Where to for Western Force in wake of John Mitchell's intention to walk away?
Where to for Western Force in wake of John Mitchell's intention to walk away?
By Brendan Cannon
The Rugby Club panelist
March 28, 2010 John Mitchell's decision to quit as Western Force coach at the end of his contract next season throws up a number of serious ramifications for the Perth-based Super 14 outfit.
Will Western Force feel the need to position themselves for a new coach before Mitchell's contract finishes?
Mitchell took on a job very few people would have wanted in 2006 because there were so many unknowns attached to it.
So he was brave to put his reputation on the line in terms of helping to give birth to rugby professionally in Western Australia.
In that time, he's probably had only one season with a playing roster competitive enough to challenge for a top-four position, which was last season.
His four-year coaching term hasn't been without its controversy. Mitchell was forced to stand down last year during an internal review over his role.
There was heavy talk of a player revolt and, interestingly, the majority of the people involved are no longer at the Force. But Mitchell survived.
This season has been tremendously confronting for any coach.
Mitchell virtually had his season derailed before a ball was kicked when marquee player and captain Andre Pretorious was ruled out for the year with a hamstring injury.
Since then, there's been more talk about the Force casualty ward than anything they have done on the field.
Gun players Cameron Shepherd, David Pocock and Richard Brown have all been missing, and the playing roster has really challenged every capacity of the Western Force this season
There's speculation Mitchell is going to be involved with the Sharks in South Africa, with the Natal-based team's coach, John Plumtree, being head-hunted by the Springboks.
It's an unusual manoeuvre for a coach to come out with a significant amount of time left on his contract and announce he won't be seeking an extension.
Strategically, you have to wonder about the motivations behind him making such a move.
You can argue that Mitchell has done it in the best interests of Western Force to give them sufficient time to scour the candidates and seek a replacement.
But coaching is a different business to most.
It was interesting to note that New South Wales Waratahs coach Chris Hickey recently felt compelled to address the ongoing campaign about him losing the job.
The Waratahs were swift to roll out the statistics about how he is the most successful coach in NSW history.
Hickey probably found it relevant given the man who was supposedly being groomed to replace him, Michael Cheika, had signed with Stade Francais.
It's interesting to note that the tension hasn't eased for Hickey, with the left-field nomination of Victor Matfield being approached by a Waratahs official also coming to light last Friday.
It might be reassuring for Hickey to have the NSW chairman come out publicly and say we're going to stand behind him, but history has a habit of repeating itself.
Past NSW chairmen have come out and said exactly the same thing only for the coach to fail to see out his term, so it's almost like it's the kiss of death.
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...002381,00.html
