Ewen McKenzie Resignation

[Paradox]

I don't believe Link's demise is a Tah conspiracy. I do believe some grubs in Sydney were behind the smear campaign and that some players did not support Link. My barometer for this issue is Phil Kearns who is a big Tah supporter but he is disgusted with Link's treatment and appears to be genuinely shocked.

 

[It is what it is]

For years Munster used to bully and bitch Leinster in the forwards in big games.
When Cheika took on Leinster, one of his first priorities was to put some steel, aggression and belief into his pack.
Leinster soon won a Heineken Cup and haven't looked back since.
You don't win a Heineken Cup without proficiency in your set pieces.

 

[I like to watch]

I don't believe Link's demise is a Tah conspiracy. I do believe some grubs in Sydney were behind the smear campaign and that some players did not support Link. My barometer for this issue is Phil Kearns who is a big Tah supporter but he is disgusted with Link's treatment and appears to be genuinely shocked.

Get a new barometer.

 

[Train Without a Station]

You can't recruit players into a national team to rectify deficiencies either

 

[redveincheese]

I really do not understand the comments made here and elsewhere about perceived state ( or franchise) bias.


Link was brought up in Victoria and played rugby at Scotch College.

He played senior rugby for Randwick, represented the state and his country.


He moved on to the Brumbies. He became an assistant coach for the Wallabies, was apparently offered the head coach gig but rejected it because he did not feel he was ready for it.


He coached in France.

He coached the Tahs.

Finally, and I am sure I have missed some of his rugby career, he coached the Reds.

Given that background, why on earth would he have had a bias for or against any province? As a professional coach he is judged by results on and to some extent off the field, just as Jake White or Michael Cheika are and would be.

Personally I am disappointed that he chose to walk out on his national team responsibilities, at such short notice. It does not say much for his strength of character.

Questioning someones character without knowing the full facts and motivations behind a decision is fraught with danger. We have been subjected to a malaise of innuendo and "exclusives' from unknown sources for the last 2 weeks. There has obviously been an agenda being driven from those that want change, who ever they may be.
Being purely hypothetical here, I would not want to work with any person/persons that propagated rumours of any sought, especially rumours that may have serious consequences in my personal life away from that workplace. Self respect and dignity are very hard to regain if lost, and their importance to some people is paramount. And yes, they are more important than than the Wallabies.

 

[Bullrush]

Just watched the McKenzie resignation presser......wow.....

Sounds like the ARU is FAAAAARRRRRRKED!! And Ewen sounded well unimpressed with his former employers.

I still think the players are bitches. I don't care if Hooper is the captain, there are established guys like Horwill, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), Slipper, Kepu etc in that side who SHOULD have taken some control over the dickheads and shown some maturity and leadership and tell these punk-asses to take a long hard look in the mirror and think about what it means to be a Wallaby.

Ewen should have announced a whole new fucken team at that presser and then made Pulver (or whoever is pulling the strings) to hold their own presser to fire him for doing it.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Bollocks.
None of the decisions about who played 10, choice of captain, business manager etc were decisions that should lead to his resignation - the decisions were his right as coach.
His departure was all to do with the aftermath of a puerile attempt at humour by a serial offender who by his own admission does dumb stuff without thinking..

It's not the incident that itself that has forced the resignation, but how it was handled.

- Ewan had freedom of choice over staff and set up within budget constraints all organisations face, his management team he runs it.
- I do find it hard to believe he did not know about the matter in June
- Disciplinary action needed to take place in June, no confusion then amongst the players.
- having the CEO conduct an investigation (by a District Court Judge) four months down the track, is more about what happened after the event. If it was just about a stupid puerile text, the ARU would have just brought in the
Deputy Principal from St Leonard's Primary School to investigate it, and rule a line thru KB (Kurtley Beale)'s Wallaby career
- the confusion for the players then is who runs the show the Team management or Pulver

Whilst It is an unfortunate end for a coach, and the whole episode reflects poorly on many people, McKenzie is not without fault in his downfall. So please don't paint it in simplistic terms, glossing over other short comings as some kind of Waratahs conspiracy.

 

[Quick Hands]

The hard part maybe the budget for resources.
Whatever structure and people the new coach needs may not be affordable.
Looks like they are already facing a few payouts on existing staff, but most successful coaches in leading professional sports bring in their own people and have a strong say in structure.

