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Michael Foley

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Scott Allen

Scott Allen

Trevor Allan (34)
There's been lots of speculation about Michael Foley taking over as head coach for the Waratahs.

I've just listened to an interview with him on Ruggamatrix after the Tahs fan forum last night and he sounded very much like a head coach. I thought he was very impressive in the way he handled the interview. Even though he quoted statistics to make some points about how the Tahs have performed this year, he wasn't hiding behind those statistics and was quite frank in admitting that changes are needed.

I also thought some of his comments regarding the fan forum concept were very interesting in relation to his time at Bath where he said that this was something that occurred regularly.

In 2007 when he was the Wallabies assistant coach I attended a seminar he ran for coaches on lineouts. It was one of the best sessions I've ever attended and I still refer back to my notes from that session regularly. There's no doubting his level of knowledge but he's also very good at articulating his points.

In my opinion he seems like the most obvious candidate for head coach at the Tahs.
 
rugbysmartarse

rugbysmartarse

Alan Cameron (40)
I agree he is the most likely candidate, and 70% of me is happy with that outcome, but there is something bugging me about the performance of the tah forwards this year that leaves the other 30% a bit nervy. Without being in the camp though it's ahrd to tell if that is his fault or someone elses
 
Scotty

Scotty

David Codey (61)
fatprop said:
Foley will need a strong willed attack coach
Click to expand...

Exactly. Foley may have improved over the years, but his time at Bath wasn't exactly brilliant attacking rugby, although their forwards were very good under him. They ended up having to fly Connolly in to help him.
 
RedsHappy

RedsHappy

Tony Shaw (54)
Austin:

(Always great to see you in commentary here, your blog essays are some of the finest work in rugby writing anywhere.)

My thoughts on this:

There can be no question that Foley's departure from the Walls in late 2008 was a very serious mistake (for the Walls). The work Foley did just that year was exceptional, and showed by end 2008, if not before. There has been very limited measurable developmental progress in the aggregate skill, finesse, and results from the Walls forwards since (and don't mention the s___m word), with the sole exception of Pocock's full emergence as a world-class player. And just look at the 2011 Tahs' forwards and their exceptional capacity in attack and defence, unquestionably in the elite rankings of the S15 this year. Foley is a major talent in this coaching area.

You would have to be close to the Tahs and Foley to know if he could successfully mutate to the total role. My sense is that the Tahs need a major cleansing of all their support coaches, especially the backs, and their kicking in motion and at place has not been exemplary, many core skills seem fragile or less than optimal, and the 'team mind' seems often jaded and unsure of itself. My guess from afar would be that Foley could successfully make the evolution, provided these major changes were effected with meticulous care over the relevant support coaching selections, for the 2012 season. (I am on record as saying that IMO the correctness of both quality and quantity of specialist support coaches is just as important as the choice of Head, and this dimension of coach-analysing is often neglected in rugby commentary.)

The other critical factor is this, is it not: will Foley be intellectually and personally strong enough to 'crack the Gnostic analysis', namely the deeper, historical flaws in the heartland of Tahs/NSWRU subcultures that seem to constantly prohibit/inhibit this well-skilled team/organisation breaking through to the championship greatness and exemplary, fan-firendly play, that it so clearly deserves and is so clearly, latently, capable of? 90% of articulate, passionate Tahs' fans want to kill this systemic blockage to greatness once and for all in late 2011/12, they are tired of strategies that can win enough games, but not win them in a manner that inspires admiration by fans, and further delivers the team capacity to really be victorious champions at the end of an S14/15.

This surely means that the historical pattern of NSWRU Board mis-guidance and intrusive coach selections must now end, and a new Head Coach be appointed that possesses the courage, rugby knowledge, and independence of mind to be able to describe the changes required, demand them, and then execute them in a systematic manner. The Tahs deserve nothing less than a total renewal to liberate so much of what is good in them, and NSW rugby.

If Foley has the talent and character to demand that renewal, and do it, then he's the right man for 2012. If he via history or habit is excessively bound into the dark flaws of Driver Avenue, the opportunity for radical renewal will again vaporise, and this could well be the last opportunity available before a more serious economic and fan-level crisis grips the Tahs, the irreversible consequences of which cannot be reliably predicted.
 
fatprop

fatprop

George Gregan (70)
Staff member
Scotty said:
Exactly. Foley may have improved over the years, but his time at Bath wasn't exactly brilliant attacking rugby, although their forwards were very good under him. They ended up having to fly Connolly in to help him.
Click to expand...

