Coaching Options for Qld Rugby

[Ash]

Yet somehow no mention of Steve Meehan's attack coach position. What has Meehan been doing since he started?

The two coaches that it appears need to go are Graham and Meehan. The S&C staff hadn't done particularly well either judging by the amount of injuries and lack of fitness last year, but they're now gone.

I worry about Graham blaming everyone around him (bar Meehan?), and somehow getting away with it. There's been a lot of excuses thrown around the Reds, but to me it appears the Reds gameplans and coaching has just been very subpar.

 

[RedsHappy]

I am very surprised at the number of suggestions that appear here that have the Reds appointing coaches that have not been in any way proven as head coaches at the top of the Super tree, or higher, or the international equivalent.

What has demonstrably worked in improving the fortunes of under performing but high-potential Aus Super teams in recent years: well, it's only the following and IMO the pattern is clear enough:

- Link: got the Tahs to two Finals, built excellent support coaching group at the Reds 2010-11
- White: RWC winning head coach, ditto at the Brumbies 2012-13
- Cheika: outstanding track record at Super-equivalent level in Europe, ditto at the Tahs 2013-14

The Reds/QRU must not opt for 'learning on the job' experiments and the promotion of unproven assistants, etc. They need to adhere to the only patterns of experience, seniority and proven past results that in aggregate have worked to significantly improve Australian Super teams in recent years.

 

[Bairdy]

Who are these 'learned', proven coaches, primed and ready to be appointed, pray tell? Brian Smith is the only one that comes to mind.

 

[RugbyReg]

Well, my eye was drawn to the fact that Carmichael refers to 'the overhaul' looking at potential issues with the Assistant coaches, e.g. in defence and set-piece etc. Markedly, there is no mention of head coach review. And it's not quite clear what the overhaul means in precise terms. Everyone knows that the Reds S&C staff have had some kind of blue with RG (as you mention above, only in that they're leaving, or have been asked to leave, all of which is 'unfortunate' mid-season, to say the least).

I quote below most of the article in today's The Australian re 'the Reds high-performance unit overhaul'. The predominant mention of the assistants much reminds me of the infamous 'independent and transparent review that we'll release to the public' that JO'N offered up in an anxious state immediately after the Deans-led RWC 2011 debacle. That ended up with: Deans unscathed and uncriticised, the assistants dismissed and new ones appointed (chosen by Nucifora), the review was all done by ex-Wallabies on the ARU board involved with Deans' 2011 contract extension, and the report was never published in any form. Robust rugby analysis, done the Australian way.

mate I assume you purposely missed out on the bit in the article where it states that "We have a high-performance department that is well-resourced but we have to look across it at all levels. "


Anyway, good to have you back RH, at our hour of need.

 

[RedsHappy]

Yet somehow no mention of Steve Meehan's attack coach position. What has Meehan been doing since he started?

The two coaches that it appears need to go are Graham and Meehan. The S&C staff hadn't done particularly well either judging by the amount of injuries and lack of fitness last year, but they're now gone.

I worry about Graham blaming everyone around him (bar Meehan?), and somehow getting away with it. There's been a lot of excuses thrown around the Reds, but to me it appears the Reds gameplans and coaching has just been very subpar.

Yes Ash, Meehan never seems to get mentioned. He has the backs/attack role/strategy but in 2014 and 2015, there's been zero evidence of any competency from him. (Minor aside: I have it on good authority that late last year Meehan was wondering the Reds' corridors anxiously telling people 'don't blame the poor Reds attack plans etc on me, they're RG's ideas.')

Graham is clearly aiming for a Deans-like post-RWC Houdini escape from blame. And obviously he's excellent at 'upwards management': he escaped sanction for last year's season horror show by blaming 'serious squad weaknesses that went uncorrected for too long post-2011', even though he was actively involved in squad and recruitment management from early 2013. This year and now it's the 'vast number of Super rugby years of experience I've lost through injury and on top there's the KH issue'. Rather like Deans got away with it for so long despite obvious serious failings, RG may yet survive using these types of arguments, no matter how utterly incredible (or highly misleading) they seem to us paying customers.

These sorts of excuses work when, despite all the massive accumulated evidence, the elites at the very top themselves are either insufficiently self-evaluating as to their key decisions, and/or their collective egos have grown so vast that mistakes cannot be faced and honestly admitted to, and quickly dealt with.

 

[Thinker]

The S&C staff hadn't done particularly well either judging by the amount of injuries and lack of fitness last year, but they're now gone.

????

 

[RedsHappy]

mate I assume you purposely missed out on the bit in the article where it states that "We have a high-performance department that is well-resourced but we have to look across it at all levels. "


Anyway, good to have you back RH, at our hour of need.

No, not purposely at all RR, and that text you note above, it's in the quoted text above I listed from the full article so I was not hiding it from readers here. I guess I didn't refer to it as it seemed so vague - I mean, is RG in the 'high-performance unit'? I've not seen too much reference to this 'unit' or 'department' in Reds PR or general dialogue to date. What is the difference between this unit and the overall Reds coaching and S&C group, genuine question, I don't know.

