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Thread: Link signs on till 2014

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    Veteran TOCC's Avatar
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    Link signs on till 2014

    IF there is an Australian Rugby Union succession plan for the Wallabies coaching position, it is now in tatters after the man expected to take over from Robbie Deans, Ewen McKenzie, recommitted to the Queensland Reds until the end of 2014.
    Even before last year's Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, in which the Wallabies lost to Ireland in the pool round and only just scraped by the Springboks before being eliminated by the All Blacks, the ARU had reappointed Deans as head coach through to the end of next year's series against the British and Irish Lions.
    McKenzie, who took the Reds to the Super Rugby title last season after earlier coaching NSW to two finals, is logically the next Wallabies coach but with the ARU making no commitment to him, he has decided to remove all uncertainty about his future at the Reds by announcing he will remain at
    Ballymore at least until the end of 2014.
    "It's pretty straightforward," McKenzie explained.
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    "We only know what we know right now.
    "What we know right now is we've got the Queensland situation. I don't know anything other than.
    "We never know what's going to happen till it happens. We've got no control of that."
    McKenzie said if he did what the media has done and assumed he might inherit the Wallabies next year, he might be committing to a totally imaginary ARU timetable.
    "There's the theory and the reality," he said.
    "The reality is that you could set yourself up around that date and then not have a job. In the end I love coaching here (at the Reds)."
    McKenzie was unable to predict what might happen in the event of Deans's Wallabies being beaten by the Lions and the ARU deciding on an immediate change of coach to give the new incumbent time to make adjustments before the 2015 World Cup.
    "Anything could happen. One thing I know about coaching . . . you've got to be Johnny-on-the-spot, the right bloke at the right time. It's always about timing."
    McKenzie's decision means the triumphant triumvirate he has formed with QRU chairman Rod McCall and chief executive Jim Carmichael since late 2009 will remain intact at least for another three Super Rugby campaigns, assuming McCall is re-elected next year.
    The three were pitched together at a time when the Reds were languishing near the bottom of the table and the QRU was in such dire financial straits it had to be bailed out by the ARU.
    McCall said the QRU had not sought a quick fix, but had put in place strategies to rebuild Queensland rugby to the point where its future was not reliant on the Reds winning Super Rugby titles.
    "That's what we've started. We've had some good success and we want to finish it," McCall said. "If I was chairman of the ARU, I know who I'd want as Australian coach, but that's a personal opinion. As chairman of the QRU, I know who I want as (Reds) coach for as long as possible, so that's what we've done - shore that up. We can't run our business, our operations with too great an eye on what someone else is going to decide in the future."
    Seemingly, that applies not just to the ARU but also to last year's brilliant playmaker Quade Cooper, who comes off his one-year ARU contract at the end of this season and already is the subject of new speculation he will switch to rugby league.
    Carmichael made it clear the Reds were not interested in doing just a one-year deal with him. "We want him to be part of something that's more than just year-to-year and the speculation that gets created around where he might be."
    Posted via Mobile Device

    http://m.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/ewen-mckenzies-reality-check-for-aru/story-e6frg7o6-1226249800626

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    I think it would only be the media and perhaps NSWelshmen that would presume Link would get the Wallaby job automatically.

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    Veteran TOCC's Avatar
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    Can't deny that he is the best credentialled Coach though..

    Cheika might be the only other person to come close, but his big negative is the fact he isn't coaching within Australia..
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    Legend Contributor Thequeerone's Avatar
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    Wouldn't the Reds get a large financial injection if Link had to renege on his contract - maybes not enough to do up Ballymore but something

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    Quote Originally Posted by TOCC View Post
    Can't deny that he is the best credentialled Coach though..
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    We said that about Robbie. Hahahaha.

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    And being the best credentialed doesn't mean you get the Wallabies job...ask John Connolly.

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    Quote Originally Posted by travelling_gerry View Post
    And being the best credentialed doesn't mean you get the Wallabies job...ask John Connolly.
    Well John Connollly was only given the job in 2007 after Ewen said no...
    Posted via Mobile Device

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    Allegedly

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    Quote Originally Posted by TOCC View Post
    Well John Connollly was only given the job in 2007 after Ewen said no...
    Posted via Mobile Device
    try 1996...and the mysterious $50k that lobbed into SARU's bank account.

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    national coach politics aside..

    Its great news that the QRU will be retaining Carmichael, McCall and McKenzie for the next few years, they have done wonders turning the organization and code in QLD around in since 2009, and its going to build a legacy on and off the field if they continue to operate as they have been.

    Players obviously like him, he hasn't really lost any players of significance since he arrived on the scene, and has retained all the big name players thus far.

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    Veteran mudskipper's Avatar
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    Good signing for the Reds... Link McKenzie is a good example someone who benefitted from the past brumbies player power structure and became a fine thinking player & coach...

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    Benefitted by getting as far away from Canberra as possible?

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    Legend Contributor brokendown gunfighter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mudskipper View Post
    Good signing for the Reds... Link McKenzie is a good example someone who benefitted from the past brumbies player power structure and became a fine thinking player & coach...
    you spin it more than Warnie,Muddie

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    I seem to remember Mud you saying that Link was only fit enough to drive the bus for the Brumbies.

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    The Brumbies can't afford a bus anymore. No major sponsor.

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