Daryl Gibson going nowhere as Waratahs head coach but Simon Cron added in assistant reshuffle

DARYL Gibson will remain at the helm of the Waratahs next season but a new talent will be at his disposal following a reshuffle of his backroom staff.

Northern Suburbs coach (middle) Simon Cron, his team & supporters celebrate winning the Shute Shield against Sydney University at North Sydney Oval. Northern Suburbs broke a 41-year premiership drought, taking out the game 28-15. Picture: Troy Snook

DARYL Gibson will remain at the helm of the Waratahs next season but a reshuffle of his backroom staff will see rising coaching star Simon Cron come on board as an assistant.

The Daily Telegraph understands Cron — who coached Norths to a Shute Shield title last year and also had the Australian under-20s this year — has turned down approaches from the Brumbies and accepted a job under Gibson.

Like Stephen Larkham, defence coach Nathan Grey will announce today he is finishing his NSW-Australia juggle and will join Michael Cheika’s Wallabies staff full-time.

Grey has been with NSW for five years and his work was a major factor in the Tahs winning a premiership in 2014.

Cron is likely is likely to take on the forwards coaching role with Gibson to be in charge of the backs and defence.

Simon Cron is to take charge of the forwards for the Waratahs.

The Waratahs confirmed on Tuesday current forwards coach Cam Blades will be moving on at the end of the season.

The addition of Cron means the Tahs will have a very strong Kiwi influence next year.

Both Gibson and Cron were born and raised in Christchurch (All Blacks scrum guru Mike Cron is an uncle) and NSW Rugby chief executive Andrew Hore is also a Kiwi.

Cron moved to Sydney four years ago and last year took Norths to their first Shute Shield premiership in 41 years. He also coached the Sydney Rays in the NRC to the 2016 semi-finals.

Cron took the Australian under 20s to a sixth-placed finish in Georgia earlier this month but only lost by a point against eventual finalists England in their pool.

Simon Cron with his premiership winning Norths team.

The Waratahs desperately need a revival after a hugely disappointing 2017 season.

With two rounds left, the team are already out of finals contention with a win loss record of 4-8.

There have been calls for Gibson to be sacked but with a contract until the end of next season, Hore confirmed Gibson will remain head coach of the Waratahs.

“He ain’t the problem. He is helping us find the solutions,” Hore told the Daily Telegraph.

“He admits he has things to work on but what good coach doesn’t admit that?”

Here said his experience working in the NZRU high performance unit showed him the value in sticking solid with the right coaches.

“I helped with the report for the NZRU board after the 2007 World Cup, and we kept those coaches. Sometimes results don’t go your way but it doesn’t mean they’re not the right people to do the job,” Hore said.

“Then it’s a matter of how prepared are they to look inward and work on solving the problems.

“We have done a bit of work behind the scenes about what has worked and what hasn’t, and we have done that through the season. We haven’t waited.

“If you look at it historically, those Super Rugby clubs who have had bad years have traditionally had good years after those. “But the only way you are honest and frank about what the issues are.

“I applaud the rugby department and the business as a whole about the way they’ve approached these issues.”