Henry back in

[Te Kaha]

Well they had to try something different than sacking a coach after a world cup...

From Stuff


King Henry's reign continues

The Dominion Post | Friday, 07 December 2007

Photosport
HE'S BACK: Graham Henry has retained the All Blacks coaching job.
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BREAKING NEWS: Graham Henry has confounded the tipsters and held on to the All Black coaching job.

In a decision that will surely push his great rival Robbie Deans towards accepting the Australian
national team coaching position, the New Zealand Rugby Union has just announced Henry will remain in
charge of the All Blacks.
Henry, Deans and Super 14 coaches Ian Foster and Colin Cooper were all separately interviewed last
night with the NZRU board ratifying the decision to retain Henry this morning ahead of the public
announcement.
The decision is set to split the Kiwi rugby public – and offer canny Australian rugby boss John
O'Neill a gift-wrapped solution to replacing Wallaby coach John Connolly.
O'Neill is set to pounce on Deans, who was spurned despite his unmatched record with the Crusaders at
Super 14 level, with Australian experts saying he could earn as much as $NZ1.1million per year.
The anti-Henry brigade will now fret that Deans will return to haunt New Zealand rugby by working his
Crusaders magic on the Wallabies.
The decision to reappoint Henry was not widely anticipated and will be greeted with wrath in several
quarters given he oversaw New Zealand's worst ever performance at a World Cup.
But there were signs the NZRU board were sympathetic to Henry and his coaching allies Wayne Smith and
Steve Hansen. Recent suggestions were even that the board wanted to send a message to the rugby
public that the World Cup is not the be-all and end-all.
By reappointing Henry, that seems to be the situation.
Henry has been strongly criticised for even re-standing, with the flak coming from many rugby
luminaries including unbeaten All Black captain Wayne Shelford, legendary ex-coach Fred Allen and even
a key member of the World Cup squad, Aaron Mauger.
Mauger, now playing in England, said this week that it was time for Deans to take over.
But his plea has fallen on deaf ears.

 

[aussies1st]

Step on over across the ditch Mr Deans.

 

[lockyno1]

You beauty we get Robbie!

 

[MKEB...]

NZRFU must surely be trying to shoot itself in the foot...again.
IMO the man who single handedly managed to turn the viewers/spectators off of union this year with his diluted super14 and "Whoever-draws-the-highest-card-plays" selection policy gets picked leaving the genuine best option for coach to sink us in the world cup next time.

Unless there is some hidden theory I am babmboozled.

 

[Beavers Headgear]

Very happy with this, especially because the Sunday News witchhunt has been unsuccessful and i can't stand that muppet Matheson

On a side note, didn't hear the interview myself, but apparently on the radio this morning, prior to the announcement, Deans said something along the lines of he would rather coach the Crusaders than Wallabies

 

[ozbash]

Well I heard an interview where prospective aussie coaches were abusing the ARU after being told Deans was a gimmee for the aussie job. They were basicaly told not to waste their time applying.

Congrats to GH, I hope for the sake of the international game that Deans or Nucifora get the Wallabies gig.

 

[Iafeta]

Good stuff IMO. I don't rate the conditioning thing, but other than that, IMO he's been pretty much spot on. NZL has a habit of shooting down coaches for one game at a World Cup, they'd do far better by letting a man learn from his errors, and Graham Henry is and always has been a class act as a coach.

Robbie Deans' day will come, just like it did for Henry when he had to go overseas for an opportunity way back when.

 

[lockyno1]

On a side note, didn't hear the interview myself, but apparently on the radio this morning, prior to the announcement, Deans said something along the lines of he would rather coach the Crusaders than Wallabies

Offer Deans 2 million and he might change his mind!

 

[ozbash]

probably what he's waiting for locky.

 

[lockyno1]

probably what he's waiting for locky.

Well the ARU will offer him that.

 

[Iafeta]

Still won't help with Matt McCheeseburger trying to hold up the scrum.

 

[ozbash]

Former All Blacks coach John Mitchell has slammed the reappointment of Graham Henry, believing politics has counted against the best candidate, Robbie Deans.

Western Force coach Mitchell, who was replaced by Henry after the failed 2003 World Cup campaign, was irate at the New Zealand Rugby Union board's decision and fired a broadside at officials.

"Robbie was clearly the best man for the job," Mitchell told AAP.

"It's just a great shame that politics continue to contaminate the process.

"Now New Zealand's loss could well be Australia's gain."

Deans, who was Mitchell's deputy with the All Blacks from 2001-03, is now considered the frontrunner for the vacant Australian coaching role.

