In defence of John Connolly’s record
Roar Rookie By rob mccourt, 3 Oct 2011 rob mccourt is a Roar Rookie
- Tagged:
- John Connolly, John O’Neill, robbie deans, Rugby Union, Rugby World Cup, Rugby World Cup 2011, RWC, RWC2011, wallabies
As this Wallabies World Cup campaign lurches from disaster to disaster the heat will surely be applied to the executive and spin doctors of the ARU.
The Cup is not yet over and it may be that I and many others will have to stand up in due course and concede that Robbie Deans is indeed a genius and that John O’Neill is a manager extrordinaire.
After our second half display against Russia, though, one would have to be an extreme optimist to imagine the Wallabies winning three games in a row.
We were awful and the reality is that if another quarter final exit does not beckon then a semi final exit almost certainly does.
John O’Neill in defending his appointment and reappointment of Robbie Deans has said on numerous occasions that Deans has brought Australia from an IRB Ranking of 5 to a ranking of 2.
That was correct as at the beginning of the Cup and using a ranking as at the conclusion of the last World Cup.
Inherent in O’Neill’s comments is an unfair and cowardly criticism of John Connolly the coach who preceded Deans.
Let’s forget for the moment that Knuckles win-loss record is far superior to Deans. Knuckles was appointed at the end of the Eddie Jones’ tenure. He filled the gap at a time when Australian Rugby was struggling.
Much maligned by New South Welshmen, Connolly was an excellent coach a good manager of young men, and in fact a devotee of expansive play. He just happened to think that you had to have a good mongrel pack of forwards to help those backs get going.
And if he was as negative as so many southern critics think how did Lynagh, Horan, Little and so many others flourish under him? And how was Queensland so successful?
O’Neill’s spin doctors would have us believe that Knuckles left us after a disastrous reign as coach with Australia ranked 5 and that Deans the saviour (and thus O’Neill) have saved Australian rugby.
That is a cowardly slur on a decent man and a good coach and servant of Australian rugby.
The facts as the ARU will not tell you: When Connolly took over in February 2006 Australia were ranked 5. When we commenced the World Cup in 2007 we were ranked 2. (Connolly had done exactly what O’Neill has praised Deans for doing, lifting our ranking from 5 to 2!)
A quarter final exit which is certainly on the cards will most probably leave us at a rank of 5.
What then will the spin doctors say?
This has been a disastrous campaign. I may well have to eat humble pie and if needs be my hand will be raised accepting responsibility for unfair criticism of Deans. However I suspect that humble pie will not be on the menu.
Deans has had four years with support beyond that given to Jones or Connolly. We still have no idea what our best back row is. We have no idea what our best 12/13 combination is.
Our scrum has reached something below parity at best. We are inconsistent. We lack mongrel pride and fight. We picked at least 5 players back from injury who were not match fit and are now paying the consequences.
And this from the coaching guru who seems to have a never ending store of Chauncey Gardiner quotes responding to the latest disaster.
“We will learn from this experience.” Which one? There have been so many.
I don’t suggest that we bring back Knuckles. He wouldn’t come. I do suggest that it is time for some honest appraisal of our performance both at coaching and managerial level.
Whilst the spin doctors rule, no one benefits.
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October 3rd 2011 @ 9:03am
johnny-boy said | October 3rd 2011 @ 9:03am | Report comment
You’re kind of damning John Connolly with faint praise cos anybody looks good next to the curent dill.
October 6th 2011 @ 1:15pm
cookee said | October 6th 2011 @ 1:15pm | Report comment
jb ,nice mate ,connolly is my choice over deans dismal record.
success at rwc will shut most critics up but deans record is running out of spin?
October 3rd 2011 @ 10:56am
sixo_clock said | October 3rd 2011 @ 10:56am | Report comment
Connolly’s record was achieved with a lot better playing group than Dingo’s. He paid the price for an early exit from the 2007 WC. Larkham’s injury was pivotal. Also Rugby for the southern states does not have a blatant and counter-productive state bias with only a rabid subset of idiots excepted. If a bloke is the man for the job then give it to him, if not, NEXT!
October 4th 2011 @ 6:33am
Ben S said | October 4th 2011 @ 6:33am | Report comment
‘Connolly’s record was achieved with a lot better playing group than Dingo’s.’
Really? I don’t think that’s the case.
