By Spiro Zavos
January 13th 2010 @ 12:37pm
Related coverage
Rod Macqueen is the king of rugby coaches
A few days ago Rod Macqueen told me he was considering offers from the Melbourne Rebels to be either the new Super Rugby franchise’s director of rugby or the team’s coach. Now he has taken on both jobs.
And in a typical Macqueen example of far-sightedness has taken on the most promising young coach in Australia, Sydney University’s Damien Hill, as his assistant coach with a view to promoting him in due course.
Wayne Smith has pointed out in The Australian that Macqueen has not coached (aside from a couple of festival sides) since 2001.
He has been involved in rugby, though. He was a consultant to the ARU for some years and was involved in setting up the ARC. He was also part of the IRB group that devised the ELVs system.
It’s history now that a spleen of British journalists and the RFU (England’s rugby union) reduced the number of ELVs allowed into the laws of the game.
These same journalists and the RFU are now complaining bitterly about the boring play of England and the lack of tries in the English tournaments. But that is another story …
The point is that Macqueen has been involved with rugby and should come back to coaching without too many problems.
Macqueen is the most successful Australian coach in the history of the game here.
He coached NSW in 1991 to a rare unbeaten season, which included a tour of Argentina. This NSW team formed the rump of the World Cup-winning Wallabies of 1991. For his efforts Macqueen was rewarded by the NSWRU by being dumped as coach.
One of the tragedies of Australian rugby is that the NSWRU has a history of ignoring and neglecting Macqueen’s coaching and administrative talents. Perhaps the fact that he was a Warringah stalwart and not a Randwick person has had something to do with this.
Anyway, it is history now that in 1996 Macqueen created the ACT Brumbies franchise and made it the most successful Super Rugby franchise.
He had a few ACT stars like George Gregan, Stephen Larkham and Joe Roff and a lot of NSW discards, including David Knox who under Macqueen’s coaching became Australia’s leading five-eighths for a few years.
Then Macqueen moved on to the Wallabies and took them from the number five ranking to the World Champions in 1999.
Under Macqueen the Wallabies won every trophy available to them. He rounded out his career with the team with a series victory of the British and Irish Lions in 2001.
I had a long conversation with Macqueen when he was appointed to the Brumbies job. He went through all the moves, patterns and philosophy of play he wanted the Brumbies to have. The Brumbies continuity style later became copied or stolen by coaches around the world.
Macqueen has been a successful businessman, with a successful in-store designing firm. He developed, for instance, one of the first colour charts. He used this flair for inventive but practical thinking with his coaching.
He once asked me, for instance, why do teams kick-off directly to designated catchers in the opposition. Macqueen introduced the tactic of lining his forwards along the halfway mark and the kicker kicking to where the opposition did not want the ball to go.
Numerous of his innovations are now part of the standard practice.
He was the first to divide lineouts into two pods to nullify a great jumper like John Eales.
Before the 1999 RWC he showed me and Evan Whitton his laptop preparations given to each player. Gregan, for instance, could see on his laptop how he went in all the man-on-man situations against, say, Justin Marshall, the All Blacks halfback. He told me after 1999 that he was intent on trying to find a way to nullify his continuity game.
It will be interesting to see if the Melbourne Rebels came up with innovations that become standard practice in the next few years.
The Melbourne Rebels organisation are claiming that when they hired Brian Waldren, from the Melbourne Storm, they claimed one of the three best sports administrators in Australia. John O’Neill and Andrew Demetriou would be the other two, I would guess.
With Macqueen the organisation has hired one of the two great coaches currently working in Australian rugby.
Macqueen and Robbie Deans gives Australian a two-pack punching power that should power on the Melbourne Rebels and then the Wallabies to great things in the next two years.
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Sam Taulelei said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:51pm | Report comment
After some early stumbles Melbourne have made some astute selection choices within their top administration. Getting the top level management team right is critical for any fledgling team and it reassures players that they’re joining a well organised and professional organisation when scouts are recruiting. Rod MacQueen’s name is enough to spark interest for any aspiring rugby player. A wise and clever signing.
rugbyfuture said | January 13th 2010 @ 12:52pm | Report comment
The rebels are certainly going to be a force. Spiro, i wouldn’t mind to hear your full analysis and opinion on the dumping of the elvs and the seperate laws which they were made up of, and whether something similar will be adopted afterwards. Macqueen back in the mix will certainly help excite australian rugby again.
rugbyfuture said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:19pm | Report comment
This proves that the Rebels are ultimately, the great hope for rugby in australia.
