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Andy Friend Sacked!

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louie

Desmond Connor (43)
Pretty easy.

After tonights loss the only thing that will give Rea any cred is to step down and let Bernie in. At least they scored 4 tries tonight!

bernie as has three games as a coach. and so far all the brumbies can do is one out running. Bernie being head coach is very bad idea.

All i can say is the burmbies players got what hey wanted and tonight they got what they deserved. This wouldn't have happened last year under friend.... well it didn't. they killed the reds.
 
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floater

Guest
What was he doing in Japan, I doubt he was just playing.

I don't totally disagree, except a good coach does not need years of top line work, especially a former player who understands the workings.

Disagree with the attack, I liked Giteau until tonight, he needs to go, Coleman was much better and at least staightened. If Git stays, he needs the C removed. He is not a leader.

And if Rea did not wreck a TV a door or broke a hand, he should move on too.
 

Cutter

Nicholas Shehadie (39)
bernie as has three games as a coach. and so far all the brumbies can do is one out running. Bernie being head coach is very bad idea.

All i can say is the burmbies players got what hey wanted and tonight they got what they deserved. This wouldn't have happened last year under friend.... well it didn't. they killed the reds.

It takes more than a few weeks, or even months, to make an impression as a coach. It sounds as though I'm a Larkham cheerleader. I'm not, its just that I think he deserves an opportunity to succeed or fail. And, even if all previous top level backs have failed as top coaches (which they haven't), that doesn't mean Larkham will.
 
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territorian

Guest
I meant Alan, not Eddie, Naza. AJ was a considerably more successful coach than Eddie. So that's two out of three who didn't play top level footy. According to the info I have here on MacQueen, he played Sydney first grade (173 games) for Warringah and Eastwood and played *some* games for a Sydney rep team and the Australian Barbarians.
So no, our top coaches never played top level footy. I stand by my statement.

Didn't Alan Jones win a Blue at Oxford for Rugby???
 

Italian Stallion

Stan Wickham (3)
What was he doing in Japan, I doubt he was just playing.

I don't totally disagree, except a good coach does not need years of top line work, especially a former player who understands the workings.

Disagree with the attack, I liked Giteau until tonight, he needs to go, Coleman was much better and at least staightened. If Git stays, he needs the C removed. He is not a leader.

And if Rea did not wreck a TV a door or broke a hand, he should move on too.

Disagree, you need more than being a good player to be a good coach, at least some sort of base to work with, Bernie as great a player he is, would not know thefirst thing about running a full team...the planning etc...he needs to do his time and then see what happens...all good being an assistant, you only have one focus, a Head Coach has to oversee everything....The Brumbies got what they deserved.....and will continue too during the year.....should be a good game of Cricket next weekend against the Crusaders...I can see the Crusaders doing to the Brumbies what they did to the Tahs a few years back....
 
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territorian

Guest
The problem is, Giteau comes with an aura, albeit a false one and any coach is going to be very scared / careful / circumspect about being the first to drop him.
Deans did and credit to him.
As soon as whoever runs the Brumbies grows a pair and sends Giteau to the bench without regard for the possible media fallout, the sooner the Brumbies and Giteau can start the road to recovery, but it will NEVER happen so long as Giteau thinks his position is sacrosanct. That arrogance has cost us tests and now it is costing the ponies.

My prediction is that as soon as Giteau resides on a S15 bench his own slide to obscurity will be under way. There are players in sub district who are showing better skills than him right now. He is no longer a gifted player, he is a noose around the neck of whatever team for which he plays.

And no one has mentioned the 30m crab he did on saturday night and then got lost. Stupid commentators praised him for looking for support when it was him who got isolated in the first place. Good riddance.
 

Refabit

Darby Loudon (17)
How's this for a coincidence? Last week on the very day Friend got sacked I'm reading the Mario Fenech biography written by his brother (bear with me) and I am up to the part where he's just changed rugby league clubs (1990). Of course he wants to be hooker and captain at his new club (North Sydney) - a position held by Tony Rea. I turn on the news and who are they announcing as the new Brumby coach but the ex rugby league man himself (Rea not Mario). Nearly fell off my chair.
As an aside, the next year Rea breaks his leg, there's a player revolt and the coach is forced to resign! North Sydney does not go on to win the Premiership.
 

MrMouse

Bob Loudon (25)
Disagree, you need more than being a good player to be a good coach, at least some sort of base to work with, Bernie as great a player he is, would not know thefirst thing about running a full team...the planning etc...he needs to do his time and then see what happens...all good being an assistant, you only have one focus, a Head Coach has to oversee everything....The Brumbies got what they deserved.....and will continue too during the year.....should be a good game of Cricket next weekend against the Crusaders...I can see the Crusaders doing to the Brumbies what they did to the Tahs a few years back....

Don't worry too much. For all that the Tahs weren't at their best, the Saders game was pretty physical and will have taken one heck of a toll emotionally. You couldn't get a better chance against the Saders, imo. You just never know...
 
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floater

Guest
What does make a good coach? Many things, and at Brumbies an insider, is likely to help.

With the playing experience Larkham has had with a range of coaches over many tours, perhaps that has molded him already.

Rod Macqueen was 41 when started at Waratahs, after 5 seasons of grade

Wayne Bennett was 37 at the Raiders, grade cap/coach at 26

The exposure as a professional player and 10 years with the National team, could equate to much of what others had during amateur times.

How good a coach is at the start, isn't always known until they have done a few seasons. Who's to say he can't coach, at the Brumbies, probably the players.

Why else would Rea have the job, there is a plan there.

Rea was 34 when he took on the London Broncos after being a CEO. Now he is a Super 15 Head Coach, does he really know more about Rugby than Bernie?

