When the passion is lost, the game means nothing
Roar Rookie
By Tim Reardon, 7 Nov 2009 Tim Reardon is a Roar Rookie
- Tagged:
- Bledisloe Cup, robbie deans, Rugby Union
A couple of years ago, I was watching a Beldisloe Cup match with my Dad when Mum decided to test out her new blood pressure monitor.
With about 10 minutes to go in the match, she put the machine on my old man’s arm and it started beeping erratically. At the next pause in play we realised that this 63 year old man, who can still run 6 kms in 35 minutes, had just recorded a ‘resting heart rate’ of 167 beats per minute whilst perched on the side of the couch.
In those days he watched rugby with passion.
Watching the Bledisloe on Saturday night, he hardly even raised a sweat. I was concerned that he had lost his will to live.
Robbie Deans has been reported as saying that the Wallabies have lost their passion, too. So I asked the old man, “Why don’t you watch with the same passion anymore?”
He simply stated, “I don’t believe we can win.” At that stage the Wallabies were in the lead. “I’ve got this feeling that in the end, it will just slip away.”
As his coach, I saw it as my role to inspire him to again watch with passion.
I remembered a quote from former Wallaby coach Alan Jones who recently gave the Wallabies a pre-match rev-up. It was reported that he told them what he told all his teams, “We are going to be OK.”
With all the commitment I could gather I said, “Dad, we are going to be OK.”
I was wrong. The match just slipped away. Again.
So now I’m preparing him for the match against England on Saturday.
Robbie Deans, how do I coach him back into form and bring back the passion?
There have been suggestions that we should change the rules of the game to bring back the passion. So I thought I should change our pre-game rituals and watch the match at the pub. But other patrons might distract him and lessen his commitment to the break-down.
Another suggestion was that the Wallabies should have performance pay. But Dad never watched rugby for money in the past. It has always been about being the best.
Then I realised: as coach, I can provide all the things he needs to watch rugby with passion, a big plasma, refreshments, and so on. But at the end of the day, it is up to him.
Dad, if you don’t want to watch rugby with passion anymore, you can pack your bags and move to Japan. There are plenty more where you came from.
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Spiro Zavos said | November 7th 2009 @ 7:21am | Report comment
Nice article, Tim. Perhaps your dad is just protecting himself in his old age. During the first Ashes cricket Test it is said that a spectator bit through the handle of his umbrella as the excitement mounted. Another spectator died. We don’t want the excitement levels of rugby to reach these levels. But I, for one, find that the unpredictability of rugby produces an intense feeling of anxiety during tight matches. Perhaps all your father needs to bring back these feelings is for the Wallabies to – finally – win a big Test.
Tonight, surely, is the night!
Joe FC said | November 7th 2009 @ 2:04pm | Report comment
Is rugby any more unpredictable than other sports?
Tim Reardon said | November 8th 2009 @ 7:21pm | Report comment
Thanks for the feedback Spiro. It is a great site, particually the Crowd concept. Ive only recently discovered it.
We didn’t take a heart rate reading last night, but at half time he said he could feel his heart beating in his chest, so there is still some ticker left. A funtioning backline and safe hands at fullback gave him the confidence he needed to go forward.
The record of 167 beats per minute is accurate. He also made it up for a run this morning. But his times are sliping. Its the knees he says.
Cheers
Tim
.
Hoy said | November 7th 2009 @ 8:37am | Report comment
Spiro, my feelings of anxiety and nervousness have turned to absolute frustration in the last year or so.
My wife gets stuck into me for yelling at the TV, and previously it used to be things like “McCaw is off his feet”, “Carter’s pass was forward” etc, but recently it has been “Don’t F-ing bomb it again”, “How can you miss that tackle” etc.
Simply my focus has recenlty changed from supporting blindly, to abusing our players. It makes me sad, but again, I had little option but to turn off the TV for the first time ever watching the Wallabies lose in New Zealand the last time. It was woeful.
I want the team to give me something to cheer. I desperatly want that more than any win… although a win would be enough for now.
Bay35Pablo said | November 7th 2009 @ 8:50am | Report comment
At the risk of bashing Giteau (again), I was interested to see some comments from him reported for the England Test. He was commenting on how Wilkinson being in the team would act as an inspiration to the English team. He was then quizzed as to what could act as inspiration for the Wallabies, and was apparently a bit lost for a reply before coming up with an answer along the lines of to play well (I couldn’t find the article to link it).
In any event, I was underwhelmed by the response. My first thought was “how about the jersey you pull on?” For every bloke who only ever played subbies rugby, or never played rugby, the thought of pulling on the beloved gold jersey and running out onto Twickenham (or any ground) would be so inspiring they’d probably drop dead a happy man when the game ended. Apparently not for our current Wallabies. Perhaps it has all become too much of a job.
Even media skills wise, if he doesn’t believe it, couldn’t he have come uop with a nice sound bite along those lines? They seem to have enough other pre masticated comments.
If the Wallabies need inspiration for any game, they need look no further that the jerseys on their back, and the country they represent, and get fired up for that reason. Go hard or go home indeed!!!
The fans and Roarers passion for the team certainly seems not to be suffering a shortage. Perhaps we can bottle some and send it over, a la Warnie’s baked beans?
Cattledog said | November 7th 2009 @ 1:06pm | Report comment
With some of the doom and gloom articles posted on this site, it was good to read something with humour as well as a point of view, expressed from a different perspective. Good on you, Tim…hope my son doesn’t consider packing me off, I think he knows there are not too many where I come from, although I’m sure he is often berwildered as to ‘where I’m coming from’ !!
sheek said | November 7th 2009 @ 2:55pm | Report comment
The period 1980-84 is my favourite Wallabies era. If for no other reason than between 1982-84, two of the finest sons of rugby union entertainment – Mark Ella & David Campese – teamed up together.
There were many other outstanding players that I would willingly pay money to see play – the ‘holy trinity’ of Mark Loane, Tony Shaw & Paul McLean; the magical, quicksliver back Mick O’Connor; stylish winger Brendan Moon & towering fullback Roger Gould; “favourite son” Greg Cornelsen; the ultimate competitor Simon Poidevin; & perhaps one of the last great characters of the game – prop Stan Pilecki. Plus many others.
During that era the Wallabies record was only just satisfactory – played 30, won 17, drew 1, lost 12. Win % – 56.67.
There were extenuating circumstances why the record wasn’t better, the most obvious being that except for 1984, the tight-five were not as tall, solid, strong or technically proficient to supply the outstanding backline consistently good ball. Sometimes the backs overcame this, sometimes they couldn’t.
This was also the amateur era, & in 1982 for example, 10 leading Wallabies decided they couldn’t give up more time to tour NZ having only recently returned from another tour of the UK & Ireland. Too many good players retired prematurely – like Mark Ella, Loane, Shaw & McLean – or defected to league – like O’Connor, Mitchell Cox & Tony D’Arcy.
But it was a wonderful era for pro-active, positive rugby. It was a joy watching the Wallabies of this era because you knew they were trying to construct tries, trying to entertain, even though this was the amateur era. Often they lifted the game of rugby union above its mediocre norm.
Most importantly, it was evident that “they cared”. You could see the passion, the desire in their play, even if sometimes they weren’t quite good enough, or technically proficient in the forwards.
Today we have wall-to-wall, 24/7 rugby coverage on TV. How ironic that so much of it is utter rubbish!
Just goes to show that quantity over quality & homogeneity (sameness of players) over individuality (uniqueness of players) doesn’t make for a better product.