Foley gone: Waratahs official media release
Roar Guru Confirmation that Michael Foley will leave the NSW Waratahs. Read the full media release:
“The Waratahs will have a new head coach next season following Michael Foley’s decision to leave the NSW province.
Foley handed in his resignation today, saying, “I’d like to thank the organisation and team for their support throughout my time here, particularly over the past season.
“While it’s been a challenging season for everyone, being involved over the last four years has been extremely rewarding, particularly being part of a team that was able to play in two finals series.
“I believe that the squad and organisation has the potential to turn it around and I wish everyone the best for next season.”
Speaking on behalf of the Waratahs Rugby Board, Al Baxter said, “On behalf of everyone involved with the Waratahs, I would like to thank Michael Foley for his dedication and commitment to the team and the organisation, not just over the past year but throughout his time with NSW. We wish him and his family all the best for the future.”
The Waratahs Rugby Board will now oversee the process of appointing a new head coach. “We firmly believe that this position is a highly sought-after role and will begin the appointment process with immediate effort,” added Baxter.”
- Explore:
- Michael Foley, NSW Waratahs, Rugby Union, Super Rugby
July 31st 2012 @ 2:32pm
jameswm said | July 31st 2012 @ 2:32pm | Report comment
I wish him luck. I don’t doubt his effort or commitment, or that he’s a nice bloke, I just don’t think he’s a good S15 head coach.
I hope he can prove me wrong.
July 31st 2012 @ 2:36pm
Norforce said | July 31st 2012 @ 2:36pm | Report comment
I bet they don’t take as long as the Force. They probably have Chieka signed already.
July 31st 2012 @ 2:46pm
rl said | July 31st 2012 @ 2:46pm | Report comment
I’m sorry to be slow on the uptake, but Al Baxter is on the board?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure he’s a nice bloke. But take the tip from the Reds – ‘Slaughter’ may not be a brain surgeon, but I’m damn sure he knows how to kick an arse very very hard.
July 31st 2012 @ 3:16pm
Comrade Bear said | July 31st 2012 @ 3:16pm | Report comment
lol – I was thinking the same thing
July 31st 2012 @ 4:42pm
jameswm said | July 31st 2012 @ 4:42pm | Report comment
Al Baxter is the players rep on the board.
Baxter is a practising architect. I’ve sat next to him at a lunch, he’s a good bloke and bright. Saw him down at the snow with his kids a few weeks ago too (and Vince Sorrenti), I’ll bet he couldn’t do that when he was playing rugby.
July 31st 2012 @ 5:25pm
rl said | July 31st 2012 @ 5:25pm | Report comment
yeah, I recall Baxter being pretty bright.
Point is, Rod McCall is a practising arse-kicker. Not sure how bright he is, but he’s smart enough to get good advice, then act on it. Does the NSWRU board have the same, or is this just going to be more of the same?
July 31st 2012 @ 6:35pm
jeznez said | July 31st 2012 @ 6:35pm | Report comment
Al is on the Waratahs Inc board which is searching for a new chairman after Edwin Zemancheff stepped down this week.
NSWRU board has Nick Farr-Jones as Chairman and Tim Gavin as President so they are getting some good people in there.
July 31st 2012 @ 11:19pm
Bakkies said | July 31st 2012 @ 11:19pm | Report comment
A old boys club. Anyone on the Tahs board with a administrative or business background?
August 1st 2012 @ 12:00pm
jeznez said | August 1st 2012 @ 12:00pm | Report comment
Bakkies, they’ve only been there two and three months respectively – why don’t we give them a chance to see what they can do.
The clean out that a few of us have been asking us has begun with Zemancheff and Foley on their way, I’m keen to see who the replacements are.
August 1st 2012 @ 2:24pm
Rabbitz said | August 1st 2012 @ 2:24pm | Report comment
IIRC Farr-Jones is a lawyer, and is of the period where they also had day jobs so may well have some business nouse.
