0
Nuci chats with Aussies but denies NSW link
By DUNCAN JOHNSTONE - RugbyHeaven | Wednesday, 02 April 2008
Nuci chats with Aussies but denies NSW link - New Zealand's source for sport, rugby, cricket & league news on Stuff.co.nz
David Nucifora admits he has had "informal discussions" over the Australian high performance job but says he hasn't been approached about the Waratahs position as the Blues coach continues to be linked to vacancies across the Tasman.
There are two high-profile jobs up for grabs in Nucifora's homeland. Pat Howard has stepped aside from the powerful high performance position and yesterday NSW confirmed that Ewen McKenzie's role as Waratahs coach would finish at the end of this year's Super 14.
Nucifora, the former Brumbies coach now into his third year as head coach of the Blues, applied for the Wallabies position last year but lost out to Robbie Deans.
He was quick to play down the latest speculation about him returning across the ditch with the rugby scene there buzzing over the axing of McKenzie.
But Nucifora did admit there had been contact over the high performance job that involved direct contact with the Wallabies players and the national union.
"I have had a chat to them about it ... it's been quite informal up to this point," said Nucifora.
"Again, all the speculation with jobs when you are trying to do a job here and you are in the middle of a season with the intensity of the Super 14 season ... things are really just a distraction.
"So until this season gets out of the way I won't be able to further any of those discussions even if I wanted to."
The downside to the high performance job would be its large content of administrative duties as opposed to hands-on coaching which Nucifora thoroughly enjoys and is clearly good at. He would also have to weigh up whether it would actually advance his career with Deans set to start a four-year term with the Wallabies.
The Waratahs would certainly present a coaching challenge but whether they could stomach having a Queenslander with New Zealand connections in charge is also questionable.
Nucifora has an option to extend his Blues contract for a further year at the end of this season if both parties want to. A lot of that may be depend on how the team, currently third on the table behind the Crusaders and Sharks, fare over the second half of the championship.
With the Blues heading to Sydney this week to take on the Waratahs there were obvious questions to ask Nucifora about the NSW job as he named his team to play there.
"I already have a job, I'm fine thank you," he chuckled when asked about the Waratahs vacancy.
"I haven't had any contact with them, I haven't thought about the job. Obviously there's speculation again. Every time there seems to be a job come up in Australia my name seems to get attached to it.
"I've got an option to go for another year here. So I have a job here if it pans out the right way I suppose.
"I'm really just trying to think about how we can beat the Waratahs on Saturday to be honest."
Nucifora said he wouldn't be looking for work while he was in Sydney and didn't anticipate talking with NSW officials.
"It's not really on my agenda to be honest. We have got pretty short preparation over there so it's not my plan to go and talk to people about jobs over there."
Having been through a similar experience with the Brumbies in 2004 when he was effectively sacked midway through the season but stayed on and won the Super 12 title, Nucifora had sympathy for McKenzie.
"I might give him a call when I get over there," said Nucifora. "That's the way rugby coaching goes, it's not the most stable career you can get into.
"I don't think it will have come as a complete surprise, it seems to have been put out there for a long time. I'm sure he will deal with it the best way he can and move on."
Nucifora feared the situation could be a motivating factor for the Waratahs players in the short term but how playing under a coach on Death Row panned out over the next few weeks would be interesting.
"He's a pretty popular fellow so I'm sure there will be a bit of 'let's do it for Link' type attitude going around over there. They still have got seven or eight weeks left in this competition. Whether he can carry that for seven or eight weeks remains to be seen.
"But I'm sure it will give them a bit of a kick along this week. There's not much we can do about that. All we can do is prepare well and go out there and play well."
Nucifora's personal experience in Canberra, when he was effectively ousted by player power, showed him the best way to deal with the situation was to "keep your head down and you do your job".
"You prepare as best you can. Ewen is an experienced enough coach now to go out there and know that's what he has got to do. I don't see it as being a massive hurdle for them. You can only control what you have in front of you.
Asked if the Waratahs were guilty of under-performing, Nucifora said: "I suppose they haven't won a title and that's what everyone wants ultimately.
"I think Ewen has done a pretty good job in the five years he's been there. They hadn't done that well for quite a while until he came along and got them organised and got them to a final and a semifinal.
"So he has done a reasonable job. I'm sure he'll be pretty proud of that."
Reply With Quote
CHEERLEADERS ROCK!!! 