Sam Taulelei said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:44pm | Report comment
Geez RF, let’s not place too much pressure and expectation on them yet. They haven’t even taken the field and shown what they’re capable of playing. Wait until they play pre season matches next year and the season proper to assess their credentials as the great hope for Australian rugby.
rugbyfuture said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:52pm | Report comment
they’re still there and they’re becoming big, i don’t think its too rash to say. Proving that victoria can get involved with rugby will enable rugby to become a popular national sport (more popular at international level than it is) and pave the way for expansion on the interior (domestic comp).
formeropenside said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:53pm | Report comment
Even better, lets wait until they actually develop players of their own rather than funnelling off talent from elsewhere.
rugbyfuture said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:56pm | Report comment
the article today said that Macqueen wanted to focus on grabbing more talent and putting it back into the club system to build a bit of support and development there too which is great, especially considering technically they dont have to have anything to do with community rugby.
Justin said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:59pm | Report comment
FOS – Vic has been developing players for years. Obviously not on the same scale as NSW/QLD but there is a healthy list of players who learned the game here before being “funneled’ into the other states and the Wallabies.
formeropenside said | January 13th 2010 @ 2:56pm | Report comment
Elsom and Digby are the only current two Wallabies I am aware of (together with Lloyd Johansson off in Italy). All three of those were Queensland schoolboy rugby representatives rather than turning out for Combined States, so I would argue they learned their rugby up here rather than down there.
I think Lealifano from the Brumbies is a Victorian too (and did play for Combined States as a schoolboy as well).
There is no doubt but that the strength of Australian rugby will be further diluted by a 5th “franchise”, and in my view no good will come of it.
Brett McKay said | January 13th 2010 @ 3:02pm | Report comment
correct FOS, Lealiifano made the Aust Schoolboys in consectutive years from Peter Lalor College in Melbourne.
Even by choice of school he should be a prime target for the Rebels…
Justin said | January 13th 2010 @ 3:29pm | Report comment
FOS – They maybe the only current Wobblies but there has been Horua, Palavi, Fitter, Heath and others who learned their rugby in Melbourne. Not all Test players but good Super players.
The Southport School poached some of these guys after U16 National Champs. Just because they played their final year of school in QLD doesnt make them products of their junior pragram.
The poaching scenario wont happen much anymore and with another 4 players from either the AUS A or AUS Schools team this year many will stay and be in the Rebel Academy if they are good enough.
Victoria is more than capable of producing quality players and have been doing so for years.
Bay35Pablo said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:05pm | Report comment
“a spleen of British journalists ” – love it. Send that off the the Oxford dictionary!!!
MacQueen was as much about the business approach and systems he brought to rugby as his coaching skills, and he was always willing to think outside the box. That doesn’t date.
Brett McKay said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:06pm | Report comment
More than anythign Spiro, it’s just great to have someone as inventive and innovative as Rod Mcqueen back in Australian rugby. Ultimately, we all benefit..
Hoy said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:19pm | Report comment
I place this bloke up with Alan Jones in what he did for Aus Rugby.
Love him or loath him, watching Jones through the Rise and Rise of Australian Rugby in the 80s was amazing. He, like McQueen, were ahead of their time in regards to preperation, innovative game play etc.
They both brought great ideas to Australian Rugby, and both had great success.
Poita said | January 14th 2010 @ 3:40pm | Report comment
Alan Jones ????
He took a very good rugby side and blew the World Cup.
He was also responsible for Mark Ella retirng at 25.
Rod Macqueen and Bob Dwyer are the best coaches in Australian rugby with Alan Jones a lucky footnote
Campbell Watts said | January 13th 2010 @ 1:46pm | Report comment
“Anyway, it is history now that in 1996 Macqueen created the ACT Brumbies franchise and made it the most successful Super Rugby franchise. ”
Spiro I think the Crusaders would argue this point!!
Assume you meant most successful AUSTRALIAN Super Rugby franchise.