And at the moment the ARU are in a very weak negotiating position. Any prospective coach is in a great position to make demands.

 

[Ulrich]

IIRC he's a Saffer.

Born in England, bred here for the most part.

 

[Quick Hands]

In short I was pretty disgusted with the media's treatment of Link.

All codes have their troubles with player behaviour at times and this was about just one player - not a group of players - no one made Beale send the text - it was him alone. Yet link has been crucified by the media.

Total disgrace by the media in the crucification of someone who is a noble man and man of integrity and good coach to boot.

He was hardly in the position of having his position under threat..only the media suggested this rubbish.

Pulver was right to be disgusted by the media on this as any rugby fan should be..

I think Pulver's role in this whole mess needs greater scrutiny. It's all very well to make sanctimonious statements at press conferences, but what actual support - moral and organisational - did he give the coach over the past couple of weeks?

I found it quite instructive that Link didn't thank Pulver for his support.

 

[Gnostic]

In short I was pretty disgusted with the media's treatment of Link.

All codes have their troubles with player behaviour at times and this was about just one player - not a group of players - no one made Beale send the text - it was him alone. Yet link has been crucified by the media.

Total disgrace by the media in the crucification of someone who is a noble man and man of integrity and good coach to boot.

He was hardly in the position of having his position under threat..only the media suggested this rubbish.

Pulver was right to be disgusted by the media on this as any rugby fan should be..

This is a cop out. Pulver is not taking the required responsibility here, and to be fair to him in inherited the "toxic" brew that is head office, but he is in the seat now and obviously hasn't sprayed enough weed killer in the corridors. The bullshit surrounding entitled players has been a problem since 2002 if not before. Too many players since then have got away with crap for extended periods because they were seen as too valuable. Indeed I have always thought the Australian contracting system promoted the bad behaviour as all the cash was spent on these blokes and they had to be played.

So this year it was Beale playing up. Just on that individual, how many chances has he been given? Why? I don't give a rats that each incident was minor, they add up. Before Beale & JOC (James O'Connor), it was Tiquiri, and there have been others. Frankly where have the management been all this time. After the first incidents why didn't they make the process more robust? Oh thats right RUPA. Well that group has managed to kill the golden goose. I don't think that the current crop of players are held in the esteem any where near the past amateur players enjoyed with good reason.

I must say after a renaissance in my dedication to rugby this year of a decade of waning interest, this has just about done me. The perfect storm of appalling mismanagement, a greedy and grasping RUPA and totally self interested and absorbed players coupled to a media that lacks any real integrity and is totally driven by the need for the next big headline and point of difference, and nothing delivers that like a scandal.

 

[Muglair]

Phew, finally here. Only started reading page 1 this afternoon.

Looks like only Biffo and I think the history of rugby started before 2010. This is not really a Tahs conspiracy. It is just while everyone was chortling in their beers about the Waratahs three year plan between 2004 and 2008 Tahs fans had to endure watching a squad full of top players fail to execute basic rugby skills.

Funnily enough I think there was an uncanny resemblance to the Wallabies RC campaign. What was a bit unusual was the change in game plan this week. I certainly enjoyed the game and was pleased that the Wallabies were one part of a great game of rugby. What really disappointed me was that again the players really let down the coach in the last twenty minutes. It certainly wasn't his fault. Again.

Anyone remember Phil Mooney?

 

[Muglair]

I also disagree with the assessments of player intellect and character. Get over it, they are well paid. I do not believe that their primary motivation is anything other than to win and leave their mark on the game. The very best of them will be lucky to chalk up five years at the top. They will not comprehend that there will be another five years in their lives that will be so important ( and there may not be). The performance on the weekend talks to that

 

[Paradox]

Only if you get a tinfoil hat

 

[tragic]

It's not the incident that itself that has forced the resignation, but how it was handled.

- Ewan had freedom of choice over staff and set up within budget constraints all organisations face, his management team he runs it.
- I do find it hard to believe he did not know about the matter in June
- Disciplinary action needed to take place in June, no confusion then amongst the players.
- having the CEO conduct an investigation (by a District Court Judge) four months down the track, is more about what happened after the event. If it was just about a stupid puerile text, the ARU would have just brought in the
Deputy Principal from St Leonard's Primary School to investigate it, and rule a line thru KB (Kurtley Beale)'s Wallaby career
- the confusion for the players then is who runs the show the Team management or Pulver

Whilst It is an unfortunate end for a coach, and the whole episode reflects poorly on many people, McKenzie is not without fault in his downfall. So please don't paint it in simplistic terms, glossing over other short comings as some kind of Waratahs conspiracy.

