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New Tigers coach opens up on wild start to job with shock axing of boss
By Josh Raisey
Given that Leicester Tigers have not yet played a match while Peter Hewat has served as their attack coach, it has been a strange start to life at Welford Road for the Australian.
The former London Irish fullback was recruited in June in a move that saw him reunite with his former Brumbies boss Dan McKellar. Just over a week later McKellar was sacked.
Hewat's compatriot Michael Cheika was named head coach soon after, completing what was surely a tumultuous start to life with the Tigers.
Despite this change, Hewat said that he and his colleagues remain "laser-focused" when speaking to the club recently.
“Look there’s no secrets, there was a big change with Michael coming in, but my focus was and is on being part of achieving something special here with this group, and from top to bottom, I could see that the whole organisation is laser-focused on doing the same," he said.
“That's the kind of environment any coach would want to be part of.”
Leicester get their Gallagher Premiership season underway against the Exeter Chiefs on September 21, but have preseason fixtures against Nottingham and the Scarlets, providing this new-fangled coaching team a chance to implement their ideas.
While Hewat therefore expects the Tigers to improve as the season progresses as the coaching team gel with the players and amongst themselves, there are nevertheless some non-negotiables.
"Michael and I have spent a lot of time with the players, had open discussions where we feel we need to go to get better in our attack and how we get there," he added. "We’ve looked to break things down to individual components to then build things up and week by week, we’re seeing the improvements we want to see.
“Like anything on a rugby field, it’s about the individual owning their role in the collective effort and that takes time. Will we grow and develop during the season? Absolutely we will but there’s also an element of doing the basics, being physical and doing what it takes to get the job done, especially early on.”
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Latest Comments
Nah hes a journeyman. Right call
Go to commentsAgreed for the most part. And perhaps Dmac needed a period were he is the 'Hobson's choice' too.
Yes and no, they main concern I had from the situation is Razor didn't really explain why they had developed differing opinions, had he? I've seen too many things happen in life to jump the gun. Fall all we know it was a locked in choice before they found the difference last year and played out this year to see if they were recoverable. I can certainly see where it would be a valid criticism to suggest he spent too much time reviewing his players tripping overseas and not enough work with his team at that time. But things like Tony Brown not even being contacted in the lead up to the naming of the squad are endemic in the union, and for much just as much blame should be laid on someone like Wayne Smith. Some like Mitch would have been aval at the same time too I'd think.
Ultimately I see MacDs time at the Blues much as I saw Ian Fosters time at the Chiefs. Heavily overshadowed by their successors but you could find something good in there if you wanted. Same here. This will play out.
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