Jerry said | January 13th 2010 @ 3:44pm | Report comment
As would the Blues. They’ve been up and down, but they’ve still got 3 titles. In fact, on titles alone, the Brumbies would only be equal 3rd.
Mike G said | January 13th 2010 @ 2:12pm | Report comment
This, along with the signings of Waldron & (to a lesser extent Damien Hill), provide the team with a top head office…Surely players from both here & abroad will be keen to take part?
It’s pretty clear that Damien Hill has had possibly the strongest Shute Shield roster in the history of the competition, so before we all get too excited about how great he is, we wait to see how he performs in an even comp, where there are no undergrad spots available to entice players…
ohtani's jacket said | January 13th 2010 @ 2:13pm | Report comment
Man, Spiro’s gonna have some fun gushing over Robbie Deans and Rod Macqueen.
rugbyfuture said | January 13th 2010 @ 2:16pm | Report comment
Rebels urge money-grabbers to stay away
GUY HAND
January 13, 2010 – 3:09PM
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/rebels-urge-moneygrabbers-to-stay-away-20100113-m65c.html
AAP
Melbourne Rebels new coach Rod Macqueen says mercenaries aren’t welcome at the Super 15 rugby union club he will build from the ground up.
Former Wallabies coach Macqueen has been lured out of a near-decade long retirement into a three-year deal to be head coach and director of coaching at the Rebels, who will join the competition in 2011.
But those expecting the Rebels to shower current Wallabies, overseas internationals and would-be rugby league converts with cash have been warned by the World Cup-winning coach – we won’t be showing you the money unless you show us the right culture.
“We don’t want players coming here for the money,” Macqueen said in Melbourne on Wednesday after taking over at the Rebels.
“We don’t want money to be the motivation, we want it to be a consequence of what they do.
“That comes into the sort of culture we want to build here – there’s been a bit of speculation in the paper that has been thrown out recently by some of the (player) managers.
“We won’t be going after players to be the highest bidders. We’ll be going after players who want to come here, who want to be part of it, want to embrace the community, want to embrace Melbourne.”
The Rebels have been linked to several big names, including Brisbane league star Israel Folau, Wallabies vice-captain Berrick Barnes and England captain Phil Vickery.
Macqueen’s appointment is a huge coup for the new franchise, after turning down any number of offers to return to coaching following his retirement from the Wallabies’ job in 2001.
As well as his impeccable coaching pedigree in building the Wallabies into the world’s best during his five-year tenure, Macqueen also has valuable experience in starting up a Super rugby franchise.
He was the foundation coach of the ACT Brumbies, and since stepping away from rugby coaching has built up a raft of successful business interests.
Macqueen said doing some initial consultancy work with those involved in the Rebels’ Super 15 bid re-ignited his passion to coach, saying it was a great opportunity.
“It made me think I’d like to have a bigger involvement, because there’s something special that can happen in this area (Melbourne),” said Macqueen, who will base himself in Melbourne as soon as possible.
“To win you’ve got to have very high standards, you’ve got to put in a lot of hard work, you’ve got to have a good culture, you have to have an intelligent team.
“If we can pay attention to those things, chances are we’ll do well.”
His assistant will be current Sydney University coach Damien Hill.
Macqueen’s appointment follows the Rebels’ signing of Melbourne Storm NRL boss Brian Waldron as chief executive earlier this week.
johnny-boy said | January 13th 2010 @ 4:08pm | Report comment
The gushing over Deans should be well over – please !. Might pay not to get too excited over Macqueen given his time away from the front line but his record is awesome. He gave the All Blacks much grief and would run rings round Henry & Co.
(cant help myself). It might be worth repeating my dream team Wallaby coaching panel suggestion – Macqueen for tactics, Jones for motivation, Dwyer for skills and lots of cold water to quell the egos. Not much room for Deans really other than poncing round in a tracksuit promoting vitamins. He’d better lift his bloody game and give the dickhead selections (like Giteau at 10 !) the flick or he’ll be next. Mitchell in WA is going to be in trouble to.
