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Reds want head coach Brad Thorn for '10 years'

The Queensland Reds are reportedly exploring the possibilities of moving towards a centralised operating model with Rugby Austraila reports the Courier Mail, after a downward spiral since 2013 has seen the 2011 champions fall quickly to the bottom of Super Rugby.

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One of the desired outcomes is to have Brad Thorn as a long-term head coach according to QRU chairman Jeff Miller.

“We want Brad Thorn as a 10-year head coach but it’s up to us to create the right high-performance environment for him to want to,” Miller said.

“We are very supportive of Brad and the cultural change he has brought to the squad with some tough decisions.

“Having a team show strong levels of commitment and pride, as it has done, was a large part of his signing last year.

“It’s disappointing the Reds offer so much yet have been up or down and the QRU wants to provide the right support to be consistently better.”

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The instability at Ballymore has seen four head coaches in five years, at one point running with a ‘CIHC’ arrangement – co-interim head coaches. Miller believes arresting the fall of the Reds will be possible with long-term structures in place, which has opened up the discussion around centralisation and a closer relationship with Rugby Australia.

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Those discussions won’t be without resistance, as Queensland rugby’s autonomy has been tightly held. Ireland’s high-performance chief David Nucifora addressed the QRU board recently and Scotland’s director of rugby is set to do the same.

“You look at New Zealand, Ireland and Scotland and there are very successful alignments between the national and provincial levels for the benefit of both,” Miller said.

“One thing Nucifora said was ‘don’t be afraid of strong alignment’.

“If we keep doing things the same way, we are going to get the same results so we are trying to understand what models are successful for long-term sustainability and the pitfalls.”

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Nickers 15 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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