Is he a better manager, perhaps.

Who will be the Brumbies next coach, does he need to already have Brumby membership?
 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
A coaches role has changed a bit in the pro era. They are more managers than coaches these days. Take a look at the Brumbies box on the weekend, from memory I counted five blokes in there and that was without Andy Friend. Each part of the game has become more specialised and the head coach has less to do with the day-to-day technical aspects of the game. Much like most modern companies, really. Our MD doesn't involve himself in day-to-day ops and focusses (rightly) on strategy and aspects of execution. The nuts and bolts of delivering on each part of the strategy are left up to the divisional managers (i.e. specialist coaches).
 

Brumby Jack

Steve Williams (59)
Digging this thread up to show Andy Friends first public response sine it all unfolded.

From the Canberra Times

Former ACT Brumbies coach Andy Friend says it was a ''dishonest'' organisation that led to his downfall and described the final two weeks of his tenure as an ''absolute farce''.

And Friend warned incoming Brumbies mentor Jake White to immediately make it clear that he was the boss over the playing group.

The Brumbies finished a horror Super Rugby season last weekend when they were beaten 41-7 by the NSW Waratahs at ANZ Stadium.

Having stayed silent since the day of his sacking, Friend opened up yesterday in interviews on ABC radio and with The Canberra Times as he launched his charity bike ride from Cooktown to Canberra.

He was damning of the way his sacking was handled after he lost the support of senior players and ultimately the club board.

''The last two weeks [of his time as coach] were an absolute farce. For all of that to be lumped on your lap showed a complete lack of trust and character from the people who did that,'' Friend said. ''I go to bed every single night comfortable with who I am and have a tremendous sleep. I'm sure there are people that work in that organisation who would struggle to do that.''

The Brumbies suffered their worst ever Super Rugby campaign following Friend's departure.

They won just four of their 16 games. Had it not been for a small late-season revival where they beat the top-of-the-table Queensland Reds and bottom-placed Melbourne Rebels the year would have looked a lot worse.

Tony Rea took over the reins in Friend's absence. But the change in coach didn't change the team's fortunes as it battled its way to 13th on the ladder.

Friend supported Rea's brutally honest assessment of the club after the loss to the Johannesburg Lions in May in which Rea said his players had no fight and questioned the squad and administration, which is led by long-time chief executive Andrew Fagan.

''What you find in dishonest organisations like those is they'll hose down everything if they can,'' Friend said.

''People in positions that had some authority needed to be stronger than what they were. To make any business relationship or sporting team successful, you need strong people to make tough decisions.''

Fagan did not want to be drawn into a war of words with Friend, but stood by his decision and said the change in the coaching ranks was needed for the club to move forward.

''Andy is entitled to his opinion, we've moved on and I don't think it's healthy or appropriate to debate this in public,'' Fagan said.

''Those involved in the club over the past few years know the issues that existed, the conversations that took place and the changes that were required to help the Brumbies present the best rugby program in the country.

''We've moved on, we have appointed a world class head coach in Jake White who is tremendously excited about working with this club.''

Former World Cup-winning coach White will arrive in Canberra next month to start rebuilding the two-time Super Rugby champions.

White will have to do it with a rising group of young players with the club concentrating on building a successful team during his four-year tenure.

The high involvement of senior players was perceived to have contributed to Friend's axing.

Friend said he encouraged players to be involved in the team's decision making, but he regretted some of the choices he made.

''When you sit back and look at it I have to take some responsibility there [for what happened],'' Friend said. ''There are definitely some things that, if I had my time again, I would have done differently.

''There are certain people that I put in positions of trust that I wouldn't do ... There are certain things I did in terms of the way I tried to get the group functioning, that if I knew what I know now, I wouldn't have done those things.

''But the day I got sacked, I moved on with it.''

And his advice to White is simple.

''The Brumbies have been known for having player input and I'm actually a supporter of it.

''I think you need your senior players involved, but at the end of the day the buck has to stop with the coach and the players need to realise that.

''As long as that line is not crossed for Jake, he's going to have a tremendous time.

''But he needs to get it sorted ... I was more than happy to involve players in decisions in an open and honest way.

''But I don't believe that open honesty went both ways ... that has happened, we're moving on from it.''
 

Ruggo

Mark Ella (57)
Full credit to Andy Friend for not telling his side of the story until end of season. The bloke has shown nothing but integrity. He also acknowledged his faults.

Fagan on the other hand seems to have his head up his back side. How you can try and justify sacking a coach on the final year of his contract in round two of the season is beyond me. :angryfire:
 
A

antipodean

Guest
The criticism I heard is that Andy wasn't "involved" as a coach - he did practically everything through intermediaries, his assistant coaches. This can only have assisted senior players in their mutiny. Leadership doesn't like a vacuum.
 

Empire

Syd Malcolm (24)
A link to the interview with Andy Friend on ABC grandstand is here: http://www.abc.net.au/sport/audio/2011/06/21/3249232.htm?site=canberra&section=news

I agree with point he makes about community engagement - or the lack of it. The local clubs are meeting with the Brumbies tonight to discuss funding. Not sure on how this will go down, with the Brumbies looking at a loss financially for the year.

It'd be great if they could improve the standard of rugby in the John I Dent Cup by supporting the clubs and having all academy players and excess squad members play locally rather than sending them all up to Sydney.
 

Slim 293

Stirling Mortlock (74)
The criticism I heard is that Andy wasn't "involved" as a coach - he did practically everything through intermediaries, his assistant coaches. This can only have assisted senior players in their mutiny. Leadership doesn't like a vacuum.

I was under the impression that this didn't start to occur until the period leading to his downfall...
 
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