Poppa69 said | January 18th 2010 @ 2:33am | Report comment
Please, cant you see the development Deans has made to Australian rugby… do you think Pocock would be given the opportunity, most would have still had Smith in the run on side… Your scrum is the strongest its been ALL decade, and the youngsters coming through showed on the NH tour that they are starting to feel comfortable and are learning what top flight rugby is about…
Rome wasnt built in a day, and after 2 years at the helm Id think a lot of Australian rugby fans are becoming excited about the potential in your side.. Sure, a hiccup against Scotland, but is that Deans fault, or the most over rated player in rugby having a poor day with the boot ?
Wavell Wakefield said | January 18th 2010 @ 3:12am | Report comment
Deans has absolutely nothing to do with the Australian scrum.
I don’t think the Scotland hiccup was the biggest issue, more the 3N hiccup and the inherently conservative brand of rugby.
Poppa69 said | January 18th 2010 @ 3:53am | Report comment
My point re the scrum was how well Robinson and Alexander have developed, as head coach surely he deserves some credit for that?
is it all Deans fault though? I mean, they did beat SA in the 3ns, they were leading the Abs in practically all 3 games at half time and got over-run… sure, perhaps the tactics werent quite right for the second half, but he got them to half time leading with the right tactics… ultimately the players couldnt close out the second half..
conservative rugby, well, once the NH got their way and threw out the ELVs without even trialling them all, it was always going to take the SH sides time to re-adjust, hence suiting SA because their style is the most similar to the NH.
Wavell Wakefield said | January 18th 2010 @ 4:05am | Report comment
No, I don’t think Deans deserves any credit for the impovement of Robinson and Alexander for the simple reason that he is not a scrum coach and that he doesn’t coach forwards how to scrummage.
Australia was a conservative side for the best part of the past decade, as was (and is) SA. The ELVs have nothing to do with that. If you watched the Ireland v Australia game you would have noted that Ireland tried to run the ball and that Australia didn’t. Deans had Australia playing conservative rugby under the ELVs and he still did during the recent tour. You should recall that there was more kicking under the ELVs than there was prior to their introduction, and most significantly that the hands in the ruck rule was kicked out by everybody, hence no country trialled the full ELVs. One only has to contrast the backplay of the Lions tour to the most recent 3N to make your boring NH comments redundant. NZ is the only side in the 3N that likes to run the ball.
Dassie said | January 13th 2010 @ 4:14pm | Report comment
The Rebels have hit the road running, their recruitment at the top has been first class and professional. Damian Hill as coaching assistant is an astute appointment, utilising the best local talent and giving him a crack. Sydney Uni have been the benchmark in the Sydney competition for the last ten years, plenty of talent that will feed into the new frachise, as it has into the other four S14 sides. All Australian S14 teams have improved strengths for 2010 competition; 2011 will be even more intriguing. Now just recruit a few quality Saffers to drop into the mix. How soon is kick-off?
mudskipper said | January 13th 2010 @ 6:10pm | Report comment
MacQueen during the Brumbies establishing period, along with others come to the wise decision that the local players were important but the team was to come from all over the country… this simple decision gave the Brumbies an inclusive outlook on young players form other regions and they have never had a problem recruiting talent since they hung up their all welcome sign… I would expect MacQueen again will recommend this approach to the Rebels Executive just because player is a Victorian it wont make him the preferred choice.
mudskipper said | January 13th 2010 @ 6:15pm | Report comment
the choice of MacQueen and Hill coaching team is wise… So many thought they would do a Western Force and grab a big OS name… MacQueeen is about building culture and engaging the community…. John Mitchell never really achieved this in the west.. last year the Force lost players and key staff…
Sth Auckland First XV said | January 13th 2010 @ 7:18pm | Report comment
Reading Spiro’s article I am reminded about the achiles heal of Australian rugby, which is jealously and in-fighting among the NSW and QLD fish-heads. MacQueen was dumped after winning the NSW premiership! Typical. I hope this new team breaks the game out of the old petty jealousies that have ruined Aussie rugby in the past; NSW and QLD should be Super 14 powerhouses, with a couple of titles each under their belts. THe SFS and Suncorp should be packed out for every game. This new private ownership has already resulted in more adminstrative professionalism than the combined efforts of NSW and QLD RU’s over the last 125 years. The Rebels not only represent Melbourne – they represent an ideology of a free rugby – free from the Old Geezers Networks that have kept it back for so long in Australia!! Go the REBELS!!
