Blues 2022
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McDonald also has Joe Schmidt, Tom Coventry, Ben Afeaki, Craig McGrath, Daniel Halangahu on his coaching staff.
They are all (bar Halangahu) extremely highly regarded technical coaches with excellent track records & they were gifted to Leon by the Blues board.
@kiwi_expat like any organisation, you surround yourself with good people, no point being the most awesome manager if your assistants aren't upto it, conversely if the assistants are great but the manager is shit you will struggle too.
The Blues right now have a great balance in thier coaching team, players and this is flowing through to the culture, and a great culture lends to enjoying your 'work' and if you enjoy your work, you work better.
The Crusaders clearly still have most of the pieces of the puzzle, but lack the depth they have enjoyed previously, so when chinks in the armour appear it impacts confidence, this is where the good management team can make the difference in bringing things together and keep things heading in the right direction.
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@kiwi_expat like any organisation, you surround yourself with good people, no point being the most awesome manager if your assistants aren't upto it, conversely if the assistants are great but the manager is shit you will struggle too.
The Blues right now have a great balance in thier coaching team, players and this is flowing through to the culture, and a great culture lends to enjoying your 'work' and if you enjoy your work, you work better.
The Crusaders clearly still have most of the pieces of the puzzle, but lack the depth they have enjoyed previously, so when chinks in the armour appear it impacts confidence, this is where the good management team can make the difference in bringing things together and keep things heading in the right direction.
@taniwharugby McDonald is a good coach who's obviously benefited from a very supportive board - lucrative 3rd party signings, world-class assistant coaches appointed around him, etc.. Ironically, McDonald having his assistant coaches picked for him is probably the better method, as Razor has only surrounded himself in unproven and inexperienced assistant coaches in the likes of Ellison, Hansen, etc..
Ellison has only been coaching at the elite level for a few years and was a failure in all his gigs (in the Japan top league & Wellington Lions), Hansen was sacked by the Tigers for a terrible record and he was also a very poor attack coach for Canterbury between 2013-2014. Neither of them are proven coaches in any sense of the word and their appointments were poor judgment from Razor.
Jason Ryan is the only highly regarded assistant coach among Razor's staff, while McDonald has 3 or 4.
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@taniwharugby McDonald is a good coach who's obviously benefited from a very supportive board - lucrative 3rd party signings, world-class assistant coaches appointed around him, etc.. Ironically, McDonald having his assistant coaches picked for him is probably the better method, as Razor has only surrounded himself in unproven and inexperienced assistant coaches in the likes of Ellison, Hansen, etc..
Ellison has only been coaching at the elite level for a few years and was a failure in all his gigs (in the Japan top league & Wellington Lions), Hansen was sacked by the Tigers for a terrible record and he was also a very poor attack coach for Canterbury between 2013-2014. Neither of them are proven coaches in any sense of the word and their appointments were poor judgment from Razor.
Jason Ryan is the only highly regarded assistant coach among Razor's staff, while McDonald has 3 or 4.
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@kiwi_expat I don't know who in the Crusaders set-up pissed in your weetbix, but your vendetta is tiring. Change the bloody broken record, it's boring.
@Stargazer said in Blues 2022:
@kiwi_expat I don't know who in the Crusaders set-up pissed in your weetbix, but your vendetta is tiring. Change the bloody broken record, it's boring.
I do agree in a way with what he is saying. This a not a vintage Saders squad and it's been that way a couple of years now. I don't think it is as bad as @kiwi_expat does though.
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@Stargazer said in Blues 2022:
@kiwi_expat I don't know who in the Crusaders set-up pissed in your weetbix, but your vendetta is tiring. Change the bloody broken record, it's boring.
I do agree in a way with what he is saying. This a not a vintage Saders squad and it's been that way a couple of years now. I don't think it is as bad as @kiwi_expat does though.
@Crazy-Horse There is some point in what he says, but the fact that he's just taking every possibility to put the boot in one franchise - while he could have used others - is annoying. If there's one organisation where you can see that who's in your organisation is having a huge effect on performance (in a negative way), it's the Canes. It's extremely frustrating to see how the whole Hurricanes set-up is just wasting talent from the U18s up to Super level.
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@Crazy-Horse There is some point in what he says, but the fact that he's just taking every possibility to put the boot in one franchise - while he could have used others - is annoying. If there's one organisation where you can see that who's in your organisation is having a huge effect on performance (in a negative way), it's the Canes. It's extremely frustrating to see how the whole Hurricanes set-up is just wasting talent from the U18s up to Super level.
