Harbour calm as Coom quits

Even the sudden departure of chief executive Noel Coom has failed to dampen optimism at North Harbour on the back of a review which key officials believe will steer the union into calmer waters.

Coom quit his contract 12 months early last Monday but the union is adamant the departure was amicable and not indicative of more bitter infighting that surfaced during their 2005 NPC campaign.

Sources say Coom and the Harbour board agreed the union would benefit from a new person at the helm. Coom was originally hired to restructure operational procedures and put the union on a more secure commercial footing.

He achieved most of his initial targets earlier than planned but in recent months began to clash with the board on how the union should proceed with its development.

Coom also found the job to be more time-consuming than he originally anticipated and was happy to walk away.

When the new chief executive arrives, he or she will find a contrite head coach in Allan Pollock, who was surprised at the discord some players expressed about his methods last season.

Midway through Harbour's campaign a dissident core of senior players approached the Harbour board demanding Pollock be immediately booted or, failing that, for a stringent review to be conducted at the end of the season.

Some players felt Pollock had become too controlling and that assistant coach Mark Anscombe was being kept in the dark about the game plan. Despite these ructions, Harbour made the semis and Pollock was reappointed head coach for another two years.

"My biggest problem wasn't that there were concerns," said Pollock, "it was that they weren't expressed. I'm a believer that if you have something to say, you should say it.

"I was disappointed those views weren't expressed earlier as we interact pretty closely. That is a lesson I've learned and I'm not in the habit of repeating my mistakes."

Pollock's reappointment effectively convinced Anscombe that he should move on and he will have charge of Northland this season.

Although Pollock and Anscombe are friends, the latter wasn't keen to continue a working partnership and would only have stayed at Harbour if he'd been elevated to head coach at Pollock's expense. Anscombe has been replaced by Milan Yelavich.

Harbour chairman Gerarde Van Tilburg said it was a blow to lose the highly-rated Anscombe but the board felt Pollock was the outstanding candidate to continue as head coach.

"I know a few commentators were suggesting that Allan should move on but how do you move on a guy who takes you to the semis? Allan knows he had some problems and that he could use his resources better. But we are all looking forward now. We had a very interesting review and I think we will come out next season much stronger for that."

The players made it clear that they felt Pollock had to be more inclusive. It is a message he has already taken on board.

"Because I had so much faith in what the forwards were doing I stayed away. That may have created the perception of there being a backs/forwards split. That degree of separation was taken out of context and misconstrued. I'll make sure everyone understands I'm always available and on the same wavelength to try and prevent that same degree of separation. What worked well last year was attention to detail and an understanding of what we were trying to achieve."

The chief executive post should be advertised in the next few weeks.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY