Flushing the dunny and moving on

BY MARC HINTON

THIS doesn't exactly start well.

"Now, before we get going, I don't want to talk about the coaching changes," barks Steve Hansen in the lobby of the Hilton in central Cardiff.

There he is, setting the agenda, taking control and generally being a little frosty. It's been a fairly constant state for this enigmatic All Blacks assistant coach in 2009.

It hasn't been a great year for Hansen. He's rather fallen out of favour with some rugby pundits and certain segments of the general public, on the back of those four test defeats that littered the past season.

Hansen was forwards coach and his shaky lineout copped much of the blame. In fact, he copped much of the blame. Some of the criticism got pretty ugly – especially from Andy Haden, the former All Blacks great who seemed to have a vendetta against the burly ex-policeman – and as the clamour increased Hansen seemed to get angrier and angrier. His demeanour, especially in his interaction with the media, has been, at best, reticent and, at worst, sullen.

But ask around and another side of this former midfielder and one-time head coach of Wales emerges. His players enjoy his passion, direction, knowledge and the fact that he speaks their language. And for those that are part of the inner sanctum, he's by all accounts a genuinely likeable bloke. "A good guy to have a beer with," was one person's assessment.

However, it hasn't been easy to get a chat, let alone a beer, with him. My request for this interview had been in for well over a month before it was finally expedited on week two of the end-of-year tour. And the early signs indicate that he's a reluctant participant.

Hang on, I point out, the coaching changes in the All Blacks – Hansen, Wayne Smith and Graham Henry all swapped specialist roles for this tour in a dramatic and unprecedented shakeup – have been a major talking point. It's territory that needs to be covered. A brief debate ensues before he agrees to talk some background.

Soon, after we've pushed and prodded around the reallocation of jobs that has seen Hansen take over as backs coach from Smith, he sighs and asks: "Are we going to talk about anything else?"

I KNEW THIS wasn't going to be easy. But I'm determined to keep digging for the real Hansen. This, after all, is the fellow who delivered the rugby year's best line after a horrible performance against Italy, suggesting it was time to "flush the dunny and move on". He has also been known to quote Vince Lombardi, legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers, suggesting at the height of the fuss over the All Blacks lineout that "they haven't built any statues for critics or wannabes yet".

So, what maketh the man? And more to the point what maketh him so angry? I ask at one stage, once we've veered away from the touchy subject of the coaching shakeup, if he's not just a little misunderstood. That perhaps behind the persona is someone who not only cares passionately about rugby and the All Blacks, but who's actually a pretty decent chap.

He asks what persona I think he has. A bit grumpy, a bit gruff, a bit intimidating. Then I mention that I'm told he's a great guy to have a beer with, but I guess the public don't see that.

"Well some of them do," he says, a smile finally emerging. A breakthrough. And then comes the frank self-assessment I've been searching for. The candour he's known for. "To be honest I probably don't trust the media," he says. "I think sometimes they've got their own agendas, and that's to sell newspapers and unfortunately you don't sell newspapers with positive news. You've got to be negative. And I'm not a negative person so I probably find it a little bit frustrating dealing with that sort of thing all the time."

He doesn't lie awake at night worrying about the tone of the country's media, but clearly it bothers him more than a little.

"I just think that we're a very small country and we often don't celebrate what we're good at. We're too busy clobbering people, saying they're no good, whether that's our sports people or our businessmen. I probably do come across a little bit gruff and grumpy at times because I get frustrated with it. I just wish they would try to sell newspapers with positive comments."

Hansen is adamant the criticism and conjecture around his suitability to be forwards coach didn't sting. He just chose to ignore most of it.

"My job is to do what's right for the team, and I'm pretty confident I did that. Some people are going to have opinions that are different to others and they might not like what you're doing. But that's life.

"I think criticism is OK if it's informed and it's not personal. People are going to have an opinion. You can't change that."

But some of it did get personal. "I don't think there's any need for that, but that's the way some people operate," he shrugs. "It's irrelevant what other people are saying. Most people don't really know what's happening and therefore aren't informed enough to criticise correctly. But it doesn't stop people having their opinions and you can't allow that to affect you."

Earlier this year, Hansen also referenced his former job to put the pressure he was under into perspective. "This is not pressure, pressure is when you knock on someone's door and say `sorry, your son's just died' or `sorry, I've got to take away your baby, who has died in a cot death'," he said.

I ask if this is where he goes for perspective when he needs it?

"I think I've got life in pretty good perspective," he says. "I realise my job is a pretty important one, that the All Blacks are an important team to the country. I know those young men go out and do their best every time and I know I do the same thing. There's a lot worse things happening in the world than losing a game of rugby to the Springboks."

He's right, of course. There's also a perception about that he wants Henry's top job when this term ends.

"I've never actually said I want to be the All Blacks head coach," he says, with a hint of a smile. "People make assumptions. I'll keep coaching while I enjoy it and at the moment I'm enjoying it. There's a long way away before anything like that's decided. Let's get through the next couple of years, and let's see if we can win that damn world cup."

FOR THE record, the new All Blacks backs coach is enjoying his new role, believes his players are too, says the seeds for the shakeup were sown at the start of the year and doesn't want to comment on whether the changes would have come had things gone more smoothly in the Tri Nations.

"I'm assuming you're talking about the lineouts," he says, a little defensively. He then concedes the Boks are "playing a game at the moment we're struggling to combat. All credit to them but I'm sure we'll get on top of it before long".

Though Hansen is enjoying the new challenge, he says he didn't need it.

"I was OK. I think Smithy [Wayne Smith] was certainly looking forward to doing the defence. It has been good for all of us. It's a different voice singing the same song, just maybe singing it slightly differently."

It sounds like the All Blacks coach has taken his own advice. He has flushed, and he has moved on.

- © Fairfax NZ News