Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Tony Johnson: Rugby Commentator on the departure of Leon MacDonald from the All Blacks coaching staff

Transcript

Tony Johnson: Rugby Commentator on the departure of Leon MacDonald from the All Blacks coaching staff · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Shock move yesterday, still not quite sure why it happened.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: The assistant coach of the All Blacks, Leon McDonald, has
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: quit after disagreements with head coach Scott Raisor Robertson. He
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: says it was a mutual decision as they couldn't agree
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: on strategy any minute now. Maybe this is how awkward
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: it was when they were coaching together. Maybe that's why
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: he started. He has to go here.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: It is just a little bit of philosophy on rugby,
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: how it was played, and you just didn't quite click
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: in different aspects.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Tony Johnson is a rugby commentator. He's with us Tony,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: good morning, Nice to have you on the show. Good morning, right,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: what do you think really went on here? What's the juice?
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: Well? I think there's a couple of schools of thought
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: about this. Ryan. One is that, as stated the reasons,
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Leon McDonald left the job as assistant to Scott Robertson
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: at the Crusaders in twenty seventeen, surfast and proved irreconcilable,
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: which is, you know, baffling a little bit because they
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: have played or coached together over a twenty seven year span.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: Canterbury Crusaders, the all backs. They coached a New Zealand
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: age group team together in twenty fifteen, and so for
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: suddenly these differences to be irreconcilable, you know, it's a
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: bit unusual. The other school of thought is that, you know,
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: there probably are too many voices on the coaching panel,
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: six full time coaches. That's unprecedented, different voices, all with
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: their role to play, and too many voices has been
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: a bit of a rumble that's come out of the team.
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: You know, look, they have won three out of their
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: four test matches, but right from the word go, you're
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: hearing that the players were getting a lot of voices,
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: a lot of information. And also when you've got that many,
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: you know, there's always a chance that you know, coaches
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: are going to be sort of tripping over each other,
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: that're going to have different views, and maybe someone's going
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: to end up feeling a bit marginalized. And I think
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: that's maybe one of the things that happened here with
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Leon McDonald. Either way, it's a decision I think they
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: felt that they had to make now rather than you know,
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: let it sort of fester on. And I think in
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: that regard, it's quite a bold thing that they've done
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: and the right thing that they've done. If they weren't
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: getting on you just couldn't have that happening in front
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: of the players.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: No, well, that obviously made up their minds that, as
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: you say, was reconcilable. Basically, who picks the who selects
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: the assistant coach? Like with Leon's job, would would Raiser
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: have picked him?
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: And well, yeah, and I think this is something that
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: you know, probably needs to be looked at that have
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: they given him cart blines to pick as many and
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: whoever coaches on his staff as he likes in the past,
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: it's a job that's been done very successfully in the
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Graham Henry and Steve Hanson eres By three. And as
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: I say, it just raises that question where he has
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: obviously got some fresh ideas, some quite radical ideas. But
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: there's just signs here that's six and there are a
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: couple of others that pop in and out as well,
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: just perhaps too many the kitchen. Yeah, and look, I
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: think it's quite telling that the best performance that they've
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: had so far was the second Test match against Argentina,
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: where the really bad weather forced them to simplify the
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: way they were playing. Take it right, back to the
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: basics and that proved to be a really good formula,
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: that maybe things were a bit over complicated, and that
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: the weather forced them to go a lots of them.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: That's that's the point of going forward. I think if
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: they're going to be successful in South Africa, which is
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: going to be a very tough challenge for them, that
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: that's that's the way ahead. The interesting now to see
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: whether there's an attempt to replace Leon McDonald. I don't
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: think that should be the case. I think you know
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: that they've got enough there on the coaching staff that
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: you know, five full time coaches surely is plenty.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: It sounds to me like more than enough. Tony, thank
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: you for that. That's Tony Johnson Rugby commentated with us
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: this morning. I suppose if they go to South Africa
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: and they when all of this will be forgotten. But
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: that's probably a tall order at this point.
• 4:28
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• 4:31
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• 4:34
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