Wallabies fans have very short memories
Roar Rookie By wre01, 12 Aug 2011 wre01 is a Roar Rookie
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Robbie Deans is the best rugby coach on the planet. You would never know it after the whinging and whining since the Samoa Test, but Deans is the right guy to take us to the 2011 World Cup.
Any objective rugby person knows that. It’s just that Aussie sporting supporters are a pretty impatient and emotional breed with very short memories.
Let’s start by asking the obvious questions. What is wrong with these players? How can you get rolled by England and then put 60 points on France in Paris the next week? How many can spell ‘consistency’.
With the exception of Horwill, Genia and Ioane, the form, attitude and application from the Wallabies this season (and last) has been awful. You would never guess a RWC was one month away.
Giteau’s has been about ‘me me me’ for the last 12 months. Cooper looked like he had been listening to Khoder Nasser’s BS and completely lost the plot in Auckland. O’Connor, well I’ll tell you what I like about him- absolutely nothing. He looks to be a player who will suit himself first and foremost whether in his application to kicking duties, contract negotiations or ridiculous David Bowie hair.
And then there is Elsom. Can it really be said that Deans should be responsible for Elsom not putting his hand up and saying, “I’m just not up to it.”
Is it really Dean’s fault Cooper is prone to brain snaps and has the maturity of a 25 test player rather than a 95 Test player like Carter? Matt Giteau has tickets on himself and Deans didn’t attach them. Which brings me to my next point.
What came before Deans? Remember Eddie Jones? He attached a big fat wad (of tickets) to Giteau. He also bored us to death with comments like, “73 percent of fifth phase ball goes through the 10/12 channel 19 percnt of the time.” What did Eddie win? Nothing.
The Bledisloe has been lost for nine years. Deans has lost it for a third of that time after starting from scratch and rebuilding after the debacle in 2007 overseen by Connolly, a man who was more conservative with his selections than Sarah Palin is with her money box.
Deans has made the tough calls in the past. He dropped Smith for Pocock when the decision was line ball. He’s dropped Sharpey twice. Sharpe is good 90 percent of the time, the other 10 percent he messes about like a disabled child employee at Maccas.
He’s also given Beale a shot at 15, I have my doubts about this call but Deans has backed him and the back three to throw caution to the wind. Better than boring right?
Yes, he has made a mistake with Elsom but any move to sack him one month before a RWC would be doing a Gillard on Rudd. Elsom should fall on his sword if he isn’t quite right.
If he doesn’t and Australia are knocked out in the quarters, his reputation will be in tatters. Maybe that decision is a matter for better men than you and I. And I have no doubt Rocky is one of them.
Let’s not forget what Deans has done for Aussie rugby. With a miniscule playing pool (compared to the other big four unions) we are more than competing. It isn’t a coincidence that Queensland won a Super 15 title while Deans was Wallabies coach.
McKenzie certainly didn’t pull off that success at NSW or Stade Francais, at the time the best resourced club in Europe. Deans has got talents like Genia, Cooper, Ioane Beale and Mitchell playing what is in front of them. They are hitting the ball at pace but also letting the ball do the work. It’s called the basics. When the Wallabies get it right they are unstoppable (think France last year).
It’s time to ask more questions of the players now. Deans is the man for the job. But are Cooper and co?
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August 12th 2011 @ 11:28am
Bring Back Rucking said | August 12th 2011 @ 11:28am | Report comment
A quote from earlier in this discussion
…..”as a Queenslander, I actually prefer a New Zealander to a New South Welshman as Wallaby coach,….
This statement from a fellow Australian ( that’s a country not a state ) supporter above makes me think,
1. Put’s everything said by Queenslanders into perspective. Mostly if not all parochial paranoia.
2. Robert Menzies had the right idea with the “Brisbane Line”
August 12th 2011 @ 12:29pm
jeremy said | August 12th 2011 @ 12:29pm | Report comment
With a miniscule playing pool (compared to the other big four unions) we are more than competing.
Sorry but this is incorrect – New Zealand has far fewer senior players than Australia (source: IRB.com)
NZ – 27,374
Australia – 39,380
South Africa – 109,878
France – 110,000
England – 166,000
Although yes there is a marked discrepancy between Australia and SA, France and England’s player populations.
August 12th 2011 @ 1:04pm
kingplaymaker said | August 12th 2011 @ 1:04pm | Report comment
Playing numbers is unimportant when considering the strength of the coach, which is issue here. What you need to consider is the top 40 players. This is what the coach must deal with.
