FINALE FOR SOUTHLAND STAGS COACH?

Southland Stags coach Dale MacLeod says there’s still a bit to work through in the coming weeks but concedes his time as the Stags head coach might be about to come to an end. Logan Savory reports.

Dale MacLeod could be about to enter the Southland Stags’ coaches box as their head coach for the last time.

Southland will bring the curtain down on their 2022 National Provincial Championship campaign on Saturday when they take on North Harbour at Rugby Park in Invercargill.

It will be the end of MacLeod’s third, and potentially final season, as Southland’s head coach.

MacLeod spent November to July this year working as an assistant coach with Moana Pasifika before linking with the Stags for the NPC season.

He is contracted in the same role with Moana Pasifika for next year, but there is now interest in having MacLeod in an all-yearround capacity with the Aucklandbased Super Rugby organisation.

If an agreement is reached, it could rule him out of seeking another season with the Stags.

On the flip side, if that fulltime role doesn’t eventuate it could free MacLeod up to again be involved with the Stags.

Although, to muddy the situation further, there’s a small matter of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France from September to also factor in. MacLeod is Tonga’s defensive coach.

What MacLeod has confirmed is he is open to remaining involved with Southland in some capacity if Rugby Southland wants him, and he’s not locked in yearround with Moana Pasifika.

That could even be as an assistant coach or in a role helping to mentor a new Stags coach if that is what both a new coach and Rugby Southland wanted.

‘‘Quite possibly, highly likely, [Saturday] could be my last time [with Southland] at the moment. But, 100%, I can’t guarantee what it all looks like.

‘‘If it is the last game it will be a sad day for me.’’

If Rugby Southland pushed on with advertising the Stags job while MacLeod works through his own situation he’d be comfortable with that.

‘‘There’s nothing wrong with me having to apply again. Because at the end of the day they need to get the best person for the job. If someone else turns up so be it.’’

MacLeod’s hoping he will have his role with Moana Pasifika sorted by the end of next week and that will help paint a clearer picture on any potential involvement he could offer up to Rugby Southland. ‘‘It’s something I don’t want to walk away from, but Super Rugby and the World Cup are pretty important too.’’

MacLeod joined Rugby Southland in 2018 when then Stags head coach Dave Hewett approached him about joining as an assistant coach and in a club coaching development role.

In 2019, Rugby Southland chose to advertise the Stags head coach job and appointed MacLeod just before Covid-19 played havoc with the world.

He doesn’t shy away from the fact the job has been tough.

But, he also feels the challenges he has faced around player resourcing have set him up well as a coach.

After all, it’s not a stretch to suggest the Stags job is one of the tougher coaching jobs in New Zealand.

Before he signed with Rugby Southland for the 2022 season MacLeod had an offer from a premiership team – understood to be Canterbury – to become its head coach, but he instead signed on with the Stags.

‘‘I would have gone to a group full of Super Rugby players and that would have been outstanding, but I believed in this programme and I would have felt bad walking away from Southland.

‘‘We’ve got to fight every week. People probably won’t understand how hard it was and how much work it took to get a result [against Counties] on

Sunday.

‘‘So I’m learning how to fight, and I’ve been doing that for the five years

I’ve been here.

‘‘It is priceless as far as coach development.’’

During his Stags tenure, MacLeod has developed a reputation for being a forthright and frank coach.

In a world where professional sporting coaches often speak in riddles and talk around important issues, you will never be confused as to what MacLeod’s thoughts are on various matters.

He’s a sports journo’s dream, and, in turn, as the conduit to the public, the Stags fans have lapped up his honesty.

MacLeod takes calls from media minutes after the fulltime whistle following significant losses and has never hidden from those results or from calling it how he sees it.

Those frank public conversations about the Stags and Southland rugby, in general, haven’t always gone down well with everyone attached to the sport.

‘‘My thoughts aren’t personal, I just tell the people what I think needs to happen. If we want to get better you’ve got to be able have a few home truths told. I never say anything personal.

‘‘I was taught at a younger age if you’ve got something to say at least say it.

