Don’t worry, Wallabies will be a force next year
Roar Guru By Simon Mathew, 1 Sep 2010 The Crowd is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Quade Cooper, robbie deans, Rugby Union, wallabies
141 Have your say
Its time to put this Quade Cooper nonsense to bed. Right now. The Wallabies should be fine tuning their backline, not having to think about preparations to restructure it.
The ARU should have given him a deadline to make a decision, and if league was his choice, then allow Robbie Deans to groom whomever he picks at five-eighth so they can gain much needed experience on foreign soil before the campaign for the World Cup begins in New Zealand.
Rugby has been very good to Quade Cooper, and has stood by him during some trying personal times – it’s time now that he accords the ARU with the same respect shown to him, and make a decision before Saturday’s Test against South Africa.
The game comes first, not the player.
He should stop being selfish and commit to either union or league for the good of the country.
Experience creates level heads in pressure situations, something we were sorely lacking in South Africa. They reminded me of New Zealand in the 90s – managing to lose Test matches they should have one by poor decisions and unforgivable handling errors.
Don’t blame Robbie Deans for the loss last weekend.
He is a wonderful coach and brought back to Australian rugby the attacking flair that really gives me hope for next year. Possession is everything, and we would have cantered home last weekend if it weren’t for a woeful half riddled with mental mistakes that only the players can hold themselves accountable for.
Not Deans.
Why would Ashley-Cooper throw a dummy to a vacant sideline and then lose the ball in a tackle? Why would Cooper kick the ball out on the full when it was brought back into the 22 by Genia?
Why would we not be able to make a sensible decision (keep it away from Matfield) during line outs on the South African line? Why would we lift a secondrower from a kick off when there was no pressure from the chasers?
We have this reputation as being a ‘smart’ team. Well, the players failed that exam, and unless the players themselves play smart while on the paddock, there is nothing Robbie can do.
And yet, I have great hope – and if they listen to Deans, I honestly believe, particularly when we get our full complement of players back from injury, we will be a force next year.
Here’s a quote from America’s most beloved coach:
“A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done.” — Vince Lombardi.
Our Wallabies might want to think about that.
Recommend this story.
The Turkey 10
The Turkey 10 teams have now been selected, as Wild Turkey Bourbon's sport sponsorship kicks into the next exciting phase.
Choose which side you're going to support and get in the running to win $2,500!
Simply visit Wild Turkey Australia on Facebook for your chance to win.
Find out more.
- Explore:
- Quade Cooper, robbie deans, Rugby Union, wallabies
September 1st 2010 @ 10:44am
David of Canberra said | September 1st 2010 @ 10:44am | Report comment
I agree with the writer’s premise that Quade Cooper should be held to a deadline to make a choice between union and league.
After all, we have Matt Toomua and Christian Lealifiano waiting in the wings. Why else were the Brumbies so keen to retain these two very talented youngsters, probably knowing that Giteau will take the European money after the World Cup next year.
I think Deans should serve out his contract and take the team to the World Cup – that’s the mission he’s been given.
September 1st 2010 @ 1:16pm
Who Needs Melon said | September 1st 2010 @ 1:16pm | Report comment
If Matt Toomua and Christian Lealifiano are “waiting in the wings”, why haven’t they made the Wallaby squad or extended Wallaby squad at any stage? Instead of bringing them into the fold and allowing them some international experience and the the chance to bond and gel, we brought in A Faingaa instead. Just what we needed – another 12!
September 1st 2010 @ 5:36pm
ThelmaWrites said | September 1st 2010 @ 5:36pm | Report comment
Tyler Bleyendaal, the flyhalf for NZ in the Junior IRB Championships, totally outclassed Matt Toomua.
September 1st 2010 @ 10:45am
Blinky Bill of Bellingen said | September 1st 2010 @ 10:45am | Report comment
I’m as unqualified as the next bloke to offer an opinion on what Robbie Deans is up to. To be honest it really is a complete frigging mystery to me.
One thing I can say though is that without the much needed $$$$’s from sponsors & your average punters, the Wallabies will go down the plug hole. That much is certain. The only question is when.
For the sake of the Wallabies, the ARU & Australian Rugby generally, I sure hope that the left hand knows what the right hand is doing because at the moment I wonder if we’re going to run out of financial puff before much longer.
Something has to change. We need to win back supporters with improved performances and some wins against tough opposition or else suffer the consequences. I can’t see even a successful end of year NH tour rescuing things. Right now the rusted on Wallaby fans are hurting & the bulk of supporters are drifting off to spend their money on other sport.