Write a list of the top 40 All Black players.
Write a list of the top 40 Wallabies players.
Now compare.
The former is what Graham Henry has to work with.
The latter is what Robbie Deans has to work with.
You’ll notive the COLOSSAL difference in quality.
August 12th 2011 @ 1:16pm
johnny-boy said | August 12th 2011 @ 1:16pm | Report comment
Sorry KPM – but that is complete and utter rubbish but it is not untypical of many Australian supporters who thinks we just arent good enough. Correct me if I am wrong but werent you one of those nellies like Sheek who thought the Reds were no chance against the almighty Crusaders in the Super XV comp. Like the NZ commentators in last week game, I think a lot of kiwis wish the Wallabies werent so damn leaderless and disorganised and could put up a bit more of a contest instead being a shambles that dont even know how to do even the most basic things, like kick offs, right.
August 12th 2011 @ 3:00pm
the other Steve - and AB fan said | August 12th 2011 @ 3:00pm | Report comment
No, we’re quite happy that the Wallabies are leaderless and disorganised.
I am with KPM on this – how many Wallabies would make it into the current All Black squad?
Or draw up a Trans-Tasmna v Rest of World team? How many Wallabies would be playing?
August 12th 2011 @ 6:18pm
darwin stubby said | August 12th 2011 @ 6:18pm | Report comment
that argument really only has legs if it’s the 2nd 15′s that fight out the world cup
August 12th 2011 @ 7:12pm
Will said | August 12th 2011 @ 7:12pm | Report comment
A note from the author- thanks everyone for your comments. A few observations below:
I’m not from Canterbury or Robbie Deans in disguise. I am, however, sitting in London away from the Australian media hype that inevitably whips up a frenzy of coach hate to sell papers. What is it about Aussie sporting fans that makes them jump on bandwagons, good and bad? I am shocked to be honest by the level of anti-Deans sentiment going around Australia. He is probably the most respected coach by the French and English. The Welsh had Graham Henry, now have Gatland and can’t stand either.
The fact of the matter is that Deans has, from the ashes of 2007, taken the youngest side in Wallaby history and put 31 points on the Boks in Bloemfontein in 40 minutes before going on to snap a 40 year hoodoo. He’s beaten the AB’s once and taken them very close on several other occasions. What they did to France in Paris caused a huge swell of admiration for how they played the game of rugby in the northern hemisphere (something unheard of before under Connolly, Jones and even McQueen). That the side is currently second best in the world is no shame especially when the average age of the Wallabies is 24 and the average age of the All Blacks is 29.
Fair enough McKenzie did a great job at the Reds. But even the Reds went through a heap of pain before he was able to sort them out. Remember the 93 v 3 scoreline- James Horwill, James Slipper, Quade Cooper and GDigby Ioane were all on the field that night. Young sides need to get belted before they get better. They are inconsistent almost always. All this nonsense about Deans being lost because he picks players out of position is ridiculious too- McQueen picked Larkham who considered himself a genuine 15 as a 10. Cockbain was a lock and got moved to 6. Eddie Jones used to play Waugh and Smith in tandem. I’m pretty sure he even played Little on the wing and Horan at 10 for a few tests.
The posts above remind me of when everyone was giving it to Mick Malthouse when Collingwood used to just miss the eight or drop out in the semis or preliminary finals. Great teams take time to build and Deans is a master at building them. Anybody who wants to say that Deans wasn’t the key figure in the Crusaders resurgence is quite simply an idiot. It’s like saying Wayne Bennett didn’t do much at the Broncos. Carter, McCaw and Thorn all say the same thing. They have huge respect for him.
The point of this article was that it is obvious the players, when they put the coacking staff’s plans into practice, can be world beaters but it is up to Elsom and Cooper to pull their fingers out and steady the ship. If you, Mr Red Rooster, are close to the players and understand “what is and isn’t going on” please enlighten us? From where I stand, I see a bunch of talented kids that are mentally soft and distracted by the feminisation of society- tv adds, high profile girlfriends, hair styles and contract negotiantions where a man’s word doesn’t mean anything anymore…
August 12th 2011 @ 10:15pm
Moaman said | August 12th 2011 @ 10:15pm | Report comment
Isn’t the BIG question—given that Australia actually have MORE players per se-why is the “playing-pool” or Top 40 so much weaker? <——-Doesn't this mean that remedial work must be done at a structural level immediately?