It is always about balance, getting a quality forward is important, but that dominance needs to be leveraged. Kearns quoting Dwyer talking about the Tahs inability to get second touches in attack.

Cooper is the Aus master, the Tahs need to work badly on continuity and support play
 
The_Brown_Hornet

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
I think it would be an excellent choice for the Tahs to go with Foley. He's clearly got a good rugby brain and seems like a fairly no-nonsense kind of bloke. I don't know that the Tahs have to massively change their style, to be honest. What they need to focus on is consistency and focus. A mark of the Tahs in their super rugby history has been nearly every season starting off with a hiss and a roar and then fading towards the end. In a short season (by the standards of other codes and our NH cousins) there is no excuse for that.

Over the years they have lost many games that they should have won and at times I would say that it was as a result of a lack of mental toughness. Now Michael Foley as a player would never have been accused of lacking toughness and grit, as he achieved results above his talent (this is not meant as derision, just that he got the most out of himself). I'm hoping that some of that will rub off on the players, especially the pack. If the Tahs pack dominates, then the rest of it tends to fall into place.
 
B

Burke's Boot

Guest
Some of the dour gameplans the Tahs have run during Foleys time there have the whiff of his old master, Knuckles, about them. I think it was his first year at the Tahs, 2009, when we needed bonus point wins with three games in South Africa at the end of the season to get into the Finals and we starting winning playing this sexy rugby but it still wasn't enough to get through as we didn't play like this till it was too late. The Tahs didn't learn from this.
 
R

Red Rooster

Guest
I think it is very safe to assume that Foley has been vitrually running the show this year so you are already getting a good look at life under his control. Every person who has visited or knows what happens there day to day says the same thing - they see Foley running things - I would not be expecting any flash rugby anytime soon
 
The_Brown_Hornet

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
I don't really have that expectation of the Tahs, that's the Reds game plan. I just expect them to perform at a higher level than they are currently and beat the teams they should beat. Hopefully Foley will instil a greater amount of hardness into the pack in particular.
 
Lee Grant

Lee Grant

John Eales (66)
Whereas I didn't agree with the sacking of Link, for he had taken the team forward in many areas, I wouldn't mind a change of coach at the Tahs this time.

The Tahs are in a bit of adversity at the moment with some strike players out but regardless: the backs are lacking basic skills. We could list a few things but the most obviously one is passing the ball. Let's forget the scrummie , a known pie chucker, for the moment: the other backs can't throw a decent pill in front of the man. In just about every back line move you see at least one of the receivers doing a bunny hop up to catch the ball - and it will likely be at him or even behind him as well. Once, against the Rebels, I saw three consecutive bunny hops.

Then there is the running to touch when Horne isn't playing, which is almost always, and the reluctance to do standard things like loop passes, which we know Aussie kids learn at school. Instead we see things like 8 people choking a back line and the ball passed to all of them.

Hickey is not responsible for hands on coaching of the backs but he is responsible for someone fixing up passing problems. IIRR it was Bob Dwyer who wrote recently that passing and catching should be practised at every session, without exception, so it becomes second nature. You can see that the Tahs don't do this. Some of the club backlines pass better and the Reds certainly do. They probably practice it.

Watch for bunny hops on Saturday night.

True, the forwards have been ball watching a bit this year, as they did in that infamous Invercargill game in 2010, the benchmark of ball watching. That is Foley's area but the forwards perform better than the backs do.

Hire Foley and get a Randwick man in charge of the backs. Alan Gaffney is well into his 60s and it's time he came home and had a stint here before he puts on his slippers.
 
I like to watch

I like to watch

David Codey (61)
I don't think they should hire Foley, and I don't think the new guy should keep him on.Regardless of his technical expertise, he is tainted by virtue of being part of the current coaching setup.
A new guy should come in and tell everyone that there are no guarantees based on past performances/reputation.There should be genuine competition for every spot in the 22. Younger players should be played in every game to increase competition for spots and for succession planning.They have to move on from the amateur days of playing them one season too long out of loyalty, to moving them on, one season too early.
To me one of the failings of the current coaches, is they have failed in bringing young players through. Kingston is a good example, Hickey rewarded him with a contract in the off season, but has been too scared to play him. Either Tom should not have received a contract or he should have had significantly more game time.I think it is the latter.
They would rather lose with safety, than win with risk.
 
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