Queensland Reds sack coach Nick Stiles for dual international Brad Thorn

SO the rumours were true. Nick Stiles will be replaced by Brad Thorn as Queensland Reds coach in 2018. Catch all latest rugby news here.

Brad Thorn has a vision for the Reds. Picture: Annette Dew

IT is clear that Brad Thorn will replace Nick Stiles as Queensland Reds head coach imminently.

Stiles is on holidays but the decision has been made by the QRU board to axe him, and promote Thorn, who will work alongside Tony McGahan and Phil Mooney to steer the Reds in 2018.

Witnesses told us Thorn and Stiles swore at each other during a recent training session but Thorn has denied the pair have ever argued.

Brad Thorn has a vision for the Reds. Picture: Annette Dew

Stiles and Thorn have not seen eye-to-eye on training methods and approach, and the latter will get his chance to stamp his own mark on the club.

FoxSports recently revealed that Stiles has the worst record of any Super Rugby coach in history in charge of more than 35 games, and the ultra-competitive Thorn has a different vision for the Reds.

REDS: ‘We’re 100 per cent behind Stilesy’

Stiles is contracted for 2018 so will have to be paid out, further raising questions about the QRU board’s operations.

This is the same organisation that appointed Richard Graham, then reappointed him after a “worldwide search” only to sack him.

Is Stiles just a victim of a disjointed Reds’ board?

They then brought in Stiles and Matt O’Connor as joint head coaches only to punt O’Connor but kept paying his contract.

They then brought in former Reds and Wallabies coach John Connolly as an adviser, only to discard him. Connolly then took the Reds to court for unfair termination and won $150,000.

Now they’re cutting adrift Stiles for rookie Thorn, placing immense pressure on the All Blacks legend to deliver quickly next year.

REBELS FIGHT BACK

MUNSTER has made a massive play for Western Force coach Dave Wessels but Melbourne remains confident of landing the in-demand figure.

Force players including Adam Coleman and Dane Haylett-Petty have signed memorandums of understanding with the Rebels, essentially on the basis that Wessels would be their coach.

When Irish giants Munster swooped in, fears arose that several Force players would bail and look overseas.

Rebels won’t give up on Dave Wessels.

Wessels met with Munster officials in Ireland, and Ireland’s high performance manager David Nucifora sparked frenzied speculation that a deal would be announced on the signing of Wessels when he told local media they were only speaking to one candidate and an announcement was imminent.

Yet Wessels is also emotionally attached to his playing group at the Force and this is weighing heavily on his decision.

He will make an announcement within days on his future, and we expect he’ll choose the Rebels.

RUSTLES IN THE FORREST

THERE are already problems with Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s proposed Indo-Pacific Rugby Championship competition.

We hear a key figure appointed by Forrest to implement the tournament has left.

While the ARU is cautiously backing the project, key questions remain unanswered, including whether the competition will be played in 2019 when the World Cup is on.

Getting the comp up and running next year only to have a hiatus the following season is not appealing for television broadcasters.

CHEIK GOES SIDEWAYS TO GO FORWARD

WALLABIES coach Michael Cheika wasn’t impressed with the team’s training venue in Johannesburg when they rocked up on Monday.

The ground, at a local high school, was kids’ sized. It looked to only be about 80 metres long, and after pacing out the field, Cheika decided the only option was to train sideways. The team ran their plays from sideline to sideline.

AUSSIE ANTHEM

YOU never know what you’re going to get asked at a press conference in another country and Wallabies players had to scramble when asked in Johannesburg what they thought of NFL players taking a knee during the national anthem.

Did they agree with the political statement?

Nick Phipps politely shouldered arms but Sekope Kepu said he not only likes to sing the anthem, he loves doing it twice in a night.

Colin Kaepernick last year.

“Personally I love to belt out the anthem every time I get the jersey, because the opportunity doesn’t come around often,” Kepu said.

“If I am lucky I get to sing it once and if I am extra lucky I get to sing it twice, in the sheds after the game (and a win).”

The Wallabies victory song is, you guessed it, Advance Australia Fair.

MILLER HEADS NORTH

NSW product Will Miller is set to head home.

The promising flanker is understood to be on the verge of signing for the Waratahs from the Melbourne Rebels, where he played one Super Rugby game this year.

Miller, 24, is a favourite of new Tahs assistant coach Simon Cron, who had him as skipper of Norths’ premiership-winning 2016 side.

Miller will be the back-up to NSW and Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper, who surely will need to ease his immense workload in the lead-up to the 2019 World Cup.

Originally published as Queensland Reds sack coach Nick Stiles for dual international Brad Thorn