Former Waratahs and Wallabies captain Mark Ella thinks Chris Hickey will be sent packing- Rugby
Former Waratahs and Wallabies captain, Mark Ella, thinks that Super Rugby Franchise New South Wales Waratahs head coach, Chris Hickey, will be kicked out of his position because of no improvements in the team’s record. The former international and Waratahs
fly half Ella has also denounced the decision by the club to extend the contract of Hickey.
Chris Hickey was appointed as the head coach of the Waratahs at the end of the 2008 Super Rugby season. Hickey took over from Ewen McKenzie and Hickey has the best win-loss ratio as head coach in the club’s history.
Even in this season, Hickey’s record has been commendable as his side reached the play-offs of this year’s Super Rugby championship. Waratahs finished fifth in the combined Super XV table with 57 points with 10 wins out of their 16 games played in the season.
Waratahs might very well have a chance to reach the semi-finals of the 2011 Super Rugby championship. However, their chances were badly dented due to injuries to fifteen of their first choice players.
Supporting his idea of removing Hickey from his position, Ella said, “In a professional organization, if you haven't improved then the guy at the top has got to go. I think Chris Hickey's a very good coach but whether he'll be around next year, I doubt it.”
Hickey at the end of the season has expressed his desire to work with the club further for one more year. Waratahs are currently conducting a review to assess the performance of the team and the club’s management and will most likely reply to Hickey’s interest
at the end of the review.
Ella on the other hand has turned down the idea of linking Hickey’s future with the outcome of the review. He said that in the past three years Hickey has failed to provide the results and for that reason there is no need to give him more time to repeat
the things he had already done with the team.
Ella further added that the Hickey’s game plan has failed to attract crowds and in the previous season, the Waratahs crowd support dropped to their lowest in history. He urged for the need to do a “completely revamp” the Waratahs side and approach to the
game.
Ella said, “We lack the skills, we lack the ability and we kick away too much ball. You've got to wonder are we doing that because we haven't got confidence in the way we play the game. And it always comes back to the coach at the end of the day.”
Ella further added, “You just have a look at the record, we still haven't won a Super title, we're still losing crowds and we're still losing key players to other Australian franchises.”
Waratahs have recently lost the impressive utility back, Kurtley Beale, to Super Rugby new entrants Melbourne Rebels during the season.
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