Push for Aussie to coach Force

[travelling_gerry]

Push for Aussie to coach Force

NICK TAYLOR, The West Australian April 5, 2010, 7:42 am





The Western Force will lay the ground rules for their new coach tomorrow as the push grows for an Australian to replace John Mitchell.
Force chief executive Vern Reid confirmed he will meet captain Nathan Sharpe and rugby manger Mitch Hardy tomorrow to set the criteria before advertising the position.
The Australian Rugby Union is keen to have an Australian who understands the national rugby culture in charge and the Force will want a coach with strong links to the Australian club circuit for future recruitment.
An ARU spokesman said any coaching appointment would be solely in the hands of the Force but added: "From our perspective we would like to see a deeper pool of home-grown talent and we would like to see more Australian coaches involved in Super rugby."
Mitchell, whose appointment as foundation coach was a coup for the Force, will leave the club after next year when his contract ends. However, the club has not closed the door on the possibility that he could move on earlier if that suited both parties.
Reid said there had already been inquiries from coaches since Mitchell's announcement 12 days ago.
Several Australian coaches are said to be interested including Mitchell's assistant at the Force, Richard Graham, who is also the Wallabies skills coach, ARU high-performance boss David Nucifora, former Wallaby coach Eddie Jones and Todd Louden, who is in charge of Japanese club Meiji and who has had spells as an assistant coach at the Waratahs and the Bulls.
The Force have already ruled out former Springbok coach Jake White, whose wife is said to have property in Perth, and Lions and Boks assistant Dick Muir.
Another who has been touted as Mitchell's successor is former Wallaby and Queensland Reds coach John Connolly.
Connolly, who did not apply for the Melbourne Rebels coaching job but helped the new Super 15 franchise in its overseas player recruitment, was coy when asked about his interest.
He would be well aware of the challenges faced by a new coach at the Force and said: "I'm sure there would be a lot of people interested in the position.
"They have a very good core of young players, a very good list of young players.
"There is much to work with. The prosects are there. Perth's a great city but I'll just see how the cards unfold."
The Force, who moved off the bottom of the table after Friday's 16-15 win over the Stormers, have been hit with another injury setback as they prepare for their two-game tour of New Zealand.
Winger Scott Staniforth will miss the games against the Highlanders in Queenstown and the Blues in Auckland after tearing a calf muscle in the Stormers clash.
However there was some good news with winger Cameron Shepherd set to make his comeback after tearing a quad muscle in the warm-up before the season opener against the Brumbies.
The Highlanders have lost their vice-captain Jamie Mackintosh for at least six weeks with a toe injury.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/spo...o-coach-force/

[pieter blackie]

Lets just get the best man for the job If he comes from Timbuktu then so be it

Jones & O Connolly,-
I rate them as "has been's", they have been at the top and will only be looking for a spot in the sun until they retire.

Todd Louden:

Todd Louden has thus achieved the extraordinary record that, in each of the past six years, the teams he coached were outstandingly successful and greatly improved their ranking.roar

If you can have Jake White and you rule him out then you do not really want to win the competition

Richard Graham looks like the goods he physically gets involved in the action at game day warm ups and training days. Does he have enough experience to do it on his own is the question

[James]

I think Pieter that you value John Connolly and Eddie Jones in the same way we view Jake White.

David Nucifora and/or Todd Louden would probably be fairly good choices. Not entirely convinced about anyone else.

[Hoolly Doolly]

Id seriously consider stop supporting the force if knuckles became coach. I wouldnt be happy about eddie but id put up with it.

Louden or nucifora for me.

[Bruiser]

[Todd Louden, who is in charge of Japanese club Meiji and who has had spells as an assistant coach at the Waratahs and the Bulls.

Not quite, Nick. As I mentioned in the thread,"A blue-print for the post-Mitchell era", Louden coached Meiji University - not club - in 2004-2005. He had been coaching the Japanese club, Ricoh, since 2008.

[James]

Nothing Eddie or John has done has endeared themselves to Force fans. Eddie loves firing shots at Aussie rugby, and the Force in particular, Connolly is much the same. They haven't shown any respect for the Force. Neither one is going to coach Australia again anyway so whats the point in having an Australian to increase our coaching pool. Graham, Louden and Nucifora may well go onto the job.

[Gean]

Louden being a "youngish" coach would probably do well considering the Force has arquably the lowest average age in the Super 14...........and I doubt like afore mentioned coaches he's looking for a retirement home : )

[hertryk]

Jones shouted loud and very clear it was a big mistake to give Perth the franchise over Melbourne....will be disappointed hugely if he was even considered for the position...Connolly (Knuckles!!) as somneone said is a has been...!!! In my very humble opinion.. Good Sharpie is being consulted....or is that normal??

Echoing on what someone previously has said..I couldn't care if the coach came from Timbuktoo either, as long as he coached our boys well...
Nucifora....why did he leave his previous club again?????

[jargan83]

He was sacked by Giteau and the rest of the committee at the Brumbies
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[hertryk]

He was sacked by Giteau and the rest of the committee at the Brumbies
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So if he came here would he be any better...???...
JUST ASKING...???....Maybe he would come with something to prove, which could be good for us..

[James]

Echoing on what someone previously has said..I couldn't care if the coach came from Timbuktoo either, as long as he coached our boys well...
Nucifora....why did he leave his previous club again?????

I would take any coach in the world if they won games and made finals. I would even put up with Eddie or John if they made it to the finals ever year. But since that isn't at all likely you have to take a coach you'd be happy to lose games with.

[GIGS20]

So if he came here would he be any better...???...
JUST ASKING...???....Maybe he would come with something to prove, which could be good for us..

Actually I think it WOULD be better.

All the revolutionaries are gone.....man-management seems pretty similar under Nuce to JM and Nuce does have a pedigree in S14......There might not be the warm, cuddly atmosphere of a Laurie Fisher or an Andy Friend, but we're not here to stroke egos, we're here to win rugby matches.

I don't really want a team to buy underperforming superstars and then play them whether they're any good or not, I want a team to find (or develop) quality rugby players and place them in the position they'll do best for the team. It's no surprise to me that Drew Mitchell is recapturing his form now that he's playing 11 and not kicking....it's a shame Mitchell wasn't able to make that stick. I would want somebody who can put the right guy in the right spot and stuff the consequences.....David Nucifora seems to have the attitude, it remains to be seen whether he has the eye.

[shasta]

He was sacked by Giteau and the rest of the committee at the Brumbies

I doubt Gits was on that comittee. He was just a kid, but he learned quick.

The players who have stuck with John Mitchell and signed up again with The Force would get by just fine with a coach like Nucifora. I hope that Nathan Sharpe will stay on as part of the coaching department.

[PerthGirl]

As JM has shown he is pretty good at identifying young talent perhaps he and Nucifora could swap jobs

[jombi]

Is everyone forgetting that Nucifora coached the blues and they all hated him? Ali Williams went to Canterbury just to get away from the bloke.