A sad state of affairs when our best rugby brains are coaching the opposition.
http://www.theroar.com.au/2017/11/27...eek-surrender/
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A sad state of affairs when our best rugby brains are coaching the opposition.
http://www.theroar.com.au/2017/11/27...eek-surrender/
Meanwhile, across the ditch....
The best of the next All Black generation | The Roar
Richard Marks, a fascinating read, a bit long, but worth the read, if only to get a glimpse of the politics killing Rugby in Australia. Love the part where it's said Marks is the only player who could turn a tackle into an all in brawl. The description of Wallaby tours to NZ, S.Africa & Europe are eye openers, for sure.
Historical Wallabies Player Profile
As mentioned before, my mate says Marks is coming back. Let's hope so.
playing for Queensland up to 1969, however, and even made a comeback in 1972.His was a proud record. He had played fifty-one matches for his country, including seventeen Tests. He was highly respected by his peers, so much so that when Rothmans set up its Director of Coaching position for rugby he obtained the position in 1974. It seems quaint now, but in those days the secretary of the ARU tended to be a superannuated retiree receiving an honorarium.
What Marks achieved during his twenty-two-year tenure at the job has been described with any number of accolades, but in making a judgment of his success you need to go no further than the statistics. In the seven-year period prior to the National Coaching Scheme, Australia had a 14 per cent success rate over twenty-nine Test matches. By 1992 Australia had won a Grand Slam, a Bledisloe Cup series and a World Cup. Over 110 Test matches since the introduction of the Scheme , it had lifted its strike to 61 per cent overall and to 72 per cent in the last twenty-nine encounters of that period.This ended when Rothmans declined to discontinue the sponsorship. As the National Director of Coaching, Marks was a professional unable to coach a team under IRB amateur regulations and now he had the chance to move into that lucrative field. Instead he fell for the wooing of the new national powerbrokers and agreed to continue running the coaching scheme on the ARU payroll. In less than a year he was retrenched with a name so blackened that his days in rugby employment were over.The background is complex and the complete story has never been told.
In 1995 Bob Dwyer had a poor World Cup coaching Australia , and knew that he had to change, or enhance, his image. In particular he wanted to butter up northern interests, aware of the need for their votes. Marks’ advice was to hire one of the world’s best coaches, Alex Evans, as assistant coach. Evans had been coaching Wales, and acquiesced, at a then record salary for a technical officer. The deal was brokered , but the CEO of the ARU had a heart attack and subsequently retired. John O’Neill was hired in his stead and was annoyed that he had not been told of the new appointment and Evans’ pending arrival.Peter Crittle, who was President of the NSWRU at the time, did not support Bob Dwyer. He lost the national coaching position , and Greg Smith was chosen. Greg Smith would not accept Evans on his staff, as he did not know him personally. So what to do with Evans? O’Neill released the Brisbane-based Dick Marks and put Evans into his position. The first time Marks met John O’Neill was at his exit interview. He was fired. As there was a big difference between a hands-on coach and a coach educator , Evans did not last very long.Australian rugby could ill afford to lose two such internationally regarded technical people but the foundation laid by the coaching scheme ensured that outstanding Wallaby performances carried through to the 1999 World Cup win.
Marks had been asked to write new coaching manuals when he was hired by the ARU, and agreed to the task, but had asked the ARU if he could go to the 1995 World Cup. A large entourage from the ARU was going and, as technical experts of all sixteen nations would be there, he could do his research around them and with the benefit of watching some of the games and training. He was told by the ARU that he could go, providing it was in his own time and at his own expense. So he declared that he could not go ahead with the manuals. When O’Neill came on board this was used as a part excuse in the solving of the Evans problem. Marks was branded a malcontent and non-performer. The irony is that the IRB had been endeavouring to hire its first technical officer, and Marks was in the final two out of 300 applicants.Marks had done a superb job as Australia’s first Director of Coaching, and remains understandably incensed over what occurred.
Why Quade had to go.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/q...ed99425019f92c