England star Phil Vickery on Melbourne Rebels' hit-list
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ENGLAND World Cup captain Phil Vickery is at the top of the Melbourne Rebels' international recruiting list while triple Sydney premiership-winning coach Damien Hill has emerged as the likely understudy to the club's new head coach, Rod Macqueen.
The Rebels have scheduled a press conference at the new Melbourne Rectangular Stadium for late this morning to announce 1999 Wallabies World Cup-winning coach Macqueen as their director of coaching and head coach.
But while clinching Macqueen is a spectacular coup for the new Super rugby franchise, the unavoidable fact is that he has not coached at any level since standing down from the Wallabies job in 2001.
Although Macqueen has remained closely involved with the game, playing a key role on the International Rugby Board panel that devised the experimental law variations, it was always a given that the Rebels would seek an experienced, up-to-date assistant coach to act as his back-up.
Almost certainly that role will be filled by Hill who coached Sydney University to the past three Shute Shield victories while having a direct hand in a fourth premiership as the club's former director of coaching.
It is understood that the Rebels plan on taking a long-range approach with Hill, hoping to groom him as Macqueen's eventual successor as head coach.
On leaving the Sydney Uni job at the end of last season, Hill was singled out for praise by club president David Mortimer - a significant supporter of the Rebels - for his work in building and enhancing the Students' culture.
With Macqueen adamant that the Rebels must get their culture right from the outset, it's safe to say Hill's prowess in that department would have carried almost as much weight with the Melbourne franchise as his impressive on-field coaching achievements.
Hill's expected appointment would further strengthen the Rebels' ties to the powerhouse club of the Sydney competition, opening up a range of possibilities for both organisations.
Today's coaching appointments, coming hard on the heels of the Rebels signing on Monday of Melbourne Storm NRL boss Brian Waldron as their inaugural chief executive means that the new club now can redirect its focus to building an imposing playing roster.
Sources have told The Australian that Vickery, who captained England to the 2007 World Cup final against eventual champion South Africa - upsetting the heavily-favoured Wallabies at the quarter-final stage in Marseille - has been identified as a linchpin signing.
Given that the Rebels were only awarded the Super expansion licence a week ago, the fledgling club has done little more than sound out whether 33-year-old Vickery is at all interested in a Down Under move so late in his career. Initial indications, however, are promising.
Much will depend on whether the personable former England captain, who is capable of playing both sides of the scrum, fulfils his dream of playing in a third World Cup tournament next year in New Zealand, having claimed a winner's medal in Australia in 2003 and a runner-up medal in France four years later.
Vickery's World Cup prospects would not have been helped by the mauling he received from Springbok strongman Tendai "The Beast" Mtawarira in the opening Test of the British and Irish Lions series in Durban in June. New Zealand referee Bryce Lawrence penalised Vickery four times for alleged scrum infringements, even though it was evident Mtawarira was illegally angling in on the English veteran.
In the context of a 26-21 defeat and the Lions' ultimate 2-1 series loss, those penalties could not have been more costly. Although Vickery - who resurrected his reputation with a powerful scrummaging display in the final Test at Ellis Park - claimed that Lawrence admitted to him after the series that he may have got some of his Durban decisions wrong. "Oh well, it's a bit f . . . ing late now," Vickery told the British media of his response.
Vickery will miss the entire Six Nations tournament as he recovers from a recent neck operation but has come back so regularly from major surgery that he could yet figure in his old captain Martin Johnson's 2011 World Cup plans.
Even if England does not want him, the Rebels might still face stiff competition from his club Wasps which has indicated it wants him to keep on playing after his contract expires at the end of this year.
Meanwhile, it remains unclear where the Rebels will train when the squad assembles in August. Club officials are hoping to use their playing venue, the MRS, but if that proves too difficult or costly to arrange, they will need to find a permanent home base.
In other news, the Western Force will use the remainder of this week to evaluate North Harbour hooker James Parsons before deciding whether to allocate him the last opening in its squad for this year.
The departure for Japan last year of former Wallabies Test hooker Tai McIsaac has left the Force exposed at No 2. Former Australia A representative Ben Whittaker is the only hooker in the squad with Super experience. Not that his three caps give him much of a head start over local Ryan Tyrrell. Parsons has spent the past week in Perth trying to make a good impression on coach John Mitchell.
If he succeeds, the club will sign him as their allocated foreign development player, having already assigned their overseas marquee spot to former Springbok five-eighth Andre Pretorius.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1225818591338
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