They had their own, rather broader version of it, known as cultural cringe meaning that anything they produced in literature, music or the other arts had to be inferior to what came out of Europe. It seems laughable today when Australia is one of the most culturally vibrant, self-confident societies on earth. We need to throw off coaching cringe . Leeds and Bradford have made an excellent start with the appointment of Brian Noble and Daryl Powell. Their example needs to be followed by other Super League clubs where vacancies arise.
Good coaches are certainly out there.
This was brought home at last month s Swansea v Cardiff Welsh Cup quarter-final. I was struck by a strangely familiar profile among the Cardiff coaching staff standing on the touchline, but could not quite place him in this context. Then the penny dropped it was John Kear, the only man to have coached a team outside the big four to a Challenge Cup win in the last 14 seasons. And we can t blame union poaching for these losses. League had plenty of opportunities to employ them and did not.