The quirky new Wallabies coach has a Ted Lasso touch

Ted Lasso resuscitated a ragged AFC Richmond outfit to finish second in the most recent Premier League season and qualify for the Champions League.

Could the American master motivator take the eighth-ranked Wallabies to Rugby World Cup glory on home soil?

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In a roundabout way, we are about to find out. Bear with us.

Frank Ponissi was the man who unwittingly thrust Les Kiss into a career of international rugby coaching when he asked him to explain league to four Springboks officials at Brookvale Oval 25 years ago.

Nine.com.au spoke to Ponissi - now Melbourne Storm football boss and NSW Blues performance manager - on the eve of Kiss’ long-awaited debut as Wallabies coach in Osaka on Saturday.

“When he was coaching at London Irish (2018-23), he was living at Richmond. And he was living about 15m from the Ted Lasso pub (The Prince’s Head),” Ponissi recalled.

“We had a great night there one night, and we got into Ted Lasso, all his mannerisms and all his sayings. So we were just sitting in this pub and then sitting on the bench seat together outside this pub on a cold winter’s night.

“There’s a bit of Ted Lasso in Kissy. So it was quite unique that he lived 15m from where the whole thing was filmed. We had quite a memorable night that night.

“I am a Ted Lasso fan and so is Kissy. Sitting on that bench, we got a photo taken together, it was really good.”

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The bench, where Lasso and Coach Beard have their heart-to-heart chats, has become a popular tourist attraction.

Ponissi reluctantly accepts he is the Beard to Kiss’ Lasso and says the 61-year-old from Bundaberg will stress Lasso’s ‘Believe’ mantra to his players.

The Wallabies have won just two of their last 11 Tests and are rated 11-1 outsiders to win the next World Cup.

“He’s more Ted Lasso, and I don’t know if I’m the other bloke (Beard), but I suppose I’m more like the other bloke than Kissy is,” Ponissi laughs.

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“So I’ll have to wear that, unfortunately. He’s definitely positive, yeah. He’s a half glass full man, not a half glass empty.

“There’s no doubt about that, and he always has been. That won’t change even with the pressures that come of being coach of the Wallabies. He’ll stay there.”

Ponissi and Kiss first crossed paths playing against each other on league fields in the 1980s.

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Try as he might, Ponissi wasn’t in Kiss’ class as a player, with the fleet-footed winger starring for the North Sydney Bears, Queensland and Kangaroos.

After Kiss hung up his boots in 1993, the pair began locking horns as coaches.

Kiss was in charge of the North Sydney Jersey Flegg under-19s, Ponissi their Manly equivalents.

They continued doing battle on the sidelines for those clubs after being promoted to reserve grade.

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“Win or lose, he always had the same temperament,” Ponissi remembered.

“I didn’t handle the losses nearly as well as him, and I always admired that. We formed our friendship there.”

The launch of the Northern Eagles merger club in 2000 presented an opportunity to work together.

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Eagles coach Peter Sharp hired Kiss and Ponissi as his assistants for the ill-fated joint venture.

“It was quite a troublesome time, it wasn’t the easiest of marriages, but we got along really well. Unfortunately, the place started falling apart,” Ponissi said.

The turmoil meant Sharp had to part ways with one of his assistants, and he settled on Kiss.

“Purely because I’d worked with Sharpy a couple of years before that,” Ponissi modestly says.

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“It was a brutal time but Kissy took it well, and we stayed in touch.”

Enter rugby into Kiss’ life. Four Springboks officials were in Sydney to study the NRL as part of their professional development.

Head coach Harry Viljoen - a self-made multi-millionaire - was in town, along with assistant Jake White, who would go on to win the 2007 World Cup.

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But the Springboks were struggling in 2001, and were hoping to pick up a gem or two from the Eagles.

“I quickly realised that their knowledge of rugby league was understandably pretty minimal,” Ponissi deadpanned.

So he put in a call to his old mate, asking Kiss to sit in the Brookvale Oval grandstand with the Springboks brass and explain the training methodology.

“Straight away he said ‘yes’ and I think that speaks volumes of his character after losing his job with the Eagles. He could have told me to go jam it, but that’s not the type of character he is.”

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After running the session with the Eagles squad, Ponissi asked Kiss how his time with Viljoen had gone.

“He said ‘I think they enjoyed it. He’s just offered me a job.’ That’s honestly how it started. Quite remarkable stuff, and he’s kicked on ever since that day sitting in the stands at Brookvale Oval,” Ponissi said.

“I was shocked, but he (Viljoen) was a pretty impulsive character because we also had Mick Byrne coaching with us that day, and he too got offered a job with Springboks. The start of two wonderful rugby journeys started at Brookvale Oval.”

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After naming his first Wallabies team in Osaka on Thursday, Kiss said he was feeling “cool” about his early days in the job but realised things were about to get decidedly “hot.”

He will be under an intense spotlight at next year’s World Cup on home soil.

“I have no doubt he’ll handle it really well. I really do,” Ponissi said.

“Knowing his temperament, he’s very detailed, and he gave it great thought before accepting the job. He’s got great emotional intelligence and control.”

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Kiss, the 1986 Dally M winger of the year, is a quirky personality who doesn’t fit the cookie cutter mould of a head coach.

A music lover, Kiss rocks Fabien Galthié-style glasses, is a fan of both Taylor Swift and Cold Chisel, and attended Pink’s 2024 concert in Brisbane.

“That’s one of the intriguing parts about him - I think that’s a good thing - that he’s a bit different,” Ponissi said.

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“That’s what I love about him, he doesn’t pretend to be someone that he’s not. He’s Les Kiss, and that’s him. Whether he’s the coach of the Wallabies, a husband, father or a mate, he’s just the same bloke.”

Ponissi is regarded as one of the most respected leaders in Australian sport and has been a great foil for another top coach - Craig Bellamy - at the Storm.

“You don’t get to where he is now without a bit of steel and ability to square blokes up if they need to be,” Ponissi said of Kiss.

“They’re going to get an honest coach, and as a player, sometimes you might not want to hear that honesty, but he’ll deliver it in a way that’s respectful.”

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Ponissi and Kiss met for a coffee before NSW’s game three State of Origin win in July.

“He’s a great bloke and a terrific coach. The only thing I don’t like about him is he’s a Queenslander. I don’t like these Queenslanders.”

Kickoff at Hanazono Rugby Stadium is scheduled for 8.05pm AEST and Stan Sport will have pre-game coverage from 7.30pm.

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JAPAN (15-1): Takuro Matsunaga, Kazuma Ueda, Dylan Riley, Samisoni Tua, Taira Main, Ryunosuke Ito, Naoto Saito, Faulua Makisi, Kanji Shimokawa, Ben Gunter, Warner Dearns (c), Jack Cornelsen, Shuhei Takeuchi, Hayate Era, Takato Okabe

Reserves: Mamoru Harada, Sojiro Otsuka, Keijiro Tamefusa, Harry Hockings, Michael Leitch, Tiennan Costley, Shunsuke Uenobo, Yoshitaka Yazaki

WALLABIES (15-1): Tom Wright, Max Jorgensen, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Hunter Paisami, Harry Potter, Declan Meredith, Ryan Lonergan, Harry Wilson (c), Fraser McReight, Rob Valetini, Miles Amatosero, Josh Canham, Allan Alaalatoa, Josh Nasser, Aidan Ross

Reserves: Billy Pollard, Angus Bell, Taniela Tupou, Jeremy Williams, Charlie Cale, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Isaac Henry

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