Justin said | January 13th 2010 @ 9:04pm | Report comment
“This new private ownership has already resulted in more adminstrative professionalism than the combined efforts of NSW and QLD RU’s over the last 125 years.”
A very good point indeed. The quality of the board I would say is second to none and by the looks of it they are getting the on-field right. MacQueen was always the best option anywhere in the world IMO and its great we have him.
If Waldron (who I admit have little time for as a personality) can be as valuable as the board has judged him to be then the Rebels are a long way to creating a succesful club.
I cant wait to start sifting through membership options, hurry up!!!!
allblackfan said | January 13th 2010 @ 9:10pm | Report comment
I’d be interested to see how many overseas/non-rugby (ie RL) players are signed up for the Rebels. The bigger the foreign contingent, the bigger the challenge for MacQueen. The more varied the nationalities in the side, the challenge multiplies exponentially.
Hansie said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:00pm | Report comment
I don’t think anybody can doubt Macqueen’s coaching credentials. I’m not sure how his appointment provides an opportunity to gush some more over Deans. Their Wallaby records are in stark contrast to each other.
allblackfan said | January 13th 2010 @ 10:26pm | Report comment
Remember, Deans is a Kiwi. His approach to rugby was equally foreign.
MacQueen’s coaching credentials were proven with Australian players. Say the Rebels sign 10 foreign players from, say Fiji, NZ, SA, Samoa, Argentina, England — I think MacQueen will struggle with such a side, especially if they sign Pacific Island players straight from the Islands.
Frank O'Keeffe said | January 13th 2010 @ 11:37pm | Report comment
“Take it from me, Macca will coach Australia before long. He has the knack of being able to get very close to his players, but at the same time get what he wants from them, which is hard. And tactically he’s superb. Virtually all the backrow moves which Australia used in the domestic Tests and in the World Cup which people raved about were devised by him for the NSW team.” – Simon Poidevin ‘For love Not Money’ p215 (1991)
I enjoyed reading that. It’s like when you read ‘The Quiet American’ these days you think, “Graham Grenne saw all that happening before it ever happened.” Clearly MacQueen has something special about him that makes him an awesome coach.
I rate him alongside the great Alan Jones as Australia’s best ever coach.
Sam Taulelei said | January 14th 2010 @ 9:46am | Report comment
Frank, if Robbie doesn’t significantly improve the Wallabies results this year i.e win both their home games against NZ this year and win back the Bledisloe, then at least you have a ready made alternative should the ARU get cold feet. I can’t see them working together as a coaching team for the Wallabies.
Frank O'Keeffe said | January 14th 2010 @ 1:24am | Report comment
SPIRO,
If you don’t mind me asking, you said, “… including David Knox who under Macqueen’s coaching became Australia’s leading five-eighths for a few years.”
Are you suggesting Knox only became Australia’s best five-eighth once he joined the ACT Brumbies? The reason I ask is: weren’t you a strong advocate, around 1994 (after the Samoan Test), for the inclusion of David Knox in the Australian side?
If I’m recalling correctly (and I’m not sure if I am!!!) you suggested perhaps Knox should replace Lynagh (which apparently offended Noddy). If this is the case, how can you attribute Knox’s success to MacQueen when he was already regarded by you as the best five-eighth in Australia, yet two years away from playing with the Brumbies?
Or in the alternative are you suggesting that he became Australia’s best five-eighth under MacQueen’s guidance as NSW coach? Because Knox was Randwick, as you know, and MacQueen was only NSW coach from 1991-1992. Can Knox’s success really be attributed to MacQueen?
I know it’s a tiny point to remark about, but I am curious.
Wavell Wakefield said | January 14th 2010 @ 1:40am | Report comment
‘He has been involved in rugby, though. He was a consultant to the ARU for some years and was involved in setting up the ARC. He was also part of the IRB group that devised the ELVs system.
It’s history now that a spleen of British journalists and the RFU (England’s rugby union) reduced the number of ELVs allowed into the laws of the game.
