Francesca Rudkin: On assistant coach Leon MacDonald leaving the All Black’s group

Well, that was a bit of a shock wasn’t it.

It seems everyone was a bit taken aback to hear that assistant coach Leon MacDonald would be leaving the All Black’s group.

Less that 24 hours out from the All Blacks heading to South Africa for two Rugby Championship tests, New Zealand rugby confirmed MacDonald would not continue in the role.

Fronting the media, head coach Scott Razor Robertson outlined the reasons why the decision has been made.

He said there were differences around the philosophy on rugby, and how it's played, and they didn’t quite click in different aspects.

Razor added the went through a process, and got to this point, and they believed that Macdonald stepping away was the best thing for the All Black group.

Sounds pretty straight forward right – and refreshing to hear what sounds like a legitimate reason rather than a manufactured one. It just didn’t work.

People have been surprised by MacDonalds departure because they two have known each other for around 27 years. They have played and worked together before, but that doesn't necessarily mean it’s going to be plain sailing – especially when you step up into the biggest, most intense job in New Zealand rugby.

John Kirwan had this to say about the decision on the Mike Hosking Breakfast this morning ....
Incredible courage, I believe, on behalf of both of them if it's not working out, because the status quo would be probably stay there, finish the season. But you know for them to move on this quickly, I think it's the best thing for the team.

He’s right. Macdonald is a very good coach, one we will probably lose to an overseas team now – but it takes courage to acknowledge if a situation isn’t working, and integrity to the right thing for yourself and the team.

Of course we’re still keen to try and distil down what has happened here. The simple reason why this relationship hasn’t worked might just come down to the fact there are too many cooks in the kitchen. Do the All Blacks need 6 coaches? Graham Henry and Steven Hansen were able to run the All blacks successfully on 3 coaches.

There had been rumours that players were dealing with too many voices – this simplifies that somewhat.

Another suggestion is that it’s an adjustment to go from Head Coach to assistant coach. Coaches end up tripping over each other, there are mixed messages, or a coach is left feeling maligned.
But regardless of the intricacies of why they have come to this decision – it's hard not to be impressed by it. Good on them for not letting it fester. Good on them for being open and honest about the fact it didn’t work. It sounds like the two have departed on decent terms, and now it’s time to move on.

Will it have an impact on the All Blacks? I doubt it. They have dealt with much more difficult HR issues in the past, and I imagine they will be fully focused on facing South Africa.

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Kerry Wood of Mornings podcast from
News Talk said, b.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Let's start this morning with the All Blacks. That was
a bit of a shock, wasn't it. It seems everybody
was a little taken aback to hear that assistant coach
Leon McDonald would be leaving the All Blacks group less
than twenty four hours out from the All Blacks heading
to South Africa for two Rugby Championship tests. New Zealand
Rugby confirmed that McDonald would not continue in the role.

(00:35):
Fronting the media, head coach Scott Raiser, Robertson outlined the
reasons why the decision had been made. He said there
were differences around the philosophy of rugby and how it's
played and they didn't quite click in different aspects. Raiser
added that they've gone through a process, got to this
point and believe that McDonald's stepping away was the best

(00:58):
thing for the All Black group. Sounds pretty straightforward, right
and isn't it refreshing to hear what It sounds like
a legitimate reason rather than a nicely manufactured one. It
just didn't work. People have been surprised by McDonald's department
departure because the two have known each other for a

(01:19):
long time, around twenty seven years. They've played and worked
together before, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it was
going to be plain sailing, especially when you step into
the biggest, most intense job in New Zealand rugby. John
Corbin had this to say about the decision this morning
on My Costing Breakfast.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
Incredible courage. I believe on behalf of both of them
if it's not working out, because the status quo would
be probably stay there finish the season. But you know,
for them to move on this quicker, I think it's
the best thing for the team.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
I think he's right. McDonald is a very good coach,
one that we're probably going to lose to an overseas
team now. But it takes courage to acknowledge if the
situation isn't working at integrity to do the right thing
for yourself and the team. Of course, we're still keen
to try and distill down what has happened here. The
simple reason why this relationship hasn't worked might just come

(02:14):
down to the fact that there were too many cooks
in the kitchen. Do the All Blacks need six coaches?
Graham Henry and Steve Hanson were able to run the
All Blacks successfully on three coaches. There had been a
few little rumors that players were dealing with too many voices,
so this simplifies that somewhat. Another suggestion is that it

(02:35):
is an adjustment to go from head coach to assistant
coach so many coaches and not used to sit of
finding their place. Maybe coaches end up tripping over each
other a little bit, There can be mixed messages or
a coach is left feeling maligned. But regardless of the
intricacies of why they have come to this decision, it's

(02:57):
hard not to be impressed by it. Good on them
for not letting this festa. Good on them for being
open and honest about the fact it didn't work, got
different ideas, different philosophy, didn't gell. It sounds like the
two have departed on decent terms and now it just
feels like it's time to move forward. Will it have
an impact on the All Blacks. I doubt it. They

(03:21):
have dealt with much more difficult hr issues in the past,
haven't they, And I imagine that they will be fully
focused on facing South Africa.

Speaker 1 (03:31):
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