Justin Langer, who resigned as Australian cricket coach last week, with Black Caps coach Gary Stead. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
Aligning coaching and culture is one of the trickiest balancing acts in modern sport.
Justin Langer's messy exit as Australian cricket coach is akin to the last bastion of headmaster style management.
It should also sound a deafening warning to all sport bodies seemingly obsessed with the notion that only former high-profile athletes are capable of fulfilling head coach roles.
Newsflash: what worked for previous generations is no guarantee of success. Times have changed.
Langer's intense micromanagement fitted the bill for the front man to lead the public relations charm offensive as the Australian cricket team attempted to rebuild its image in the wake of sandpapergate.
Yet with the documentary 'The Test: A New Era' firmly in the rear-view mirror and Pat Cummins replacing Tim Paine as captain, senior players had enough of Langer's ironclad grip and lack of evolution, despite their recent Ashes dominance.
The easy option in this case is to paint Langer's exit as a power play when, in reality, modern players want to be empowered and entrusted. This is particularly relevant in cricket where the captain should have as much, if not more, sway as the coach.
Dictatorial, old-school management is rarely tolerated anymore – except for French rugby where those who sign for Toulon owner Mourad Boudjellal know their pay packet comes conditional on accepting his furious outbursts, and similar instances in the football world.
In a New Zealand context Dick Tonks, renowned rowing coach through five successive Olympic campaigns from 1996 to 2012, and Gordon Tietjens, who enjoyed an unparalleled 22-year reign as New Zealand Sevens coach, would be unlikely to survive expectations of inclusive modern high performance environments. Their methods, while effective, were simply too ruthless for today's athletes.
Sport has largely moved on from coaches frequently yelling expletives, lambasting players in a demeaning manner and denying them ice cream.
Selection dictates friction will always exist between players and coaches but accountability and freedom to speak without fear of repercussions must now be reciprocal.
These days coaches are expected to know individuals on a human level and then tailor methods to push the necessary performance buttons. Athletes from different ethnic backgrounds, for example, hold contrasting inherent expectations around how feedback is delivered.
Black Ferns head coach Glenn Moore discovered the need to evolve following Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate's social media post in which she attributed her mental breakdown to his alleged critical comments on last December's northern tour.
While the review into Aerengamate's allegations is yet to be made public, Moore is expected to retain his job after positive feedback from other Black Ferns.
Moore is far from alone, though.
Last year the Herald revealed Filo Tiatia was forced to resign as Auckland assistant coach after a review conveyed fractured relationships between leading players and coaches. All Blacks No 8 Hoskins Sotutu and prop Ofa Tu'ungafasi have since defected to rival NPC teams.
The Football Ferns swiftly rejected European-style management when Andreas Heraf, the former Austrian international, was oust six months into his post in 2018 after 12 players submitted letters of complaint about his confronting, controlling approach.
Heraf viewed the Football Ferns environment as too nice, too comfortable, and went about his extreme way of challenging players. Since his exit the Football Ferns have won two games, flopping at the 2019 World Cup and underperforming in a difficult pool at the Tokyo Olympics.
Cycling New Zealand and Canoe Racing NZ are others to endure well-documented coach-athlete fallouts in recent times.
Part of the difficulty is attempting to define a healthy sporting culture that often exists with competing egos and objectives. In many ways, culture looks different to different people. Finding some form of middle ground - and crucially getting everyone to buy into the same vision, standards and expectations - is the dream scenario.
Even then, there are no guarantees success will follow.
The Black Ferns Sevens are probably the best example of getting their culture right. Left devastated by their silver medal in Rio, the team rebuilt their values around the freedom to be authentic under co-coaches Allan Bunting and Cory Sweeney which culminated in supreme dominance and Olympic gold in Tokyo.
The All Blacks, by all accounts, were happy and united during their heavily confined 15-week tour last season but that did not translate to a successful season.
Moana Pasifika are building their culture with heritage at its heart. Whether those positive vibes can be maintained throughout their daunting maiden season is another prospect entirely, though. Achieving the desired balance between coach-player harmony, inclusive culture and success in pressured high performance settings is, clearly, no easy feat.
High ranking members of the Blues are said to be unhappy with chief executive Andrew Hore venting his frustrations at the government's 'draconian' rules. The more athletes and administrators are willing to speak their minds, the better, in my view.
Those same rules brought an inevitable end to Australia's Twenty20 series in New Zealand and could yet cut short South Africa's imminent two test tour. The Sauce is aware of suggestions that if the visitors are forced to isolate as a result of one Covid case, they will instead return home.
I'm often accused of punting on favourites so we'll kick this segment off with an underdog Six Nations prediction: Ireland will beat France in Paris this weekend. In an effort to start on a winning note, I'll cover my bases by taking Ireland +3.5 points start at $1.80. For accountability, a tally of my hefty $10 wager will be kept each week.
Feedback comes in many forms as a journalist (80 per cent of it negative, I would suggest). I'm happy to engage in discussions with those offering viewpoints or seeking further information so get in touch and I'll endeavour to answer a few questions here.
Q. Is 2022 the worst year of the modern era to be trying to run a professional sports team in New Zealand? Phil, Hastings.
A. Without doubt. Two years and counting the Warriors, Breakers and Phoenix have been marooned in Australia. The Rugby Championship had to be moved from New Zealand to Australia last year. The NZ Golf Open, SailGP event in Christchurch and ASB Classic tennis tournaments have all been scrapped. Professional sports teams are businesses as much as they are entertainment vehicles. The Blues were saved from insolvency in 2020 by returning crowds but are now contemplating another broken financial season. New Zealand's pandemic response has saved lives while simultaneously crippling sports teams.