August 12th 2011 @ 11:00pm
brad said | August 12th 2011 @ 11:00pm | Report comment
Union recruits from Private Schools. If they actually recruited from amongst the peasants they might go a lot better,
August 12th 2011 @ 11:08pm
Will said | August 12th 2011 @ 11:08pm | Report comment
Moaman
Not sure what you are trying to say but Australia has far fewer players to choose from than the 4 other major unions- New Zealand, South Africa, France and England.
For example:
England has 2.5 million registered players, a 14 team fully professional competition and a fully professional second tier…
South Africa has 630,000 odd players and 14 professional provincial teams…
France has 315,000 registered players and full Top 14 professional comp…
New Zealand has 137,000 registered players and 5 professional provincial teams…
Australia has 87,000 and 5 professional provinces…
As a matter of fact, Australia has fewer grass roots registered players than the United States.
.
August 12th 2011 @ 11:46pm
stillmatic1 said | August 12th 2011 @ 11:46pm | Report comment
in regards to the old line of that the wallabies dont have the cattle to compete. when has this ever been different? australia has always had a strong squad of 30 players and not much more. there are now 2 extra teams in oz to groom players, they may not have the same purpose as kiwi players in the same situation but still enough to select a top full strength side.
how come the old lack of cattle line is never never trotted out after a win?? deans is in a lot of ways the problem because he is the one who puts the team together and has the control on who to develop. his fans claim that he is solely responsible for developing certain players but is not responsible for not putting the right cattle on the field?? not much of a contradiction is it there fellas!!
great coach with the saders but damn, how good were those teams? when you have an allblack front row and AM/DC running the show, how can they not be successful?
the chest beating is laughable and pretty understandable considering the lack of success, so any result is a god send to the average fan. it may be sport and for our enjoyment, but it is the players/coaches etc paying jobs. the fun factor lie is used to get kids to play, not for grown men and women to excuse what is a very high paid profession from losses or poor performance. i certainly dont invest my time, money and energy into the my sporting teams to just excuse poor performance because it is supposed to be a release from something in my daily life.
i play sport for enjoyment and to win, but if it was my JOB, then it becomes a job like any other, and i have the responsibility to perform.
on any legitimate criteria deans should not hold his position, but if its all about the WC, then his contract isnt up now is it? if the results dont follow then how can his contract be renewed. his fans cant claim he is the messiah, if he forgets to bring the bread and wine to the table.
being a cantab myself, it annoys me now that i have to see the real robbie as opposed to the god we saw when he was at home.
point is the wallabies have sufficient players to put in a strong team, deans just has too much love for pop gun attack as opposed to a strong team dynamic. all we ever hear about from the media and hence the average punter is what the backs are going to do, and how they will do it. unfortunately there seems to be either too much blind faith or absolute rage from supporters and detractors alike and hence both sets of opinions lose value. u should be like us kiwis, brag because our team wins, but understand that we can get done in any game and have to earn our results and keep working hard. have a bit of middle ground, we need to think like this because we have you sniping ozzies reminding us about bill all the damn time!!
August 13th 2011 @ 12:29am
Moreton Bait said | August 13th 2011 @ 12:29am | Report comment
Guys, Australia has always had to punch above its’ weight in International rugby. We don’t have the player numbers, depth, experience or traditions of NZ and SA (or England & France for that matter). Wallabies have, however, won 2 world cups selecting squads from mainly 2 – 3 states/ territories, ie a smaller player pool. And produced two world cup-winning coaches who marshaled those players and oversaw the campaigns – take a bow Bob Dwyer and Rod MacQueen. Not a bad record.
O’Neill wanted Deans in ’07 and he probably was the best applicant for the job at that time. I think most supported the appointment – some were shocked to see a non-Aussie appointed. Perhaps for that reason, he was over-hyped (deified!) to counter any nationalist backlashes.Hype and deification is always ridiculous in Pro sport or business cause it is a very tough job dependent upon many variables. KPIs must always be in play. Accountability. Dean’s record of performance with the Wallabies is currently not good. The next 2 Tri-Nations games and this RWC tournament provide an opportunity for him to improve his record.
1. It is ridiculous to even consider renewing his contract right now. The obvious time for performance review is post RWC
2.The performence of Williams and Nucifora deserve thorough review
3. Kicking coaching with Van Straaten via Skype should be reviewed (or drop-kicked)
No need for this to become an emotional, irrational argument – let’s keep it professional (listening ARU) and get rid of the deification & hype.
Meanwhile, I wish Robbie Deans and the Wallabies the best and will support them every time they turn out. Go Wallabies!