Am I alone in my concerns?
September 1st 2010 @ 11:00am
sixo_clock said | September 1st 2010 @ 11:00am | Report comment
Yeah, you are, isolated in the last century, still using a well and a wood stove will do that to you.
“If you build it they will come”, hint hint!
September 1st 2010 @ 11:14am
Blinky Bill of Bellingen said | September 1st 2010 @ 11:14am | Report comment
6 o’clock – Ha, ha. You never miss an opportunity to have a shot at us poor backwoods folk do you? Truth be known I’d kill for a well and a wood burner. But for now buckets on a pole and a visit to the crick will have to do.
‘Build it and they will come’ was great for a movie but in the real world?
Seriously though aren’t you just a tad concerned?
That’s all from me I’ve got to get back to chopping wood & stoking that fire.
September 1st 2010 @ 11:20am
sixo_clock said | September 1st 2010 @ 11:20am | Report comment
For when your tired aching body can get back to the modern teleprompter.
‘Build’ was a reference the new Wallaby training facility you promised us!
September 1st 2010 @ 12:23pm
sixo_clock said | September 1st 2010 @ 12:23pm | Report comment
And yes I am concerned but am almost convinced it is a Gen Y instigated problem which is cyclical rather than endemic. Nothing that cannot be overcome. Also 3N is ‘the’ toughest comp on the planet and the big end of town knows that those games will be always in demand ensuring a cash flow from the NH for some time.
It would be nice to have a fully professionalised management structure caring for the game and who knows what strategies JON and other forward thinkers have working so the game will not be threatened by anything other than what plagues the entire country ie: small minded politics.
September 1st 2010 @ 6:06pm
sixo_clock said | September 1st 2010 @ 6:06pm | Report comment
Hit a nerve did I, whoopsy.
September 1st 2010 @ 11:29pm
bennalong said | September 1st 2010 @ 11:29pm | Report comment
This is tiring. Too many gloating know-it-alls from across the ditch, many living in Australia as ex pats, unlikely to ever leave, and only beaten in the boring stakes by dinkum Aussie whingers.
Before Deans (later to be known as BD) we were proud of our defence, very proud…………..but it was to the total exclusion of an attacking game. I was proud of the Wallabies ticker but the future looked bleak.Our set plays weren’t working. We couldn’t mount an attack from turnover
Now we suffer from the ups and downs of a young and inexperienced team which has never settled into a rhythym but which continues to play with passages of brilliance in attack and defence. I don’t know why they lost last week but I’m betting on them this week!
I really only like winning but I’m a grown-up now and I have learned to lose and stay rational.
To move the team foreward quickly you must settle on your team early and hope injuries are restricted. Woiuldn’t have worked as we now know but regardless, Deans has instead tried to build a squad of thirty from largely raw recruits and has changed the troops around to give experience and watch for growth in the young men he’s got to mentor. He’s building a team almost from scratch and the injuries defence is a just one. He’s had to deal with pressure to retain Gits as pivot and to manage Coopers emergence only to see him dropped in a bizarre period when the judiciary lost the plot. He’s brought Beale into the side and kept faith with Mitchell.
Deans ain’t going anywhere. To remove him now would be to ignore the contract to build a team for the World Cup.
So my advice to the Kiwi gloaters is,,,,,,contemplate Richie McCaw’s retirement, along with half the incumbent forewards and Muliaena, and Carter’s loss to the NH. Might end up fine, eh?
My advice to the Aussie whingers is ……………….sit back and start enjoying the ride! …………………..What about Kurtley Beale’s run from full back last week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or O’Connor’s “snatch and score” from Habana!!
September 1st 2010 @ 11:43pm
Ben S said | September 1st 2010 @ 11:43pm | Report comment
There’s a whole host of cliches in that post. The most obvious one is that the current Wallaby side is neither particularly young nor particularly inexperienced: Robinson, Moore, Mumm, Chisholm, Sharpe, Elsom, Giteau, Mitchell, & AAC. Even players like Burgess, Pocock, O’Connor, Brown, Genia & Cooper have around 20 caps.
September 1st 2010 @ 11:47pm
Spectron said | September 1st 2010 @ 11:47pm | Report comment
Interesting post, be posetive and gloss over the poor performances or you are a whinger.
Beale is playing really well, he was having a really good end of the S14 season for the Tahs. It is great to see him start to live up to his potential. He is looking great at full back but I would like to see him have a crack at pivot if the opportunity arises.
