Breaking News!!!!

[tdevil]

Ewen McKenzie quits as Waratahs coach!!
Watch it live on ninemsn.com.au

[jargan83]

Quits?! That was unexpected

with immediate effect or at end of season?

[BLR]

I saw that, but didn't click as I thought it just meant the 'realeased from contract story'. They have removed the Breaking news headline thing....maybe a lame April Fools joke? Considering he was already told he won't be coach next season I can see him quitting, having a hissy fit and trying to get that High Performance job instead..

[fulvio sammut]

Still April 1, right?

[jargan83]

It is

with all the speculation going on about his job it wouldn't surprise me if he quit

[goony]

another april fools joke??

[tdevil]

It's official: Tahs sack McKenzie
By Darren Walton
April 01, 2008 THE New South Wales Rugby Union has confirmed it will not renew the contract of Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie beyond the 2008 Super 14 season.

NSWRU chief executive Jim L'Estrange on Tuesday confirmed McKenzie's five-year reign would end in July, even if the Waratahs made the semi-finals or won their long overdue first Super title.

NSW assistant coach Todd Louden, who helped guide the South African-based Bulls to the championship last year, is favourite to succeed McKenzie, although the Blues' Australian coach David Nucifora has also been linked to the role.

McKenzie was typically pragmatic about his demise.

"Jim and I have been talking for some time about the future and we had a really good meeting yesterday and I'm satisfied that we can both now move ahead,'' McKenzie said.

"We told the team before training yesterday, then went right on with the job preparing (for the Blues on Saturday night).

"In an ideal world, you'd like to go on and on but this is professional sport and I've been in the job longer than anyone else so I've had a good innings.''

McKenzie's sacking ends a month of speculation about his future at the Tahs.

The former World Cup-winning prop has been under pressure since NSW finished 13th last season, above only Queensland.

Despite the Waratahs having won four of six matches this campaign - losing on the bell to the Chiefs in Hamilton in round two and to the unbeaten Crusaders two weeks ago in Christchurch - they have come under fire for lacking enterprise in attack.

McKenzie's fate was effectively sealed last Friday night when the Waratahs were outscored three tries to two in struggling to beat the winless Cheetahs 23-19 at the Sydney Football Stadium.

Former NSW and Australia captain Mark Ella last week labelled the Waratahs the most boring of all four Australian franchises, despite being the highest-profile team and boasting an impressive playing roster.

"Of all the Australian teams, we've probably got the biggest stars but we play the worst football,'' Ella said.

It has been quite a fall from grace for McKenzie, who only three years ago steered the Waratahs to the final - losing to the Crusaders - and then the semi-finals the following season.

NSW are the only Australian team to have qualified for the Super play-offs since the Brumbies won their second title in 2004.

But precariously placed in eighth position and possessing the equal-second worst attacking record at the halfway point of the 2008 tournament, McKenzie's bosses - conscious of being in the entertainment business - have finally run out of patience.

It's official: Tahs sack McKenzie - Super 14 - Fox Sports

[Jess]

Whoa that is BIG news!

Not surprising news but I do feel sorry for Link. It's the same deal as Eddie... people forget about successful campaigns pretty quickly when there is a bit of a slump in form.

Best of luck for your future Link and I'm sure it will be nice to know their consistently crap performances will be someone else's problem.

[Thequeerone]

LOL - the oracle has spoken - how many coaches have been sacked for their teams performance in the past - should be interesting to see if Jess is correct - there will be no change in performance for the rest of the year or next - seems a shame because Mckenzie comes over as a seriously nice bloke - perhaps he's just to nice for the job.

[Jess]

Well at the end of the day, you may be the best coach in the whole world but it comes down to what the boys can produce on the day.

There's so much talent in the Tahs, they just don't know what to do with it when it counts.

It could be because Link is too nice... could be indeed. But I'm going to blame the players before I blame the Coach. It's too easy to blame the Coach and often unfair.

[BaldCunus]

McKenzie still aiming for title
By Darren Walton
April 01, 2008 RATHER than wallow, outgoing New South Wales coach Ewen McKenzie has pledged to do everything he can to guide the Waratahs to their first-ever Super rugby title in 2008.

NSW Rugby Union chief executive Jim L'Estrange confirmed the contract of the Waratahs' longest-serving coach would not be renewed at the end of the Super 14 season.

McKenzie has presided over 72 matches and, with a finals appearance in 2005 and semi-finals showing in 2006, he will also end his five-year association as the most successful NSW coach in Super history regardless how the rest of 2009 pans out.

But he said he was determined to go out with a bang and was adamant there would be nothing bittersweet about lifting the trophy after effectively being sacked mid-season - something David Nucifora experienced at the ACT Brumbies in 2004.

“I have been trying for five years so it would be bloody fantastic to win a title,” McKenzie said. “But I'm not going to sit there and go, 'There you go NSW, shove that up ya'. I am not interested in that.

“David Nucifora did that with the Brumbies, in a sense. We have come to an agreement here, and we'll just move on.

“It would be great for NSW if we won a title. Even better, from my point of view, if I was the coach.

“If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. If we get to the semis, at least I can leave something for the next bloke to pick up and run with.

“I'd like to think what I am handing over is better than what I got. It's a tough comp. That's what people keep forgetting. It's one of the hardest comps to play in.” Unlike Nucifora at the Brumbies, McKenzie is not the victim of a player revolt.

Rather, as McKenzie put it, “it's just one of these moments in time”.

“You get these in sport. I've been around long enough to understand how sport functions. Jim and I have been very upfront, we've had a number of discussions. We think it's the right time, it's the right decision.

“I've enjoyed my time at NSW immensely and, emotionally, I'm very attached to the place. But the reality is, I have learnt a lot and I also think it's an opportunity to actually grow somewhere else and do something different.

“I don't have this romantic notion that I'm entitled to be here forever. I always think of myself as a steward and my stewardship's been longer than others.

“It's been very good, very profitable. Win, lose or draw this season, it's time to do something a bit different.” McKenzie unsuccessfully applied for the Australia coaching job at the end of last year, but remains a frontline contender alongside Nucifora for the vacant role of high-performance unit manager at the ARU.

A former Wallabies assistant coach and selector, he is highly valued within the ARU.

“There's a path there, theoretically, but that's John (O'Neill's) call,” McKenzie said. “If there's an opportunity there, I'll definitely look at it from a rugby point of view. It's a different direction.

“Without patting myself on the back, I think I understand Australian rugby well enough to have a pretty good skill set for that job.

“But that said, that's a different stream than coaching and I don't necessarily want to cut myself off from the coaching side of it.

“I'll see what comes out (of this). It's good PR today. People will know (I'm available), so we'll what comes.”

AAP

[Jess]

ok THAT has totally got to be an April Fools prank...

I'll be surprised if they even make the top 6 let alone win the whole thing...

[prop53]

Well will still be remebered as a great prop in his playing days. Not all players become great Coaches

[benny]

david nucierfero to return to the west island (australia) ??????

[jargan83]

david nucierfero to return to the west island (australia) ??????

The main island