Successful Students coach on Rebels' radar
Sydney University's Damien Hill is poised to be named today on a three-man coaching panel at the new Melbourne Rebels Super 15 side led by former Wallabies coach Rod Macqueen.
Hill, a former Brumbies Academy coach before he took over the Shute Shield premiers, has long been seen as a coach of the future. His appointment will be popular, especially at Sydney University. While he would have to stand down from coaching the Students, the club has long supported the bid for a Melbourne Super team in the hope it could open a pathway for its immense talent pool players to progress to Super rugby level.
The Rebels' coaching line-up will be named today at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, which will be the home ground for the new team in the new-look Super 15 competition, which starts next year.
The announcements of a director of coaching, head coach and assistant coach follow yesterday's meeting in the South Melbourne office of Rebels chairman Harold Mitchell.
Also in attendance were current Melbourne Storm chief executive Brian Waldron, named on Monday as the new Rebels CEO, and Macqueen, who coached Australia to their 1999 World Cup victory.
It is also believed John Connolly, a former Queensland Reds coach who led the Wallabies to the 2007 World Cup in France, where they lost their quarter-final to England, was also at the meeting.
There has already been widespread speculation that Macqueen will today be named the director of coaching. There has been suggestion that Connolly will have a role, although it is not clear whether that will be as head coach or as an assistant to work in development and recruitment.
But Hill's name has so far been kept heavily under wraps. Hill did not return calls yesterday and Macqueen last night said he was unable to comment on the outcome of yesterday's meetings.
While Hill's name has come out of the blue, his appointment as a coach would make a good fit. It would send a message to developing Australian coaches that there is still an avenue at home for a professional career to progress and that working overseas was not the only option.
And even if Hill is named as an assistant coach with Connolly as head coach, that would allow for a succession plan so the Sydney Uni man could one day take the top job.
Hill's credentials have been quietly recognised by those in the know who have been working behind the scenes to get the Rebels up and running for next year.
The Rebels' leadership would have noted Hill's role in four of the Students' five Sydney premiership wins, first as a director of coaching at University before becoming head coach. When Wallabies coach Robbie Deans first saw the Students play in the 2008 Shute Shield final against Randwick at Concord Oval, he remarked that they were a side of the standard of New Zealand's NPC competition.
Hill's reputation would only have been enhanced when the Students repeated their title win against the Galloping Greens at the Sydney Football Stadium last year.
With Macqueen being a founding member of the Brumbies in 1996-97, Hill's rise from the ranks of their academy coaching ranks would have counted in his favour. Added to that was his experience in a short coaching stint with the Suntory club in Japan after leaving the Brumbies.
Today's coaching appointments, however, won't necessarily be the last. The Herald understands that the Rebels might still be on the lookout for a specialist forwards coach.
One strong option is John McKee, who has long expressed interest in making a step up in coaching. His career began in Victoria coaching Harlequins and the state side.
McKee is head coach of Warringah and also held the same role with the Central Coast Rays, who won the inaugural title in the now-defunct Australian Rugby Championship.
Meanwhile, Waratahs back-rower Wycliff Palu is bracing himself for the Melbourne-Sydney rugby rivalry to explode next year.
The Wallabies star has returned to the Waratahs this week after his break following the end-of-season tour in Japan and the UK.
Asked about the impending rivalry before Waratahs training yesterday, Palu told AAP: ''I think it will be awesome, I can't wait to go up against them [Melbourne].
''I think it's only going to be better for Aussie rugby. Down there, they always get great support, so that will be good.''
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...0112-m4sh.html
