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BEAUTY!!!
Good luck Reds
THE man designated as Ewen McKenzie's coaching successor at the Queensland Reds, Richard Graham, insists he is ready to take on the challenge.
Graham already has the title of "head coach", but he will take on that role in reality, not just name, in August, once McKenzie, the Reds director of coaching, quits Ballymore to pursue his dream of coaching at Test level, either in Australia or abroad.
In April last year, Graham stunned the Australian rugby community when he stood down from his position as Western Force head coach to effectively become an assistant coach under McKenzie at the Reds. But it was a deal the former Queensland fullback was happy to make because it not only gave him the chance to work with the coach and the players who the year before had won the Super Rugby title but also to bring his family home to Brisbane.
Now, after working with the Reds through their off-season build-up and then taking on the role of defence coach, Graham insists he is ready to take over the running of the side following McKenzie's departure.
"Absolutely," Graham said yesterday. "I've done a long apprenticeship as an assistant coach at Bath, Saracens, the Wallabies and the Western Force before having about 18 months as head coach at the Force."
Indeed, he said, the original plan when Queensland approached him was that he would take over the side in 2014 when McKenzie withdrew from on-field work to move into a specially created role of director of rugby. So, in effect, nothing has changed except that McKenzie no longer will play any role in the Reds organisation. "The shape of the rugby department won't change," Graham said.
Whether the shape of the Reds' rugby changes remains to be seen, but Graham insists he and McKenzie are on the same page in terms of how they want Queensland to play. "Philosophically, we believe in the same things," he said.