I have to say, I am somewhat surprised at the push for Dan to be thrust into the Wallabies as their scrum coach. Taking away that Dan is undoubtedly a great and intelligent bloke both on and off the field. Does it not seem a bit preemptive to thrust him into such a senior position?
I'm sure Dan knows what he's doing, but appointing him so early in his career is similar to Thorn getting the nod at the Reds. Both blokes are seen to have great potential, but many (myself included) would like them to gain a bit more experience. Unlike Thorn, Dan's career was cut significantly short. As we know, Props require significant experienece in their dark arts, so it is somewhat concerning that a guy who's most likely less experienced in this field compared to Slipper is going to oversee it.
I'd much prefer Stiles to get the nod for this appointment with Dan being a part of that team to gain even more experience.
Try and fail or hesitate and be lost. The latter seems to be the default position in Aussie rugby.
We are always wait and see! Sometimes both players and coaches have a natural talent or ability making the time factor irrelevant.
Prior to leaving the Brumbies he was already in part the technical guru and strategist behind the Brumbies scrum. Not a bad effort considering Lord Laurie was there at that time and trusted him. Over the 3 years at the Brumbies as part time scrum coach you can see that their pack has always been good . Knowing that players like Benny A and even Moore respected him as a coach means something i believe.
I am curious how you would measure him? There has never been a dedicated specialist scrum coach until Ledesma. But look at Ledesma. He was a reject, sacked in France and nobody wanted him in Europe or even Argentina. He ended up as scum coach here after dropping in on his old mate Cheika.
Ever hard of a bloke called Steve Borthwick? About 3 years in to his coaching career he was the man behind one of the most technically proficient and awesome scrum to feature at a RWC . His group of little Japaneses players gave it to the Bokke scrum. You will see his handwork when we paly the Poms later this year.
So Palmer is in relatively similar place as Borthwick was in his 3rd year. If anything, Palmer has more experience coaching against higher level intentional scrums comparatively.