Ewen McKenzie - Life after the Reds

[blues recovery]

Jake to the Wallabies, Link to the Rebels . ARU taking over the Rebels need a strong figure head Coach there.
Remember you read it here first when all is announced after Lions Tour

 

[Train Without a Station]

im gunna take a wild guess and assume those of you questioning cheika havnt been watching the waratahs the last five years> any fan i know has seen a massive turnaround in all aspects of play from the the tahs

Yes. You could also have said that about Jake White and Ewan McKenzie halfway through their first seasons at the Brumbies and Reds. They just had more W's.

 

[Bowside]

Jake to the Wallabies, Link to the Rebels . ARU taking over the Rebels need a strong figure head Coach there.
Remember you read it here first when all is announced after Lions Tour

Your opinion on the move?

As a reds fan I'd be happy for the bloke if he got an international gig but to lose him to another super rugby team would be disappointing.

I think he should have been made wallaby coach after the 2011 WC. It might have been too soon but at the time he was the best candidate. This time around I think he deserves it, and although White is also a fine candidate, he wouldn't be my pick as coach.

I am old fashioned in the sense that I see the coaching the wallabies as a representative position - to be given to the best australian coach.

 

[Gnostic]

The issues surround the Coaching job should also bring to mind the issues regarding the ARU's integrity. The non-disclosed performance review, the re-appointment of Deans and JON, the financial performance of the ARU and a few other issues that we have raised in this forum. The persistent rumours surrounding opposition to Link coaching at Wallabies level and the fact that the board has essentially been re-appointed leads me to believe that Link will not be coaching in Australia next year at any level.

I wonder how much of Link's decision was brought about by the actions of the ARU following the Quade Cooper contract issue and the rumoured behind the scenes rubbish that was required to get a deal done for the QRU. That smacks of a lack of integrity again and I know that I wouldn't be hanging around to deal with people I had no faith in.

 

[daz]

As Link says, it is all about the timing. That could also include waiting until there is a board and/or organisational culture in place that appeals to Link.

And if that day never comes and the Wallabies gig becomes available, he will make a decision to either work with the existing board or he won't.

I'm not really worried about who gets the Wallabies gig as long as they are, quite simply, the best person for the job.

 

[daz]

Jake to the Wallabies, Link to the Rebels

FWIW, that is my ideal situation and if I had a vote that counted, that's how I would go.

The chances of this happening are probably remote, but the odds are as good as any other idea floating around right now.

 

[Dan54]

I am old fashioned in the sense that I see the coaching the wallabies as a representative position - to be given to the best australian coach.
Bowside, Today at 1:44 PMReport

I see where you coming from, but the representation doesn't include players ,so I think that is why ARU, IRU, Scots etc are quite happy to have foreign coaches.

 

[Bowside]

I am old fashioned in the sense that I see the coaching the wallabies as a representative position - to be given to the best australian coach.
Bowside, Today at 1:44 PMReport

I see where you coming from, but the representation doesn't include players ,so I think that is why ARU, IRU, Scots etc are quite happy to have foreign coaches.

Whilst your lot won't hire a foreign coach they have no problem with the odd fijian or samoan.

Even if the blokes who play for the wallabies were not born here, they are still choosing the wallabies as their team for life. Its not like they can pick up and go play for another country next season.

 

[Gnostic]

Whilst your lot won't hire a foreign coach they have no problem with the odd fijian or samoan.

Even if the blokes who play for the wallabies were not born here, they are still choosing the wallabies as their team for life. Its not like they can pick up and go play for another country next season.

I wouldn't cast too many stones there Bowside. Illie Tabua played a few tests and returned to Fiji to live and coach. He wasn't the first in our history either. I recall also there was quite a bit of bitterness regarding the selection and the exile of Samo for the years he didn't play for the Wallabies.

 

[Dan54]

Not sure where you coming from there Bowside, all I trying to point out is that if a player is from overseas he is ok to play for Wallabies etc, so why not coach. I personally would have no great probs if NZ had a foreign coach,so long as he the best, we have had Poms and Aussies coach cricket and soccer, and Aus sports have used plenty of foreign coaches without too much problem. Aussie coaches can coach overseas, and players aren't always here for life, I know they can't play for any other country, but you will find players that have come here have wandered off and played overseas when their Wallaby career over.

 

[Braveheart81]

I'd say the biggest reason why the All Blacks don't hire a foreign coach is because they're the best in the world at rugby.

It is exactly the same reason why Aussies coached the majority of the world's cricket teams when we were dominating international cricket and why Australia and most other countries have Russians coaching our gymnasts etc.

