In a recently-release statement, the Sharks have confirmed that Michael Horak has been appointed defensive and kicking coach.
Horak was earlier today released from his contract with the EP Kings, with whom he had initially agreed a five-year deal after a successful stint as defense coach with the Cheetahs’ Super Rugby side in 2013. That year, the Cheetahs qualified for the Super Rugby knock-out phase for the first time, with their improved defence under Horak widely considered a key factor in their best-ever campaign.
In another bit of interesting news, the Sharks revealed that Samoan and former EP Kings winger Paul Perez has also arrived in Durban, to “see if there is a future for him at the Sharks”. Earlier today it was reported that Perez’s Kings contract was torn up, after he disappeared for two days last week without explanation.
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This Perez thing is a little fishy. Some media are reporting that he was arrested on Friday. Seems when he disappeared on them, the Kings immediately cancelled his contract and called Home Affairs to boot.
Nice okes….
Heh the winger sounds quite shady
@robdylan (Comment 1) : don’t ever cross cheeky! !!!! It will cost you dearly! !!!!!
@PTAShark (Comment 2) : yes he will feel right at home with the rest being audited
Perez wouldn’t be our first bad boy winger… hopefully it turns into more of a Chavanga story in time
Sounds about perfect for the Sharks he missed the whole of 2011 and most of 2013 with injuries! !! Perfect signing!!!! Btw apparently he was deported out of NZ for domestic violence and also failed to get a visa to play in France on three different occasion (all according to a Wikipedia).
@benji (Comment 4) : different crime boet totally different crime!!!!!!!
Good signing,any more info on Perez?Which wing is he to cover?Could open the door for Mvovo to shift to fullback?
@JD (Comment 6) : I’m concerned about that domestic violence thing.
I can’t condone the Sharks signing a man who has a history of violence agianst women.
@robdylan (Comment 9) : Same feeling here. Hopefully they bounce the bugger. We aren’t that starved on the wing.
ok, so reading a little deeper, it seems there ma have been genuine remorse. I read an article about Perez taking a role as spokesman for the Samoan Victims’ Support Group, taking a stand against domestic violence.
Maybe a reformed character?
Ive just sent a barge pole to Kings Park.
We suddenly have a rather big and rather, um, “shapeless” senior coaching team.
Hoping for some clarity soon about who is doing what.
@robdylan (Comment 13) : Consisting of whom? Can you list the names of coaches and what they will be doing…and then those who’s job description we’re not too sure of?
@robdylan (Comment 13) : @FireTheLooser (Comment 14) : That request for a list of who’s who is a good idea…
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 12) : 😀
Director of Rugby – Gary Gold
Technical Director – Brendan Venter
Forwards Coach – Brad McLeod-Henderson
Backs Coach – Sean Everitt
Defensive Coach – Michael Horak
? – Paul Anthony
Unless things are heading for a shift…
@David12246 (Comment 17) : why would Anthony not be forwards coach?
@robdylan (Comment 18) : you are hinting BMH is on his way.
@robdylan (Comment 9) : @robdylan (Comment 11) : ja look I just quoted Wikipedia don’t know anything else about him but tonight on the news they had a piece on him and the Kings and apparently home affairs is looking into his stay in SA as his visa or work permit expired. Reading between the lines it did not look good for his chances of staying in SA but I suppose we will see.
@robdylan (Comment 18) : I’m officially offering my services as a liason officer between the coaches just to make sure there’s no mis communications or misunderstandings between them. Hey what’s another coach on the already cluttered payroll!?!?!?! 😉
I would be mortified if this ” bad boy ” Perez gets a shot at playing for the sharks…the same piece of useless flesh that was deported out of New Zealand for assaulting his wife / partner ….twice !!!! Scum if you ask me.
I’m surprised that the Sharks appoint a rather unsuccessful defence coach when defence hasn’t been a problem at the Sharks
Cheetahs – Tries let in
2014 – 59
2013 – 38
2012 – 47
2011 – 49
2010 – 50
Sharks – tries let in
2014 – 22
2013 – 31
2012 – 31
2011 – 28
2010 – 27
Kings – Tries let in CC
2014 – 53
Sharks – tries let in CC
2014 – 20
@Baylion (Comment 23) : I’m not saying too much about this appointment…let’s wait and see. Regarding the stats above and Horak’s time with the Cheetahs: at least it seems that he led to a 20% improvement in 2013 and then his departure led to 55% more tries against the Cheetahs in 2014…so maybe there is something to him. The difference in tries conceded by the Sharks vs Cheetahs and Kings should, of course, probably be mainly attributed to player quality…
@Baylion (Comment 23) : There’s only so much an F1 driver can do with a beaten-up rusty old Ford Cortina 😈
Let’s see how Horak does behind the wheel of a real SR team.
@durbsguy (Comment 19) : Is he? I think he’s saying that Paul Anthony actually works with the forwards and should be given the tag “forward’s coach”…and he’s saying nothing about BMH…
@FireTheLooser (Comment 25) : Agreed…
BMH was the specialist coach during SR 2014 looking at rucking and ball presentation. Jake was Head Coach and also looked after defence and kicking I think. So what is the fuss? Do you guys want the head coach to again have a specialist role and still have an helicopter overview of all the coaching? Business 101, segregation of duties. As for Perez, did he not lead a campaign against women abuse after his brushes with the law with regards to this? So a person cannot be forgiven for his mistakes especially when he has tried to atone? Julian Savea, has also had a few brushes with the law, he seeked help, atoned and look at him today. There are South African sports heroes that have done worse and are still praised and supported today.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 25) : ja let’s see what he can do!!!!!