These same journalists and the RFU are now complaining bitterly about the boring play of England and the lack of tries in the English tournaments. But that is another story ‘
And the drum keeps on beating. As far as I’m aware the British media and the RFU did not reduce the number of ELVs allowed into the game. Regardless, I would have thought the ELVs only served to illustrate how out of synch Macqueen was/is with modern rugby. Incidentally, what is it with this constant boring tirade about British journalists – and why would British journalists be moaning about English tournaments (tournament – btw, Spiro)? There is a difference between GB and England – but as it happens the media has generally complained about how the breakdown is refereed and the 22 kicking rule (I wonder whose idea that was?). Macqueen may prove to be a great solution, or he may prove to be a disaster in the manner of Woodward. Simplisticly going on past records does a disservice to a man who will have to prove himself all over again.
Grandpabhaile said | January 14th 2010 @ 3:11am | Report comment
British journalists have been complaining about the state of the modern game through the parochial prism of the English rugby premierhsip and the recent performances of the England team. Parochial in the sense that it’s being viewed in the context of English rugby, and since that’s not right, then the assumption runs that it’s a problem for the game overall. English = British and British = English a lot of the time in English/British journalists minds.
Telegraph, Times, Sky Sports, Independent, scrum.com, have all had articles on this theme during the year. The France/NZ match gave everyone pause for thought though.
England will do well in this year’s Six Nations – possibly win it – and will break out of the shackles (many self-imposed) that have been hindering their game.
Colin N said | January 14th 2010 @ 3:28am | Report comment
“The France/NZ match gave everyone pause for thought though.”
Did it?
“English = British and British = English a lot of the time in English/British journalists minds.”
Not really, because the Heineken Cup has been fantastic to watch.
Wavell Wakefield said | January 14th 2010 @ 3:31am | Report comment
But the party line is that the game is now conservative (I don’t agree with that analysis, btw) due to the 22 kicking ELV and the IRB perception of the breakdown. Over the past few weeks there has been a recent surge in tries in both the GP and the HC as coaches have publicly stated that a negative attitude is not necessary.
Regarding the alleged moaning of the British media about the England team, that has been more to do with personal agendas against Johnson from Stuart Barnes and Stephen Jones. The problems of the England team during the Autumn was never framed as an illustration of the modern problem, more the problems that Johnson has allegedly wrought onto the England team.
I think England will do OK during this 6N. Key players are returning but Johnson still has the problem of how a comparatively callow team can mature by 2011. I think I’d rather be in the English camp than the Welsh or Scottish camp.
Poppa69 said | January 18th 2010 @ 2:41am | Report comment
gees, anyone think the World Cup may be contributing to the negative play we see in rugby nowadays?
take the AB tour of the NH, their first three games they came up against opposition not prepared to chance their
arm, so in turn they played the same grinding game (which the NH seem to admire for some strange reason, surely webb Ellis envisioned running with the ball?) which in the long run may just help them win an elusive WC.
When they played a team willing to chance their arm, the match was of ten times a better standard..
just a thought!
Wavell Wakefield said | January 14th 2010 @ 2:02am | Report comment
Out of interest, when will the side be publicly confirming signings?
Brett McKay said | January 14th 2010 @ 8:29am | Report comment
as I understand it Wavell, they won’t be able to announce or unveil any Australian (as in those still playing in..) players during the Super 14, this was just brought in last week. The ARU acknowledged they couldn’t stop negotiations or approaches, but they just wanted to stop the in-season signings. It really just protects the sponsors of the club for whom Johnny Tight-head plays for…
So in theory, they’d be announcing international signings and/or code-jumpers first…
Roger said | January 14th 2010 @ 8:52am | Report comment
Brett, was rule that they couldnt announce any Wallaby/ARU signings OR couldnt announce other s14 Australian signingst that arent on ARU contracts or in Wallaby squad? Hopefully it isnt the ’squad’ criteria given Deans slected a 40 man squad at end of next year, which would leave rebels with nothing to work with.
On another pioint you and Sheek discussed, I can only assume that the fact that this team is called by capital (Melbourne) whereas other Aust teams are state means it must have been a negotiating point in discussions btw ARU and consortium…there are pros and cons to having Melb but I would think bigger (state) is better than capital.
Do we think other Aust S15 terams might now try and re-brand to capitals?
Brett McKay said | January 14th 2010 @ 11:59am | Report comment
Roger I believe (but am happy to be corrected) the rule was just to prevent announcements of any Australian players currently with other Super sides. Obviously, it applies to all five teams too, not just the Rebels. I think they just wanted to avoid a situation where Player X, currently contracted to and playing well for say, the Force, is unveiled in April as the star signing for 2011 by say, Qld.
