IF CHRIS HICKEY didn't know before that the Waratahs coaching job was the "poisoned chalice" of Australian rugby he does now, says former NSW hooker Brendan Cannon.

While Cannon rejected ex-Waratahs backs coach Todd Louden's remarks yesterday that "the Waratahs would have won [this year's Super 14] easily" if Ewen McKenzie was still the coach, he said Hickey would be feeling the pressure to get results.
"It's a tough team to coach," Cannon said last night. "Chris would know by now why it is a poisoned chalice."

Cannon, who played 71 games for NSW [69 in Super rugby], said rugby fans who were outside the Waratahs' inner sanctum would not realise that the "pressure on them far outweighs that on the other teams".

He said the scrutiny and criticism the team came in for had "a bigger impact than what most people can appreciate" and that it was playing a debilitating role in their performances.

"Publicly they will put on a brave face, but I can tell you privately they will have been hurting," Cannon said.

The Waratahs desperately need a win to get their season back on track. They sit in sixth place with 28 points after 10 games and could drop to as low as ninth if results go against them during their bye round this weekend.

Cannon, who played 34 games for Queensland before joining the Waratahs and then finishing with the Western Force, knows what he is talking about. He's been there before.

He still rates as the "toughest period" of his career NSW's 96-19 shellacking by the Crusaders in the final round in 2002 and their subsequent 51-10 loss to the Brumbies in the semi-final a week later.

"You can't just forget about the nightmare," he said.

Cannon believes similar pressure is causing the run of errors and poor decision-making that is threatening to ruin the Waratahs' finals hopes. Even if they do win their last three games in South Africa there is no guarantee the Waratahs will make the finals.

"The effort is there," Cannon said. "They are trying their darndest. You can see it on their faces. But sometimes you can try too hard and that can be counter-productive. Other sides are more relaxed and confident in their structure of the way they play."

Cannon disagreed with Louden's remarks in an article he wrote for theroar.com.au website yesterday that said if McKenzie had remained as Waratahs coach they would have won the title this year.

Cannon said it was an argument that had too many "ifs" and Waratahs prop Al Baxter backed his opinion.


"You could say if any successful coach was still coaching a team it would be different," Baxter said. "Chris Hickey is doing an excellent job. 'Link' [McKenzie] did an excellent job in his time. But that is all hypothetical. It is like saying, 'If Paul Keating was still Prime Minister then c' It's not happening. It's like saying, 'I might run marathons if was 40 kilos lighter'."

Baxter, who will be named in the Waratahs' 26-man squad for South Africa after recovering from a calf-muscle strain, admits the Waratahs face a huge challenge in South Africa.

"I guess if we are going to make the finals we are going to do it the hard way, by winning pretty much all the games in Africa and then having an African semi if we get that far," he said. "We have made a pretty tough road for us. It will be pretty impressive if we win the thing.
"And that is still the plan. The silver lining to what is going wrong in our game is that it is pretty simple stuff. It is execution. I think we will be doing a fair whack of catch-pass and kicking drills. I have heard the planes are pretty empty these days with the economic crisis, so there might be bit of room on the plane to throw the ball around."

The future of Waratahs captain Phil Waugh is likely to be known this morning.
The Wallabies breakaway is off contract with NSW and the ARU but it is understood he was close to coming to terms on a deal last night. There were reports yesterday he had re-signed with the ARU and NSWRU, but it is believed final negotiations involving a third-party sponsorship needed to be clarified before the deal could be confirmed.

Waugh, who has said he wants to continue playing in Australia and claim the Wallabies No.7 jersey, has been courted by a number of European clubs.


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