Daz, ILTW: I'd debate a few nuances, but very good observations IMO.
Daz, the 'Link moves on' has been something of an oddity since early in the 2012 season. In my view, it's gone on too long and has ended up in negative, not positive, territory for the 2013 Reds team.
First in 2012 we had the "Link will now move to the new Director of Coaching role to develop the whole code and QRU-wide coaching capabilities across QLD...and R Graham will be Head Coach." This got badly muddled within days of its birth when Link, the QRU and RG said more or less confusing things as to how this would work in practice for the 2013 season. Not a good omen in terms of management and policy clarity for the times ahead.
I was immediately concerned when a key motivation the QRU announced re the RG selection in 2012 was that he would "get to understand how we do things at the Reds and would be a great resource getting out into the QLD rugby community". This all struck me then - and I said as much - as a subtle form of hubris, and very oddly little mention was made of RG's precise proven abilities as a Super 15 coach. The fact that he was a QLD-er returning and would provide all these attractive learning-from-Link and external communication capabilities and roles struck me as "everything is so good here, it'll just keep happening for us...". More ominously, there was regular QRU talk in this 2012 period of "building dynasties" and so on. Institutional FIGJAM anyone?
Then we unfurled the 'when greatness calls, we will respond' big tag lines which always had the dangerous potential for embarrassment if 'the response' was rather more tepid than suggested, and this is how events unfolded when our loss the the Sharks in the 2012 SF Qualifying round caught us napping and we looked more bewildered (as though our success was assumed pre-game) in that game than intensely focussed. Note that during this period, 'Chook' Fowler departed unhappily from the 2010-11 coaches team, and Tatsy Taylor announced a new role in Scotland for 2013. The coaching group that had, remarkably, turned the 2009 Reds into 2011 champions was slowly being dismantled. But no one seemed to notice this much, or care. This always concerned me as I said at the time, partly as I have, on his record, never rated RG. The late 2011 QRU could have scoured the world for an outstanding, proven coach and probably recruited the man it wanted such was its then prestige. The choice of RG to take over the Reds was never clearly explained or justified in a convincing manner by the QRU and on paper had to be considered as very high-risk and adventurous especially given the 'when greatness calls' banners flying everywhere. No one could argue that hitherto RG had been proximate to or involved in demonstrable 'greatness' in recent elite rugby coaching.
RG arrived for the 2013 season and within a short while it was announced that in fact Link had no desire to leave active coaching, rather now he wanted a national coach's role. RG was to be Head Coach, focussing this year on defence yet driving player retention and new recruitment matters. Yet RG was/is barely heard from, Link is as media-prominent as ever.
I can only speculate, but it's my strong belief that in this entire 15 month long process, the 'magic' that was in the team and in the coaches' box (all of them, not just Link) has been slowly lost, bit by gradual bit. I believe that RG is not being perceived as a great, highly motivating replacement for Link, but that honest loyalties and compliance with tight communication disciplines are covering this up. Nonetheless, the complex and unsatisfying consequences of this long, rather odd and changing-in-midstream handover process to an unproven new coach, coupled with the break-up of 2011's winning coaching group, are evident in the team's manifest lack of overall improvement and skills growth since that stunning date with destiny in July 2011.
