Link re-signs

[Newter]

All this talk is premature anyway...

Who's to say, that by 2014 Michael Foley or Richard Graham havent wont consecutive Super Rugby Championships and in turn placed themselves at the front of the shortlist.
Or what would happens if the next 2 years the Reds fall apart and turn to shit...

Absolutely right. I'd say there's more to come from Richard Graham in particular.

 

[Utility Back]

I doubt Mckenzie an old ex-prop could teach digby how to kick.

 

[qwerty51]

He made sure the U20s had a first class coach in David Nucifora, the fruits of which have so far been pretty good.

Need some explaining on that one...

 

[kiap]

Situation normal....

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...-wallabies-frame/story-e6frg7mf-1226250785711

McKenzie remains in Wallabies' frame

WHILE ruling out any kind of Kirribilli agreement with Ewen McKenzie to succeed Robbie Deans as Wallabies coach, ARU chief executive John O'Neill believes the Queensland mentor will be a "fantastic candidate" if and when the job becomes available.

...

"To speculate in January 2012 on the Wallabies coaching role post Robbie Deans' current term in December 2013 is not particularly useful," O'Neill said.

"It was clearly stated by me at a media conference in Auckland a few days after the Wallabies' World Cup semi-final loss to the All Blacks that Ewen McKenzie did feature in our succession plans.

"If and when the Wallabies coaching role becomes vacant, Ewen McKenzie would be a fantastic candidate, but it would be up to him to decide if he wanted to apply for the role. I'm sure no one is suggesting a Kirribilli agreement should be entered into. We all know that two years is a long time in sport."

O'Neill said McKenzie's contract extension at the Reds would not preclude him from coaching the Wallabies in 2014, citing the precedents of Rod Macqueen (Brumbies), Eddie Jones (Brumbies) and Deans (Crusaders), who all coached Super Rugby teams in the same year they ascended to the Australia job.

The scenario is slightly more complicated now because of the break in the expanded Super Rugby season to accommodate the home Tests in June, but it would not be insurmountable.

"Robbie Deans coached the Crusaders to the title one week and was coaching the Wallabies the next week," O'Neill said. "It's not rocket science."

...

"The ARU is extremely happy with the success of the Reds and the revitalisation of the QRU, more so because the ARU remains in a very influential position," O'Neill said.

"The QRU board delegated power and responsibility to the special executive committee until the QRU's loan is repaid. We all look forward to that day and while the time frame is difficult to predict, we expect it will be sooner rather than later."

 

[TOCC]

As far as im concerned, as it stands today the 2014 Wallaby Coaching Candidates are:

 

[kiap]

If Deans delivers the Bled and/or a Lion skin he'd probably get 2 more years. What about the candidates for the next ARU chief, though?

Whoever gets that is likely to weigh heavily on the outcome.

 

[Jnor]

Jake White?

 

[TOCC]

Jake White?

I considered him.... but the way i see it, although having a Kiwi as a coach hasn't been all that terrible, i think there will be a very strong push to have a Australian coach return to the helm of the national team..

 

[Hawko]

Don't be a parrot for Wayne Smith at the Australian, he's obviously been standing next to John O'Neill at the urinal and been splashed/outsized/whatever. He's got an axe to grind, because it's the only way you can explain his tirades against the ARU.

I think O'Neill has been a major asset. He made sure the Melbourne Rebels got up and running, and had enough overseas slots to be competitive - thanks to which they won a couple of crucial home games to consolidate their fan base. He has helped orchestrate Argentina's entry into the Trinations. He and the ARU have obviously been there helping sort out the huge mess at the QRU.

Other things come to mind. He sacked Lote Tuqiri when it needed to be done. He spent money on a scrum coach and scrum program for the Wallabies. He made sure the U20s had a first class coach in David Nucifora, the fruits of which have so far been pretty good.

I'm not sure if this is a rev-up or not. If its legit then I want to put on record the following:

1. Wayne Smith is the only mainstream rugby print journalist worth the name. His criticisms of JO'N have been measured, thoughtful and well argued. They have not been tirades. He was the only one you could go to read who was not parroting the ARU line even when it was obviously nonsense.
2. In some ways you are right, JO'N has done some good and important things. But there are two very serious blots on his record. Firstly he reappointed Deans before the world cup, which meant that Deans was annointed worthy before his key objective was accomplished. Deans would not have been reappointed had he waited till after the Cup, the campaign showed up very serious deficiencies in his selection and coaching skills. But, short of some "just cause", it would have cost a fortune to fire him and right now the ARU aint that flush. The second blot is even worse than the first. He appointed David Nucifora, one of the WC assistant coaches, to do an "independent" review of the WC campaign. That is a serious breach of good governance principles, and renders the whole process worthless.
3. He sacked Lote Tuquiri for a minor offense on the general scale and did not sack others for far worse.
4. The money spent on a scrum coach and scrum program for the Wallabies was utterly wasted, as was clear from the performance of the Wallaby scrum over the last two years.
5. The performance of the U-20's at the last U-20's world cup showed David Nucifora not to be a world class coach. The team performed way below expectation and with the pack selected we should have had parity or dominance over the NZ pack. Needless to say we were absolutely smashed.