‘‘Don’t go away behind people’s back and say it.

‘‘We need robust conversations, healthy organisations don’t mind challenging each other.’’ MacLeod says he’s largely kept to himself during his time living in Invercargill this season in among what’s been a busy NPC period filled with player injuries.

However, during the weekend he went for a beer with some mates who had travelled from Counties for Sunday’s game in Invercargill. He admits to being ‘‘blown away’’ by some of the feedback he received from members of the public who approached with words of encouragement, which included the fact they had enjoyed his straight-shooting nature.

But, MacLeod is aware he’s got some detractors within the Southland rugby community in clubland – those who are unhappy with some of his selections, and the players he has brought in from outside the province.

MacLeod says he’s developed a ‘‘thick hide’’ as a coach and feels there are some in Southland that will criticise the Stags coach whatever is done.

He feels Southland rugby has made big strides in recent years in terms of its ‘‘local representation’’. About 30 players from the initial 2022 squad come from club rugby.

There’s also a growing number of players who were schooled in Southland now playing for the

Stags, MacLeod says.

Although not everyone, it seems, feels it has gone far enough.

‘‘You do what they want, and they still moan.

‘‘That’s just what they do, they’ve probably done it for the past 15 years,’’ MacLeod says.

‘‘It’s the same ones and I just don’t waste my time on them now. It’s sad because they’ve probably got a bit to offer, but if they really felt it was about growing the game, I don’t think we could have done any more this year with all of the local boys we picked.’’

Southland brought in halfback Jakob Morrison, flanker Blair Ryall, and first five-eighth Jack MacLeod – Dale’s son – during the NPC season to help provide cover when injuries hit.

That seemed to be the sticking point for some who felt the Stags’ management should have instead dug even deeper into the club ranks.

MacLeod says the decision to bring in those players was as much about setting some muchneeded standards in Southland rugby than anything else.

On some occasions, MacLeod says they asked players twice to join Rugby Southland’s highperformance programme during the off-season only for those players to decline.

‘‘I’m not asking you a third time, no matter how desperate I am.

‘‘Some people might not like that, but what it does is the group that’s in here, they say, ‘that’s why I committed to the programme’.’’

The few players they have brought in – including outside back Viliami Fine – MacLeod hoped would stick with Southland rugby and would be more likely to commit fully to its highperformance programme.

‘‘I could stand up and debate any one of the selections I’ve made over the past three years with anyone, and they wouldn’t have much to come back with. Because a lot of them don’t deal in facts, they deal with emotion, and it’s personal stuff.’’

MacLeod does point out the detractors have been in the minority. He says he’s had great support from some Southland rugby legends during his time at the helm.

Leicester Rutledge, David Henderson and Donald Hay are at the top of that list, he says.

Rutledge keeps in regular contact and at times has quizzed MacLeod on some of his decisionmaking. But MacLeod says on every occasion Rutledge has respected his reasoning for those decisions.

While the win column is much emptier than hoped, MacLeod reflects proudly on his time in the role.

In particular, the progress that’s been made around some of the players that are now coming through the Southland system.

This current group will provide a very good foundation, and with the addition of some quality players in key positions, Southland can improve, MacLeod says.

‘‘I believe in the next three or four years, if we have a plan, there’s some really good things to come from the province. But we’ve also got to get real, it’s a really tough comp.’’

While MacLeod’s future involvement remains unconfirmed he’s determined to try to ensure he leaves things in a good place for whoever might take over, if it’s not him at the helm.

That includes pushing on with some player contracting for next year because he says other provinces are very proactive and delaying the contracting could prove costly.

‘‘That’s part of my job before I go, no matter what it looks like, is that I’ve locked in our best boys. Then our budget will determine what it looks like after that.

‘‘Next week I’m not just going to say, ‘see ya, I’m gone’. I will still be involved to do as much as I can to support the new coach if it’s not me. There will definitely be a group locked in because we can’t start with five players at the start of next year, we’ve got to lock in the boys we want to now.’’