Evans is one of the most respected and experienced coaches in Australia and arguably the world and has enjoyed premiership success in the Brisbane and Wales domestic
competitions.

He was the Wallabies assistant coach in the 1987 and 1999 World Cup campaigns, coached Wales in the 1995 World Cup and is certain to make the Breakers pack one of the most feared in the Brisbane competition.

He replaces former All Black Grant Batty who has been given a two year leave of absence to take up a lucrative position as coach of Yamaha in the Japanese city of Iwata.

If, after two years, he wants to return to the Breakers, the door will be open.

Batty raised a few eyebrows in Brisbane when he replaced current co-coach Ray Thomas as Breakers coach in 1998 having just guided Easts to the Brisbane premiership.

After some initial hiccups, the Breakers have achieved their goal of being recognised as a serious option for young rugby players looking to advance their
careers.

Two grand final appearances in three years have finally got the Queensland Rugby Union to see the Gold Coast as a rugby nursery and the Breakers as a competitive and well-run club.

The Southport School First XV coach John Mulvihill, who led the school to the GPS championship this year, will also enjoy a coaching role at the club he used to captain. Evans picked him to come aboard after hearing good reports of his work in Ireland and, more recently, at TSS.

Evans described himself as a hands-on coach and earned the nickname 'Scrum Doctor' when then Wallabies coach Rod Macqueen sent him an SOS after losses to the All Blacks and South Africa in the 1999 Tri-Nations tournament.

After his appointment, the Wallabies remained unbeaten all the way to the World Cup triumph.

But Evans is not a new face at the Breakers ... he was flown up once a week from Sydney by the club in its early days to take the squad for some line-out work and fine tuning of the pack.

He was also instrumental in setting up the Gold Coast Rugby Academy and is looking forward to starting next year.

'It wasn't a big decision for me, with the success of the Breakers and the World Cup, we have a big opportunity to expand rugby on the Gold Coast and we want to step things up a cog,' he said.

'The challenge for the QRU is to make the Gold Coast a hot spot for 'rugby.

'Grant Batty brought not only his skills as a coach, but also his passion for the game and his ability to inspire young men to be better and I want to continue that.'

He denied the Breakers job was a major step down from his previous coaching roles.

'I don't care if I'm coaching the local under 13s or the Wallabies as long as I'm helping
young people achieve their goals,' he said.

Batty said the Japan offer was too good to refuse as it gives him the chance to concentrate purely on coaching and also allows him the option to return to the Breakers after two years.

'My current roles at the Breakers make up about 25 per cent of coaching and the rest being general manager, but at Yamaha I'll be doing nothing but coaching which I'm hoping will make me a better coach in the future,' he said.

'Ray and Mike Thomas have been invaluable to me as co-coaches and I'm grateful the club has left the door open for me to come back'.

'Alex has the knowledge we would all like to possess and being a friend and having learnt so much from him is great.'

He will be reunited with former Breakers captain Adam Leach who is the Yamaha forwards coach.

Evans plans to move to Mount Tamborine next year with wife Kay and will work with the Queensland Reds in the mornings and the Breakers in the afternoons.

Tim Rowlands will take over from Batty as club general manager on the 12th January. Rowlands first got involved with the Club in 1998 as their 2nd Grade Coach. In 2000 he became their Development Officer until 2003 when he was appointed to the position of Secretary Manager. He looks forward to working closely with Evans and putting the Club in a strong position to enter the National Club Competition in 2005 should the ARU rubber stamp such a Competition.

Julian Tomlinson
GC Bulletin