August 1st 2012 @ 4:33pm
Bakkies said | August 1st 2012 @ 4:33pm | Report comment
The Brumbies in comparison have very few ex players running the show. I think we have only had 3 CEOs in our history. The last two Clarke and Fagan were recruited from the outside.
July 31st 2012 @ 2:47pm
Keith of WA said | July 31st 2012 @ 2:47pm | Report comment
Geez… so Cheika moves in to take over Waratahs…… and the Force will employ a coach that had a team full of Wallabies yet could barely win a game. Either the Force know something about him that we don’t or they really have no idea….. time will tell….
July 31st 2012 @ 3:26pm
Rickety Knees said | July 31st 2012 @ 3:26pm | Report comment
How is the Force going to sell Foley to its fans ????????
July 31st 2012 @ 3:50pm
sittingbison said | July 31st 2012 @ 3:50pm | Report comment
they can’t. Its a complete and utter fiasco.
July 31st 2012 @ 4:04pm
schuey said | July 31st 2012 @ 4:04pm | Report comment
Exactly RK. It is am impossible sell to poor force fans. They will feel abandoned over there.
July 31st 2012 @ 4:34pm
AndyS said | July 31st 2012 @ 4:34pm | Report comment
I suspect the Force weren’t given a choice and are singing off someone elses songsheet.
July 31st 2012 @ 2:50pm
Harry said | July 31st 2012 @ 2:50pm | Report comment
Maybe best for all – the Tah timeservers and faceless men have their scapegoat for the 2012 season disaster and Foley gets to make a fresh start at the Force, an older and hopefully wiser coach.,
July 31st 2012 @ 6:22pm
p.Tah said | July 31st 2012 @ 6:22pm | Report comment
It’s got McKenzie 2008 written all over it, doesn’t it.
July 31st 2012 @ 11:28pm
Bakkies said | July 31st 2012 @ 11:28pm | Report comment
This time Foley has a mandate to bring changes in and coach in his own direction. If he fails he needs to give up or go elsewhere to work on his coaching. This is his chance to coach the way he wants and he won’t have the expectation that the Tahs have. Both jobs he has had so far have been hindered. Bath he was coaching with Knuckles the king of 10 man Rugby. At the Tahs they are still using McKenzie’s philosophy of basing the side around a big pack and relying on stars to score points. Chuck in the truck load of politics and people like John O’Neill dictating how they should play. Todd Louden didn’t last long as a coach due to politics.
Foley like Jake White needs to hire a coaching staff that is on the same page. Jake White loves his rolling mauling mauls and direct play and hired Laurie Fisher who had been coaching at Munster who thrive on that style of play. Kept Larkham on to mentor the young backs. I don’t think Foley had the right staff to work with at Bath and the Tahs. The Force like the Brumbies have to look at their conditioning programs. They get a lot of injuries like the Brumbies in the past. The Brumbies bar freak and unlucky injuries to Toomoa and Leiliifano didn’t have big injury lists this season like the other 4 Australian sides. They were very fit and strong at the back end of games which is the Force’s strength. They are strong finishers it’s the start of games they fall behind in. There are a couple of youngsters from the Under 20s worth looking and they are getting players in to that squad and the Aus Schoolboys.
July 31st 2012 @ 3:26pm
Worlds Biggest said | July 31st 2012 @ 3:26pm | Report comment
The first of a big clean out hopefully.
July 31st 2012 @ 6:36pm
jeznez said | July 31st 2012 @ 6:36pm | Report comment
second leg actually, Edwin Zemancheff the Waratahs Inc chairman stepped down yesterday.
August 1st 2012 @ 1:42pm
Matthew Skellett said | August 1st 2012 @ 1:42pm | Report comment
I hope they have the good sense to hand Mr Bowen and Mr Mumm their hats as well
July 31st 2012 @ 3:53pm
PeterK said | July 31st 2012 @ 3:53pm | Report comment
Now it is very clear why Pocock left.
He knew Foley was the incoming coach and smart man decided to leave.
Foley was a lot worse than Hickey.
At leats Force fans are used to coaching strategies that revolve around kicking and more kicking.