Realistically, it’s more about protecting current state sponsors, and not allowing future sponsors a “freebie” in terms of publicity…
Re the naming thing, I also wonder if the Vics decided that ‘Melbourne Rebels’ is already a known entity (dare I say “brand”) in terms of rugby in Victoria, and it just made more sense to stick with that rather than go with “Victorian Rebels” or as John O’Neil would have preferred, Victoria/Melbourne Anything-Other-Than-Rebels.
I think the new A-League team might face a similar problem, in that “Heart” (or Hearts) is already so ingrained now as the name that to go for anything else would be difficult.
I’d prefer ‘Victoria’, but realistically, we’re all so used to talking about Rebels and Brumbies and ‘Tahs, not to mention Crusaders and Bulls of course, it probably doesn’t make much difference..
Wavell Wakefield said | January 15th 2010 @ 3:41am | Report comment
I see. Thanks, Brett.
Tony from Northbridge said | January 14th 2010 @ 8:08am | Report comment
Spiro, sure John O’Neill is a great sport administrator (just ask him!), but that means you’re leaving the bankrupt builder from Mosman, Matt Carroll, out of the three. Say its not so!
Justin said | January 14th 2010 @ 8:48pm | Report comment
Ah the lapdog
Here Matt, here boy!
spiro zavos said | January 14th 2010 @ 8:53am | Report comment
Frank, the point about David Knox is that he played the occasional game for the Wallabies when there were injuries. I was once told by a Wallaby manager that Michael Lynagh was upset at my suggestions that Knox was the best five-eighths in Australia. Under Rod Macqueen, Knox was given the chance to prove this and he did for the ACT Brumbies.T
There are early day but everything Macqueen has said and done suggests to me that he has been thinking hard about what he should do to get the best rugby program and team up and running for the Melbourne Rebels.
I should have mentiioned that the one blot on the Macqueen record with the Brumbies was the creation of a player-power mentality that he encouraged and controlled but which went rogue after he left. The result has beeen in the last few years, particularly when – ironically – David Nucifora was the second Brumbies coach (along with Eddie Jones) to win a Super Rugby title, that player power has emasculated the club with no more titles sine then.
Macqueen’s latest comment about not tolerating ‘money-grubbers’ indicates that he is perhaps aware of what happened with player-power and the ACT Brumbies.
Frank O'Keeffe said | January 14th 2010 @ 10:52am | Report comment
Thanks for the clarification Spiro.
Terry Kidd said | January 14th 2010 @ 9:43am | Report comment
I wish to state that I disagree with Formeropenside that this 5th Oz franchise is a bad thing. Sure it will spread the available talent in the short term but in the long term it will also create opportunity and thereby deepen the talent pool. I’m all for it and hope they do well although I’ll always remain a Tah man.
Damo said | January 14th 2010 @ 11:16am | Report comment
No-one “knows” any thing about 2011. We can’t. But surely the indications are there that the Rebels are getting a top shelf leadership team.
I am looking forward to this. The Wallabies can only benefit. More players will stay or return to Australia. There will be a rush for young players to play under Macqueen for the opportunity as much as the money. And if the admin structure works the leather patch politics in the old states may have to face facts and change.
Melbourne’s rise may not be good for Waratahs though. They should have a go this year because it may be their last chance for a while. They were close when Wendell went to the wrong party and have not got as close since. This may be the year for the Tahs – or never.
But 2011 should be great for Melbourne and, if so, will be great for Wallabies and Australian rugby visibility. There is a huge audience out there that will watch Melbourne just to see what Macca cooks up. Plenty of Kiwis have cold sweats over some of the memories he gave them. And that’s the other thing. There are loads of Kiwi expats in Melbourne. We may just see something new there – Kiwis supporting an Aussie franchise.
I may be stretching it on that one but we can count on a few sound market predictions – big crowds, especially for the Rebels vs Kiwi sides. Can’t wait. Now if we could just get some free to air, and Greg Inglis…. and…a couple of second rowers……
PW said | January 16th 2010 @ 9:19pm | Report comment
Great article Spiro. It’s obviously this team is going to be great from the start and the Melbourne Storm mungoball team has no chance really.