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My surprise at the venom Robbie Deans receives on here from overnight coaching experts has made me put digits to keyboard in trying to provide some context to the allusion that only All Blacks’ coaches can be good coaches.
From the get go, I need to put it out there that a good coach remains a good coach and much too often results become the only barometer glossing over the “real” benefit of having “best on planet” players in several positions as significant contributors toward a coaches win/loss ratio.
And gloss over they certainly do.
As any service industry CEO will tell you, your organisational success is only as good as its people – nothing more, nothing less. And so it is with coaches in charge of national rugby teams.
I am a fan of Deans for several reasons, the primary one being his honesty and mutual respect for his players. This is where the Crusaders’ culture of today was borne, not as some Roarers suggest, from Wayne Smith’s era.
Yes, Smith is the most innovative and technical coach in the world, and the brains of the current All Blacks’ set-up. But anyone from within the inner-workings of Crusaders teams of recent times will attest to the fact, while Smith may be a better innovator, players under Deans wanted to play “for him.”
In other words, he brought out the best in them.
Going to the player pool each season, he literally turned coal into diamonds, with other provinces’ discards becoming All Blacks within a season. Sometimes two.
Deans has some exciting talent to work with, and while clearly not “best on planet” in most positions, many wouldn’t look out of place on the subs bench of a World XV.
The most exciting prospect for Deans and Australian supporters is that they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The world knows he only has to perform next year, and he has all these lead-up games in the Tri-Nations to trial combinations.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.