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The one and only Wallaby Coach thread

Wilson

Phil Kearns (64)
I wouldn't see any of Kiss, Cron or Coleman in the mix at the moment. They all need a few years more at Super level to prove themselves. Bernie has the best record and more experience, but I don't want to see him as the whipping boy for all the disappointed Wallaby fans.

Whomever is the chosen one, I would definitely consider Brad Thorn as one of his Assistants. We need to harden the f**k up and he is one tough hombre who could put some much needed backbone into our team.
I can't see Thorn being to keen to get involved in top flight international coaching at the moment, he sounded pretty burnt out when standing down from the Reds.

Far and away the best use for him in Australian rugby at the moment would be the under 20s program. It's where he has gotten the best results in his path and he's perfect for setting standards and instilling professional drive into players just coming onto the scene, without any risk of the burnout that was at least rumoured with his style given players move through the age grade before it becomes too much.
 

Ignoto

Greg Davis (50)
Seeing as were trying to emulate the Irish model and playing the B&I lions so soon, I would be doing everything in my power to get Joe Schmidt.

Ask Twiggy if RA can borrow his plane to fly Joe to and From NZ every week.

McKellar is not the answer yet and Bernie definitely is not it. This current Wallaby team needs someone who has been at the HC level before and is not learning the ropes which this current Australian coaches are.
 

Wilson

Phil Kearns (64)
High performance Director - Friend (knows Nucifora's Irish system pretty well, and I'm assuming Link and Nuci couldn't be convinced to take it)

Wallabies Head Coach - McKellar
Forwards and set piece - Lord Laurie (out of retirement for 2 yrs until 2025)
Attack - Jim McKay
Defense - Toutai Kefu?
For that setup I'd go with:
Forwards - Kefu
Set Piece - Dan Palmer
Defence - Phil Blake maybe?

Maybe bring in a lineout operator as well, possibly Parling who has done good work at the Rebels, but with McKellar, Palmer and Kefu there it would still be well covered.

I'd rather have Laurie involved in RA as a coaching coordinator/helping develop a coaching curriculum, assuming he doesn't just want to completely retire. I'd also be careful leaning too hard into ex-Ireland guys for High Performance, as much as we want to learn from their system we don't want to import it wholesale, we need to build a model that fits our circumstance.
 

The Ghost of Raelene

Simon Poidevin (60)
I can't see Thorn being to keen to get involved in top flight international coaching at the moment, he sounded pretty burnt out when standing down from the Reds.

Far and away the best use for him in Australian rugby at the moment would be the under 20s program. It's where he has gotten the best results in his path and he's perfect for setting standards and instilling professional drive into players just coming onto the scene, without any risk of the burnout that was at least rumoured with his style given players move through the age grade before it becomes too much.
Perfect situation for him.

You are only going to see the same faces for 2 max 3 years so players don't get burnt out. You hear it in College Football in the US that some coaches get a job in the NFL and it's a disaster with how the grind the players who are all individually wealthy adults. Doesn't happen with the College guys because it's only a couple of years and they need to get through it to move to the next level.
 

Tomthumb

Chilla Wilson (44)
These last few pages really highlight the issue with coaching pathways in this country.

For a nation who considers themselves 'Tier 1' we realistically don't have a pool of local coaches who could unequivocally be the right man for the job for the Wallabies.
Most Countries don't to be fair. Wales had to bring back Warren Gatland because they had no local coaches, Scotland's two professional teams are both coached by South Africans, 3 of Ireland's 4 pro teams are coached by Englishmen

NZ, South Africa, France & England may have more options, but that isn't really surprising
 

Tomthumb

Chilla Wilson (44)
Is that the right question?

Lot of moving parts to winning, and no guarantees of success in a different environment.
Certainly not a disqualifier, but a big red flag when it comes to Blackadder as the coach before him won 5 Titles and the coach after him won 7, with him winning nothing
 

noscrumnolife

Bill Watson (15)
Brad Thorn lol, please wake me up and tell me I'm dreaming. 45% win record, got some decent results during COVID and then the team started to go backwards. What has he shown you that makes you think he'd be the path forward for the Wallabies.

Let's show slightly more ambition. Frans Ludeke is a much more interesting hire. We do not need to hire a Super Rugby coach for crying out loud, its a big world. Perhaps a coach who has been at more than one club would be a decent idea.
 

Penriff_boy

Billy Sheehan (19)
Criteria

-Under 65 years old
- 60% winning record
- Honest
- Not egotistical
- Not a bogan
- Ideally a performance based contract
 

HooperPocockSmith

Bill Watson (15)
We need to hire an assistant like Felix Jones. From all reports one of the main innovators in that SA coaching group. Someone that is will to try new things. Unfortunately, he'll be lining up with the Poms.
 

noscrumnolife

Bill Watson (15)
I also like McKellar a lot as a coach. But let's be honest there is a significant risk we could hire Rassie Erasmus, Wayne Smith and Andy Farrell and it would still fail with the way Rugby in this country is.

If he develops into the coach we think he can be, the job will 100% be there for him at some point. Let's not run him out of town now and turn away another good Australian coach.
 
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