Scott Robertson

[Victor Meldrew]

@reprobate

Prior success is a decent argument and clearly a big positive

Only up to a point. In business, when you pick a new CEO you equally look at how they handled adversity and different environments and cultures. You look forward, not back.

It's easy to say in hindsight that Robertson should not have been selected

Come on, many people were saying at the time that while he was hugely talented, it was simplistic to compare SR success to Test level, it was a big risk and he needed Test experience and should have done time as an Assistant first. (@nzzp , @Kirwan , etc). They were invariably shouted down.

[canefan]

GH said Razor needed seasoning overseas but he was ignored. He's been proven correct

[Mr Fish]

@nostrildamus said in Scott Robertson:

@Mr-Fish said in Scott Robertson:

Razor's tenure reminds me a lot of Ewen McKenzie's with the Wallabies. McKenzie diverted away from what he'd done so well with the Reds which meant he lost the support of many of those Reds players. The rest then fell like dominos and then everything collapsed towards the end.

I'm still a bit confused about what happened there. Was reading his and Eddie's analysis of the last French game, and I thought Ewen was more incisive.

McKenzie was so focused on not being seen by the players as just a promoted Super Rugby coach that he went away from one of the things that had made him such a strong coach at that level, his relationships with the players. Avoided being matey with the Reds guys which upset them and confused everyone else in the squad - "If the players from your own title-winning team don't like you, why should we?". All slowly collapsed from there.

[Dan54]

@Mr-Fish said in Scott Robertson:

@nostrildamus said in Scott Robertson:

@Mr-Fish said in Scott Robertson:

Razor's tenure reminds me a lot of Ewen McKenzie's with the Wallabies. McKenzie diverted away from what he'd done so well with the Reds which meant he lost the support of many of those Reds players. The rest then fell like dominos and then everything collapsed towards the end.

I'm still a bit confused about what happened there. Was reading his and Eddie's analysis of the last French game, and I thought Ewen was more incisive.

McKenzie was so focused on not being seen by the players as just a promoted Super Rugby coach that he went away from one of the things that had made him such a strong coach at that level, his relationships with the players. Avoided being matey with the Reds guys which upset them and confused everyone else in the squad - "If the players from your own title-winning team don't like you, why should we?". All slowly collapsed from there.

I thought McKenzie was just basically shafted by players who didn't want to have rules etc? He was sunk when he stood down the group that hit the piss in London one night. They were out got pretty pissed were introducing one of their fathers (who was there as suoorter) to the locals as Link McKenzie etc, they never forgave him for standing them down I got impression. Can't remember the hooker's name off hand with squad copped shit from other players for being the one who maybe alerted McKenzie. I always thought Micheal Hooper (when he was captain) shafted him in an interview that was about time McKenzie resigned. Hooper was one of the ones who got on piss in London.

[nostrildamus]

@reprobate said in Scott Robertson:

@nostrildamus said in Scott Robertson:

Seems to me there's something rotten at the assistant coach level. I'd also be very surprised if having the Mo at 10 would have helped us play that much better. General skills has deteriorated in the backline, our wingers aren't well-used, midfield is open, and the best loosies combo is anyone's guess.
I do wonder if Barrett's relatively shy performance as captain led to some team disruption.

Hard disagree with the first bit, the impact of a lack of Mo'unga (and I'm not even really a fan).

Hard counter-disagreement with your hard disagree based on this:

Cantab players who amaze in Super no longer amaze at international level.
Not their fault.
But Richie was a so-so to good AB 10. He didn't have the same impact at international level and that WASN'T under Razor as AB coach.
Almost every player has stagnated (eg Jordan) or remained at the same level (Taylor).
I'd agree he could probably have linked and managed better than Barrett but given the last 2 years we are dangeously extrapolating to think he was the answer..
The ABs luckily beat England, faced a B or C French team, and showed flashes and fumbles against the other top sides. And against say South Africa or a full-strength England or France no I am not sure he would say have been markedly better than DMac. His kicks were not exactly cannonballs.

[reprobate]

@nostrildamus said in Scott Robertson:

@reprobate said in Scott Robertson:

@nostrildamus said in Scott Robertson:

Seems to me there's something rotten at the assistant coach level. I'd also be very surprised if having the Mo at 10 would have helped us play that much better. General skills has deteriorated in the backline, our wingers aren't well-used, midfield is open, and the best loosies combo is anyone's guess.
I do wonder if Barrett's relatively shy performance as captain led to some team disruption.

Hard disagree with the first bit, the impact of a lack of Mo'unga (and I'm not even really a fan).