September 2nd 2010 @ 8:25am
Red Rooster said | September 2nd 2010 @ 8:25am | Report comment
Spectron – Beale played a full season of 10 for the Tahs under Link and they played in the final in 2008 (age 19)so it should be no surprise to anyone that he can play – he just need some more “opportunity” and some “belief” from a few coaches
September 2nd 2010 @ 2:01pm
Spectron said | September 2nd 2010 @ 2:01pm | Report comment
Red Rooster,
Back then, he was not the player he is now. He did not have the poise and experience. He over played his hand and was quite frequently a very frustrating player to watch. It often occured to me that he was rushed too quickly from school boy rugby to S14. He is obviously very talented and could do tremendous damage in attack but tried to score a try everytime he touched the ball. I spilled many a beer in my lap at the SFS by jumping out of my seat yelling “What the hell are you doing BEALE?”. The difference is, now he looks to be maturing into his talent and like Cooper, knows when to play his hand and how to do it effectively. In his current form, I would like to see him play pivot.
September 2nd 2010 @ 8:28am
MOTHER TERESA said | September 2nd 2010 @ 8:28am | Report comment
benny,
what was interesting on the rugby club last night was the vigorous debate among the ex wallaby hookers that deans has been given preferential treatment with his poor record;quite revealing when dissected who thought what and their relative sphere of influence amongst the current wallabies.canon and freier the 2 nsw boys playing politics and covering their arses and paul calling it as he knows it.this team is clearly tettering on the precipice of falling apart as deans lack of man mgt and stubborness combine to show the tip of the iceberg.
when the fox boys start discussing openly deans poor record and sacking possibility it makes an ass of those roarers who have their heads in the sand and fingers in the dyke
September 2nd 2010 @ 10:21am
jeremy said | September 2nd 2010 @ 10:21am | Report comment
Bennalong,
The expression ‘too many know-it-alls from across the ditch’ is one which applies equally well to your countrymen! Endless pubs in countries all over the world feature Kiwis enduring the endless nasal drone of overly patriotic Australians waxing lyrical about the wonders of their homeland’s sporting prowess.
Listen to Phil Kearns, who for some reason continues to get gainful employment as a sports personality and commentator despite ongoing evidence of brain injury, or Eddie Jones, or Bob Dwyer. Each provides beautiful commentary on how the Wallabies won every match in the past decade (apart from those in which there were extenuating circumstances, you know, like the other team scoring more points).
Throw in the ongoing bitterness about players outside of Australia – McCaw (‘he cheats’), Carter (‘he’s a freak’), pretty much any Springbok (‘Beastly thugs!’) from the above commentators and why wouldn’t Kiwis feel the need to weigh in and point out what’s going wrong on your side of the fence? Especially when it’s one of NZ’s marquee provincial coaches heading up your team??
September 2nd 2010 @ 10:43am
Short-Blind. said | September 2nd 2010 @ 10:43am | Report comment
Thanks Bennalong for an excellent summary. The kiwi gloaters on this site (led by the ever disparaging Darwin Stubby) will be choking on their relatively ignorant words when this Wallaby team matures and finds its own rhythm – although I accept it may take a year or two. These Wallabies are young and exciting but are building experience and leadership – both of which are best forged in difficult situations (like the present losing streak vs AB). As you say NZ will lose some diamonds post WCup and although their great rugby system will throw up good replacements they wont be anything near McCaw or Carter – both once in a generation players. The smart kiwis on this site (there are quite a few) have recognised this and do not slag off like the rest. They can see the wave coming and are afraid it may come in late 2011.
September 2nd 2010 @ 11:22am
Darwin Stubby said | September 2nd 2010 @ 11:22am | Report comment
Yawn
September 2nd 2010 @ 2:15pm
Darwin Stubby said | September 2nd 2010 @ 2:15pm | Report comment
what gloating ? …and anyway – so what ? …. I never thought there’d be the day that we’d ever see a thin skinned ocker – best you don’t make you’re way north, you’d never last
September 2nd 2010 @ 6:54pm
ohtani's jacket said | September 2nd 2010 @ 6:54pm | Report comment
Now I know why Deans appeals to so many of you Aussies. That post said about as much as a Robbie Deans press quote.
September 2nd 2010 @ 7:11pm
MOTHER TERESA said | September 2nd 2010 @ 7:11pm | Report comment
SB,AFTER THE 2011 RWC the better wallies will go oseas or join the exodus to league.
this wave will be a trickle and dissipate as will the tribalism .oneill will survive the tsunami.RIP
September 4th 2010 @ 12:07pm
jeremy said | September 4th 2010 @ 12:07pm | Report comment
That cuts both ways SB, do you not think the Wallabies will also lose a host of players?