@robdylan (Comment 9) : And if Julian Sevea wanted to play for the Sharks?
@GreatSharksays (Comment 28) :
Paul Anthony should stick to singing and playing guitar in pubs that’s business 101. We now going for quantity and not quality at coaching level.
@FireTheLooser (Comment 25) : You want the Sharks to become even more defensive? I don’t see the logic in appointing a mediocre defence coach when the Sharks don’t have a problem at defence
@Baylion (Comment 32) : Defense coach is but a cog in the coaching structure….would the appointment of a scrum coach indicate a scrum orientated game-plan? No.
Tsietas didn’t play a defense orientated game in 2013, they just learned how to defend when they are not on attack.
@Baylion (Comment 32) : The defense was not great during the Currie Cup. Even though we tackled players, we often let the opposing teams gain way too much ground.
Likewise the challenge when attacking is to get your defense quickly in place when you turnover possession.
Im happy we have an actual defense coach- lets see what he can do with quality players. I wont pass judgement just yet. Not so convinced about Perz though…big strong runner but i feel he is a bit of a lone ranger and prefers 7s where he can do what he likes and doesnt hav to fit into a structure
@Baylion (Comment 32) : That’s a bit disingenuous don’t you think?
@Baylion (Comment 32) : I don’t think it’ll make us more defensive to have a defensive coach. If he can get the correct players in the correct positions during defense we can generate more turnovers, more overlaps and thus more tries.
The trick is having good defenders covering good attackers with a ball stealer close by to have a go. No use having a prop covering a wing half the time or Marcell and Bismark making the most tackles each game, seeing as they generate the most turnovers for us. Getting the players in the correct areas are tricky, especially in broken play.
@durbsguy (Comment 19) : no, I’m not. I just assumed that since Paul had played the role of forwards coach in both Super Rugby and Currie Cup, he would continue as such.
Turns out I was mistaken, though. Brad is forwards coach and Paul has been given a new role altogether. Still trying to get details on exactly what it encompasses.
@GreatSharksays (Comment 30) : not even debatable,without a blink of an eye
@BarendL (Comment 8) : why would you want to play a great winger out of position,this continued playing of players out of their position just in order to keep them on the field is one of the big problems that has to change at the Sharks
@benji (Comment 40) : while I did think Lwzi looked good at 15, I’m coming around to your way of thinking.
Lwazi really is a top, top winger who adds huge value to our backline at 11. I’m not convinced we should be shifting him just because our fullback ins’t (currently) at the same level.
Uhm, if Perez is this ill disciplined and disloyal we should not want him at all. Sharks are growing a culture of family and club pride, elements like this should NOT make its way in. As for Hoark I agree with the people questioning his ability. Kings were horrible at defense in the CC in fact that was their biggest failure in the majority of their games. Their attack would be good and they would concede soft tries and easy points like crazy and then put the game out of their own reach or let the opponents in with a scraping win.
Looking at the coaching staff it seems we have too many cooks here.
@GreatSharksays (Comment 30) : also please add Robbie Freuen to that shopping list
@robdylan (Comment 41) : yes and let the Sharks nurture a great 15 from within or then go buy one ,then you have a great 11 and 15 and let the opposition deal with that,my punt is still give Van T a chance
@benji (Comment 45) : I think under Venter/Gold, Jaco will get more game time.
A defensive coach from the Kings?!
It’s hilarious!
@vanmartin (Comment 36) : I honestly and sincerely do not see the logic of the Sharks appointing a defence coach with such a poor track record
@Baylion (Comment 48) : You obviously don’t rate his season at the Cheetahs and that’s fair enough but you are knowledgeable enough to know that teams don’t hire defense coaches to play more defensively. The Sharks don’t dominate the collision point, it’s been a concern this entire year.
Apologies for the double post. App told me first post failed. Second post was from memory.
@vanmartin (Comment 49) : I think that is in fact a huge weakness for the Sharks and has to be fixed so hence Horak
@Original Pierre (Comment 47) : 😈
@Baylion (Comment 48) : Imagine how many tries they would have let in without his guidance.
I’m sure Horak was appointed with the knowledge and inset, and in all likelihood, on the recommendation of either or both Venter and Gold.
It will be very easy to judge Horaks effectiveness with the Sharks – leak as many or more tries than our worst stats in the last couple of years and its a big failure.
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 54) : That’s one metric but what I’m even more interested in is our player’s technique at the tackle point (robbing opposition of forward momentum) and what happens immediately following the tackle. If we can start dominating this area and win more games as a result I’d be less concerned about the number of tries we let in. ‘Tries against’ is obviously very important but we should keep in mind that it’s not exclusively so.
@vanmartin (Comment 55) : Ive always felt that the Sharks linespeed has been poor as well as the tackle technique. Esp this last CC the players tended to try and just pull the guy down which resulted in them often getting over the advantage line even if tackled. This put all our guys offside so they had to retreat and as a result we conceded a lot of penalties that were either kicked for 3pts or kicked to the corner and we conceded the try from a maul. Happened quite often
@SheldonK (Comment 56) : I saw it creep into our SR games too, frustrated me no end. I reckon a lot of the Lions’ success has come from simply getting this basic right consistently.
@vanmartin (Comment 55) : Agree on this but in the cold light of day after the competition has run its course if we end in similar positions to what we have recently and have conceded more tries then Im sure Mr Horak will be judged harshly on that.
@vanmartin (Comment 55) : @SheldonK (Comment 56) : @vanmartin (Comment 57) : I agree fully with your excellent and eloquent analysis…
I am looking forward to seeing all this develop…
@Salmonoid the Subtle (Comment 58) : Agreed.