KEY POINTS:
Good things, it seems, really do come to those who wait.
New Auckland coach Mark Anscombe will certainly be feeling that way after finally landing a job he had hoped would be his five years ago.
Anscombe had served his time in the Auckland system as coach of
the union's colts, development team and then the Blues development team when he applied alongside BG Williams for the Auckland job in 2004.
But the pair weren't even interviewed as the job went to Pat Lam. Anscombe packed his bags, spending two years as an assistant to Russell Jones at North Harbour and three more as head coach of Northland.
Yesterday, when he was unveiled as Lam and Shane Howarth's successor, Anscombe sounded very much like a man who had finally received a reward he knew he deserved.
"I'm very excited and the family are chuffed," he said. "I left here five years ago disappointed that I didn't have [the job] and now I have got it. I can't wait to get started."
He will have to wait, though. He doesn't officially put his feet under the desk until December 1. Until then he has some loose ends to tie up in Northland and a New Zealand Under 20s campaign to plan for.
That Anscombe finally landed the role he so coveted must have had plenty to do with Northland's stirring end to the national championship season, when they knocked over North Harbour, Manawatu and Auckland in succession to come within a point of the playoffs.
A veteran of the coaching scene, Anscombe had plenty of runs on the board already. But he knows full well that, had Northland continued their six-match losing run, his appointment as the man to turn things around at Auckland would have been a hard sell.
"I can assure you that was in the back of my mind," he said.
"I'd like to think I would have been in a good position to take the job without [the three victories]. I think I had proved myself before those three wins. In every year I've coached I've managed to change things around and brought success wherever I've been. So I'd like to think it wouldn't come down to one or two games."
Having inherited a Northland team that hadn't won a game in three seasons, Anscombe's Northland record of 10 wins and two draws in 28 matches stacks up well.
That record is mitigated somewhat by the introduction of a 14-team national championship - and with it some easy-beats - coinciding with his tenure. But there is no doubting that Anscombe transformed the Taniwha from a team that didn't know how to win into one that became hard to beat. Auckland and Waikato discovered that to their cost this season.
He professes to have a good relationship with Lam, with whom he will work closely in his role as the major producer of talent for the Blues.
No stranger to speaking his mind, the man nicknamed "Cowboy" comes with a reputation for outspokenness. His new boss, Auckland chief executive Andy Dalton, hasn't instructed him to change his ways but Anscombe was politic enough in his assessment of Auckland's woes this season.
"It is easy for an outsider to throw stones," he said. "I don't want to just be critical of others. The people before me have done a great job. They have won championships. I've got to look at what was going on here, at the whole context of why it happened."
His first task will be to appoint his management team. He knows who he wants as his assistant; former All Blacks centre Bruce Robertson, currently Northland's high performance manager, is a strong possibility.
* The new Auckland coach Mark Anscombe:
2008 NZ U20s Asst Coach
2006-2008 Northland Air New Zealand Cup Head Coach, NZ U20s Development Coach
2004/5 North Harbour NPC Asst Coach
2002/3 Blues Development Team Head Coach
2001-2003 Auckland Development Team Head Coach
1999-2000 Auckland Colts Head Coach