Elsom’s already done time in the NH, what’s to say he won’t head back up there? Pocock? Vickerman?
What happens when the NH professional sides come shopping, talking to young blokes who think rugby is a business and are happy to make a business decision about where they play?
What about Cooper, you think he’ll stick around in union after his value rockets from a World Cup performance?
just putting it out there mate. The ABs have said goodbye to Hayman, Spencer, Umaga, and Marshall and still managed to continue to win games, because of the NPC and massive feeder teams.
In NZ, there are 60k pre-teen rugby players, 40k teen rugby players, and 27k senior rugby players registered (www.irb.com)
In Aus, there are 25k pre-teen rugby players, 20k teen rugby players, and 37k senior rugby players registered.
We talk about talent pipelines, ie where the next generation of rugby players is coming from. The talent pipeline in NZ is the right shape, 60 > 40 > 27k players – massive selection pressure on the teen and senior player levels.
So assuming elite selection begins at teen level, there’s a hell of a lot more raw potential in the NZ numbers than there is in Australia. That means out of each RWC block NZ have twice the amount of new talent to fill the departing talent ranks.
Young & inexperienced players? Pfft, whatever. Sharpe & Giteau both played at the RWC 2003 and 07, Elsom’s played in a World Cup, much of your lineup have double digit cappings, and NZ have new caps all through this season as well.
September 1st 2010 @ 11:47am
Winston said | September 1st 2010 @ 11:47am | Report comment
Your right, they have a lot more to lose than just test matches.
September 1st 2010 @ 1:30pm
Who Needs Melon said | September 1st 2010 @ 1:30pm | Report comment
No – you’re not alone.
I used to be an AVID cricket follower. These days I can’t name a single player that’s in the team with any certainty. I’ll be lambasted for this but it wasn’t because we started losing. Or not for just that reason anyway. It was more the apparent attitude and culture of the team. I think the two are connected though.
Now I’m still an AVID rugby follower but I can sense that maybe – just maybe – I could drift away over the coming decade and rugby could go the way of basketball in this country.
Now I’ll be lambasted for this too. Already I can hear the cries of derision “Who needs you!” and “Rack off – we don’t want fair weather supporters like you!” but the sad truth is that YOU DO! Rugby needs all the supporters it can get. You need to keep the rusted on supporters sure but you also need to win over others all the way down to people who are casual observers and league followers and people that aren’t following it at all today.
And sixo_clock you can say if you build it, they will come. I hope we building something in Australian rugby at the moment – I really do – because as Blinky and sheek have indicated, it’s been crumbling for the better part of a decade now. And here’s another expression for you: If you ignore them, they will leave.
September 1st 2010 @ 6:03pm
sixo_clock said | September 1st 2010 @ 6:03pm | Report comment
I wrote an article on club rugby expressing those same fears. Too much in the Wallaby pot and not enough for grass roots development. By the way that ‘build’ is a running joke with BBB about constructing a new “Home of the Wallabies’ in Bellingen with no hot water, no night life except BBB driving around at night without his headlights on…etc.
I just put out another article on streamlining the contracts which could if adopted cut down costs especially in a losing season. The players have to front up and contribute in the entire process.
September 1st 2010 @ 10:58am
johnno42 said | September 1st 2010 @ 10:58am | Report comment
or maybe as a good coach with an exemplarary CV who just cannot make a silk purse out of a sows ear.
September 1st 2010 @ 11:34am
DK said | September 1st 2010 @ 11:34am | Report comment
I am no expert but I do not believe Deans is the problem, the problem is definitely the cattle. As for players coming back and making a difference …… well maybe but with those players we still didn’t win so I am certainly not sure.
I think more work in selection needs to go into the mental strength of the players as they CONTINUALLY make the same mistakes. This I believe is due to some of these players, Beale, O’Connor etc being fast tracked to the test team and not learning the ropes in grade rugby.
I also think a couple of players like Giteau just don’t want to be there and it shows in his lack of consistent intensity. Lastly can we start playing players in the positions they are best at and have developed in as this is a real reason for players making dumb mistakes because they continually find themselves in unfamiliar scenarios or scenarios that aren’t instinctive to them.
September 1st 2010 @ 11:45am
Katipo said | September 1st 2010 @ 11:45am | Report comment
Here are some stats for you “since Australia last won the Tri Nations trophy in 2001, they are one from 21 on the road. Since the tournament started in 1996 Australia have only won five games away from home.”
