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Friend learning to deal with politics of the game
Bret Harris | February 02, 2009
Article from: The Australian
FIVE years after the event, Andy Friend has revealed the reason he was given for being sacked as NSW Waratahs' assistant coach.
Friend was let go in 2004 after assisting former NSW head coaches Bob Dwyer and then Ewen McKenzie.
He will return to the Sydney Football Stadium on Thursday night to guide the Brumbies in a trial game against the Waratahs.
"I worked with Bob for one season and then Ewen was appointed head coach in 2003 for the 2004 season.
"I was sacked in December 2004. There were lots of different things going on.
"I was told there was no synergy between myself and Ewen.
"It came as a complete shock. We had never had a discussion. It was very much out of the blue.
"But as head coach you have to make some decisions and his decision was to move me on. He had his reasons for making that decision."
Friend learnt about the professionalism and politics of rugby in NSW. In fact, his sacking in 2004 was the second time he had parted company with the Waratahs.
He was the NSW under-19 and under-21 coach in 1996 and 1997 and then Waratahs' skills coach in 1998 and 1999 under Matt Williams.
"It was great in that it got me into professional rugby," Friend said. "I learnt a lot. It was a very dynamic organisation ... all sorts of things going on. The politics of rugby you learn about pretty damn quickly.
"A lot of stuff happening behind the scenes. As a young bloke coming in it was like 'god, is this what rugby is all about!'
"Let's just go out and play. But all this other stuff was going on.
"I owe them a lot because they gave me an opportunity, but it was a pretty steep learning curve."
Friend spent three years as the coaching co-ordinator of Japanese club Suntory before returning to the Waratahs in 2003.
After his sacking from NSW in 2004 Friend coached the Australian sevens team and was Chris Hickey's assistant with the Australian under-21 side, which was runner-up in the 2005 world championship in Argentina.
Friend then secured the head coaching job with English club Harlequins where he spent three years before returning to coach the Brumbies this season.
When Friend travels to Sydney on Thursday he will not oppose McKenzie in the coaches' box, but Hickey.
"We only spoke the other day," Friend said. "He is a tremendous man. A bloke I've got a lot of respect for and a lot of time for.
"That's the nice thing about coaching too. On game day it's your team v their team, but behind the scenes ... I spoke to Scotty Wisemantel (Waratahs assistant coach) the other day and I'll talk with Phil Mooney and Mark Bell (Queensland Reds coaches) when I'm up there.
"It's the way coaching should be, I reckon."
Meanwhile, Australia inside centre Berrick Barnes will return from a knee injury to lead Queensland in a trial against the Western Force at Ballymore on Thursday night.
But outside centre Morgan Turinui is in doubt after aggravating a shoulder injury in the Reds' loss to the Blues in Auckland last Friday.
"He initially hurt his shoulder against Leinster on our development tour of Ireland last year," Mooney said.
"Ten minutes into the game he took a bump on the same spot. It's like a dead arm.
"The medical staff wanted to see how it settled down over the weekend.
"Ideally, we'd like him to play on Thursday, especially with Berrick coming back, but it's only a trial and we won't risk him."
If Turinui is ruled out, Charlie Fetoai is likely to start at outside centre if he has recovered from the knee injury he sustained in the Reds' loss to the Waratahs in Toowoomba two weeks ago.
Otherwise, Brando Va'aulu, who replaced Turinui in Auckland, will probably start in the No13 jersey.
Wallabies back five forward Hugh McMeniman played at blindside flanker in Auckland but Mooney is leaning towards moving him into the second row against the Force.
The Force's pack has been strengthened by the addition of New Zealand prop Ben Castle, who has signed on as the team's marquee foreign player.
Castle, who most recently played for French club Toulon, played 42 matches with the Chiefs in Super rugby and represented the Junior All Blacks against Australia A in 2004.
Another New Zealand prop, Tim Fairbrother, who is eligible to play for Australia, remains an option for the Force next season.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...015651,00.html
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