Rod Kafer weighs in on Waratahs coaching drama

Former Australian international Rod Kafer has conveyed a straight-forward view with regard to the Waratahs head coaching job.

Describing it as the easiest job in Australian rugby, Kafer seems to believe that a few simple tweaks to the current model will set a well-oiled machine on course for big things.

“I think it’s the easiest job in Australian rugby. This is the role that every coach wants. You can’t write a better script,” Kafer told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“The recruitment and thought process the Waratahs have followed through 25 years of Super Rugby has been largely the same and it’s flawed.

“They need to change their philosophy on talent acquisition because that’s where the model has always been flawed.

“You actually have talented players. What they need to do is create the balance and mentality within the squad and get it right. That’s something that someone who understands human nature should be able to do.”

On Sunday morning, the Waratahs announced that their relationship with head coach Rob Penney had come to an end with immediate effect, after a troubling run of form had left them with 5 successive losses.

Kafer believes that the job should now go to one of two people; Darren Coleman or Mick Byrne.

Coleman is currently the head coach of Los Angeles Giltinis in America’s MLR, but has an impressive club record back in Australia.

“He’s a consistent winner. That’s one thing you have to have as a coach,” Kafer said of Coleman.

“You have to have been in programs that win and understand what it takes to win. And he is a coach who has ability.

“He’s a NSW and much in the same way as Mick, a NSW product that has lived in NSW his whole life.

“You just can’t fathom how they’ve both been overlooked in an environment where we’re crying out for homegrown coaches.”

Mick Byrne’s CV would impress any franchise, having been a part of the All Black coaching staff which saw New Zealand claim back-to-back World Cups in 2011 and 2016. After the latter tournament, Byrne was plucked by Australia, serving under Michael Cheika. He currently coaches the Canadian Women’s 7s side.

“For the life of me, he is singularly, one of the best coaches in rugby we’ve ever produced,” Kafer said.

“And for whatever reason, just doesn’t get the credit he deserves around the things he’s done, the success that he’s had in rugby.

“There isn’t a coach over there right now in New Zealand who hasn’t been mentored at some point by Mick.

“We sit back all the time and talk about how New Zealand are going and we look at all the wonderful coaches New Zealand are producing. Well, we have a bloke here who was fundamentally involved with just about all of their development over 12 years.

“It’s an indictment on how we treat coaches in this country. We don’t really care for them as much as we should.

“We need to nurture talent and understand that good coaches take long periods of time to develop.

“It honestly shocks me. When we have a resource like that and ability like that and when I look at the Waratahs need, I couldn’t think of a better person.”