Western Force scoff at report suggesting John Mitchell to be sacked

[mudskipper]

David Nucifora doesn't want to be the Force coach. He is happy with his new role with the ARU. Is the Force assistant coach up to the task?

[joondalup dave]

that is true, but having watched much of the heineken cup, this year there standard there was quite high. and knuckles has had some some success there.
i would back a munster or stade francais given they have so many good southern hemisphere players.

and he was coaching australia to a reasonable standard until last year , despite a poor game vs england.

if i may site an example , david nucifora was only coaching club rugby when he took over at the brumbies and they won the title in 04.
eddie jones had only been coaching in japan and took the brumbies to 3 straight finals within 2 years.
robbie deans has only coached as an assistant before taking over at the crusaders to win in his year 2.
todd blackadder will coach the crusaders with no super rugby experience
andy friend has not coached in super rugby in at least 4 years.
john mitchell had not coached in super rugby for 4 years when he took over at the force.
alan jones applied for the wallaby job with no rugby coaching experience in 23 years. other than some attempts at league.
bad example

[Burgs]

You've asked him have you Mud?
I think you said earlier that current Force Staff wouldn't bag the current senior staff with a quote, likewise Nuci is hardly going to express interest in a job that isn't seen to be available.
As arguably the second most successful current Coach in Super Rugby after Robbie I doubt it would take much encouragement to get him to fill in for a season, he would be doing a quarter of his HPU job anyway.

[joondalup dave]

i was not referring in any way as to who should have the job or as to my preference, only that there is an argument to say that all of these coaches above have had some levels of success with the same or less experience at the top level as knuckles has had.

i would say wayne smith with 3 consecutive titles at the crusaders and grahame henry with 2 titles and a final may argue the point on the 2nd most successfull super rugby coach

[Burgs]

The point being Dave, all of those where/are under different Laws to this year's S14. They progressed from one level to the next without any change of Laws.
With such short notice you need a Coach who has coached under the current ELV's adn with 52 days to the season kicking off you can't be faffing about teaching a Coach.
There would most probably be a new Coach at the end of the '09 season, but having been asked for the hypothetical, that is the one that makes most sense and has the greatest chance of ensuring success.

[Burgs]

To "current" perhaps I should have added "available"?
Somehow I can't see Wayne Smith or Graeme Henry coming to Perth...

[joondalup dave]

true however grahame henry and his assistants were able to win the tri nations last year with no level of experience of the elv's. as a matter off point there were some players in australia last year that played under 4 different versions of the elv's and in south africa they went under 5 different versions.

[joondalup dave]

i my , mistake i didnt see current , nuci is at the aru ,wayne smith at nzru and henry is well grahame henry.

[.X.]

Hello Dave - fancy seeing you Round here

[The InnFORCEr]

David Nucifora doesn't want to be the Force coach. He is happy with his new role with the ARU. Is the Force assistant coach up to the task?

I would say yes, mulvers would be the man for the job

The point being Dave, all of those where/are under different Laws to this year's S14. They progressed from one level to the next without any change of Laws.
With such short notice you need a Coach who has coached under the current ELV's adn with 52 days to the season kicking off you can't be faffing about teaching a Coach.
There would most probably be a new Coach at the end of the '09 season, but having been asked for the hypothetical, that is the one that makes most sense and has the greatest chance of ensuring success.

for all of these reasons, plus his intimate knowledge of the players, often the assistant will see a slighty different side to a player than the head coach.

[Bronski Beat]

What about Warren Gatland?

[brokendown gunfighter]

what about him?

[James]

David Nucifora doesn't want to be the Force coach. He is happy with his new role with the ARU. Is the Force assistant coach up to the task?

I don't think RugbyWA would want Nucifora anyway. If indeed RugbyWA wanted to axe Mitch for being too controlling and autocratic why would they replace him with a coach like Nucifora who has a track record of exactly the same?

We definitely wouldn't want John Connolly either. The fact is he is conservative. Thats great for England or the way the Reds used to be but wouldn't really work for the Force. We need a guy who can make the most of what he's got and who is innovative and cutting edge. Someone like Rassie Erasmus. In the interests of keeping the person Australian I'd like someone like Scott Johnson. I think he's tied to the Eagles for a couple of years but would be great if Mitch stays on until 2011.

[AndyS]

If there is any fire behind all this smoke, we obviously won't know the ins and outs of it. But the player group as a whole has hardly covered themselves in glory over the last few years, senior players as well as junior. My personal feeling is that some players may need to rein in their egos - if they want to lead, some evidence that they can would probably help with the trusting...