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Coaches under national spotlight
By Jon Geddes
April 07, 2007
ASPIRING Australia coaches, as well as players, will go head to head in tomorrow's Super 14 clash between the ACT Brumbies and New South Wales Waratahs in Canberra.
Just as intriguing as the action on the field will be the battle of tactics raged between Ewen McKenzie from the Waratahs and Brumbies counterpart Laurie Fisher.
Like two chess grandmasters, they will attempt to checkmate their rival from the coaches' box, at the same time realising there are elements in play over which they have no control.
The pair, along with Blues' coach David Nucifora and Robbie Deans from the Crusaders have been flagged as the candidates to replace John Connolly at the helm of the Wallabies after the World Cup.
McKenzie understands people will speculate whether tomorrow's game ends up having any bearing on the final appointment of the national coach.
"I guess those sort of things make the game interesting,' he said. "But it's like Wallaby selection for players, if you are serious you are going to look for performances over time.
"If it gets down to one game we are all in trouble.
"You have to look at the resources at the disposal at the time and a whole lot of factors that should come into it if you are going to make an objective decision."
Fisher concurred when he commented: "You don't become a Wallaby player on one performance and you don't become a Wallaby coach on one performance."
The Brumbies game always carries special significance for McKenzie, irrespective of the circumstances which may surround it.
He says as a coach there are always those little personal goals you have through the season.
"Every side has the teams they like to play against and test themselves against. And the Brumbies is certainly an important game in my calendar as are all local derbies which you can't help but focus on," he said. "It's not a personal thing, but mainly because the Brumbies have been such a consistently good side that to come out on top you do feel a sense of achievement."
McKenzie enjoys the intellectual challenge that coaching offers, especially against the Aussie opponents.
"You tend to know a lot more about the coaches and you know the players," he said.
Adding another dimension to the coaching tussle is that assistant Waratahs coaches Les Kiss and Steve Tuynman team up with Fisher and his assistant Matt O'Connor in the Australia A team.
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