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All hail Toovs, the Blues coach in waiting

9th April, 2014
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Geoff Toovey is at the centre of the issues at Manly (AAP Image/Paul Miller)
Expert
9th April, 2014
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When NSW loses this year’s State of Origin series, a number of fingers are bound to be pointed and plenty will be aimed at the coaching staff.

Thankfully, if Laurie Daley does get the dump early, the Blues have the perfect coach to step into the toughest job in footy.

A coach who can be held accountable. A coach who is tougher than the Leichardt Oval lavatories.

A coach that gets under Queenslanders’ skin so bad that the mere sight of him has them hurling half-drunk cans of XXXX at the telly and frothing violently about Peter Sterling’s place of birth.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you the next coach of NSW… Geoff Toovey!

I’m serious!

With the month of April ushering in the start of the NSW annual E4O (Everyone for Origin) period, plenty of positions are up for grabs as the Blues brains trust try more possible combinations than your lifelong lotto lover to try and crack the Queensland code. One position that is non-negotiable is that of coach, with Daley being signed up for both the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

If the reminder of this prospect leaves you feeling a tad underwhelmed you’re not alone, and recently I found myself mulling over the situation with a predominantly Aussie rules-interested co-worker.

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“What about giving the Storm coach a go?” Tried that.

“Roosters?” Too green.

“Bulldogs?” Getting his house in order at the moment.

“Manly… They’re always pretty good aren’t they?” What, Toovs? Bahahaha!

Driving home though, the conversation nagged at me, much like the little blond halfback at a 1990s referee. Toovey. Toovey. Why not Toovey?

Well, for starter he’s emotional. And abrasive. And clearly from the old school. Oh crap – he’s perfect! I couldn’t believe it. There needed to be an investigaaaaation!

The real sealer though came a couple of weeks later watching an old interview of Brent Kite, who was being questioned about Toovey’s coaching methods, and in particular his favourite piece of advice for his players – “Tackle hard and run straight!”

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Ping. The light bulb went on – this was exactly the man I wanted to coach the Blues. State of Origin isn’t about coaching per se, it’s about getting a bunch of highly-skilled blokes to gel quickly and fired up to smash themselves silly for 80 minutes.

While the cry of tackle hard and run straight is something lifted out of the under 9s coaching manual, when the words are being screamed at you from a ballistic, crimson-faced Toovey, you get the idea of what he’s really trying to say.

Yes, there’s the argument that only non-NRL coaches will be considered for the role thanks to a radical and ground-breaking decision the NSWRL may have borrowed from somewhere, but if Daley walked away tomorrow, would they really stick to this policy? Are you telling me that Matthew Ellitot is really the shadow NSW coach? Daniel Anderson? Arthur Kitinas? Please.

Toovey has made every post in his short coaching career a winner so far and I honestly believe, despite every fibre in my being disagreeing with me, he’s the man to do it for the Blues, with potentially Jamie Lyon coming along for the ride with him.

And hey, if nothing else, at least we’d get some interesting press conferences.

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