There is a chance that Mitchell could be his assistant if he got the Wallabies job

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4317262a1823.html

 

[lockyno1]

Still won't help with Matt McCheeseburger trying to hold up the scrum.

He won't pick the fatso!:lol:

 

[gunnamatta bay]

this reappointment seems to have really polarised the country still reeling from the wc result.

 

[ozbash]

Robbie Deans should be confirmed as Wallabies coach within the next fortnight with Australian Rugby Union boss John O'Neill poised to poach the rejected All Blacks contender.


A bitter Deans failed to oust Graham Henry from the All Blacks job on Friday and indicated yesterday that he believed the New Zealand Rugby Union board made the decision before the appointment process began.

"I entered it in good faith and in the hope it wasn't a done deal and in the hope I could convince the people involved I was worthy of belief," Deans said.

"That's all you can do. Obviously when you come out of the process you spend a bit of time contemplating what you could have said differently.

"But in the end it probably doesn't make much of a difference. That detail doesn't make much of a difference.

"People have an idea in mind as to what they want and they pursue that ...

"I guess what I was seeking out of the process was if they wanted me. They don't.

"So we have clarity."

For its part the NZRU denies Henry's re-appointment was a fait accompli, adding it is desperate to ensure Deans does not go the way of Warren Gatland and join the exodus of top talent overseas.

But Deans, after swallowing this week's bitter pill, told the Sunday Star-Times his desire to coach at the international level sooner rather than later was undiminished.

With his pathway to the All Blacks now blocked, almost certainly until 2012, New Zealand's loss appears to be Australia's gain.

"Obviously the Australians have expressed an interest, as everyone is aware, and they have been very respectful in the way they have handled that," Deans said.

"They have recognised I wanted to have a crack at the All Blacks and gave me the opportunity. What happens from here I don't know but I certainly appreciated their ethics."

Deans will still coach the Crusaders in the Super 14 but he also confirmed his association with the franchise, which dates to 1997 when he was appointed manager, is near its end.

"There are some good people coming through at the Crusaders. I am working with a good man and a good coach at the moment in Mark Hammett and those blokes deserve a crack at some point, with Todd Blackadder coming through at Tasman as well. I don't want to impede their progress."

That will be music to O'Neill's ears. If the often-accurate Australia rumour mill is to be believed, the ARU has offered Deans a $1m salary.

Deans was coy on how the next week would unfold.

The ARU board is due to discuss a shortlist of five candidates for the job on Thursday. Deans isn't on it, but his name should be added in the coming days.

"If there is willingness from their side and they were keen to have me and I felt it was appropriate for me and my family then that could become a possibility," said Deans.

"But right at the minute that subject has not been broached."

Henry was re-appointed for two years but is widely expected to have his contract extended until the 2011 cup.

He said it would be a shame if Deans left New Zealand.

"I think Robbie has to make his own decisions," said Henry. "I have a huge amount of respect for Robbie as a rugby coach. He has done a superb job with the Crusaders and I would imagine he would coach the All Blacks at some stage.

"He should think about how old the current coach is [61, Deans is 48] and I hope he does. He deserves that opportunity at some stage."

www.stuff.co.nz

 

[lockyno1]

Very excited about this. We can f**k off all the hacks- Baxter, Dunning, Palu, Tuquiri (fair dinkum has he done anything to command 700K!)..not to mention our need for a quality 9!

 

[Iafeta]

Former All Blacks coach John Mitchell has slammed the reappointment of Graham Henry, believing politics has counted against the best candidate, Robbie Deans.

Western Force coach Mitchell, who was replaced by Henry after the failed 2003 World Cup campaign, was irate at the New Zealand Rugby Union board's decision and fired a broadside at officials.

"Robbie was clearly the best man for the job," Mitchell told AAP.

"It's just a great shame that politics continue to contaminate the process.

"Now New Zealand's loss could well be Australia's gain."

Deans, who was Mitchell's deputy with the All Blacks from 2001-03, is now considered the frontrunner for the vacant Australian coaching role.

There is a chance that Mitchell could be his assistant if he got the Wallabies job

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4317262a1823.html

lol from the outside it appears anything like political, given that the Canterbury representative on the board voted for Henry - the vote was 7-1 in Henry's favour. Still bitter, perhaps?

 

[ozbash]

The gospel according to Peter, v 1 chp 1

I ran into former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick shortly after the New Zealand team had ingloriously flamed out of the World Cup at the hands of the French. When I expressed the view that the failure surely meant the end of the reign of Graham Henry as coach, he rather strongly expressed the contrary view.

