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Swys needs to ‘forget’ about rugby for 3 month
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Jong Leeu
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    Posted: 16-Aug-2019 at 10:20am

The Lions head coach opens up on his sudden departure from the Springbok camp, where he was acting as a consultant.

Swys de Bruin simply couldn’t ignore the medical advice he recently received, which dictates he must totally forget about rugby “for the next three months”.

The Lions’ head coach on Wednesday opened up slightly about his shock departure from the Springbok camp, where he was being utilised as an attacking consultant.

“My tank is just totally empty,” De Bruin told Netwerk24.

“And one can’t tackle a big race like the World Cup on an empty tank.”

The 59-year-old’s struggle with a stress-related illness is well documented after he earlier this year departed prematurely from the Lions’ overseas Super Rugby tour.

While De Bruin already left the national team three weeks ago after the 16-all draw with the All Blacks in Wellington, he only requested his permanent release on Tuesday.

“I’ve been told by my medical practitioner that I shouldn’t divulge too many details. My priority now is to fill up my tank again before I continue with anything else,” he said.

“This is not about depression. It’s just about me having to get some rest. I truly wish the Boks all the best, I’m convinced they’ll be successful in Japan.”

His sabbatical won’t affect his duties at Ellis Park.

“I’m still with the Lions.”

https://citizen.co.za/sport/south-african-sport/sa-rugby-sport/springboks/2167007/swys-needs-to-forget-about-rugby-for-the-next-three-months/
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Koning Leeu
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Maak nie sin nie.. Wat beteken dit nou eintlik jou tank is leeg? Hoe? Waarom? 
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Koning Leeu
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Ja laat mens wonder gaan drie maande genoeg wees plaas vat hy eerder n jaar of twee se breuk van afrigting want dis n risiko in professionele sport kan mens nie so iets bekostig nie want dit moet tog aan die spelers ook vat
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Koning Leeu
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We don't know why his tank is empty, but it is. Lets respect that, and trust that his doctor knows what he is doing. We want Swys in the system. Maybe the GLRU can create a director of coaching job for him, where he supervises the coaches in SR, CC, Women's rugby and at age group levels. That way, he will be removed from the stresses at team level. We need a coach like him because of the intellectual capital that he has. He has coached the Griquas, been involved at the Sharks, and we know his valuable input at the Lions and the Boks.
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Koning Leeu
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Originally posted by Lion4ever Lion4ever wrote:

We don't know why his tank is empty, but it is. Lets respect that, and trust that his doctor knows what he is doing. We want Swys in the system. Maybe the GLRU can create a director of coaching job for him, where he supervises the coaches in SR, CC, Women's rugby and at age group levels. That way, he will be removed from the stresses at team level. We need a coach like him because of the intellectual capital that he has. He has coached the Griquas, been involved at the Sharks, and we know his valuable input at the Lions and the Boks.

Well, do we really want a guy in the system that has personal issues, that could manifest at any given time and leave you and your team in the dwang?

I dunno, this past season has not been good for Swys's reputation as a top coach. Not only did the lions fare much worse, he pulled out of the NZ tour and now the WC..
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Koning Leeu
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I think the Director of Rugby is a good option, as not being hands on always it might be ok for him to take a step back when he feels he needs to. We will need another senior coach as I don't think Cash/Erasmus/Lemmer/Neil are yet ready to manage the Super Rugby team.

We must also consider how much effort Akkers and Swys put in during our comeback phase, being in this position and trying to achieve more and more, while losing some valuable players and Akkers and even management like Kevin de Klerk, must be difficult to stomach week in and week out. I can imagine his tank is empty.
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Koning Leeu
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Nee ek byt nie daaraan nie. In my opinie het Swys 'n mediese/mental kondisie wat hom verhoed om sy werk te doen. Hy mag dalk n moerse nice ou wees en 'n briljante rugby brein he, maar iewers is daar fout
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Originally posted by Lion4ever Lion4ever wrote:

We don't know why his tank is empty, but it is. Lets respect that, and trust that his doctor knows what he is doing. We want Swys in the system. Maybe the GLRU can create a director of coaching job for him, where he supervises the coaches in SR, CC, Women's rugby and at age group levels. That way, he will be removed from the stresses at team level. We need a coach like him because of the intellectual capital that he has. He has coached the Griquas, been involved at the Sharks, and we know his valuable input at the Lions and the Boks.
I totally agree. Just like a player with an injury or illness, there are certain treatment protocols that need to be followed in order for the person to get better. I don't think he got sufficient time off during SR, given we were in the middle of a competition, thats why it is manifesting again.
We do want Swys in the system yes. Johann Ackerman learned most of what he knows about coaching from Swys, and I doubt if Ackers would have been as successful without Swys by his side. Swys also has a huge influence on players in SA, and a lot of the players we have/had/will get, choose the Lions because we have Swys. Every player knows his abilities as coach. Lots of players want to be coached by him, because they know how many players that he coached, became Springboks.
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Originally posted by valie valie wrote:

Originally posted by Lion4ever Lion4ever wrote:

We don't know why his tank is empty, but it is. Lets respect that, and trust that his doctor knows what he is doing. We want Swys in the system. Maybe the GLRU can create a director of coaching job for him, where he supervises the coaches in SR, CC, Women's rugby and at age group levels. That way, he will be removed from the stresses at team level. We need a coach like him because of the intellectual capital that he has. He has coached the Griquas, been involved at the Sharks, and we know his valuable input at the Lions and the Boks.
I totally agree. Just like a player with an injury or illness, there are certain treatment protocols that need to be followed in order for the person to get better. I don't think he got sufficient time off during SR, given we were in the middle of a competition, thats why it is manifesting again.
We do want Swys in the system yes. Johann Ackerman learned most of what he knows about coaching from Swys, and I doubt if Ackers would have been as successful without Swys by his side. Swys also has a huge influence on players in SA, and a lot of the players we have/had/will get, choose the Lions because we have Swys. Every player knows his abilities as coach. Lots of players want to be coached by him, because they know how many players that he coached, became Springboks.
I had a conversation with a person in I think it was 2012, who had been part of the Sharks' medical team while Ackers was still a player, and Swys was still head coach at the Sharks academy.
The conversation took place when Ackers and Swys started to coach together at the Lions, and his reply to my question if Ackers was the right person to coach the Lions, was that he believed Ackers (still very inexperienced at the time), would be able to do the job because he had Swys at his side. 
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Ervare Leeu
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Any good business enterprise will try to treat its employees with respect, but there are limits. Business is not a charity. There is a case to be made that the Lions, who are already cash strapped, are top heavy with unproductive advisers/consultants. Creating an additional less stressful position for someone struggling to cope is probably taking things too far. 

Edited by emiel1 - 16-Aug-2019 at 1:23pm
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Ervare Leeu
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Its a tough situation

But the team must come first above all else. The GLRU management must go back to the drawing board and figure out what is plan B. Having instability on a top level like this cant translate to anything positiveon the field.
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Lots of companies provides sabbaticals to their top employees. Nothing abnormal here. Swys has done so much for Lions rugby and therefore deserves a sabbatical. I am in full support of it. Hopefully he fully recovers over the next three months and is back to coach the Lions again in next year's Super rugby. His one of the top SA coaches and he is especially good identifying and coaching young up and coming players. His influence on the Springbok back line attacking play is already apparent. 
Lions4life
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Originally posted by vdwestjo vdwestjo wrote:

Lots of companies provides sabbaticals to their top employees. Nothing abnormal here. Swys has done so much for Lions rugby and therefore deserves a sabbatical. I am in full support of it. Hopefully he fully recovers over the next three months and is back to coach the Lions again in next year's Super rugby. His one of the top SA coaches and he is especially good identifying and coaching young up and coming players. His influence on the Springbok back line attacking play is already apparent. 
Amen
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