The countries that excell at various sports also have plenty of quality coaches.

 

[KevinO]

Wonder who would want to keep it a secret so badly?

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby...ugby-coach-kept-secret-by-sru-chief-1-2920952

 

[RedsHappy]

Wonder who would want to keep it a secret so badly?

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby...ugby-coach-kept-secret-by-sru-chief-1-2920952

Well, if it is Link to Scotland (being unsure as he probably is as to how or when the ARU would choose its next national coach), that is just another reason to add to the twenty five or more big ones why the ARU was utterly stupid and reckless to unambiguously announce that Deans would have his contract held intact until the end of 2013 irrespective of Wallaby results obtained this year.

 

[Jets]

I think the Deans decision is a financial one. He would be getting paid big $$$ and it would cost Pulver quite a bit to pay him out. Better to wait until the contract is done and hire someone new. It's not like people aren't going to go to the Lions games because of the coach.

I hope McKenzie isn't going to Scotland. I think Wayne Smith would be a much better option for them.

 

[RedsHappy]

BTW, and I am entirely speculating, but I would be surprised if Jim McKay was not a serious potential candidate for SRU Head Coach.

He has much NH experience, he's been with the Reds some time with much success in a crucial element of the modern game (although tapering somewhat in 2013) and would be seen favourably by a 2nd tier rugby nation that knows it may struggle to obtain the cream of global coaching talent.

Scotland would be a clear career path risk for Link - it lacks a really solid player development factory and cannot import outside nationality rules. Improvements rather than championship breakthroughs may be the natural limit to any new head coach working in Scotland's particular conditions.

 

[RedsHappy]

I think the Deans decision is a financial one. He would be getting paid big $$$ and it would cost Pulver quite a bit to pay him out. Better to wait until the contract is done and hire someone new. It's not like people aren't going to go to the Lions games because of the coach.

I hope McKenzie isn't going to Scotland. I think Wayne Smith would be a much better option for them.

Jets, you may well be right, and I have speculated similarly elsewhere in GAGR threads. But such reason would still potentially yield up an almighty blunder. One or the many BIG reasons why: assuming Deans is not renewed, if no new Wallaby coach is picked until, say, December 2013, he can only meaningfully take over the Wallaby squad in about June 2014. This provides him with no more than 1.25 Test seasons to design and develop a Wallaby squad for RWC 2015 that commences in September 2015. Especially for a new coach with new methods, coaching team, selection thinking, etc, this is way less than an ideal lead-in period to a RWC, where IMO 2 full seasons of team oversight is the minimum best suited to optimising for RWC performance.

Hence, if Deans contract was to be extended as it was in early 2011, Deans' contract termination point, or formal contract review process, should have been no later then the immediate end of the BIL tour so that any new coach could have commenced as soon a practical thereafter. As Deans' performance faltered in 2009/10, the ARU re-designed all his prior KPIs to then obsess over the 'crucial development pathway to RWC 2011' that all this mediocrity was supposedly designed to presage.

When it came to Deans' 2011 contract renewal and the related thinking through carefully the 'crucial development pathway' to RWC 2015, all the considerations of key continuity and long preparation periods for the national coach that were deemed so essential in 2009/10 seem to have been entirely forgotten.

 

[Jets]

I'm with you on this on RedsHappy, I think he needs to go sooner rather than later. I think it would be great to have a new coach for the end of year tour, that's how long McQueen took to turn the team into World Champions. I just can't see him going sooner.

 

[Troy]

If Robbie is going to get the boot, I would be very surprised if it doesn't happen after the BIL, irrespective of what the ARU has said. If he stays to the end of 2013 I can see him being extended until RWC 2015!

 

[kiap]

if no new Wallaby coach is picked until, say, December 2013, he can only meaningfully take over the Wallaby squad in about June 2014. This provides him with no more than 1.25 Test seasons to design and develop a Wallaby squad for RWC 2015

Yep, not good.

I think the Deans decision is a financial one. He would be getting paid big $$$ and it would cost Pulver quite a bit to pay him out. Better to wait until the contract is done and hire someone new.

On the other hand, the closer the end of the contract becomes, the smaller the required payout. Do it after the RC with 3 months left. Probably the $150 to $200k or whatever would be worth it.

 

[daz]

One small matter. The ARU has no cash right now, and Mr Pulver could not afford to catch a bus to Manly with ARU funds.

After the Lions it will be a different story; they will be cashed up and be able to finacially afford to make any changes required.

If I had to guess (and this hasn't been done to death much over the years) but I would say that Deans will run the Lions tour and (unless we get smashed 3-0) the RC as well. The EOYT will be the next guys first gig.