He said one bad game did not change the fact that Henry was the best rugby coach in New Zealand and that he should be reappointed.
And so it has proved.
Which leaves celebrated Crusaders coach Robbie Deans all dressed up with no place to go. Except to us. To become Wallabies coach. The smart money is pouring in on it happening. Let this, then, be a last plea to prevent it.
Deans is a fine man, a great coach, a credit to rugby and everything you'd want in a national coach - except one thing. He is not of the nation he would be coaching.
Certainly, that does not worry the soccer crowd, or most of the test cricketing nations, who are always happy to have a well-credentialled foreigner.
But the Wallabies having a former All Black as coach, a New Zealander?
Us, against our most cherished rivals, hauling up the white flag and saying that, yes, you're right, you are the superior rugby nation, so superior that we are reduced to taking your second-best coach and making him our best coach? It is against nature.
I want it stopped.


Then the proverbs of Latham

Wallaby star Chris Latham has sent out a plea to Australian rugby supremo John O'Neill - sign up Robbie Deans today!

Latham - capped 78 times - is so determined that Deans be the next coach that he was unconcerned about upsetting the five Australian contenders for the job.
"Every Wallaby wants the best man for the job and that man is Robbie Deans," Latham told Sunday News last night.
"You only have to look at his record and the style of play of the teams that he has coached and is coaching.
"They play an attractive brand of rugby, an attacking style of rugby, where he used pretty much all 15 players on the field.
"He obviously has a very high emphasis on skill level - that's evident. I think he would be very suited to getting us to achieve the standards we've been striving to achieve.
"He would help us move forward. Like any of the applicants he would be trying to improve us but with Robbie you certainly know he brings a tremendous track record with him and he'd probably have the best chance of any of being successful with the Wallabies.
Latham a proud Australian said Deans wouldn't suffer any backlash from Wallaby players because he was a New Zealander.
"It's not an issue," he said.
"Rugby is a professional sport and we're at the elite end of that.
"And when you are at that elite end you need the coach with the greatest credentials and with the greatest ability to bring out the best in the team.
"If that's Robbie Deans and he happens to be a New Zealander it doesn't really matter.
"He would be inducted into the Wallaby fold pretty quickly. None of the boys would have a problem with him being a Kiwi.
"I am sure Robbie would do everything he could to ensure that we reached our full potential even if it meant beating the All Blacks. So there'd be no dramas there whatsoever."
Latham said he wasn't surprised Deans missed out on the All Blacks job.
"I have learnt over the years that there are always a lot of politics in rugby and unfortunately sometimes the best man does not get the best job.
"Sometimes it doesn't pay to be the best bloke."
"In Robbie's situation, with the results he's got and the credentials he has, we would have to be silly not to snap him up as quickly as possible.
"I'm surprised the All Blacks passed on him. But it's given Australian rugby a great opportunity," he said.

 

[ozbash]

But wait, here's the best bit....

Robbie Deans will interview for the vacant Wallabies coaching job this week after failing to convince the New Zealand Rugby Union that he was the man to coach the All Blacks.

The Australian Rugby Union confirmed today that an approach had been made by Deans.
A selection panel will interview the Crusaders' coach for the vacant Wallabies position later this week.
ARU chairman Peter McGrath said the board was committed to appointing the best coach available, regardless of nationality.
"The policy that stated only an Australian could coach the Wallabies was changed well before we went to the market to find a coach for next year," he said.
It will submit its final report to the ARU Board on Thursday following the interview with Deans.
Deans has already spoken to ARU chief executive John O'Neill, who is understood to firmly back Deans's appointment to the role.
In his former gig as chief executive of Football Australia, O'Neil lured Dutch super coach Guus Hiddink to coach the Socceroos, who went on to qualify for the World Cup in Germany last year, where they had an enormously successful tournament under his guidance.
Should Deans get the job the scene is set for an explosive Bledisloe Cup series as he goes head to head with Graham Henry, who is the first All Blacks coach to survive the chop after failing at a World Cup.
Henry was reappointed as All Blacks head coach on Friday after the NZRU interviewed four candidates on Thursday - Henry, Deans, Hurricanes coach Colin Cooper and the Chiefs' Ian Foster.
The panel assembled to conduct the interview process has to date met with five Wallaby coaching candidates – Laurie Fisher, Alan Jones, Ewen McKenzie, John Muggleton and David Nucifora.

thanks to my benevolant friends at www.stuff.co.nz

 

[Iafeta]

Deans is a shoe in. Fitzpatrick would have a fair idea, he'd have played a few times under Graham Henry for Auckland and the Blues. One can't deny Henry is an outstanding coach who made a blunder with the reconditioning. The sad thing is in the fact that the difference allegedly was the back up both coaches had in their corner as assistants, to my way of thinking, those positions should have been advertised separately and the NZRU should pick those, not the head coach.