Monie to Coach France

[mj]

Former Wigan and London Broncos coach John Monie will be the next coach of the French rugby league side.

The 58-year-old will take over from tGilles Dumas next September and lead the French into the 2008 World Cup.

Monie enjoyed plenty of success during his two spells in charge of Wigan and also coached Paramatta and Auckland.

"We wanted a person steeped in rugby with moral authority," said French Rugby League Federation president Nicolas Larrat.

"We especially wanted a long-term commitment and someone capable of giving the French team a new and dynamic style."

The Australian will have French pair Daniel Divet and Thierry Dumaine as his coaching assistants. Divet played for France between 1987 and 1995, while Dumaine has been in charge of the French youth team since 2002.

 

[southsman]

Will be a great appointment for the French . I will be interested to see what happens to the normal french comp when the Catalans enter. Will they still run the comp in the south and will their be enough funding to make it viable. Clubs like Pia Donkeys and Toulouse won't be able to pay big money for Aussies like before. I'd imagine the crowd's will drop meaning less revenue. Will the Catalans have a team in the French domestic comp????

However Monie will be great for the french and give them good lead into the 2008 World Cup.

 

[Ari Gold]

i actually think its a good thing that UTC are leaving, makes the competition more even......

 

[roughyed8]

UTC will still be running a team in the French championship as a feeder team, similar to NRL teams in NSW premier and Queensland cup.

 

[League Freak™]

A stupid move by the French.

 

[Sun_Down]

A stupid move by the French.

??...right

 

[carlnz]

A stupid move by the French.

Another stupid coment from LF

 

[League Freak™]

Dragging an old coach out of no where who has been out of the game for years to coach the international side.

A coach with no knowledge of the French players or game.

I bet he cant even speak French!

 

[carlnz]

Just like their last coach? And looked what happen? the only difference is John is in their for the long run..

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

Dragging an old coach out of no where who has been out of the game for years to coach the international side.

A coach with no knowledge of the French players or game.

I bet he cant even speak French!

I agree, any moron could of coached that eels side of 86, if your going to get a coach in to lift RL in France, why go for an old outdated hasbeen?

For crying out loud, the game is twice as fast as it was in the 80s and early 90s, they need to move with the times, they would've been better with Chris Anderson , Daniel Anderson or ever David Waite.

Don't mean to be disrespectful to Monie, but he hasn't really set the RL world on fire before and when he was coaching at a decent level he simply walked straight into teams that were already made up by some other coach.

 

[The Partisan]

A fellow interested spectator at the France / Ireland game at the Student World Cup on Saturday was none other than John Monie. I couldn't let the opportunity pass to ask him about the upcoming role.

I have to be honest and say he wasn't exactly bubbling with enthusiasm, stating that it seemed like a good opportunity. Maybe being Bennetts assistant at the Broncos has dulled his emotions as well !!! To be fair we were watching a game that was not exactly awe-inspiring, with the French students running riot against very ordinary defence. He did agree that the fullback / man of the match from France had been outstanding and certainly a talent for his team. He did briefly address the team after the game.

Sounds like he is off to France for a couple of months later this year.

Personally, I would have also preferred a more contemporary coach like Anderson or even former Gold Coast coach Phil Economidis, but we will see.

 

[League Freak™]

Anderson would be the very worst coach they could sign. He always leaves teams in a worse position then when he got there.


This signing is rotten. Its one of the worse appointments I have seen for a long time.

It will end in complete failure.