In the last decade Australia has only won ONE Tri-nations game on the road!!!! And you guys really think that the current coach is entirely responsible?
OJ, you are a kiwi. Why are you so concerned about Australia’s coach? I think you have a personal thing against Robbie Deans. You ask for one thing he has done. I’ll give you three. Developed long term replacements for Gregan, Larkham and Smith. How’s Henry’s succession plan going for All Black 9,10 and 7? A few injuries and the AB’s could be back where they were 12 months ago. Don’t gloat yet.
This Wallaby team is not as bad as everyone makes out. They are inches off being the second best team in the world. In fact if they pull off Australia’s second 3N win in ten years on the road this weekend, they can rightly claim to be better than the ‘Boks…. and second only to NZ. And there are half a dozen first stringers to return next year. As a kiwi myself I can safely say you write off the Wallabies at your peril.
September 1st 2010 @ 12:21pm
Brisbanebitter said | September 1st 2010 @ 12:21pm | Report comment
Agreed. There is clearly an agenda evident with some of our kIwi friends. What coach hasn’t been maligned when the team is going badly?
Do you recall the press Henry was getting last year when the AB’s were completely clueless?
Do you recall the press McKenzie was getting before he left the Warratahs? Now he’s the heir apparent and Hickey is the new reason the waratahs are rubbish.
As much as some contributers would like to imagine they have some special insight into Dean’s coaching style, its most likely that they wouldn’t have a clue.
The fact is that Australia is progressing and progressing relative to two very good sides virtually (and possibly unsustainably) at the very height of their powers.
Equally to those who constantly gripe about playing players out of position, its not as if it hasn’t been done before. Horan, Little, Umanga all spent time on the wing when it was required.
September 1st 2010 @ 1:23pm
Justin said | September 1st 2010 @ 1:23pm | Report comment
We cannot comment on his coaching session.
What we can comment on though and that everyone can see and have an opinion on are his team selections and hi use of the bench.
Neither of these facets during Deans tenure have been up to scratch IMO. In fact they have been quite poor.
JON and Deans have done a diserevice to the game in the country by making the RWC the be all and end all. I would rather at this stage and in this current sporting environment not win the RWC if it meant we won the Bledisloe and 3N once every 2 or 3 years. The support from those succes’s would far outweigh a one off win in a RWC on foreign soil.
Some people will deride me for that statement but I believe its closer to the truth than most would believe.
September 1st 2010 @ 2:41pm
jeremy said | September 1st 2010 @ 2:41pm | Report comment
BB,
You’re mixing up our reasons for enjoying his lack of success with personal dislike. I have nothing against Deans, but I detest his Kiwi apologists who insisted stridently that he was the best talent to ever leave New Zealand, and doom and gloom would follow. Doom and gloom followed all right, it followed him right the way across the ditch to the Wallabies camp, and very few Deans supporters in New Zealand have manned up and said perhaps the NZRFU were right.
I also don’t like that he went to Australia knowing full well his job would be to teach the Wallabies how to beat the All Blacks.
yet I find myself sticking up for him more and more frequently because there’s only so much you can do from the coaching box, and right now he probably wishes he’s coaching the Black Ferns.
September 1st 2010 @ 3:31pm
Moaman said | September 1st 2010 @ 3:31pm | Report comment
(BB think you will find Tana Umaga STARTED as a wing and moved in to centre later in his career….latterly to 2nd 5…may end up propping for Counties…..)
September 1st 2010 @ 12:43pm
sixo_clock said | September 1st 2010 @ 12:43pm | Report comment
K & BB,
Fully agree with both of you. Very good points.
September 1st 2010 @ 1:15pm
Darwin Stubby said | September 1st 2010 @ 1:15pm | Report comment
Then taking that away games stat and that stat alone – can you please explain why then are wallaby supporters so bullish about next years W/cup …. throw in their only average away record when going to the NH and it’s pretty obvious the aussies play even worse away than they do at home … makes that Irish game in pool play look ominous
September 1st 2010 @ 6:08pm
sixo_clock said | September 1st 2010 @ 6:08pm | Report comment
Thats the way we make ‘em over here.
September 2nd 2010 @ 7:15am
sheek said | September 2nd 2010 @ 7:15am | Report comment
Darwin Stubby,
Realistically, only 3 countries can the 2011 RWC – New Zealand, South Africa & Australia.
