Back from the cold to boost the Reds
BRIAN Smith, the 1980s Wallaby and former England attack coach, is on the short list of contenders for the job as Queensland Reds backs coach next season.
Former Wallabies assistant Jim McKay, the attack coach who worked wonders with Quade Cooper, Will Genia and co in the 2011 Super Rugby title run, is also in the picture for a Reds’ return.
Well-travelled backs and skills coach Scott Wisemantel, who has worked with the Wallabies, England, NSW Waratahs and two French clubs, is another under the microscope.
This has become far more than a case of filling an assistant coach’s role at a modestlyperforming Super Rugby club.
It has become the litmus test for all the words out of Rugby Australia’s high-performance zone.
The coaching talent drain to overseas clubs must be reversed by getting our smartest rugby minds back into top jobs to enhance the Australian system.
The upbeat McKay is looking for an opportunity in Australia after finishing two seasons at the Kobelco Steelers in Japan, Wisemantel is sizing up life after France and Smith has been rugby director at The Scots College in Sydney since finishing at London Irish in 2015.
All have plenty to offer to shake-up the spluttering attack of a major Australian side that outscored just two other clubs for tries (49) in Super Rugby.
For all the heat directed at coach Michael Cheika after the two flawed losses to the All Blacks, there was a worrying pause when the hypothetical next question was posed. “Who is the alternative?” The Australian landscape is not exactly overflowing with Test-ready coaching alternatives outside the current staff structure.
Cheika is by some distance the best equipped coach to take the Wallabies to next year’s World Cup.
Respected backs boss Steve Larkham will have been his assistant for more than 60 Tests by the end of the World Cup so the obvious succession plan for 2020 is already in play.
Calls on coaches are not always obvious.
Enthusiastic Super Rugby head coaches Brad Thorn, Dan McKellar and Dave Wessels don’t yet have the runs on the board and Kiwi Daryl Gibson, the NSW Waratahs coach, is not in the race.
Brumbies defensive coach Peter Ryan, the former Bronco, is conspicuous among those in the hunt to be in the next wave of assistants.
That’s why it’s so important that Queensland get it right by picking the attack coach who can truly be an asset for the Reds and Australian rugby at large.