

Failure to sign Cooper would be a catastrophic failure by all involved as would his signing and failure to win Aussie conference next year. You don't sign Moore and Smith to come third.

 

[gel]

I don't know about Stiles as HC of a super rugby team so am not disappointed in him being given the nod as such.

Stiles' appointment does not give an immediate answer to whether the QRU have learned anything or not. He might well be the right guy for the gig, but he could well be the beneficiary of the usual ineptitude that comes from the QRU. The ARU involvement could have given clear evidence to support his selection, or been given no more than a cursory glance by the QRU.

There is no evidence yet that the QRU have learned anything at all.

Appointing someone else outside of Ballymore would at least give an immediate indicator.

 

[Scrubber2050]

I just hope that if Stiles is appointed and failure follows him he is only signed for 1 year so the "world wide" search can continue.

Reds had a great opportunity to clean broom the place but it seems to be just more of the same coming.

I HOPE I'm wrong and the bloke, if appointed, does exceptionally well - for the good of the Reds.

 

[Simon.]

Well, there were three nominally independent members of the panel so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

One area Stiles clearly does qualify for HC is in team culture, which is possibly the single biggest attribute a HC can bring to a team, and what RG just couldn't do.

My biggest concern now is who will be coaching the backs, attack, defence and skills.

 

[Scrubber2050]

Well, there were three nominally independent members of the panel so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

One area Stiles clearly does qualify for HC is in team culture, which is possibly the single biggest attribute a HC can bring to a team, and what RG just couldn't do.

My biggest concern now is who will be coaching the backs, attack, defence and skills.

High profile successful coaches attract quality assistants

That may mot be the case with Stiles.

Time will tell.

 

[dru]

I keep checking the Reds site. Nothing. Get on with it boys.

 

[RugbyReg]

I keep checking the Reds site. Nothing. Get on with it boys.

normally the media would get an FYI that an announcement is about to happen (probably 24 hours before). Nothing has arrived at this stage.

 

[dru]

Bugger.

 

[No4918]

The tweet from Tucker only says it is expected to be announced this week.

 

[Beer Baron]

From Mondays News' comments - Digby to Crusaders.

doesn't bother me - he was past his best in his last season (still valuable thought) - and the current game plan would have him doing nothing (e.g. he isn't Samu Kerevi).

 

[Thinker]

Stiles record as a Super rugby assistant.

Reds were ranked 2nd in both scrum and lineout the year before his arrival.




Year Position Winning % Scrum Rank Lineout Rank
2011 12th 31% N/A N/A
2012 14th 19% N/A N/A
2013* 13th 25% 11th 14th
2014 13th 31% 3rd 5th
2015 13th 25% 11th 1st
2016* 15th 20% 7th 3rd
* Indicates Head Coach Responsibilities

To clarify, this is Stiles record at the Force (2011-2013) and Reds (2014-2016).

 

[Train Without a Station]

Thinker, Stiles first season as a coach with the Reds was 2014.

By your list their scrum rank when from 11th prior to 3rd, and line out 14th prior to 5th.

 

[dru]

Some interesting snippets here:

According to this the list of 7 was Gibbes, Blackadder, Lancaster, Meyer, Mulvihill, Stiles, MOC.

So neither Taylor nor Fisher applied.

 

[Jets]

Good luck to Stiles. Lets hope he can turn things around.

 

[Strewthcobber]

According to this the list of 7 was Gibbes, Blackadder, Lancaster, Meyer, Mulvihill, Stiles, MOC.

So neither Taylor nor Fisher applied.

Didn't apply, or didn't make the short list?

 

[dru]

Didn't apply, or didn't make the short list?

Ah. Makes sense. Fisher has stated that he told them he wasnt interested once he "became aware how drawn out the process was" (or some such).

 

[Thinker]

Thinker, Stiles first season as a coach with the Reds was 2014.

By your list their scrum rank when from 11th prior to 3rd, and line out 14th prior to 5th.

Those are the Force stats, it's Stile's record, not the Reds.

In 2013 Reds were 2nd and 2nd

 

[Thinker]

High profile successful coaches attract quality assistants

That may mot be the case with Stiles.

Time will tell.

This is a great point.

Had say a Lancaster type got the role, the calibre of assistants would be higher.

A rookie head coach with a poor record won't attract quality offsiders in the way an experienced coach would. More last-chance saloon guys like MOC or rushed/inexperienced like a Gilmore.