Wallabies locked in a prison of the mind

 
Andrew Logan Columnist

By , 29 Jun 2008 Andrew Logan is a Roar Expert

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Australia\\'s Luke Burgess gets a pass away despite pressure from France\\'s Sebastien Chabal - AAP Image/Paul Miller
“These walls are funny. First you hate ‘em, then you get used to ‘em. After long enough, you get so you depend on ‘em. That’s “institutionalized.” Red talking about Brooks Hatlen in The Shawshank Redemption.

Last night’s Test match against the French revealed just how institutionalised the Wallabies have become under their last two coaches, and how far they have to go under new coach Robbie Deans.

If you take an animal, or a man, and lock them up for long enough, eventually they forget how things work on the outside. Everything looks faster, more modern, more daunting. And often, even after you remove the walls, they’ll still stay within the boundaries because they don’t know anything else any more.

Perhaps the most worrying thing about this tedious victory was the stark difference between approach of the experienced players, and their rookie counterparts. No-one was perfect, or even very good, but at least the rookies had a go. Peter Hynes continued to play with energy and enterprise, chancing his arm and running the ball back at the visitors. Luke Burgess (although his service was slow) had a couple of valuable snipes at the line. James Horwill supported well and ran hard with ball in hand.

By contrast, others looked lost. Nathan Sharp was caught twice receiving the ball flat-footed and on one occasion was driven back several metres. George Smith wasn’t sighted, as wasn’t Wycliffe Palu. Giteau drifted across field, away from his halfback, crowding his outside backs. Tuqiri fielded a kick in the first half directly in front of a large hole in the French line, but by the time he had finished looking around and deciding what to do, it was closed. Had he just gassed it, things might have been different, but he seems incapable of spontaneity these days.

Cameron Shepherd did not run a ball back at the opposition until the 30th minute, which must have been driving Deans to distraction, given he is used to having Leon McDonald as his custodian. The less said about Shepherds pre half-time non-touch-finder (eventually resulting in 3 points to the French), the better.

In general, the home team looked lost with the ball in hand, as though they just weren’t sure what to do with it. Three main tactics emerged – the hopeful midfield kick, the tired old short ball to trundling forwards close to the ruck; and the all purpose give-it-to-Gits-and-see-what-he-can-do.

This was the unequivocal sign of a team who, when the structure is removed, has forgotten how to operate without it. If further proof was needed that a structured environment is the Wallabies “safe place”, it came when the French pressed the Wallaby line. All of a sudden the urgency, the talk and the zing that was missing in attack, bubbled to the surface in defence. Here was a team who suddenly looked relieved that they knew what to do, and they did it exceptionally well.

Which suggests that as much as the Wallabies, their fans and their coach might like to see some flair and width in their game, it could be some time before that happens, and that for now at least, any hope of salvation lies in their rock solid defensive patterns. The Wallabies may not be much in attack right now, but it is a good side that gets through their defensive line without either a hefty dose of luck, or being forced to go to the air.

Where to from here? There were signs that Robbie Deans is also keen to get things moving (and put some pressure on the institutionalised Wallabies) by giving all of his rookies some serious time. Unlike the Eddie Jones era, where players were given farcical 3 minute cameos, most reserves were given upwards of 20 minutes to show their wares. It looks like Deans knows the direction he is going, and that several established Wallabies may not figure in his long term plans.

If the Wallabies are to succeed in their new strategy of minimal structure rugby, they need a few things to change. First, they need a five-eighth who will direct play, create opportunities, kick when required and back up relentlessly. Matt Giteau is tremendously skilful (as shown by his almost solo try), but just not that effective as a five-eighth. There is no doubt he can create chances, but his tactical kicking is only average and his backline direction is poor. He is drifting badly across field and was doing so for the Western Force during the Super 14. Until he starts fixing defenders and looping, the Wallabies will struggle to create gaps.

Also for this style, we need a fullback who is not only capable of running a ball back in broken play, but who lives for that opportunity. Oh for a Chris Latham at the beginning of his career! Shepherd is not this type of fullback and is just too conservative to develop that way. Hynes could actually be exactly the man we need. He loves running in broken play, can clean up well and tackles hard. Ashley-Cooper would fill Hynes’ wing spot nicely.

Our forwards (memo Nathan Sharp) can no longer exist to do little leaguie style hit ups one or two off the ruck. They need to either get wide as genuine support players and ball handlers, or get in behind their runners ready to clean out hard and keep the fast ball coming. We no longer need to build 18 phases, so unless Sharpe can change his modus operandi, he may suddenly find his services are no longer required.

Of course, Robbie Deans knows all this, which is why he is fixing to get rid of the institutionalised sooner rather than later. His only hope, in the absence of any world rated stars, is to create a team that knows only his way, and doesn’t remember the old ways.

For those who have the old ways burned into their brains, and who are incapable of change, the end of the road is fast approaching.

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