I concede I don’t know much about England or France, but based on recent results I don’t rate any of the northern hemisphere nations. Or Argentina. Forget any others.
That there are only 3 genuine contenders isn’t because they are outstandingly good, but that the overall depth of international rugby is alarmingly poor.
I don’t rate the Wallabies as a great team, but the only two teams who can beat them are NZ & SA. The Boks are an aging side, so at full strength, I reckon the Wallas have them covered. Besides, historically the Boks don’t do well in NZ.
Which leaves the ABs. With the knock-out style of the WC from quarters onwards, the Wallas only have to play out of their skins once to beat the ABs.
If the Wallas win the world cup, they probably don’t deserve it, because they’re not as good as some Aussies want to believe.
But if it happens, blame the lack of talent depth in international rugby.
September 2nd 2010 @ 7:41am
pothale said | September 2nd 2010 @ 7:41am | Report comment
Sheek – “based on recent results, I don’t rate any of the northern hemisphere nations”
Yet you say you don’t know much about England or France. France are current 6 Nations champions and have done well in knock-out matches in previous World Cups. Last time England played Australia at home, they beat them. And Australia don’t exactly have convincing victories over Ireland in their last two games.
I agree with you that the overall depth of international rugby is poor.
One could argue that it only needs any one of these teams to “play out of their skins” to beat Australia, given the knock-out style of the WC, and the level of quality currently on display.
September 2nd 2010 @ 8:01am
sheek said | September 2nd 2010 @ 8:01am | Report comment
Pothale,
One can only use history as signpost to the future, a touchstone for what happened before.
The WC is being held in the southern hemisphere, which historically, the northern hemisphere countries struggle to cope with. Except France.
France, both as a nation & a rugby team, refuses to be pigeon-holed. They regularly do the unexpected. They were supposed to do great things in 2007.
There’s always the danger we can under-estimate them in 2011 at our peril!
Of course, you’re right, anyone can knock-out anyone else. But as you understand, I was confining my comments largely to the Wallabies’ progression (or not)…..
September 2nd 2010 @ 8:22am
Darwin Stubby said | September 2nd 2010 @ 8:22am | Report comment
Sheek what you say is true in some respects – however Australia’s form in NZ is worse than SA and France (and I certainly wouldn’t be discounting at least them as a team that could cause at least 1 upset – history shows they do just that) … Australia haven’t performed well against the Irish either home or away for a few years now – that pool game is very much in the ‘one off’ category .. .that’s why I’m highlighting it – it’s a massive game for the wallabies – one that if taken lightly could come back to bite them
September 1st 2010 @ 2:06pm
Sam Taulelei said | September 1st 2010 @ 2:06pm | Report comment
I don’t really care how Deans goes with the Wallabies. I was disappointed he missed out on the All Blacks job but as soon as he crossed the ditch to coach the men in gold then in my eyes he was no different to Connolly, Jones, MacQueen, Dwyer etc. He’s the Wallaby coach and I want to beat his team as many times as possible and the fact he’s a Kiwi doesn’t soften my resolve one bit.
All coaches come under the hammer at differing times during their career when their team loses and fans lose patience and faith with everyone involved. Fans start seeing shadows behind every door, concoct and believe in every conspiracy theory and find fault with the most trivial and banal detail. This is new territory for Deans, he’s never had to endure such a long run of losses to the same opponent or coach a team that plays so inconsistently. Yes they are beset by injuries and with a shallow pool of talent to draw from, the lack of ability and experience highlights the gap between Super rugby and test rugby even more. While not necessarily a situation of his making, he has to make the best of the situation and there are many who question if he is doing that.
The arguments for Deans is that the fault lies with the cattle and not the coach, this position neatly juxtaposes the opposite view as well that the success he enjoyed at the Crusaders – which is what attracted him to JON in the first place, was in spite of him and not because of him because of the cattle at the Crusaders.
The arguments against him are endless, some are valid and others are just disgruntled supporters shooting from the lip.
I do believe that a good coach can make a difference and I do believe that Deans is a good coach. Graham Henry inherited the All Blacks from Mitchell and Deans in 2004 and immediately set his objective as returning the All Blacks setpieces and tight forward play to being a strength again. This was all done with the majority of players that played the previous year under a different coach so I don’t buy into the argument that it’s all about the players or all about the coach, rugby is a team sport so they’re both at fault when the team loses and both credited when the team wins.
