Paul Lewis: Too big for their britches

Coach Mark Hammett. Photo / Getty images

There's a famous old journalists' story of a sportswriter of some repute whose skills were seized upon by his employers as a marketing device. Posters and billboards were created, extolling the virtues of this bloke and the paper he wrote for.

Such things are common these days but, not all that many years ago, it was a new idea. The problem was that the writer concerned was a bit fond of a pint, as Andrew Hore is alleged to be in some reports. One day at the local hostelry near his work, he [the writer, not Hore] overdid things a bit and managed to rip his trousers as he staggered off a bar stool.

A sympathetic barmaid offered to mend the garment and, trouserless, he tottered off to the loo - where he promptly fell asleep. He slept 'til morning, waking with a start and that horrible feeling of not quite knowing where he was.

When he realised, he decided (trousers or no trousers - the barmaid couldn't find him) that he'd climb out the window. He did, but it was a close fit and he ended up sprawling into the road; just as a morning bus thundered towards him.

The pants-less one shrieked and went into the foetal position. Somehow the bus managed to grind to a halt before he was made into beer-and-sportswriter pancake. As our shaken hero was helped to his feet, what did he see but a large photograph of himself on the side of the bus, accompanied by the words: "Martin Lowry [not his real name] - the voice of sport."

The moral of this little tale is that reputation is a fragile thing; able to be damaged by even small actions; and that an enlarged sense of self-importance can lead to being run over by a bus.

Hore and Ma'a Nonu may be reflecting on those or similar sentiments, having been ejected out the Hurricanes' toilet window and landing, figuratively trouserless, in full public view.

There have been tales for years of the Hurricanes being a cliquey, political side - full of star players but without stellar results. This time the cliqueishness seems to have escalated into direct disagreement between some senior players and new coach Mark Hammett. He appears to have chosen surgery as opposed to massaging egos and managing mindsets.

The saddest thing of all is that there may be no winners. Nonu and Hore seem certain to play in the World Cup but it's a moot point whether their careers will go any further - and whether they will be remembered as World Cup winners or world class whiners; stroppy Canes who got the cane.

Nonu in particular is battling with Sonny Bill Williams for the All Black No12 jersey. Williams has been in front most of the season and Nonu was wresting control back. But he battles against a perception that he is the man most likely to give away the silly penalty that costs the World Cup. This incident will not aid that perception.

However, Hammett has played some big cards. His failure to bend to the will of this pair can also be seen as a coaching glitch of some magnitude. He has 2012 to get it right and, if the Hurricanes are not at the business by the end of next season, his career will also be in the men's bog, asleep and trouserless.

It also remains to be seen if the surgery has removed all the offending material. Cory Jane's TV interview revealed the body language and demeanour of a petulant kid whose best mate has just been expelled from school. Many of the Hurricanes are off overseas at the end of this year. It remains to be seen whether those who stay in New Zealand also stay in the Hurricanes and whether they submit to the House Of Hammett.

In any situation like this, there will be fault on both sides. But there remains one constant in the sad tale of the Hurricanes of 2011. If the players had been performing, they might have lent some weight to their theory that free-spirited, free-wheeling rugby was the way to go, rather than the structured approach advocated by Hammett.

But they didn't perform. The Hurricanes' form has been scratchy all year and perhaps the best illustration of the damage caused by the clash of philosophies came last weekend against the Lions.

In the first half, the players were woeful. They ran, they passed, they ducked and dodged - and committed mistake after mistake. They played the Lions into the game. In the second half, after Hammett got hold of them, they dropped the fancypants stuff and played ball retention. It wasn't pretty but they won.

Nonu, ironically, played well but as a team they were disjointed and disappointing. It was starkly illustrative of a large truth in sport - a team has to have a person outside the playing roster who is in command; who sees things that those on the field don't; who makes the strategic calls. He or she doesn't have to be a despot; just lead - and taking advice from players (as well as others) is all part of leadership.

There's an old saying that when things are going right, it's down to the players. When they are not - it's the coach. On the basis of the Lions match, the Hurricanes seemed to prove that it wasn't the coach at all ...

There has to be a boss. Player power can work for a while but it is not sustainable long-term. It tends to collapse under the weight of coaching by a committee of colleagues.

Other New Zealand sports are recognising that. The Black Caps are in the process of (finally) giving coach John Wright more power by saddling him with only one other selector, rather than having a three-man panel's opinions foisted upon him - which he had little or no power to change.

It's sensible and it removes from New Zealand cricket the distressing events of recent years; first with a coach who wasn't really in command and then the Daniel Vettori era where he seemed to be do everything except wash the dishes. Neither worked.

Clear lines of command, clear identification of strategy, selection and tactics; managing egos and personalities; combining talents with game plans - that's how wins and winning are shaped. Hammett is trying to do that but whether his efforts can survive the culling of Hore and Nonu is another matter.