And the tripe continues.
There is no waratahs conspiracy, just a utter numpty who happens to be a waratah, and a couple of provincial teammates who think its ok to undermine the coach and the organisation that pays their salary in a public forum. That behaviour is unacceptable regardless of state allegiances.
And why is it so hard to believe that the coach was not informed. I'm sure Ms Patson would have been aware there would have been repercussions if she informed coaching/ management staff about the content of beales message, and those repercussions would have potentially affected not only Beales playing future, but also her relationships with other members of the team (beales amigos). The texts released confirmed she told beale she would not inform management unless there were further incidents, and Beales reply thanked her for that approach. So the facts defy your presumptions.
And no disciplinary action can be taken if those responsible for said action are not aware of the incident.
When there was a further incident, management were informed, as per Patsons previous warning, and the investigation that should have occurred 4 months prior was commenced.
In trying to give Beale some leeway, Patson inadvertently contributed to her own, and Mckenzies demise.
She should have hung the bastard out to dry in the first place.

 

[Hell West & Crooked]

It's not the incident that itself that has forced the resignation, but how it was handled.

- Ewan had freedom of choice over staff and set up within budget constraints all organisations face, his management team he runs it.
- I do find it hard to believe he did not know about the matter in June
- Disciplinary action needed to take place in June, no confusion then amongst the players.
- having the CEO conduct an investigation (by a District Court Judge) four months down the track, is more about what happened after the event. If it was just about a stupid puerile text, the ARU would have just brought in the
Deputy Principal from St Leonard's Primary School to investigate it, and rule a line thru KB (Kurtley Beale)'s Wallaby career
- the confusion for the players then is who runs the show the Team management or Pulver

Whilst It is an unfortunate end for a coach, and the whole episode reflects poorly on many people, McKenzie is not without fault in his downfall. So please don't paint it in simplistic terms, glossing over other short comings as some kind of Waratahs conspiracy.

The care being taken with the inquiry is far more to do with the commercial risks from a potential lawsuit coming in a few weeks / months time, than it has to do with the players future - his cards are marked. The ARU must be able to demonstrate thorough workplace handling of this matter, which obviously has some very ugly discrimination aspects attached to it.

 

[Kenny Powers]

The care being taken with the inquiry is far more to do with the commercial risks from a potential lawsuit coming in a few weeks / months time, than it has to do with the players future - his cards are marked. The ARU must be able to demonstrate thorough workplace handling of this matter, which obviously has some very ugly discrimination aspects attached to it.

Exactly my point the big enquiry required now is because the issue was not handled correctly left to fester, there was no handling of the workplace matter until the other week, four months down the track.

 

[mxyzptlk]

You said "I'm sure that kind of thing has happened before in an international set-up and no one made a big deal of it because it didn't become a thing."

It is never a big deal. Tell me, would we be having this conversation about all of this somehow being McKenzie's fault if he had missed the training session because he got food poisoning and was seeing a doctor?

The idea that it had anything to do with the loss is laughable.

Laughable or not, that still doesn't address the point that a coach isn't a CEO. And if you look for it, you'll here more people criticizing Link for trying to run the Wallabies like a business, instead of a rugby team, which arguably led to some player disillusion.

In other words, comparing his missing training to a CEO missing a meeting is the wrong comparison.

 

[Hell West & Crooked]

Laughable or not, that still doesn't address the point that a coach isn't a CEO. And if you pay attention for it, you'll here more people criticizing Link for trying to run the Wallabies like a business, instead of a rugby team, which arguably led to some player disillusion.

In other words, comparing his missing training to a CEO missing a meeting is the wrong comparison.

I think the reasons for his missing the training session are clear to all now, and at least justifiable - given the excessively grubby information which emerged after the plane incident - and we are yet to find out how equally-grubby the exchange was on the plane.

We are also yet to hear whether some other players - out of some mis-paced loyalty, may have acted to add to the inappropriateness of the situation in the 24 hours following the exchange.

 

[Westie]

Whoever takes over, hopefully it's someone who gives white the sack

Hooper first