As Brisbanebitter mentioned Graham Henry had a tough time last year when his selections were also injury affected. He followed his own path to how the All Blacks played under the laws of the time with mixed performances and limited success. But he and the All Blacks bounced back, after less than successful and encouraging performances from the NZ Super 14 sides that had everyone proclaiming SA as Tri Nations champions before a ball was kicked in anger. There were still injuries to some incumbent players and questions about form about others eg. Joe Rocokoko and Dan Carter. But Henry held his nerve, he maintained his faith in his tactics, his playing philosophy, his selections and the team responded, better than he possibly imagined.
Ask any Kiwi at the end of 2009 what results they would have predicted for the All Blacks in 2010 and it certainly wouldn’t be an unbeaten run after 8 test matches.
September 1st 2010 @ 3:39pm
Moaman said | September 1st 2010 @ 3:39pm | Report comment
Beautifully written Sam! Totally agree with you. Couldn’t help wondering how it would be if you substituted any other team in world rugby-England,say,and Martin Johnson for the Wallabies or Boks in this year’s 3N.How different would it have been? Would we be hearing the same stories with different accents?
September 1st 2010 @ 6:15pm
Ben S said | September 1st 2010 @ 6:15pm | Report comment
‘immediately set his objective as returning the All Blacks setpieces and tight forward play to being a strength again. This was all done with the majority of players that played the previous year under a different coach’
Sam, are you saying that Henry improved the NZ forward play with the same forwards used by Mitchell & Deans?
September 1st 2010 @ 6:40pm
Jerry said | September 1st 2010 @ 6:40pm | Report comment
Not all the same guys, but the core of the pack was the same. Mealamu*, Jack, Williams, McCaw and Collins were all holdovers from the Mitchell years.
*you could argue he was second choice for Henry though.
September 1st 2010 @ 6:55pm
ohtani's jacket said | September 1st 2010 @ 6:55pm | Report comment
Henry chewed through a lot of forwards in his first year. It wasn’t really until the game against France at Stade de France that he struck upon his perfect forward pack and even then Norm Maxwell started at lock over Williams.
Williams was a bench player for Henry in his first year coaching the All Blacks. Collins he knew wasn’t a No.8 and sent to provincial rugby to play No.6. Gibbes played blindside for the All Blacks through most of the June Tests and Tri-Nations with Rush at 8.
September 1st 2010 @ 6:40pm
ohtani's jacket said | September 1st 2010 @ 6:40pm | Report comment
I’m not supposed to have an opinion on Deans because of my nationality?
I don’t have any personal feelings towards Deans one way or another. Myself and others predicted much of what has happened on the basis of his falings with the All Blacks, but that doesn’t give me any great joy. The thing that continuously annoys me is that the players cop all of the blame for the Wallabies’ performances and Deans is praised for all sorts of airy-fairy things of which there are no tangible proof. It reminds me of the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes. I keep expecting some child to cry out, “But he isn’t coaching them anything at all!”
For argument’s sake, I think your 9/10/7 argument is a reach. Deans was painfully slow to make any sort of changes and was influenced by Super 14 form. I don’t see what the All Blacks have to do with this, but Henry accomplished more changes in his first year than Deans has in three. The All Blacks could have injury problems in the future, but the Wallabies have problems injuries or not.
Nevertheless, I agree that they’re not as bad as everyone makes out. So why blame the players all the time? Didn’t the players twice hold the South Africans up over the line before putting themselves in the position to possibly win the Test? They should be winning at least one away Test a year in the Tri-Nations since they get three cracks at it. Of course, away records and their terrible record in NZ are forgotten when relentlessly hyping up their chances next year, so what does it matter? Deans has already conceded that he can’t win the Tri-Nations or BC.
September 1st 2010 @ 10:33pm
bennalong said | September 1st 2010 @ 10:33pm | Report comment
OJ
Some of your pars, particularly when the Blacks were losing last year, were great.
But on Robbie Deans you should seriously think about bowing out. Your biased against him, and not just for the reasons you allude to.
DEANS HAS TO TAKE AUSTRALIA TO THE WORLD CUP! Simple. So make criticisms of specifics if you like but think twice before you add to your airy fairy criticisms of Deans based on some deep seated angst
September 1st 2010 @ 12:55pm
Gary Russell-Sharam said | September 1st 2010 @ 12:55pm | Report comment
I reckon Deans is the problem. It’s not that he is not a good coach, his record speaks for itself but some coaches don’t fit some teams. Some coaches can get more out of a team than others. Deans being coach of the Wallabies is a round peg in a square hole. They are just not gelling. I was around when Roy Prosser (ex Wallaby and now sadly departed) was coaching Wests in Brisbane. Wests for years couldn’t crack anything they had good coaches and great players but it wasn’t until Roy Prosser came along that they reached their potential and won the 77 grand final. Their first, I might add. The point I make is that Roy had a way about him. He wasn’t any better than other coaches but he had one redeeming feature he could get the best out of any player he coached and the players would die for him. It doesn’t look as if Deans has this with the Wallabies. It’s sad really because I think Deans is a good coach but he is not for the Wallabies.
