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I have heard reports that he is returning from overseas to take up a coaching role with the brumbies, hopefully bring back a bit of mongrel into the forwards...
More news when it hits my inbox...
Proudly bought to you by a brewery somewhere....
Could this mean that Laurie is off to the ARU????
80 Minutes, 15 Positions, No Protection, Wanna Ruck?
Ruck Me, Maul Me, Make Me Scrum!
Education is Important, but Rugby is Importanter!
The poor man is a distant cousin and his name is spelt Finegan - apparently he has had a whale of a time in Nth Ireland and England - and will not be playing international level rugby again (i.e. he has gained some pounds !)
61 years between Grand SlamsWas the wait worth it - Ya betta baby
Finegan to return to Brumbies
The Australian November 15, 2007
FORMER Wallabies backrower Owen Finegan will return home to take up the position as head coach of the ACT Brumbies Academy.
The former Test hardman will also take the role of lineout coach with the Brumbies, the Australian Super 14 team announced today.
Finegan, who has been playing overseas since 2005, was a foundation Brumbies player and was a member of the the Canberra-based team's 2001 championship win and captained the side to their 2004 Super title.
“I love Canberra and I'm very pleased to be returning to the Brumbies which is like home to me,” Finegan said.
“I've spoken to the coaches and staff and everyone's very positive about the future at the Brumbies. I'm very excited to be able to contribute towards the ongoing success of the Brumbies.”
Finegan played 90 Super 12 matches for the Brumbies scoring 30 tries, a tournament record for a forward.
The lock/flanker earned 55 caps for the Wallabies featuring a match-sealing try in the 1999 World Cup final win against France at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
Finegan, 35, played a season with Newcastle in the English premiership and Irish province Leinster following his time in Super Rugby.
He completed his playing career with a five-month contract with the Leicester Tigers during this year's Rugby World Cup in France.
Finegan will commence work with the Brumbies in January.
If he has the skills to Coach what he used to do (ie very different from being a player) then he will be an excellent addition to Brumby and Australian Coaching, especially in the mongrel department as you say FR.
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
Looks like Lauries possie is safe, he(finegan)is going to assist in the lineout dept, and the mongrel dept as well i hope...Excellent player doesn't always mean excellent coach though, but he is definately a go-to man in the HTFU dept, that is for sure, tough as nails and just as dangerous i reckon....Keep an eye on him for a future wallaby role if he is successful with the Brumbies...
Proudly bought to you by a brewery somewhere....
I think this is an awesome appointment. Melon was a great servant of Brumbies rugby and it will be great to see him involved again.
Adore this life
There is no guarantee
Could end by tomorrow
great news for the brumbies cause there going to need all the help they can get to beat the force this year![]()
Finegan returns to Brumbies
John-Paul Moloney
The Canberra Times
Champion former ACT Brumbies forward Owen Finegan will rejoin the team as an assistant coach in 2008 with the ambition of one day taking charge.
Two and a half years after the foundation player left Australia to play in Europe, Finegan will return to Canberra in a full-time coaching capacity from January.
He will take up a role as an assistant forwards coach during the Super 14 campaign as well as taking over from John Ross as Brumbies Academy head coach.
Finegan, who said on his departure from the team in 2005 that he would one day like to coach the Brumbies, hoped the appointment was the first step on the way to a head coach role.
"The club wants people striving to work their way up the coaching ranks," Finegan told The Canberra Times.
"They see this as a stepping stone and so do I. [Coaching the Brumbies] is something I'd love to do, but that will rely on my performance coaching at this level first."
Finegan played 90 games for the Brumbies over a decade and holds the Super rugby record of 30 for the most tries scored by a forward.
He played 55 Tests for Australia, including the 1999 World Cup final against France, in which he scored a memorable rampaging try.
While fans will best remember the big flanker for his powerful running and his pestering of opposition players at the breakdown, Finegan was always highly regarded among the Brumbies as a rugby thinker.
Finegan will help head coach Laurie Fisher and assistants Matt O'Connor and Nick Scrivener during next year's Super 14 campaign.
One of his chief responsibilities will be coordinating the Brumbies lineout, a role Ross Reynolds filled last season.
Finegan said his experience playing with UK clubs Newcastle and Leicester and Irish province Leinster would help him in the role, particularly given the new emphasis Australian rugby is likely to place on set-piece play.
"It's a different sort of game over here [in England]. It's like the way England played in the World Cup, more forward dominated with more kicking, a lot of the skills the Brumbies probably don't practise as much."
During his Brumbies career Finegan lived in Canberra for only the months of the Super season and pre-season.
His new role will require him to live here year-round. Finegan said he was looking forward to becoming a settled Canberran, despite the challenge of being away from his extended family in Sydney.
He and wife Michelle have bought a house in Canberra's inner south and have enrolled daughter Ashley in school for next year.
The couple also has two sons, Ben and eight-week-old James.
"I've got such fond memories of Canberra and had such a fantastic decade of my life with the Brumbies, I'm really looking forward to moving back there and really trying to assimilate into the community, being a full-time face around Canberra."
Finegan said the Brumbies faced a "massive" challenge to fill the gaps left by retired greats Stephen Larkham and George Gregan.
"It was always going to be the case when those two left, it's a massive void to fill.
"It's an exciting chance for a few blokes and it'll largely come down to how guys take that opportunity.
"A lot of the way the Brumbies have played over the last 12 years has revolved around those blokes, so it's not just the playing ranks but the coaching ranks that have to adjust."
Adore this life
There is no guarantee
Could end by tomorrow
Can't wait to see the big man back in Australian Rugby. About time we got some characters back. Although I think Owen will be passing on some valuable tips on training the forearm.
Damn, that means the Brumbies and the Vikings are likely to play even harder next season.
Oh well, another notch for the Force to 'rise above'
Great news for Australian rugby though.