The more I think about it this post has to be a rev-up. If so, I fell for it hook, line and sinker.

 

[Newter]

Need some explaining on that one...

Nucifora brought through Rod Davies, Richard Kingi and other players in the Under 20s from 2009 who have subsequently helped win games for their Super rugby sides. James Slipper progressed under him. Colby Fainga'a.

We have a lot of good young talent in each of the Super rugby sides now, more than we've had in the Flowers era. I'm sure having a first class coach in charge of the Under 20s has contributed to that.

 

[Newter]

I'm not sure if this is a rev-up or not. If its legit then I want to put on record the following:

1. Wayne Smith is the only mainstream rugby print journalist worth the name. His criticisms of JO'N have been measured, thoughtful and well argued. They have not been tirades. He was the only one you could go to read who was not parroting the ARU line even when it was obviously nonsense.
2. In some ways you are right, JO'N has done some good and important things. But there are two very serious blots on his record. Firstly he reappointed Deans before the world cup, which meant that Deans was annointed worthy before his key objective was accomplished. Deans would not have been reappointed had he waited till after the Cup, the campaign showed up very serious deficiencies in his selection and coaching skills. But, short of some "just cause", it would have cost a fortune to fire him and right now the ARU aint that flush. The second blot is even worse than the first. He appointed David Nucifora, one of the WC assistant coaches, to do an "independent" review of the WC campaign. That is a serious breach of good governance principles, and renders the whole process worthless.
3. He sacked Lote Tuquiri for a minor offense on the general scale and did not sack others for far worse.
4. The money spent on a scrum coach and scrum program for the Wallabies was utterly wasted, as was clear from the performance of the Wallaby scrum over the last two years.
5. The performance of the U-20's at the last U-20's world cup showed David Nucifora not to be a world class coach. The team performed way below expectation and with the pack selected we should have had parity or dominance over the NZ pack. Needless to say we were absolutely smashed.

The more I think about it this post has to be a rev-up. If so, I fell for it hook, line and sinker.

Wayne Smith is not the messiah of rugby journalism in Australia, far from it. He writes some good stuff and a lot of rubbish. The criticism of O'Neill is just bizzare, quite frankly.
First of all, those "independent" reviews are a waste of time if you aren't in the camp and know what happened and why. They are not a big deal, far less a deal than they are made out to be. But if they have to be done, it should be done by an insider even if it's at the cost of a little partiality.
Look at your 4th point - how was the scrum camp a waste of time when it won us a match in the South Africa and, therefore, the Trinations?
As for the Deans reappointment, that was simply a good risk assessment. It could have been a loss either way. If Robbie had won the world cup or made the final, his price would have shot through the roof. When O'Neill signed him, there were very strong signs that the team would do well: a strong NH tour in 2010, a winning trinations campaign...

 

[qwerty51]

Nucifora brought through Rod Davies, Richard Kingi and other players in the Under 20s from 2009 who have subsequently helped win games for their Super rugby sides. James Slipper progressed under him. Colby Fainga'a.

We have a lot of good young talent in each of the Super rugby sides now, more than we've had in the Flowers era. I'm sure having a first class coach in charge of the Under 20s has contributed to that.

Curious, did you watch any of the u20 games this year? Why does he get credit for bringing players through the u20s? These guys are talents in their own right and would've progressed to Super rugby regardless of Nucifora.

Nuci was horribly exposed in the u20s, as Hawko says our pack was completely outplayed and overpowered by NZ and France. This was not a size issue at all which could be excused at this level, our pack was generally bigger or the same as those two sides. The technique of our pack was terrible, we constantly got pushed off the ball and were beaten in intensity and numbers in the breakdown. The only good thing all tournament was the scrum, which showed our pack did have the physicality just not the smarts. Our backline also faulted, throughout the whole tournament there was a clear issue with the 10, he stood too far back yet it wasn't addressed the whole tournament.

The u20 campaign was a huge failure and leaves little to be excited about in the future, we were the 6th best team there. Nuci was out of his depth there which is pretty worrying for someone who is in such an important role currently with the Wallabies.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

1. Wayne Smith is the only mainstream rugby print journalist worth the name. His criticisms of JO'N have been measured, thoughtful and well argued. They have not been tirades. He was the only one you could go to read who was not parroting the ARU line even when it was obviously nonsens
2. The performance of the U-20's at the last U-20's world cup showed David Nucifora not to be a world class coach. The team performed way below expectation and with the pack selected we should have had parity or dominance over the NZ pack. Needless to say we were absolutely smashed.

The more I think about it this post has to be a rev-up. If so, I fell for it hook, line and sinker.

This is spot on - relieved/pleased to see that someone takes the view (as I do) that the U20 performance was sub par: I held my tongue because I only saw the tournament and did not know much about the players from outside the tournament.
They seemed to be playing like it was a game of 7s.

 

[suckerforred]

First of all, those "independent" reviews are a waste of time if you aren't in the camp and know what happened and why. They are not a big deal, far less a deal than they are made out to be. But if they have to be done, it should be done by an insider even if it's at the cost of a little partiality. ...

