Tony Brown...with Hammet as assitant

[Kiwiwomble]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...t-highlanders-mark-hammett-waits-in-the-wings

not overly happy, to start with it cant be good having a different head coach for one year...also, Brown has said he's better suited to the assistant role, concentrate on rugby and leave the drama and politics to someone else

secondly...Hammett? pretty much the whole success of the Highlanders over the last few years has been about culture and using that to bring the best out in people....the one thing Hammett is known to have killed at the hurricanes is the culture

I cant see why he would come here as an assistant unless there was a decent chance he'd get the head coach job at the end of it

well...it was nice to be in the sun for a while...winter is coming

 

[nzlizard]

Wasn't the culture at the Canes pretty **** though?, he tried to put that Crusader mentality in, which people resented, but in the end it was a good move most probably.

He got the boot, new guy came in with no resentment from the players but a better club culture than before and the Canes have looked good since he left.

Will be interesting to see how he goes, I think Tony will have it ok for a season or so, its the rebuilding of a team that is the true test, not the continuation of an existing performing outfit.

 

[Captain_Az]

I was hoping Tony Brown would put his hand up for this.

It buys the highlanders a year to find a coach who really wants the position and not someone who just took it because they missed out on a Crusaders gig.

It also gives the Highlanders a whole year to see if Hammet would fit. I think Hammet and the Highlanders would be far different than Hammet and the Hurricanes though.

He is far more like Jamie Joseph who didn't seem to get along that well with players like Nonu etc. I'm sure he will have learnt a lot from the Hurricanes experience but I think he would find the Highlanders culture far more in line to how he naturally is.

 

[nickdnz]

On Hammett: As a Hurricanes fan I actually think Hammett had a hard go of it. The culture in the team just never seemed professional enough - and I think players ran amuck. Hammett transformed the Hurricanes through no nonsense.

Some of his selections were baffling mind-you..

 

[Captain_Az]

It looks like Joe Schmidt seems like a strong possibility for 2018 by the sounds of it.

could be good he's done a lot with Ireland

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...ach-out-to-Ireland-coach-Joe-Schmidt-for-2018

 

[nzlizard]

It looks like Joe Schmidt seems like a strong possibility for 2018 by the sounds of it.

could be good he's done a lot with Ireland

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...ach-out-to-Ireland-coach-Joe-Schmidt-for-2018

Would be great for NZ rugby to get him back.

If we did we would need to look at putting in strong assistant coaches in a couple of the franchises though, as 2-3 of those guys will consider themselves the next AB coach and if they didn't get the role may go overseas for international coaching experience.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

i like the idea...concern is we get tony for one year...then schmidt...and then if he did get the AB call up we'd have a fourth coach in four years....

 

[Shaggy]

i like the idea...concern is we get tony for one year...then schmidt...and then if he did get the AB call up we'd have a fourth coach in four years....

Maybe a Brown, then Schmidt, then Brown again scenario might occur ... I thought I read somewhere Mike Brewer could be a possibility too (can't source it, so could be wrong)

 

[Captain_Az]

Vern Cotter seems to be in the mix as well now.

http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/rugby/386853/schmidt-cotter-possible-2018-coaching-candidates

 

[munstermuffin]

Vern Cotter seems to be in the mix as well now.

http://www.odt.co.nz/sport/rugby/386853/schmidt-cotter-possible-2018-coaching-candidates

They want to team up for All Blacks

 

[austingtir]

Im not to fussed what they do as long as they keep Tony around for as long as possible preferably 10 years plus imo. I think he's a fantastic backs coach. The way the teams plays speaks for itself really.

If he only wants to be an assistant they should work hard to accommodate him and then later on if he feels ready for head coach again go from there.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

browns leaving at the end of 2017.....

 

[GoTheNaki]

Mark Hammett? Good luck to the Highlanders... Really.

 

[Larksea]

I'm not the biggest Hammett fan either but he probably did what needed to be done at the hurricanes, identified that the team was not going to be a success with the current culture and he wasn't going to change the culture with Weepu, Nonu & Hore controlling the squad, he needed to cut them and was made the villain because of it.

And the way the players reacted it didn't help at all. Nonu, Weepu & Hore turned the public and some of the players against hammett and it haunted his entire time with the team. But the decisions he made then played an important part of their impressive showing last year being the #1 qualifier and making it to the final.

Compare that to the chiefs, Dave Renee did the same thing at the when he took over. He cut Donald to make way for Cruden and he cut aled de malmanche as well. basically stopped selecting mostly Waikato and BoP players and recruited players from all over the country and from his contacts with the U20's. I cant remember the rest of the names cut but I think there were others, the number of Waikato players in the chiefs squad went from something like 14 to about 4 in less than two years. These players were established chiefs who loved the team but instead of kicking up a fuss and trying to turn the players and the public against the new coach they left quietly and amicably, Donald & Aled in particular.

Not saying Hammett isn't without fault but I don't think hes as bad as he has been made out to be.

 

[Five Meters Out]

I just wonder with Hammett that, once he had made the hard decisions at the Hurricanes, he wasn't a good enough Coach to move them forward. That would be my impression and if Hammett is being lined up as Head Coach, I would be fearful if I were a Highlanders supporter.