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The naming of the 2008 Wallabies by John O’Neill at the Manly Pacific Hotel on Monday was more about the coronation of the new coach extraordinaire, Robbie Deans, than the announcement of an ordinary squad.
There is, at most, three great players in the squad (Stirling Mortlock, George Smith and Matt Giteau), a few potentially great players (Luke Burgess, Wycliff Palu, Tatafu Polata-Nau, Lachlan Turner), with the rest likely to be good but not great Test players.
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As O’Neill read out the list in alphabetical order, I tried to write down the bolters. But Ben Alexander, the prop from the ACT Brumbies, was about the only name that seemed out of left field.
However, I remember when Alan Jones was making his bid for the coaching-manager job of the Wallabies he specifically mentioned Alexander as someone he’d look at if he were selecting the Wallabies. Jones has always been a good selector, in my opinion.
The next name went down in my notebook because it was a surprising one, to my mind: Alistair Baxter.
It was Baxter who gave away the first points for the Waratahs against the Crusaders when he was penalised for not binding. A group of rugby journalists were discussing the incident before the media conference and one of them said that Baxter, who invariably walks away from a collapsed scrum and a penalty against his team shaking his head, reminded him of Jack Gibson’s quip about a big, strong-looking, under-performing player: “Looks like Tarzan, plays like Jane.”
Someone else mentioned that the Waratahs supporters had a good joke about Luke Burgess and George Gregan: “Why does Luke Burgess clear the ball so quickly? Because he watched George Gregan sit on it for four years.”
After the team of usual suspects (Matt Dunning, Nathan Sharpe, Adam Freier) and seven new players (Ben Alexander, Richard Brown, Luke Burgess, Ryan Cross, Peter Hynes, Dean Mumm, Lachlan Turner) was named, and John O’Neill went through the 15 Tests the Wallabies will play this year, questions were taken from the media.
John O’Neill told us that the day meant “a new start and a new era for Australian rugby.” And that he and the rugby public were looking for wins and ‘style’ to go with the victories.
Then came Robbie Deans. Did it feel odd sitting here as the Wallaby coach? “It doesn’t feel odd. Some people may have difficulty that I was born in New Zealand. I have none.”
Will plotting the downfall of Australian sides help him in getting the Wallabies ready to defeat the All Blacks? “It’s more about helping team I work with, and enjoying what I’m doing … It’s great to be in work, in a great game. I’m excited about opportunities and changes. We’ll prepare to prevail but we won’t prevail all the time …”
Was he excited about the new players? “I want them to be excited about staying with us until they hang up their boots.”
Was he concerned about leaving the Crusaders? “I’m not too concerned about the Crusaders, at all. The game doesn’t change. The invisible parts are the point of difference. You can get skills through hard work. I want players to be inspired by the invisible parts to create a group with chemistry.”
John O’Neill was asked what targets the new coach faced. “Our win-loss ratio of 60 per cent is not acceptable. We’ll be happy with 75 per to 80 per cent, that usually brings in the silverware. What Robbie brings to the Wallabies are values and a team culture. So there’s the quantitative aspect with wins and losses, and the qualitative aspect to go with it.’
When you compare the Wallaby squad with the Springboks squad and the All Blacks squad you get the feeling that Robbie Deans will truly have to be a miracle worker to get this Australian squad up to the 80 per cent win-loss target that John O’Neill is setting.
The players just don’t seem to be there to create this sort of record.
But then you remember that Robbie Deans coached the Crusaders to a resounding victory in the 2008 Super 14 tournament (with only two losses in 15 matches), and only seven of his side were considered good enough to make the All Blacks squad.