The Blue Bulls have released an official statement on the issue of Heyneke Meyer and the Bok coaching job.
Statement
At a meeting called by SARU, on Tuesday, 24 January 2012, with the Blue Bulls Company’s Board of Directors, SARU informed the Blue Bulls Board of their intention to offer Heyneke Meyer the position of National Coach.
The Blue Bulls Board reiterated its position that Meyer is under contract with the Blue Bulls Company and had appointed Meyer as Executive Rugby, only after an undertaking and commitment by Meyer to lead Blue Bulls rugby over the next four years.
It is the Blue Bulls Board’s position that it would not be in the Blue Bulls interest to release Meyer after many resources and commitments have been made in order to enable Meyer to fulfill his mandate.
Should Meyer however decide to accept the position of National Coach, he needs to inform the Blue Bulls Board of his decision to abdicate his responsibilities and commitments to the Blue Bulls.
Although the Blue Bulls Board would be disappointed with such a decision by Meyer, the Board has faith in the coaching structures under the leadership of Frans Ludeke in taking the Bulls into the future.
Clearly it’s not “Happy Families” between the Bulls and SARU, with the Bulls quite obviously wanting their main to stay true to his contract …
A few sleepless nights for Meyer then … Well, not really. I think we all know which job he is going to choose … But it is a little naughty of the Bulls to go public like this … No matter how hard done by they feel …
One would have thought this might have all been done a little earlier than three days before the actual announcement though! It’s not like SARU only found out this week that they had a national coaching position to fill …
Already not much of a secret, but so much for the “Big reveal” on Friday … First Gallo and Rassie, now the Blue Bulls and Heyneke …
What will they do with the EP Kings? That is the pertinant question that needs to be answered by SARU on Friday … I have heard a few truly out there solutions, and cannot wait to see what they go with …
I find the whole statement a little ambiguous.
How to get the rugby-loving public to hate you. The Bulls are the team everyone but their fans love to hate and it seems they are ever the eager beavers to keep it that way!
I get that we’re in a professional era and that there is no doubt SARU could have handled this better (and a lot sooner), but hells bells … surely national interest should come first! If the national team is coming good it also always bodes well for the unions!
VERY short-sighted on the part of the Bulle.
Hey Greenman,
I understand where you’re coming from but as a WP supporter I also remember Mr. Nienaber being prevented (initially) to join Peter de Villiers and his team not too long ago.
In the end they did not say he is bound to them eternally. I think the concern is the financial aspect (which SARU presumably have to pay out to them for buying them out of his contract) since the union is a business.
Although HM apparently does have a get out clause,this is very symptomatic of professional rugby in SA. It revolves around the word trust.Before fingers are pointed at the Blue Bulls, one must take into consideration what the Bulls have done for HM’s coaching career. He had a dismal start at the Bulls,was replaced by Rudi Joubert(a disaster on and off the field) and moved to the Vodocom side. Joubert got the sack and HM was brought back. It was then that HM’s coaching career took off. His 2nd term at the Bulls also coincided with the emergence of players like Matfield,B Botha(who had been dropped by HM to the Vodocom side in his 1st term at the BB’s) G.Botha,D.Hougaard(no relation of Francois),Rossouw,Du Preez etc. HM had also brought a super leader in Anton Leonard into his plans.The two of them formed a very effective leadership combination. This website has already described what HM did after the despicable manner in which HM did not get the Bok job in ’07. However when HM felt the need to get back into rugby coaching a couple of years back,it was the BB’s who created a position for him. HM also,despite that get out clause, gave assurances that he would be at the BB’s for a number of years. So one can have some sympathy for how the BB’s feel. A fair amount of trust has been broken – working in the rugby industry sadly one sees this virtually everyday in SA. I for one will be very surprised if HM does not make a success of the Bok job(he will have to handle the politics ie both rugby and politics politics). He is a top coach with the ability to make players feel better than what they actually are – his man mangement and attention to detail is out of the top draw.
As for EP Kings Tank – in my opinion,a rugby bomb waiting to explode.