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The Queensland Reds are apparently replacing Nick Stiles as head coach, and if they do, it would be just the latest in a long line of serious blunders from the struggling franchise.
The Reds are where they are due to a number of contributing factors, and while Stiles as coach cannot remain free of responsibility, it is madness to think that the solution to all their problems is a change of coach.
If changing coaches was the key to success, Queensland would be the best team in Super Rugby. Club management change the coach more often than they change their underwear. Unfortunately, success in sport is far more often achieved from a position of stability, rather than from shifting foundations.
Australian rugby is suffering from a lack of quality coaching at every level up to and including Super Rugby. It’s an indictment on the current state of the game that the top level of rugby in this country is being used as a place for inexperienced coaches to cut their teeth.
Look across the other franchises last season and the men in charge of them: Daryl Gibson – first-time head coach. Dave Wessels – first-time head coach. Tony McGahan – one previous head coach job. Stephen Larkham – first-time head coach.
Larkham has the best record percentage-wise of that group, but even then it sits just a tick over the 50 per cent mark. Toss of a coin.
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McGahan has been brought into the Reds setup from the Melbourne Rebels in recent weeks, fueling speculation that Stiles may be on the way out. But McGahan’s own Super Rugby win record sits at 30 per cent. The Reds would be trading in a two-wins-in-ten coach for a three-wins-in-ten coach. Hardly an inspiring revolution.
If they do stick with Stiles, then the addition of McGahan to the support staff makes sense. If Stiles is replaced, it does not.
Incredibly, the man rumoured to be in line for the Reds job is former All Black, Bronco, Kangaroo and Crusader Brad Thorn. While Thorn’s playing CV is one of the most remarkable ever to lace them up, he is completely unproven as a head coach in opens rugby.
Granted, Thorn is currently in charge of Queensland Country in the National Rugby Championship and his side have started that campaign with a couple of impressive performances, but it is an extremely small sample size.
Even if Thorn were to run the table and win the comp this season, that would still leave him one NRC title behind Nick Stiles, proving that coaching success at such a level is no guarantee of success at Super Rugby level.
The Reds have been a disaster of an organisation for years now, and despite chopping and changing the head coach, they have continued to be a disaster. Time and again they have undermined their own coaches and wondered why they did not succeed.
Before Stiles, Richard Graham was asked to reapply for his own job following a disastrous 2015 season, while a worldwide search for his successor was supposedly conducted, ultimately coming up empty handed. As a result, they re-appointed Graham – only to fire him two games into the 2016 season.
Queensland have made a commitment to Stiles, he has a contract that they can ill afford to pay out – they’re still stinging from having to pay John Connolly $150,000 for firing him six weeks into a three-year deal back in 2015.
It is in their best interests not only to stick with Stiles, but also to publicly back him and end all speculation surrounding his position. The uncertainty surrounding the job in the media is hurting the Reds more than they know.
Players read the papers, and if they feel like a coach is on the edge, they are far less likely to buy into his methods, and no coach can enjoy success in that predicament.
It’s time for those higher up to take some responsibility, rather than rotating in a fresh scapegoat each season to later cast aside in order to cover up their own failings.
Back the man that they appointed, for the length of time that they appointed him for, and if it proves to be wrong after all that, then everyone needs to be cleared out – not just the coach.