You seem determined to hang the shit performance of the Reds around Link's neck. The Reds won the Aussie conference in 2012 despite a pretty shit year, and were second in the Aussie conference (5th overall) in 2013. What more do you want the bloke to do? He's been gone for ages, build a bridge.
Not at all. If you encountered any of my posts here in 2010-12 you'd know how highly and consistently I applauded Link's role in the revival of the Reds, QLD rugby and the QRU's fortunes.
Having believed and said all that, I have always had a rugby and broader interest in how individual triumphs in sport or business are turned into a more systemic, institutionally strong processes that can convert such triumphs into longer term, enduring successes that repeat and ultimately become highly robust organisations that are thus 'built to last' and in fact do last and last well.
The above description could hardly be best used to characterise large tracts of the recent histories of the NSW and QLD RUs.
In the case of Link and the QRU, I am indeed very critical of the degree to which post-2011 these parties went about ensuring that 2011's triumph was converted into a whole system of elite rugby coaching and related internal cultures that were indeed built to last and maintain generally high coaching standards. The QRU was more to blame than Link, but IMO Link still had a key role in this (
others here clearly debate that and hold a different view).
(A btw: yes, in 2012 and 2013 our Reds entered the S15 QFs. But, notably, both against the Sharks and the Crusaders respectively they played poorly, went no further, and were a mere shadow of the dynamic, powerful well-coached skills and team work they displayed throughout 2010-11. Indeed, I'd argue that the Reds' general quality of that 2010-11 period was only ever seen again in a handful of games in 2012 and 2013, namely the wins against the Chiefs and the Tahs in those years.)