Dobson is a class act, like you said he made something out of nothing....especially with players that has been thrown away by other Coaches and he turned them into top class players with self believe....I dont really know if Nienhaber is a Head coach, not trying to take away anything from him, but Dobson has the the Midas touch....if you think that players turn down overseas offers just to stay with him, speaks volumes.
Nienabaar is one of the best defensive coaches out there. I have always rated him in that regards, but he has no track record of being a true leader. It has always been in the shadow of Rassie. Wherever Rassie goes, he goes. Like we all know, Rassie is the brains and he doesn't like to be in the firing line and prefers a "head coach". It was the same at the stormers when Coetzee was the coach. Nienaber was the defence coach but Rassie was still the director of Rugby. Probably why Coetzee threw his toys out when news broke that Rassie will be coming back to SA. Didn't want to be a front man, but that blew up in Coetzee face.
So Dobbo picked up the mess from Coetzee and the dodgy WP blazer brigade.
I would have never rated Libbok or stuck with Hershel Jantjies but he backed them for the finals and it came off.
For me he is someone than can lead and is his own man
I’m not convinced
I’d go with Ackerman post Rassie
Ackerman has not had the same success that he had at the lions. He was able to lift Gloucestershire a bit but towards the end the started to drop in form. Not sure how well he is doing in Japan but doesn't like his team is in the top 4.
Good Springbok coaches are those that worked with players from age groups and know how to work with them. Jake White and Rassie are both coaches that spent a lot of time in the youth structures.
kingcorn
Bok regular
1451 posts
It has been years since a South African Franchise last won a major trophy. The bulls was the only team to win Super rugby 3 times and then we had the lions that flirted with 3 finals but could never get the elusive super rugby trophy. Even being able to host it at home.
Somehow, Dobbo pulled off a miracle and showed how much Talent SA truly have. Some of the latter wins to get us to the play-offs and finals were last minute or even extra time tries, but this just show the believe the players have. It also speaks volumes of great teams. Look at Manchester under Ferguson. How many times did they not score in extra time to get the winners they need or sometime more than one goal.
Looking at Dobbo's cv, no massive clubs or anything but a coach that came through the coaching structures at Western Province, starting with a university team in the varsity cup, WP u 21, vodacom cup, currie cup and now stormers coach. He got trophies in most of these comps.
The look at dobbo as a person, holds 3 degrees, has written 3 books and has a MBA.
I'm not saying he should be a coach now, but lets see how does next season and maybe we have a coach ready to take over from Nienaber when the time is right but in the mean time I hope he can create a golden era for the long suffering Stormers fans.