Hypothetically speaking, let's ignore Hansen's achievements prior to 2015 and judge him on this cycle.
2016 - First loss ever to Ireland
2017- Drawn series with a disorganized, controversially coached B&I Lions team, there was so much inner turmoil in that team, unbelievable we blew that series especially after winning the first test, mainly due to questionable tactics and selections as well.
2018 - The Wellington test vs SA, a clear sign the team lacked leadership and composure in the tight spot.
- Only 1 try scored vs England and Ireland on the end of the year tour, another loss to Ireland where we weren't in the game.
2019 - Record loss to Australia in Perth, one of the worst Australian teams in history as well.
- One of the worst All Black performances at a world cup ever, losing to England in the semi-final
I mean guys like John Mitchell and John Hart at least had the excuse we genuinely weren't the best in the world at the time they were taking the team.
During Mitchell's era, we were clearly 3rd best after England and Australia
During Hart's era, Australia were dominant
This cycle would rate just as bad, if not worse than both. What saves Steve is obviously his record prior to this cycle. But I think that England performance, was just as bad as Mitchell's performance vs Australia, probably not as bad as Hart's, but at least we actually looked like winning that game for 50 minutes of it.
Agreed extended tenures can work and it was through the failure of 2007 that motivated Henry & Hansen, lucky they had the right personnel to achieve it too, but as you said, we went too far with the extension.
Hiring Foster would be a mistake, he's just another extension of Hansen, when we need something completely new. We need a motivator and a coach able to get the best out of players, we have a lot of talented underperformers at the moment. The Ioane's, Laumape, players like Taufua not getting a look in, naturally some of the most gifted players in the game, but not being tapped into the right way.
2016 - First loss ever to Ireland
2017- Drawn series with a disorganized, controversially coached B&I Lions team, there was so much inner turmoil in that team, unbelievable we blew that series especially after winning the first test, mainly due to questionable tactics and selections as well.
2018 - The Wellington test vs SA, a clear sign the team lacked leadership and composure in the tight spot.
- Only 1 try scored vs England and Ireland on the end of the year tour, another loss to Ireland where we weren't in the game.
2019 - Record loss to Australia in Perth, one of the worst Australian teams in history as well.
- One of the worst All Black performances at a world cup ever, losing to England in the semi-final
I mean guys like John Mitchell and John Hart at least had the excuse we genuinely weren't the best in the world at the time they were taking the team.
During Mitchell's era, we were clearly 3rd best after England and Australia
During Hart's era, Australia were dominant
This cycle would rate just as bad, if not worse than both. What saves Steve is obviously his record prior to this cycle. But I think that England performance, was just as bad as Mitchell's performance vs Australia, probably not as bad as Hart's, but at least we actually looked like winning that game for 50 minutes of it.
Agreed extended tenures can work and it was through the failure of 2007 that motivated Henry & Hansen, lucky they had the right personnel to achieve it too, but as you said, we went too far with the extension.
Hiring Foster would be a mistake, he's just another extension of Hansen, when we need something completely new. We need a motivator and a coach able to get the best out of players, we have a lot of talented underperformers at the moment. The Ioane's, Laumape, players like Taufua not getting a look in, naturally some of the most gifted players in the game, but not being tapped into the right way.