Hard counter-disagreement with your hard disagree based on this:

Cantab players who amaze in Super no longer amaze at international level.
Not their fault.
But Richie was a so-so to good AB 10. He didn't have the same impact at international level and that WASN'T under Razor as AB coach.
Almost every player has stagnated (eg Jordan) or remained at the same level (Taylor).
I'd agree he could probably have linked and managed better than Barrett but given the last 2 years we are dangeously extrapolating to think he was the answer..
The ABs luckily beat England, faced a B or C French team, and showed flashes and fumbles against the other top sides. And against say South Africa or a full-strength England or France no I am not sure he would say have been markedly better than DMac. His kicks were not exactly cannonballs.

Robertson would have picked Mo'unga whereas he didn't pick McKenzie. So Mo'unga doesn't have to be better than McKenzie, he only has to be better than Barrett to have been an improvement.
His field kicking is much more accurate, his options are better, he is a running threat, his hands are faster, and he spots gaps and mismatches better. Backs outside BB pretty much always look worse than they do with a different 10. He should have been the experienced steady hand wearing 23, or maybe at 15 with Jordan on the wing, and having him at 10 castrated our backline.

[Richie8-7]

@sparky said in Scott Robertson:

He was a one trick pony. His first couple of Super titles were built on the innovation of theming. But that didn't remain an innovation for long.

The superior recruitment of the Crusaders and signing talent from other franchise areas did the rest.

Wow, winning a Super rugby title sounds really easy!

[Mr Fish]

@Dan54 said in Scott Robertson:

@Mr-Fish said in Scott Robertson:

@nostrildamus said in Scott Robertson:

@Mr-Fish said in Scott Robertson:

Razor's tenure reminds me a lot of Ewen McKenzie's with the Wallabies. McKenzie diverted away from what he'd done so well with the Reds which meant he lost the support of many of those Reds players. The rest then fell like dominos and then everything collapsed towards the end.

I'm still a bit confused about what happened there. Was reading his and Eddie's analysis of the last French game, and I thought Ewen was more incisive.

McKenzie was so focused on not being seen by the players as just a promoted Super Rugby coach that he went away from one of the things that had made him such a strong coach at that level, his relationships with the players. Avoided being matey with the Reds guys which upset them and confused everyone else in the squad - "If the players from your own title-winning team don't like you, why should we?". All slowly collapsed from there.

I thought McKenzie was just basically shafted by players who didn't want to have rules etc? He was sunk when he stood down the group that hit the piss in London one night. They were out got pretty pissed were introducing one of their fathers (who was there as suoorter) to the locals as Link McKenzie etc, they never forgave him for standing them down I got impression. Can't remember the hooker's name off hand with squad copped shit from other players for being the one who maybe alerted McKenzie. I always thought Micheal Hooper (when he was captain) shafted him in an interview that was about time McKenzie resigned. Hooper was one of the ones who got on piss in London.

He was sunk well before that night! The lack of respect was a symptom, not a cause. That night out was one of many major moments but it largely all stemmed from Link's initial approach to being coach.

[Dan54]

@Mr-Fish said in Scott Robertson:

@Dan54 said in Scott Robertson:

@Mr-Fish said in Scott Robertson:

@nostrildamus said in Scott Robertson:

@Mr-Fish said in Scott Robertson:

Razor's tenure reminds me a lot of Ewen McKenzie's with the Wallabies. McKenzie diverted away from what he'd done so well with the Reds which meant he lost the support of many of those Reds players. The rest then fell like dominos and then everything collapsed towards the end.

I'm still a bit confused about what happened there. Was reading his and Eddie's analysis of the last French game, and I thought Ewen was more incisive.

McKenzie was so focused on not being seen by the players as just a promoted Super Rugby coach that he went away from one of the things that had made him such a strong coach at that level, his relationships with the players. Avoided being matey with the Reds guys which upset them and confused everyone else in the squad - "If the players from your own title-winning team don't like you, why should we?". All slowly collapsed from there.

I thought McKenzie was just basically shafted by players who didn't want to have rules etc? He was sunk when he stood down the group that hit the piss in London one night. They were out got pretty pissed were introducing one of their fathers (who was there as suoorter) to the locals as Link McKenzie etc, they never forgave him for standing them down I got impression. Can't remember the hooker's name off hand with squad copped shit from other players for being the one who maybe alerted McKenzie. I always thought Micheal Hooper (when he was captain) shafted him in an interview that was about time McKenzie resigned. Hooper was one of the ones who got on piss in London.

He was sunk well before that night! The lack of respect was a symptom, not a cause. That night out was one of many major moments but it largely all stemmed from Link's initial approach to being coach.

Ok mate, from what I remembered McKenzie only coached a couple of years and that happened in his first year, but can't remember details. I know he was pissed off stood a few players down from next test and players some players started throwing toys out of cot. One reason (of a few) why I never very keen on that piston wristed gibbon Honey Badger or whatever his name was. But was a classic case of players going off rails next year Kurtley Beale was playing up (as usual in those days). .But anyway I digress this is about Robertson.

