McISAAC STEPS UP FOR TOP JOB WITH PERTH SPIRIT

[The InnFORCEr]

PERTH SPIRIT MEDIA RELEASE
Wednesday, 22 July 2015


Former Perth Spirit hooker Tai McIsaac has been appointed head coach of the Perth Spirit for the 2015 Buildcorp National Rugby Championship (NRC), alongside returning assistant coaches Dwayne Nestor and Elwee Prinsloo.

It’s been eight years since McIsaac has been involved with the Perth Spirit, having been vice captain of the side that made it to the semi-final in the Buildcorp NRC’s predecessor, the Australian Rugby Championship (ARC) in 2007.

Having played with the Spirit and 52 caps with the Western Force, McIssac moved to Japan, where he coached with the Honda Heat and the Toyota Industry Shuttles until 2014. He then returned to the West for the 2015 season to take up the role as the Future Force Foundation Head Coach and as a lineout consultant with the Force.

“I’m really excited about being involved with the Perth Spirit again,” he said. “Having been a player with the team and now having the opportunity to take on a coaching role like this is a great honour, but a big responsibility to build on what the team did last year.”

Dwayne Nestor continues his role as assistant coach having also fulfilled his role as RugbyWA Junior Elite Coach that saw him develop players like Dane Haylett-Petty, Kyle Godwin, Luke Burton and Kane Koteka.

Former Palmyra and Wanneroo head coach Elwee Prinsloo, returns for another season with the Spirit having previously been involved in the State Under 16’s, WA Schoolboys, State Under 19’s, State Under 20’s as well as Force A.

“Dwayne and Elwee are fantastic coaches in their own right,” McIsaac said. “Both of them already have such great knowledge and relationships with both our Western Force and Pindan Premier Grade players and I look forward to taking on this challenge with them at my side.”

‘Taipan’ believes that the Buildcorp NRC is vital to the future health of Australian rugby.

“It was an exciting time playing in the ARC in 2007, as it gave a whole group of young guys an opportunity to put their mark on rugby and find their way into Super Rugby.

“That’s one of the attractions of the competition, not only giving extra playing opportunities to our Force players but importantly giving our younger players a great opportunity to try and take that next step into Super Rugby.”

With the team finishing runner-up in the competition last year, McIsaac would love to see his team claim the title in 2015.

“We obviously want to go one better this year, and I think with the amount of talent we have to choose from, we definitely have the potential to do that.

“It’s important that we manage the squad well throughout the competition and are up for every challenge that we are presented with.”

[PerthGirl]

Well done Tai, I'm looking forward to the games

[GIGS20]

BEST DECISION EVER

[MI5_Dog]

BEST DECISION EVER

I'll reserve judgement until I see the results.
Our lineout this past season wasn't that great.

[jono]

for someone to come back and stay involved i'm pretty stoked with this decision.

[choice]

I will be interested to see what the assistant coaches bring to the team.

[GIGS20]

I will be interested to see what the assistant coaches bring to the team.

Oh my God, you had to open THAT gate didn't you?

[choice]

Oh my God, you had to open THAT gate didn't you?

Hey, one of these guys is a friend of mine. Nothing sinister intended.

[GIGS20]

Hey, one of these guys is a friend of mine. Nothing sinister intended.

I was more referring to the broken record of criticism of Dwayne Nestor by some sections of this community.

I don't know either of the boys, so can only choose a side of the fence based upon what others say, therefore didn't intend any criticism or recommendation Of either.

[MI5_Dog]

From Brett McKay at the Roar

Perth Spirit: Tai McIsaac
One of the main reasons I started with the NSW-based coaches last week was because Perth were yet to confirm their 2015 coach. Former Wallabies hooker and Western Force foundation player McIsaac was announced just yesterday, and has been in charge of the Future Force team in 2015. Coincidentally, he also played for the Perth Spirit back in the original Australian Rugby Championship back in 2007.

Though they were one of the big beneficiaries of late-season momentum in 2014, McIsaac told that early wins was something the Spirit would be chasing in 2015. “It was a funny sort of competition; we had few wins but lots of bonus points, and that allowed us to stay in the race for the finals. Being able to build momentum, as you say, was really important but hopefully this year we can start a bit stronger,” he said.

McIsaac also confirmed the suggestion I reported in the initial ring-around, that he won’t be adopting the same ‘home games only’ strategy Perth used last year with their senior Western Force players. “This year, we’ll have a more consistent base of those players, but we may look to rotate a few here and there [in one-off games] if workloads and injuries dictate,” McIsaac said.

He also confirmed that while they’re unlikely to have new recruit Jono Lance, they will use the NRC to look at flyhalf options for the Force in 2016. But Kyle Godwin won’t be one of them. “No, we’re still looking at him in a centre role at this stage. Injuries and that sort of thing might change that, but he won’t play at 10 at this stage.”

Robbie Abel and Kane Koteka showed in 2014 that Perth Premier Grade players don’t look out of place at this level, and McIsaac expects local players to make up “pretty close to 50%” of the Spirit squad. Though the locals will be in for a tough couple of days in the first week of the competition, where Perth play Brisbane City at Ballymore in a rematch of last year’s Final on the opening Thursday night, which will then be followed by the Premier Grade Grand Final on the Sunday.

http://www.theroar.com.au/2015/07/23...oaches-part-2/