July 31st 2012 @ 3:58pm
sittingbison said | July 31st 2012 @ 3:58pm | Report comment
the Force fans were on the verge of mutiny with braindead “dick” grahams aimless kickfest, if Foley reincarnates that they will leave en masse.
July 31st 2012 @ 10:44pm
Ben S said | July 31st 2012 @ 10:44pm | Report comment
I read that Pocock was trying to get Foley on board with the Force.
July 31st 2012 @ 3:56pm
sittingbison said | July 31st 2012 @ 3:56pm | Report comment
Foley has just led them to their WORST EVER season, and RECORD NUMBER of LOSSES IN A ROW. And this is after Foley was the assistant to the previous worst ever coach in Hickey, the pair of them being so woeful the Tahs felt inclined to have the supporters symposium in the vain attempt at placating members and stopping the hemorrhage of member numbers.
So the Force in their infinite wisdom, faced with the necessity of securing a White-type coach, someone with a record of success, with international standing, with respect, who has the ability to attract quality players and the potential to instill sustainable programs, someone that the likes of DAVID POCOCK wants to play for, a coach that understands the backs – have actually gone and got the worst, most reviled, most stupid (see the Tahs kicking tactics this year) coach, one who has just had a performance revue mid season to keep his job. A coach that made Barnes look stupid and ineffective.
All of this after the “exhaustive” 15 week interview and selection process looking at the likes of Chieka, Johnson, Mulvihill, Lane, Louden, Kirwan, O’Sullivan, Mallett…but NEVER Foley!!
Words fail me %(((
July 31st 2012 @ 4:04pm
PeterK said | July 31st 2012 @ 4:04pm | Report comment
I suspect every other coach thurned the offer down.
July 31st 2012 @ 4:26pm
sittingbison said | July 31st 2012 @ 4:26pm | Report comment
They should never have made an offer that COULD be turned down. All these guys were “applicants” (other than Mallet I think), they applied for the job, they wanted the job if the offer was right. The selection process was to determine the best applicant for the job at hand, they should have offered the successful applicant whatever he wanted.
The issue is the entire organisation is now in complete disarray, regardless of Vern Reids pronouncements to the contrary yesterday. Now they apparently will have a guy that was not interested at the time he did not apply, was not part of the selection process, does not fulfill ANY of the requirements of the position, and to cap it all off has ALREADY turned them down once.
July 31st 2012 @ 11:33pm
Bakkies said | July 31st 2012 @ 11:33pm | Report comment
Mallett can be as mad as Mitchell and wasn’t a fit for the Force. He is known for rubbing people up the wrong way (which is why he hasn’t been a head coach in SA for a long time). Johnson is about as loyal as Richard Graham. Has left a lot of jobs. Mulvihill untested as head coach and would have relationships with senior players.
July 31st 2012 @ 4:05pm
Jutsie said | July 31st 2012 @ 4:05pm | Report comment
And to add to that they have just felt first hand what it feels like for a coach to turn their back on a team so they go and entice a bloke to turn his back on a team that has stood by him despite howls from supporters and media to sack him.
Poor form by foley too i might add.
I wasnt a knocker of him during the season as there is many elements to a poor season and when your a first year coach there should be some concessions but if he wasnt loyal to the cause he shouldnt have wasted the team’s time with performance reviews, he shouldve just stepped down then and there.
July 31st 2012 @ 4:46pm
jameswm said | July 31st 2012 @ 4:46pm | Report comment
Jutsie maybe Foley was given the tap on the shoulder rather than leaving voluntarily. What makes him look worse? Being sacked or quitting? Maybe MFoley opted for the latter.
At least we’ll know which Foley we’re talking about now at the Tahs…
July 31st 2012 @ 10:59pm
Jutsie said | July 31st 2012 @ 10:59pm | Report comment
Yeah good point, and it still hasnt been confirmed that he’s going to the force so I shouldnt jump to conclusions.
August 1st 2012 @ 8:55am
Jutsie said | August 1st 2012 @ 8:55am | Report comment
After reading the articles in SMH and the Australian today I take back what I said about foley, clearly he was only given the board’s backing at NSW on a superficial basis and saw the writing on the wall. Interesting to note that he will be director of coaching at Force and not head coach.