[Tim]

Interesting detail from One News interview with Papali'i:

https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/02/10/snubbed-all-blacks-loose-forward-hints-at-overseas-move/

Papali'i, left out of the Rugby Championship and November squads, was reluctant to get into his relationship with Robertson, sacked in January midway through his four-year deal, but did reveal he was involved in the review which ultimately did for the former Crusaders man.

“I was yeah but I’ll keep that to myself,” Papali’i said.

“I was there when Shag [Sir Steve Hansen] and Fozzie [Ian Foster] were there holding the helm [at the All Blacks]. Seeing it change to Razor’s agenda – you could see there was a big difference.

“People spoke up and they had to have a review. We followed that process… I don’t really want to speak too much on that. What happened, happened.”

[handa457]

@Tim I shared in the thread a month ago that there were some serious lines Scott Robertson crossed with Papalii. I hope for everyone’s sake that stays behind closed doors because no one needs to hear the full story. However, I just saw in a comment section someone repeating most of the rumour, though still missing a few critical details. I suspect it will be out soon one way or another, though maybe not the full story. But if the full story does come out, then I think it would be clear that incident alone would have been decent grounds to get Robertson fired, even without anything else happening.

[Frank]

@handa457 said in Scott Robertson:

But if the full story does come out, then I think it would be clear that incident alone would have been decent grounds to get Robertson fired, even without anything else happening.

Holy shit. That's heavy.

[nostrildamus]

@handa457 said in Scott Robertson:

@Tim I shared in the thread a month ago that there were some serious lines Scott Robertson crossed with Papalii. I hope for everyone’s sake that stays behind closed doors because no one needs to hear the full story. However, I just saw in a comment section someone repeating most of the rumour, though still missing a few critical details. I suspect it will be out soon one way or another, though maybe not the full story. But if the full story does come out, then I think it would be clear that incident alone would have been decent grounds to get Robertson fired, even without anything else happening.

I think something will come out. The way Dalton answered without answering I think will encourage (even if not intended) the media to keep digging. Whether they're skilled enough to get the real story is another question. But it sure is intriguing.

[Mr Fish]

@nostrildamus said in Scott Robertson:

@handa457 said in Scott Robertson:

@Tim I shared in the thread a month ago that there were some serious lines Scott Robertson crossed with Papalii. I hope for everyone’s sake that stays behind closed doors because no one needs to hear the full story. However, I just saw in a comment section someone repeating most of the rumour, though still missing a few critical details. I suspect it will be out soon one way or another, though maybe not the full story. But if the full story does come out, then I think it would be clear that incident alone would have been decent grounds to get Robertson fired, even without anything else happening.

I think something will come out. The way Dalton answered without answering I think will encourage (even if not intended) the media to keep digging. Whether they're skilled enough to get the real story is another question. But it sure is intriguing.

It's fairly easy to find on places like Reddit now, so it's just a matter of whether or not any journalist dares to ask and whether Papali'i feels like talking about it. Definitely the kind of thing you wouldn't be relying on others' testimony before publishing.

[nostrildamus]

@Mr-Fish said in Scott Robertson:

It's fairly easy to find on places like Reddit now, so it's just a matter of whether or not any journalist dares to ask and whether Papali'i feels like talking about it. Definitely the kind of thing you wouldn't be relying on others' testimony before publishing.

There's some versions out there, and some might be ah contested. So I'd hope a journalist attempts to get an accurate version.

[MN5]

@nostrildamus said in Scott Robertson:

@Mr-Fish said in Scott Robertson:

It's fairly easy to find on places like Reddit now, so it's just a matter of whether or not any journalist dares to ask and whether Papali'i feels like talking about it. Definitely the kind of thing you wouldn't be relying on others' testimony before publishing.

There's some versions out there, and some might be ah contested. So I'd hope a journalist attempts to get an accurate version.

I have a feeling the story will come out down the line.

Does not paint Robertson in a good light at all. Seriously crossing a line if accurate.

[nostrildamus]

@MN5 said in Scott Robertson:

I have a feeling the story will come out down the line.

Does not paint Robertson in a good light at all. Seriously crossing a line if accurate.

Hasn't been a great year for Blues loose forwards.

[Frank]

I've seen it on Reddit. Disgusting if actually true.

[Kirwan]

@Frank said in Scott Robertson:

I've seen it on Reddit. Disgusting if actually true.

Can you DM me a link?

[Frank]

@Kirwan said in Scott Robertson:

@Frank said in Scott Robertson:

I've seen it on Reddit. Disgusting if actually true.

Can you DM me a link?

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