RECRUITING coaches from Sydney, or anywhere else for that matter, can often be a walk in a football minefield for Group Nine clubs.
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Over the years there have been some absolutely outrageous cases of clubs signing exactly the wrong person.
Obviously the laws of libel prohibit The Notebook from mentioning names, but some of the more notable cases should not be hard to recall, or, at worse, guess.
Suffice to say, falling for a seemingly impressive resume has proven disastrous for a couple of Group Nine clubs.
The fact that an individual looks, on paper at least, perfectly suited to coach the first grade team - and also set the agenda for the entire club - can be dreadfully misleading.
Splashing out big money on a captain-coach, or non-playing coach, that proves to be a monumentally poor choice can cause serious damage to a club in the short or long term.
And, it really doesn't take a Rhodes Scholar to work out that one club in particular has possibly been caught out a couple of times in the past 24 years.
It is certainly worth noting that in this time a stream of coaches have come and gone in the region - some so quickly they virtually vanish overnight.
Naturally, however, their painful and expensive legacy lasts much longer.
The simple logic that securing a coach from Sydney will bring success and prosperity to a club is frequently misguided.
Actually, getting a coach with good references from Tenterfield or Timbuktu is also not necessarily a guarantee that things will work out for the best for a club.
Of course, there have been some spectacular coaching recruitment triumphs in the past two decades or so.
Look no further than Wayne Portlock going to Young in 1991.
Fresh from seven years with North Sydney and Eastern Suburbs, Portlock joined the Cherrypickers for one fabulous season, and conjured a Group Nine premiership.
It must be said he had some decent help - Young also signed Rothmans Medal winner Mal Cochrane - but the result was definitely what was wanted.
Portlock and Cochrane have since proven a hard act to follow - Young hasn't won a premiership in the intervening 23 years, but hasn't been too far off the pace as well.
Experienced Luke Branighan jumped on board at Young three years ago and has certainly gone the club going into the right direction.
Likewise, it took Tumut to sign big Brett Goldspink in 2003 for the Blues to break their 30 year Group Nine title drought.
Unlike Portlock at Young, Goldspink had ties to the mountains, but it still needed some amazing manoeuvring to get the skilful front rower to Tumut.
As much as Goldspink set up the Blues to become a Group Nine powerful, the club has again fallen on hard times and needs another injection of enthusiasm and leadership.
It should be stressed, however, that Goldspink can't be held accountable for the Blues recent failings - he did his bit and the rest is painful history.
No doubt Chris Brennan must also shake his head in despair and dismay at the way Temora has crumbled since he was in command.
During Brennan's reign, the Dragons were the epitome of a supreme bush team, but how things have changed.
This year Michael Henderson inherited a team - club - in disarray, and he now is doing his level best to turn it around.
The task for Henderson seems to have been made desperately harder by a lack of funds or a lack of support from within.
For Henderson, the challenge is to some how, miraculously or otherwise, transform Temora in a similar way to what Josh Cale did at Albury.
Six years ago, Cale came from Sydney - he did have roots in the bush - and began the job of hauling Albury out of a massive football rut.
It is now written in stone that Cale has carried Albury from the depths to the loftiest of heights.
Not only did he succeed in coaching the Thunder to three straight premierships, he played a massive part in securing the financial viability of the border club.
Clearly Cale's input on and off the field has been remarkable - and he has put the club in a position of wealth and power.
Cale's fingerprint - and enormous shadow - will remain on Albury for years to come.
Significantly, Cale worked on an exit strategy which has allowed him to walk away from the coaching position, but be assured Ben Jeffery will pick up the chalice.
Months back, Cale anointed Jeffery as the new coach and has guided the star fullback into the post.
Cale will be gone, but he won't be forgotten.
This will also very much be the case for Daniel Fitzhenry at Southcity.
In four years Fitzhenry turned the Wagga club into the most efficient rugby league organisation in the Riverina.
This sentiment probably won't rest well with those at Albury, but it is hard to argue against.
What Fitzhenry achieved at the Bulls in four years is testimony to his ability as a coach, mentor and adviser.
Like Cale, he has been at the coalface on and off the field - nothing has happened at Southcity that Fitzhenry hasn't had some input or impact.
And he has done it all with intense drive, desire, lashings of humour, respect for all and a genuine sense of making things better.
Daniel Fitzhenry will be wholeheartedly missed at Southcity, but, rest assured, also in rugby league in general.