Wallabies scrum coach Mike Cron believes his rebuilding job is done as he prepares to return to retirement.
Cron has been by Joe Schmidt’s side since the Kiwi coach took over the job at the Wallabies and will finish his time on Saturday in Perth after the Bledisloe Cup series.
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“I’ve run my race because I'd already set my sights on finishing at the end of the British and Irish Lions Tour. That was the gig, so I said, ok, I've got enough energy for that and then when they asked me to extend, I thought, ok, I can squeak the old body out for a bit longer. But any more I don't think you'd be doing justice to the outfit here,” he said to reporters at the team's gotel.
“I had never ever thought I'd ever coach international rugby again full time. I help out here and there, you know, but never full time. Never a plan.
“It was a hell of a challenge and looking back, you know, grateful that you've been given that opportunity to give a wee bit of help into the organisation and made them reasonably competitive.”
Cron admits he was left surprised by the ‘scars’ left by the 2023 Rugby World Cup as the experienced coaching staff rebuilt the Wallabies into Rugby Championship contenders.
"It surprised me, yeah. I felt sorry for a lot of them,” he expressed.
“So we had a wee bit of patching up to do, but once the players trusted you, it took a wee while but once they trust you and know you're not bullshit and jelly beans, know that you're real, we made good progress pretty quickly.
“ I think if I look back, I think the biggest thing that we have achieved is just developing a safe learning environment. I know that sounds pretty simple. It's safe not just for physical safety, but psychological safety.
“So we certainly developed that, I think Joe and I. The players know we'll never yell, scream, abuse, belittle, or embarrass them ever. So I think that was the biggest thing that we brought in to start with, that it is a safe learning environment and learning is motivation, motivation is enjoyment. So we've developed that.”
Cron isn’t eager to step away completely from Australian Rugby, turning his attention to the future stars of the game.
“I'm in the process with Aussie Rugby, looking at developing down below, like tight five camps and structures to set up at the barbell to keep them coming through to the top. So I might be involved in that to develop that, which I think would be huge for the Rugby Australia,” he revealed.
“It’d be 20-23 years who aren't quite contracted, but we can develop them and have them ready to get contracted. These young players who are not getting contracted at franchises need to see a career path. Instead of going to MLR or Japan Div 2, they can get some love here and we can develop them and when the time comes, they'll get picked up in the franchises here.
“We can get a conveyor belt going so if I can get that going and then for a year or two and then hand it over, you know, to the Aussie guys to run and keep it going, you'll have a constant pull or flow of tight five coming through.”
