There is no doubt that serious negotiations over contract renewal did take place. On January 22, 2008, the Daily Telegraph commented, “Vickerman is undoubtedly in a position of power in negotiations with the ARU,” and mentioned that he was “being pursued by clubs in Europe and Japan offering as much as $500,000 a year.” Then in April Ewen Mckenzie was quoted as stating that “he was not involved in the machinations of what took place in Vickerman’s contract negotiations.”

I wouldn’t have thought that rating him as “one of the two best second rowers in the world” was a particularly controversial statement, OJ. The other one that I had in mind was obviously Victor Matfield. In 2008 who else would you have rated ahead of Vickerman?

I can’t think of another rugby nation that wouldn’t have done whatever was necessary to keep him. Not only was he one of the two best second rowers in the world but you also got your lineout coach and real team leader thrown in for nothing.

It’s a bit simplistic to compare the average Wallaby age to the average Irish age. Ireland’s so-called “Golden Generation” (with a Grand Slam to justify it) are reaching the end of their playing careers. I agree that it would be beneficial to have ex-Wallabies play out their careers in Australia but it’s just not realistic in the modern era.

it was only two years ago we hung on too long with senior players. Part of the problem back then was that we didn’t trust our youth, or our development structures.

Two years later, & we’ve lost Mortlock & Sharpe through injury. So the influx of youngsters has partly been thrown onto Deans.

Furthermore, the senior guys weren’t producing results, so Deans really had no alternative but to turn to youth.

I think these things do go in cycles. Although for most of the professional era, we haven’t been in a hurry to bring on youth, partly because the old-timers are hanging around longer! And partly because I think we’ve lost our way with development structures.

Sorry it’s too late to edit my post. I meant to say ‘Australia have lacked strong leadership since Gregan retired.’

However, respectfully I disagree with you.

I think a huge problem with Australian rugby is its tendency to hold on to its senior members for too long. Mortlock is an example of a player who’s slowing down, yet has tremendous experience. Please note the Mark Ella article I keep on referencing – http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/a-bridge-too-far-for-mortlock/story-e6frg7t6-1225706240115 – there Ella discusses the talents of Cross, Ioane, Ashley-Cooper etc. In fact Australia has some decent depth at #13. Yet there is portion of people who think Mortlock should be retained.

I don’t know who should be picked between Pocock and Smith. McCaw was voted MOTM in Tokyo, which suggests McCaw won the battle of the breakdown against Pocock, but George Smith was quiet against Moody on the weekend. In fact Smith has been pretty quiet all year. I certainly don’t think we’ll see George Smith play like he did ala 2000-2002 in the next few years. But then again, if he’s better than Pocock he deserves to be in the side.

How many 30+ players were there in the 1991 World Cup side anyway? That side was choc-full of youth like Kearnes, Daly, McKenzie, Horan, Little, Eales, Ofahengaue. All those guys hadn’t played any longer than three seasons. Even the holy trinity of Campese, Farr-Jones and Lynagh – I don’t think they were older than 30. I can’t be bothered to look up the dates of birth, but Simon Poidevin is the only one I’d assume was older than 30.

Australia has a problem holding onto players if you ask me. Each season it seems as if Australia is going backwards and backwards. If there’s going to be any forward progress, it might as well be with a band of youngsters. I’m actually struggling to think of a few senior Aussie players who can really lead these Wallabies anyway. Anyway have lacked strong leadership since Gregan retired. Elsom’s a good choice for captain, he’s 25 or 26 I think, and he did well on the weekend against England. The older players like Smith, Mortlock, Sharpe etc, haven’t been a huge help to the Wallabies this year. I actually sense more direction and leadership from Berrick Barnes, a fairly young player, than any of those three players.

I fear Australia will cling onto Giteau too much in the future. He’s now being treated as a senior player, and almost a protected species. To me his form hasn’t been great this year, yet he’s paid as tremendous amount by the ARU and I guess they want a return on their investment. I can foresee Australia holding onto Giteau for many many years, regardless of how well he plays.

I guess in summation Australia really needs to go for youth right now, which is exactly what Robbie Deans is doing right now.