Editorial: Rumours fly as coach tight lipped

New Magpies coaches Craig Philpott and Danny Lee have been warned - succeed at your peril.

There's been a not insignificant public howling after champion former coach Peter Russell was red-carded last week.

After applying and being interviewed for next year's position, the stellar coach was inexplicably set adrift by the union he helped reinvigorate.

Hawke's Bay Rugby Football Union CEO Mike Bishop said it was "time to test the waters" after Russell's five years as co-coach alongside Tom Coventry.

Yet for those of us not privy to the inner bowels of the union, that is, all Magpies fans, the explanation's a tad disingenuous. It was an offering so lacking in candour it gave rise to a flurry of rumours. And I've heard them all.

In his professional dealings with the media, including myself on occasion, Russell was always willing to chat, was honest, sometimes curt but always insightful. Even post-sacking last week the 48-year-old refused to "make waves". Instead, he was as composed as we saw him before every home game, meandering under the posts, suited-up but hands in pockets, expressionless, relaxed, always impossible to read. Apart from saying he enjoyed his time with the team, all he was prepared to say was he refused to get into "a media s**t fight".

In many respects his biggest accomplishment was off the paddock, recapturing fans' belief.

As a 13-year-old kid watching the Magpies get slaughtered by Auckland in the mid-80s I remember Zinzan Brooke looking up at us in the McKenzie Stand and rubbing in a 50 point lead: "Look at the scoreboard Hawke's Bay".

Who would have thought 25-odd years later we'd beat that powerhouse convincingly at the same venue.

Fans now queue with a realistic whiff of a win outside McLean Park. It's a testament to the guy.

I wish the new coaches - who aren't without credentials of their own - all the best. But it's not without a hint of injustice that fans welcome them aboard.

Russell's tenure gave rise to three All Blacks, numerous Super rugby selections from his stable, three consecutive semi-final appearances between 2007-2009, not to mention this year's ITM Cup Championship win. And you can't coach that.