Canada losses prompt Eagle staff shakeup

Mike Tolkin's Eagle staff is to be made over following this week's departure of three key assistants.

Derek Dowling, Dan Payne, and Tony Smeeth have resigned, USARFU said in a pair of press releases.

The exits, coming after a winless Pacific Nations Cup and this month's World Cup qualifying series loss to Canada, suggest Tolkin will keep his job through 2015. Most national teams avoid changing head coaches within two years of the world championship, to afford reasonable time for developing strategy and systems.

But the second-year Eagle leader could be on a shortened leash. Despite a bright start in 2012, this season Tolkin's charges have appeared one dimensional, particuarly struggling to score tries.

So too the national team players. New staff often precedes new personnel. Many incumbents are comparatively long of tooth, a seeming contradiction with the past decade's strong growth in preteen and teenage players. Better to look now at contenders who project to England in 2015, one theory goes.

Payne has accepted a larger job in the athletics department at Atlanta's Life University, the union said, while Smeeth intends to focus on his director of rugby post at Dublin's Trinity College. Dowling, a specialist with Ireland's Leinster, has been notified his position as scrum mentor is to be consolidated along with lineout responsibilities in the forward coach's role. Ironically, rugby's scrum laws are but two games old, and have initially been seen to benefit the US.

The new assistants ought to be in place by October's Americas Rugby Championship, Tolkin said in an email. In recent years, the three-game tournament has featured domestic and would-be national teamers. The British Columbia event will take on added significance in that America 'A' will meet Uruguay, the USA's opponent in next April's World Cup qualifiers.

Comments

[Lowered expectations]

Tolkin doesn't know what he is doing, and dismissing staff was only way for him to keep his job. Who will he seek out to assist now?
This move by Melville is similar to the hiring a current sevens player to be the coach. Nothing like Melville taking another shortcut.

[Jack Sparrow]

What a mess - Melville, Roberts and Tolkin should all go.

[Rugby Sage]

I can state the following with some confidence.

1 - Tolkin will remain the Head Coach through the 2015 RWC baring his resignation or the team not qualifying as America 2 or in the playoff spot.

2 - Tolkin's new assistant coach hires will determine if his legacy.

Tolkin is facing an almost certain no win situation regarding his legacy. There are two likely ways it can go down, and one extreme longshot.

If Tolkin brings in assistant coaches that subjugate themselves to him (Bruce McLane, et al), the team will not buy in because they've lost confidence in Tolkin's game plan(s) and ability to instill them as a result of this summer's performance being an abject failure. Once a coach loses a team's confidence and support there is very little that can be done to get it back and the result of an extension of the "Tolkin Way" will be more mediocre to abysmal results. Net-net Tolkin's legacy will be that as the worst Eagles Head Coach in history.

If Tolkin brings in assistants with a game plan they can coach, the players buy into and they execute with good results, the players will become the charges of those assistant coaches and not Tolkin. Publicly, and in the record book, it will appear that Tolkin had succeeded. However, he will know that Act II of his Eagles coaching term will be that of him becoming and embracing the role of being a paper tiger.

Longshot is that Tolkin brings in a new crew of "yes men" and gets the players' buy in (again) and having success. This is highly unlikely.

Tolkin's Act I ended in a desperate and comical way when he decided to get into the team huddle minutes before kickoff of the second RWC Qualifier against Canada. As one commenter on another board aptly described the scene of Tolkin looking like a "red faced boy scout" screaming at his charges, a man old enough to be their father who never wore the jersey giving them inspiration minutes before battle. A vision of folly to set up Act II of this tale that is should end in either humiliation or personal heartbreak.

I look forward to sitting back and watching the show.

[shut up and play!]

gainliners go!

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1754943-pro-rugby-in-america-new-national-rugby-football-league-soaking-up-nfl-talent

[help I'm melting]

The only thing melting faster than USAr's authority over college rugby is the Eagles. What a frickin laugh this administration is! The recession is over and USAr brought in an additional $2m, half from a players dues increase the other from IRB grants. Man, that CEO job is a good one if you can get it.

[same topic, different day ...]

While I understand the dissatisfaction with Tolkin I am not gonna jump on the wagon and pillory the guy. He is a classic case of the wrong guy in the wrong job. This is all at the feet of Nigel Melville. That the Eagles are essentially a third world country (if that) is all about Melville demonstrating no ability to bring in funds to support the 15's and 7's national teams. We are not talking about a kings ransom of money to fund 45 players at $50 K a year (which WOULD attract some meaningful crossover talent). Add to that a truly qualified coach and maybe, just maybe the Eagles would make some headway. So, while I am as disappointed as anyone in the Eagles downturn and believe Tollkin should move on I am not sure who would replace him given the lack of leadership at the top.

[The Hard Truth]

Tolkin is a bum. This cowardly act tells us everything we need to know about Tolkin.

[Private Fraser]

We're doomed I say, doomed!

[no coming back from this]

Does Tolkin have enough leash to change his assistants? Melville and/or Roberts making the call possibly?

Either way 100% agree with the comment which says Tolkin and the team are sunk either way. Name one example where a coach fires his entire staff and turns around the team? Go on, any sport, any team? There aren't examples, because it doesn't work and smart organizations don't do it. If three coaches, the entire staff needs to be fired, this reflects so badly on the head coach that they are always fired as well.

The comment that better assistants will make the head coach, a coach in name only is reality. A figure head with no contribution to the team's plans. Or USAr appoints some similar type assistants to the three which got fired and team goes into the tank even worse than this summer's o'fer.

Screwed blue either way.

[Stick it to the man]

Has anyone ever considered it is the American rugby public who are at fault in this situation? It's been said before, and I'll say it again, Sir Graham Henry could't win games in the USA, and It's not because of Melville or Roberts, its because Rugby is still an obscure sport played by drunken morons in 90% of the games played in this country.

We'll never improve as a country if the player pool doesn't improve. People say "just fire the lot of them and get new players in there." Sorry, these are the best we have! No D3 player is going to come out of nowhere and be an Eagle all of a sudden, just like no crossover athlete is our savior.

Development takes time. If you lot aren't willing to give a new coach time to develop, you're part of the problem, not part of the solution.

[Nowhere to hide]

Rugby Sage has hit the head of the nail so squarely there is nothing I could add.

[Huh?]

Who asked you to add anything? I'm politely asking you to remove yourself from ever posting here again.

[Rs]

It's simple. Tolkin is way over his head, Melville is just seeking to keep his profile high in UK for next job and Roberts is still trying to pretend he's with the all blacks. Athletic performance.

We are done.

Rs

[Rs]

Sorry should say pathetic not athletic performance!