@Stargazer said in Blues 2022:
@Crazy-Horse There is some point in what he says, but the fact that he's just taking every possibility to put the boot in one franchise - while he could have used others - is annoying. If there's one organisation where you can see that who's in your organisation is having a huge effect on performance (in a negative way), it's the Canes. It's extremely frustrating to see how the whole Hurricanes set-up is just wasting talent from the U18s up to Super level.
I guess the difference is that’s pretty normal for the Canes, where as the Crusaders used to have a well organized setup. The change is worth commenting on.
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@Stargazer said in Blues 2022:
@Crazy-Horse There is some point in what he says, but the fact that he's just taking every possibility to put the boot in one franchise - while he could have used others - is annoying. If there's one organisation where you can see that who's in your organisation is having a huge effect on performance (in a negative way), it's the Canes. It's extremely frustrating to see how the whole Hurricanes set-up is just wasting talent from the U18s up to Super level.
I guess the difference is that’s pretty normal for the Canes, where as the Crusaders used to have a well organized setup. The change is worth commenting on.
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Their squad looks strong to me. Not sure if I buy into the argument
However the claim that their coach deserves credit for having a ‘weak’ squad only half makes sense. He would also be responsible for the selection of that squad.. it would be an argument against him leading a national selection panel for instance
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@Tim said in Blues 2022:
But not on every thread about coaching. Especially the in the Blues thread.
Yeah. If anyone wants to continue this, quote and respond in the Crusaders thread
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@Stargazer said in Blues 2022:
@Duluth Better still, chuck the broken record away.
Be a pretty dull forum if we weren’t allowed to discuss opinions or all agreed with each other.
If you think he’s wrong should be pretty easy to disprove.
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Warning - positive post below.
I continue to be impressed with the organisation that the Blues are building. Everything has stepped up since a few years ago - Board, Coaching, Admin, facilities, relationships between stakeholders, talent identification and so on. The board has led the creation of an org that should result in playoff contention every year, strong talent identification, and a place people want to play. In the medium term, putting yourself in contention each year is critical, and we're not so reliant on one or two key pieces.
You can see it with the development of depth across the squad. We've gone from significant areas of weakness, to worrying about backups (or backups to the backups). The pool of talent has expanded, and the squad has built year on year to be in a good place. It is really fantastic to see.
We may not win the comp this year (knockout rugby is a thing), but there's a culture building that is really high quality. You have to expect that next year we'll be contending again - and with the talent scouting we have finally started to do, there's a steady stream of talent starting up.
Feels really good right now. Really proud of both the team and the organisation, and what they are delivering. The challenge now is to take contention and turn it into titles, and then do it consistently.
I was reflecting at the game on Friday with a mate that the nadir of Blues was the loss to the Rebels 4 years ago. We left at half time - honestly, the rugby was so bad we couldn't stay. To go from there to putting 70 up is a huge turnaround, that isn't achieved without lots of really hard work behind the scenes. Beating the Crusaders away was huge for the mental game - win that, and the mental belief of the players really kicks in. Ideally we're at home through the playoffs (barring a banana skin), and have a real shot at winning a title in front of the home fans.
So, really, the future is bright ... the future is Blue.
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@chimoaus said in Blues 2022:
Please post when we find out what RI injury is, I really hope it's not long term.
Hamstring.
Iced on the sidelines on TV. The replay shows him favouring it very very sightly if you squint hard
What they didn't show on TV was him having a trainer shaking his leg around on the field. Looks more a niggle I hope, not limping or clutching it. There is three weeks to the playoffs, so hopefully it's minor enough to shake off.
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@chimoaus From Rugby Pass -
There didn’t appear to be any major damage done and although MacDonald quelled any immediate fears following the game, the Blues could be faced to front the Brumbies next weekend without their star centre.“He pulled up with [what] looked like a hamstring [strain] initially,” MacDonald told media after the match. “We’ve just got to monitor him. He’s smiling out there at the moment so hopefully, it’s not too bad.”
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@chimoaus From Rugby Pass -
There didn’t appear to be any major damage done and although MacDonald quelled any immediate fears following the game, the Blues could be faced to front the Brumbies next weekend without their star centre.“He pulled up with [what] looked like a hamstring [strain] initially,” MacDonald told media after the match. “We’ve just got to monitor him. He’s smiling out there at the moment so hopefully, it’s not too bad.”
@Daffy-Jaffy so then, I know it won’t happen, but a Heem 12 and TVS 13 would be nice. It would give TVS more space and less wear and tear.
