Coach likely to retain Stags job
Hoani Macdonald is tipped to retain his post as Southland Stags coach.
The disappointing 2017 Stags season came to an end on Saturday with a 43-19 loss in the derby fixture against Otago in Dunedin. The loss meant Southland went through the season without a win and were the first Southland team since 1990 to lose every provincial competition game.
With this season done and dusted the focus will quickly swing towards 2018 and what can be done to ensure Southland do not spend yet another season well off the pace in New Zealand’s premier provincial competition.
Macdonald was initially signed on a two-year contract to coach the Stags after he spent two seasons as Brad Mooar’s assistant. Jason Kawau joined him as a fulltime assistant coach, while Clarke Dermody has split up his year as an assistant coach for both the Highlanders and the Stags.
Rugby Southland also agreed this year to bring in Japanese and Sunwolves assistant coach Atsushi Tanabe.
They were approached by Japan coach Jamie Joseph about the prospect of Tanabe spending some time with the Stags in a personal development type capacity. His role has been funded by his Japanese employers.
When asked during the season if there had been anything decided around coaching for 2018 – in regard to retaining the current group or advertising the positions – Rugby Southland responded saying: ‘‘A full review of the team’s performance takes place at the conclusion of this year’s competition.’’ There is a strong suggestion from many within the Southland rugby community that Macdonald and Kawau have already been given the green light by the Rugby Southland board to continue next season.
Whether that is true or whether it could potentially change through the annual end of season review is unclear.
Stuff has asked Rugby Southland for clarification if any decision had yet been made, or if the decisions would still take place after a review. However, as of late Sunday, there hadn’t been a response. Macdonald also wasn’t able to be contacted for comment.
Just who conducts the review into the 2017 season may also be interesting – whether it is someone within the Rugby Southland setup or someone not so closely aligned to the organisation.
Making a public issue out of people’s employment is not a pleasant situation, but sport can be a nasty beast at times.
Southland’s passion for rugby also amplifies it, while a large chunk of community money is pumped into Rugby Southland each year which also has it bubbling away as a public issue.
The encouraging points to the 2017 season have been the progress of flanker Phil Halder and midfielder Matt Johnson while teenagers Flynn Thomas and Jay Renton have also indicated they could have strong futures in the maroon jersey.
Southland dominated the first half of the first game against Hawke’s Bay in Napier and pushed Manawatu and Auckland close, but outside of that, they were simply outclassed by most teams.
It is hard to dodge the reality, 2017 has been one of Southland’s worst, and in the current state, the Stags are well off being a competitive team at this level.
Whether big changes need to be made to the playing personal, or instead a change in tactics how they approach the game is the way forward, will be up for debate.
What we do know is the numbers are alarming. Southland conceded a whopping 45.4 points per game this season and scored just 15.4 points per game.
The Stags’ ability to score tries has been on a steady decline over the past four years.
In 2014 they scored 27 tries, in 2015 the number was at 24 tries, last year it was 20 tries, and this year in 10 games they crossed the tryline 18 times. On the flipside, the defence has also followed a similar trend.
In 2014 the Stags let in 34 tries, in 2015 they conceded 38 tries, in 2016 it was 52 tries, and this year the number got up to 66 from their 10 games.