I need to take issue here. By very definition 'independent' means not dependant on, infulenced or controlled by others. By convention this means someone outside of the circle of 'infulence' of the entity being reviewed. Reviewing the very organisation that pays you is NOT independent as you are at the very least controlled by them, if not dependent on them and certainly influenced by them. If Nucifora can be impartial in such a review, fine have him do it, just don't call it 'independent' as it isn't.

There is also the appearence of 'impartiality' that needs to be considered. And I think that that is an area where the ARU struggle, cope a lot of critism, and loose a lot of support.

 

[suckerforred]

Situation normal....

...
"The ARU is extremely happy with the success of the Reds and the revitalisation of the QRU, more so because the ARU remains in a very influential position," O'Neill said.

"The QRU board delegated power and responsibility to the special executive committee until the QRU's loan is repaid. We all look forward to that day and while the time frame is difficult to predict, we expect it will be sooner rather than later."

more so because the ARU remains in a very influential position - Right - so the Exectutive, Coach and Players have had bugger all to do with it?

We all look forward to that day and while the time frame is difficult to predict, we expect it will be sooner rather than later - And you are not the only ones!

It is comments like this that do get up the noses of Reds supporters (in this case - I am sure if I dug I could find ones for the other franchises), and makes the ARU look a little elitist. And then they wonder why support at the lower level wans.

 

[Sully]

1. Wayne Smith is the only mainstream rugby print journalist worth the name. His criticisms of JO'N have been measured, thoughtful and well argued. They have not been tirades. He was the only one you could go to read who was not parroting the ARU line even when it was obviously nonsense.

   This is an opinion not a fact

2. In some ways you are right, JO'N has done some good and important things. But there are two very serious blots on his record. Firstly he reappointed Deans before the world cup, which meant that Deans was annointed worthy before his key objective was accomplished. Deans would not have been reappointed had he waited till after the Cup, the campaign showed up very serious deficiencies in his selection and coaching skills. But, short of some "just cause", it would have cost a fortune to fire him and right now the ARU aint that flush. The second blot is even worse than the first. He appointed David Nucifora, one of the WC assistant coaches, to do an "independent" review of the WC campaign. That is a serious breach of good governance principles, and renders the whole process worthless.

   Rod McQueen was alos re-appointed before a world cup. What's the difference?

3. He sacked Lote Tuquiri for a minor offense on the general scale and did not sack others for far worse.

   I'm glad you know why he was sacked. If it's so minor why hasn't Lote come out and told everyone what it was?

4. The money spent on a scrum coach and scrum program for the Wallabies was utterly wasted, as was clear from the performance of the Wallaby scrum over the last two years.

   Never the less the money was spent. Did O'Neal choose the coach or run the programme?

5. The performance of the U-20's at the last U-20's world cup showed David Nucifora not to be a world class coach. The team performed way below expectation and with the pack selected we should have had parity or dominance over the NZ pack. Needless to say we were absolutely smashed.

   Totally the coach's fault?

 

[Hawko]

1. This is an opinion not a fact
2. Rod McQueen was alos re-appointed before a world cup. What's the difference?
3. I'm glad you know why he was sacked. If it's so minor why hasn't Lote come out and told everyone what it was?
4. Never the less the money was spent. Did O'Neal choose the coach or run the programme?
5. Totally the coach's fault?

1. Agreed. As was the opinion that Wayne Smith's contributions have been tirades.
2. I did not say McQueen should have been appointed early. What is the difference between McQueen and Deans? I think I'll just pass on the 10,000 word dissertation because it still wouldn't cover it.
3. Although the nitty-gritty details did not come out, for obvious reasons, the general type of offense was revealed. Other offences that were far more serious were excused without such sanction.
4. Yes. JO'N chose the head coach who oversees the whole coaching program.
5. At least 90%. That U-20 team had heaps of talent, especially in the forwards, many of whom are now in Super squads. IMO it was the first real chance we had to lift the trophy for a number of years, and we squibbed it by not supplying good direction to our players. Qwerty's second paragraph summed it up precisely.

 

[waratahjesus]

more so because the ARU remains in a very influential position - Right - so the Exectutive, Coach and Players have had bugger all to do with it?

he isnt saying that. If the ARU have overseen and pointed QLD in a direction an helped out, dont they deserve the same credit the QLD board is getting. there not big brother there QLD bosses. Its a press release and they deserve a pat on the back for how they went about it.

 

[mudskipper]

I think Deans in the end will take the Wallabies to the next RWC, then move on... McLink should continue his good work at the Reds...

 

[suckerforred]

he isnt saying that. If the ARU have overseen and pointed QLD in a direction an helped out, dont they deserve the same credit the QLD board is getting. there not big brother there QLD bosses. Its a press release and they deserve a pat on the back for how they went about it.

I read something different between the lines. 'Look at QLD, only reason they are where they are is because of the influence we [ARU] had.' Not saying there wasn't cooperation there, just get the shits with people taking more credit then they deserve.