CHRIS DUTTON: How will the dynamic work between you and Stephen Larkham?
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LAURIE FISHER: A lot of the times a director of rugby does less coaching and more off the field. We’re probably not resourced to have a director of rugby who is looking for that little edge all the time. The priority of this set-up is that the coaches coach. The absolute requirement is that Stephen [Larkham] and I do as much coaching as possible and pick up other little things. We’re both maximising our coaching time. That’s the reason it can work. My rugby coaching role hasn’t changed at all. The only things that have changed are off the field – looking after staff, recruiting staff, performance feedback and to oversee our pathways program. We want to make sure we’ve got our pathways in place and we give junior players an opportunity to develop into Brumbies.
CD: How will team selection work?
LF: There will be plenty of discussion, but the final decision goes with I pick the forwards and he picks the backs. I can’t overrule [Larkham] on a backs selection. Presumably we’ve got a squad that complements each other. We’ve got a style of rugby we like to play, that’s how we train and recruit.
CD: Do you want to be a head coach again?
LF: What I’m doing now is very similar to the head coaching role I had previously at the Brumbies. It’s a lot of those responsibilities. I’m happy to coach, I’m happy to take some additional off-field responsibilities, but where that ends up, who knows?
CD: How will the departure of coach Jake White impact the team?
LF: It hasn’t changed the day-to-day set-up. Jake was good with words and sending a message to the group. The style of our game was heavily influenced by how he wanted to play, but the detail in that was directed by Steve and myself. Jake had instant respect, he’s won a World Cup and Tri Nations. It is different. But will it impact us? I guess results will tell. We’ve had an enormous amount of changes.
CD: The Brumbies have developed rapidly over the past two years, can you continue that momentum?
LF: We’ve got eight or nine players with international experience, guys who have been with us for another year, so hopefully they’re fitter, faster and stronger. It’s time in the saddle, our first priority is to be better at what we do. There is an opportunity to be significantly better in a lot of areas. Absolutely, there’s massive expectation, but you’re driven by your own internal expectation. I thought we had a team to win it last year, but we fell short. We’re aiming high.
CD: Do you think you’ve got a team to win the title?
LF: I think there are about eight or 10 teams who can win it and we’re one of them. You need luck and a lot of things to go your way. But we are one of many teams which can win this competition.
CD: How will David Pocock go in his comeback from knee surgery?
LF: David hasn’t played for 11 months so it will take a little while for him to find his feet, but we expect him to be a major contributor in hopefully having a successful season. I think he just needs to get a bit of confidence and by February 22 he’ll be ready to go, no doubt about it.
CD: The forward pack boasts six Wallabies. Is it stronger than before and is it the strength of the Brumbies?
LF: I’d like to think they’re all better players than they were two years ago and if they’re not then I’m doing a poor job. It’s roughly the same guys and they have improved. Our game requires a good set-piece platform and pressure. We need to win good ball and put pressure on opposition and then the game goes on. Our game is not built on turnover ball or counter-attack, it’s built on structure and understanding and execution.
CD: The Brumbies were the most penalised team at the breakdown in Super Rugby last year. Former Queensland coach Ewen McKenzie accused you of giving away cynical penalties. Is that something you’ve worked on?
LF: We got penalised a fair bit, the statistics show we sent the most numbers into opposition ball and we were the hardest at opposition ball. We put numbers in, there were plenty of times when we made poor decisions when we didn’t have rights and we got justifiably penalised. But I feel there were just as many times we were unjustly penalised. We can’t shy away from being hard at opposition ball. If we let the opposition play quickly, we’ll lose. We need to be hard at the ball, we need to make better decisions and referees need to be more accurate at rewarding sides who survive the cleanout. I don’t think we got rewarded last year.
CD: How will Ben Mowen’s decision to leave Australian rugby at the end of the year impact the Brumbies?
LF: I think it’s a good thing for us and him that he made the decision early to clear the air. I’m expecting him to play and captain to the quality he has in the past two years. I don’t expect his head to be clouded by anything else. I know his focus is on being the best blindside flanker-No.8 in the competition and captaining the side with tremendous leadership.
CD: Who can be a standout this year?
LF: You’d hope guys like Tevita Kuridrani and Matt Toomua will be better with international experience. In the forwards I’m not looking for anyone to stand out. Our strength is to work as a pack, not in the individual, so I’d prefer to have no standouts in the forwards. I just want everyone saying our forward pack works their rings off. There shouldn’t be anyone sticking their head above the bunch. If we went in a one-on-one battle I think we’d lose out.