Is that your knife in my back?

What does it take to be a good coach?

Is it?

• Being a good leader?
• Having a strong character?
• Being a mentor?
• Committing to the success of your team?

You would think that after the revelations of the sacking of Andy Friend by the ACT Brumbies that he was devoid of all these characteristics. Andy Coached the Harlequins four the four years prior to the Brumbies promoting them to the premier league and earning them a place at the Heinekin cup, he also was an assistant coach to Chris Hickey coaching the Australian under 21s side in Argentina in 2005. It could be argued that to hold and be successful at the above positions you would need a certain amount of people skills.

It seems that player power has been responsible for the axing of Andy Friend and as sports fans you have to wonder if the timing was appropriate. Two weeks into a season? Surely the board should have seen that there were problems in the off season and dealt with it appropriately. Instead the Brumbies find themselves two weeks into a season with a Head Coach who has only ever coached Rugby league.

Perhaps there was a bigger picture in mind from the Brumbies and players with the introduction of Stephen Larkham as the attack coach and the favourite for next years Head Coaching role. Of course this wasn't the first time that Andy Friend had been sacked from a coaching role after the Waratahs sacked him in 2004 for inconsolable differences with Ewan Mckenzie.

On joining the Brumbies in 2009 Andy promised to bring Respect, Work Ethic and Personal Responsibility to the club. After two seasons it seems that his message has not been heard. At least from the players anyway.

The fact that Andy refused to step down and was prepared to take a public bullet from the Brumbies shows that he believed in his heart that he had done all that he could at the club. He stated that at the last meeting he asked everyone if there were problems that needed to be addressed and everyone remained silent.

So the big questions are:

• Should players have this much control when it comes to their coach? 
• Was what the Brumbies did to Andy Friend unfair and 
• Will it backfire for them this season?

I personally believe that the mutiny at the Brumbies should not have been allowed to happen this early in the season. Regardless of whether or not there was tension at the club, it is bad management to make this type of decision this early into the year, the result being the Reds getting their first win in Canberra. It is going to be hard to move forward from such a change and I hope for the Brumbies sake they bounce back quickly. At the moment though they look like a bunch of spoilt, bullies who are getting their own back on the field.

I guess the next few weeks they will either prove us wrong or prove what everyone is thinking.

Tell us what you think. Is this an unjustified mutiny? Or did Andy Friend have to go?