On another note I think kearns should stop commenting on NSW matters in the media he has as much a conflict of interest as eddie mcguire does with his pies/media roles.
July 31st 2012 @ 4:24pm
formeropenside said | July 31st 2012 @ 4:24pm | Report comment
I thought the Tahs did worse in 2007, when they came second last in front of only an Eddie Jones coached, Force-poaching ravaged Reds.
July 31st 2012 @ 4:38pm
sittingbison said | July 31st 2012 @ 4:38pm | Report comment
2007 Waratahs P 13 W 3 L 9 D 1 Diff -51 Pt 21
2012 Waratahs P 16 W 4 L 12 D 0 Diff -61 Pt 35
Take your pick for worst season. 8 losses in a row might seal it.
July 31st 2012 @ 10:13pm
Harry said | July 31st 2012 @ 10:13pm | Report comment
Bison,
Not being flippant but I feel your pain.
I thought Cheika woulod have been better for the Force. But Foley is a good rugby man and has passion, hopefully he’s wiser after the clusterfark that was Tahs 2012.
I really hope the Force can be as a credible rugby side. IMO there is a chance this will happen in 2013, particularly if you have a change of luck in the vexed 10 position (Saffa import the most promising) and the remaining forwards aim up and stay fit. A pack of Manu, Charles,Longbum, Wykes, kiwi bloke, Hodgkinson, Mcalaman, Cotterell should be competiive with Lard, (Maa’fi), Whittaker, Browne, Battye on the bench.
August 1st 2012 @ 3:12pm
sittingbison said | August 1st 2012 @ 3:12pm | Report comment
If they can get Meehan and/or Louden for head and backs coaches things are looking up.
Foley director, Louden Head, Meehan backs, Stiles forwards, Sharpie lineout consultant, Ebersohn at 10, Godwin coming through. Out of the ashes of despair it just might work out ok %)
July 31st 2012 @ 8:03pm
LeftArmSpinner said | July 31st 2012 @ 8:03pm | Report comment
He was under contract!
July 31st 2012 @ 3:58pm
biltongbek said | July 31st 2012 @ 3:58pm | Report comment
Hmm, Pieter de Villiers is looking. He has the international pedigree, have won a Tri Nations, British and Irish Lions series and can boast the white wash of the All Blacks in 2009.
Who else can say that?
July 31st 2012 @ 4:02pm
Johnno said | July 31st 2012 @ 4:02pm | Report comment
John Mitchell and Marc lievemront are looking too biltongbek. Not many coaches have gone to a world cup semi or final. Nick Mallett is still looking apparently , Brian Ashton, maybe clive woodwad who does have links with sydney having played club rugby out here during his playing days. Dick Muir maybe, scott johnson is looking , todd blackader maybe out of a job soon. Or maybe andy friend or tony era.
July 31st 2012 @ 6:39pm
jeznez said | July 31st 2012 @ 6:39pm | Report comment
I want Scotty Johnson – might get confusing when all start calling for Johnno’s head after another Tahs loss though!
July 31st 2012 @ 6:47pm
Johnno said | July 31st 2012 @ 6:47pm | Report comment
ha ha it might jeznez good call. Scott Johnson is no Grahame Henry but he has got results in the past at times, and i sy the words at times . Scott Johnson has quite good people skills it seems, and is a good in transition coach maybe come in and get the place going for 1-2 years. He is vastly experienced too now, and has good balance of NH and SH coaching experience. And won’t be overawed as it is not a step up for him, he has been head coach of wales, and wallaby backs coach or it could of been forwards coach i don’t know. The point is he is up for the job, will handle the media well, has street cred and some proven results. Issue is if he really wants the job. I personally would love a Jamie Joseph or dave Rennie they seem to me 2 really good coaches on the way up.
July 31st 2012 @ 4:13pm
Will Sinclair said | July 31st 2012 @ 4:13pm | Report comment
What a complete shambles.