September 1st 2010 @ 1:07pm
ThelmaWrites said | September 1st 2010 @ 1:07pm | Report comment
The irony of it is that the present All Blacks are fine-tuning the Crusader zeitgist cum tactics.
I wonder if one of the problems is that Deans has assistants that do not fully understand what he’s trying to achieve?
September 1st 2010 @ 3:51pm
cookeej said | September 1st 2010 @ 3:51pm | Report comment
thelma ,now at least youre getting closer to the real problem ,assistants maybe but deans incompatibility clearly.fritz perls would be proud of you.
September 1st 2010 @ 5:57pm
ThelmaWrites said | September 1st 2010 @ 5:57pm | Report comment
i can’t reply because “but deans etc…….” doesnt make sense to me.
September 2nd 2010 @ 8:10am
MOTHER TERESA said | September 2nd 2010 @ 8:10am | Report comment
thelma,why doesnt the obvious make sense to you?
guess you are on a higher level and cannot adjust to underlings.anyway im off to bake a cake and wash my dresses.
DEANS IS THE PROBLEM IN CASE YOU ARE SERIOUSLY SLOW
September 1st 2010 @ 1:19pm
Brisbanebitter said | September 1st 2010 @ 1:19pm | Report comment
Agreed GRS, you may be right. Alan Jones had a limited technical underastanding of the game but got results for different reasons. But realistically, its unlikely Deans is going anywhere soon and in the meantime deserves the benefit of the doubt.
September 1st 2010 @ 1:12pm
Brian said | September 1st 2010 @ 1:12pm | Report comment
Not sure if Deans is overrated as a coach or he’s just doing as best he can with the players he’s got.
Simon Matthew, you seem to be one of those eternal optimists when it comes to the Wallabies. They’re no longer a “youthful” team in the process of “rebuilding”. They’re crap. And they’ll be lucky to make the quarters at net year’s world cup.
September 1st 2010 @ 2:17pm
dingo_pete said | September 1st 2010 @ 2:17pm | Report comment
This article should read, ‘ The Wallabies will be a force next year at consistantly losing’
September 1st 2010 @ 2:34pm
RedsNut said | September 1st 2010 @ 2:34pm | Report comment
I’d like to see Deans here for the next four years after the WC, then we’d be seening the benefit of what he has done over the last four years with regard to having some really good depth to cover injuries. We didn’t have that when Eales & Co retired, nor a coach who knew how to rebuild from virtually scratch.
None of us know what his coaching style is, or how he goes about it. We can only see what happens on the pitch, and have been unhappy with the results.
As I said in a prvious reply, Deans has blooded some good talent that are in the ongoing process of being melded into a team. And a team of good players will beat a team of “stars” any time. He’s building a team of good players – imo
It’s a forlorne hope that he will be kept on (or even want to stay on) as the ARU seem to have the attitude “We have had this coach for 4 years, now let’s have a change to someone else – anyone else”
September 1st 2010 @ 3:42pm
cookeej said | September 1st 2010 @ 3:42pm | Report comment
redsnut ,deans will send the aru bankrupt if we take your advice we are as nutty as you
September 1st 2010 @ 4:13pm
Brisbanebitter said | September 1st 2010 @ 4:13pm | Report comment
I don’t buy this “Australians only care about the world cup” routine. Where is the proof?
My favorite memories are nearly all Bledisloe cup wins. The Eales full time penalty, Kefu barging over the Kiwi line in the final minute. These games are nearly always superior to WC games where good teams can be blindsided tactically. Series rugby allows teams a fairer contest because by the end of a series the teams have evovled a familiarity. One off contests encourage cynical game plans and defensive stradegies.
Obviously if Deans coaching tenure is bookended by 2 world cups he is going to have a four year plan culminating at the 2011 WC. I would rather see him persevere with blooding new talent. I cannot see any obvious experienced players who can justify selection.
Phil Waugh. You cannot be serious. Al Baxter. Had numerous chances and failed to deliver. (except when he monstered Andy Sheridan, what was going on there?) Matt Dunning ditto.