 

[Ash]

????

They've quit, although they don't finish for another few weeks yet. It's been talked about in other threads.

 

[Ash]

If the Reds do cop the likely pasting from the Brumbies next week, the best thing the QRU board can do is sack Graham immediately, allowing a caretaker / interim coach the bye week to get things settled, then an easier game vs the Lions to start off with.

 

[Thinker]

They've quit, although they don't finish for another few weeks yet. It's been talked about in other threads.

Has it been confirmed anywhere or is it still assumed based on a cryptic @gagr tweet?

Seems odd given the arrogance to just walk out on a team mid-season, unless there are visa issues.

Firing a coach is one thing, but a coach walking out on a team mid-season (or anytime after the pre-season has begun really for that matter) is a real low act.

 

[TheBigDog]

I'd like to see the QRU do something unorthodox and hire a young coach with little or no experience as the Head coach of a professional franchise.

I'm sick of hearing excuses from established coaches (RG in this case) about how their game plans etc are all good but the players aren't doing their jobs or things aren't going right. These guys get too interested in protecting their own legacy's than actually coaching a team the way they should be. I know I'm casting a wide net here but there are many established coaches who can only coach teams in ways which align with their own coaching philosophy. As we've seen with RG (and Meehan) at the Reds, clearly his style hasn't meshed well with this group.

Give one of the QPR head coaches (my preference would be Mathison) a one year contract and tell them to just have a crack. There is a squad full of young talent, especially in the backs, who are sticking around at least until the end of 2016 and should be cutting defenses to pieces. Let someone with a totally clean slate come in and see what happens. It might fail, it might not. I don't really care at this stage because at least it'll be better to watch than the current Reds gameplay.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

How about trying to land Adrian Thompson after the Under 20's campaign at Jnr RWC in Italy?

He's from QLD, and seems to be acceptable to the Mandarins in St Leonards.

Seems to be able to cobble a team together from disparate locations and teach them to execute some semblance of a game plane.

Can the QRU wait until after the Under 20's are finished, and (more importantly) would Adrian actually want the job?

 

[qwerty51]

How about no. Cannot afford the u20s going backwards.

 

[TOCC]

No, not purposely at all RR, and that text you note above, it's in the quoted text above I listed from the full article so I was not hiding it from readers here. I guess I didn't refer to it as it seemed so vague - I mean, is RG in the 'high-performance unit'? I've not seen too much reference to this 'unit' or 'department' in Reds PR or general dialogue to date. What is the difference between this unit and the overall Reds coaching and S&C group, genuine question, I don't know.

High Performance unit is everything for the Reds, coaches, staff, players etc...
S&C falls under this and so does Richard Graham


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[biggsy]

After reading todays GNGR daily news, RG Still thinks he's the man for the Job and if the powers above think so its not looking good.
They should now start planning for next year. As much as I love the Reds, there just making up numbers for the super rugby comp with the way there playing.

 

[BDA]

This might be a stupid question, but what about Graham Henry? I had thought we was working as a consultant for the Pumas but might end after the world cup? He'd certainly get the Queensland faithful believing, and might see us retain some players.

 

[RedsHappy]

High Performance unit is everything for the Reds, classes, staff, players etc.
S&C falls under this and so does Richard Graham

Thanks TOCC. It will surely be intriguing to see how this 'overhaul' progresses, who conducts it, when it finishes and what it yields. I would have thought that, given the rich data from the Reds' 2014 and 2015 seasons, the essential analysis could be completed in 15 minutes, with the determining of new positions and other precise changes taking longer of course.

Please forgive my cynicism, but I do hope 'the overhaul' is not merely a sop to the fans just when JC is under major pressure and 'has to assure us something is being done'.

 

[RugbyReg]

he's kinda tied up to the Gold Coast Titans.

But if you mean Sir Graham Henry....then colour me pickled by that idea!

 

[Hugh Jarse]

"Only when you are looking from the inside can you look deeper beneath the surface" says RG.

When did Robbie Deans get appointed speechwriter for the Reds?

 

[RugbyReg]

Thanks TOCC. It will surely be intriguing to see how this 'overhaul' progresses, who conducts it, when it finishes and what it yields. I would have thought that, given the rich data from the Reds' 2014 and 2015 seasons, the essential analysis could be completed in 15 minutes, with the determining of new positions and other precise changes taking longer of course.

Please forgive my cynicism, but I do hope 'the overhaul' is not merely a sop to the fans just when JC is under major pressure and 'has to assure us something is being done'.

don't be confused by the sub-editor's wording. It's the media calling it an 'overhaul'. Read JC's quotes in the article and he says they are having a look at the high performance dept. It will be a review, with hopefully some action, but I just want to make sure you manage your expectations.

I haven't seen the QRU refer to it as a 'overhaul' just yet.