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There is no doubting that Shepherds kicking for goals have improved in the last few months, Halligan may be the man for the Wallabies too.
Halligan throws boot into ring
By Wayne Smith
February 13, 2007
FORMER New Zealand league Test wing Daryl Halligan has raised his hand to fill the boots of disaffected Australia kicking coach Ben Perkins.
Perkins resigned in protest on the weekend after being offered a reduced contract that would have seen him left behind when the Wallabies went to the World Cup in France in September.
Even yesterday, Australia coach John Connolly held out hope he could negotiate a compromise between Perkins and the Australian Rugby Union that might allow the kicking coach to reconsider his resignation and remain in the job.
But all hope of that evaporated when Perkins went on Sydney radio to ridicule not just the ARU but rugby in general.
It still has not been decided whether Connolly will seek a replacement for Perkins or do away with the position entirely but logic suggests that his heavy emphasis on field position makes a kicking coach a necessity.
The All Blacks have a specialist kicking coach in Mick Byrne, the former AFL player who served as the Wallabies' kicking coach when they won the 1999 World Cup.
And Dave Aldred, Jonny Wilkinson's kicking coach, has been part of England's coaching staff since 1995.
Halligan, third on the NRL all-time points scorers list with 2034 behind Andrew Johns (2170) and Jason Taylor (2107), has emerged as the leading contender to fill the vacancy on the strength of his performance as Western Force kicking coach.
Johns' goal-kicking improved markedly after being coached by Halligan.
"It's nice to be mentioned," said Halligan, who played for North Sydney and the Bulldogs.
"I'd certainly be interested in sitting down and having a chat about it."
Although he built his coaching reputation working with goalkickers, Halligan has also expanded his repertoire at Force, assisting Matt Giteau, Cameron Shepherd, James Hilgendorf and Drew Mitchell with their kicking in general play.