October 5th 2011 @ 7:59am
sixo_clock said | October 5th 2011 @ 7:59am | Report comment
Adam Ashley-Cooper, Berrick Barnes, Alistair Baxter, Mark Chisholm, Sam Cordingley, Matt Dunning, Rocky Elsom, Adam Freier, Mark Gerrard, Matt Giteau, George Gregan (vc), Sean Hardman, Stephen Hoiles, Greg Holmes, Julian Huxley, Stephen Larkham, Chris Latham, David Lyons, Hugh McMeniman, Drew Mitchell, Stephen Moore, Stirling Mortlock (c), Wycliff Palu, Nathan Sharpe, Guy Shepherdson, George Smith, Scott Staniforth, Lote Tuqiri, Dan Vickerman, Phil Waugh (vc).
Highlighted are the game breakers we have lost and not replaced in all cases.
October 5th 2011 @ 8:05am
Ben S said | October 5th 2011 @ 8:05am | Report comment
* Gregan was finished in 2007 and Larkham and Latham were on their last legs.
* Gerrard was never a dominant Test player.
* Deans could have kept Smith.
I thought Connolly inherited a very mediocre set of players.
October 5th 2011 @ 5:35pm
sixo_clock said | October 5th 2011 @ 5:35pm | Report comment
That still leaves two centres, one arguably one of the greatest, in a pivotal positions with which to build a winning formula. Lyons’ injury problems also made his contribution negligible, ditto Palu so why were they in the squad? Gerrard was a great defender/attacker off the bench and could cover centre, wing or fullback. I was not privy to Smiths reasoning, but I understood he had had enough test Rugby. Connolly also had some youngsters, AAC, Barnes, Drew etc showing good promise but still went out too early. That squad had enough firepower to at least make the semis or final. Mediocre, I don’t think so.
October 5th 2011 @ 8:16pm
Ben S said | October 5th 2011 @ 8:16pm | Report comment
Gerrard was never a great Test player by any standard, so your argument rests on Mortlock basically.
The squad was packed with players either too old, or too young or simply not good enough: Dunning, Hardman, Sheperdson, Chisholm, Hoiles, Palu, Freier, Huxley, Cordingley, Baxter.
Australia should have beaten England, but they didn’t for myriad reasons. IMHO the current Wallaby squad is far superior in terms of talent, and yet still as flawed as the 2007 version.
October 5th 2011 @ 8:20pm
Johnno said | October 5th 2011 @ 8:20pm | Report comment
sixo/clock agreed with most bolds. But david Pocock has been a suitable replacement for george smith and may end up better than him. Will genia has also been of world calss standard like george gregan. Gerrard never world class and gitau way overrate but for 1 or 2 high quality years not exceptional i am saying high quality there is adifference
October 3rd 2011 @ 11:38am
peterlala said | October 3rd 2011 @ 11:38am | Report comment
Sydney journalist and former Wallaby Peter Fitzsimons said of Connolly, “He must be a bad coach…i can understand what he’s talking about.” Or words to that effect.
October 3rd 2011 @ 11:59am
PeterK said | October 3rd 2011 @ 11:59am | Report comment
The major point I disagree with is your reference to picking players back from injury who were not match fit.
Since match fitness is the issue I would also add Vickerman since he had not played high level rugby for a few years.
Let us list those players
Slipper, TPN, Vickerman, Elsom (only played 1 super game), Palu, Mitchell, Barnes, and Horne.
So that is 8 players that were not really match fit at intl level.
So out of those 2 Palu and Mitchell have been a total loss, gone back injured. Personally I would also add Horne since even if he makes it how he could make the 22 is beyond me.
That leaves 5 players that have really improved the side.
Slipper, TPN, Vickerman, Elsom and Barnes.
Of these 2 maybe 3 will be starters in Vickerman, Elsom and Barnes.
If these 5 players were NOT picked for the squad that means we would have
Maafu on the bench (far worse than Slipper)
Faingaa on the bench (far worse than TPN)
Sharpe starting and Simmons on the bench (far worse than Vickerman starting and Sharpe on the bench) maybe even Simmons starting since he is a favourite
Higginbotham starting, and BOTH McCalman and Hodgson on the bench, once again far worse than Elsom starting and Higginbotham on bench with one of the 2 journeymen.
McCabe or Faingaa starting and the other on the bench. Which menas we limit tactical options of not having another playmaker and a reserve quality kicker if JoC is missing them.
October 3rd 2011 @ 12:06pm
johnny-boy said | October 3rd 2011 @ 12:06pm | Report comment
PK – I agree Simmons must slip off the radar for Sharpe. I like him especially as he is a Red but Sharpes experience at this level is invaluable. Unfortunately once again I dont think Deans thinks he can be seen as a hero for developing for Simmons, if he picks Sharpe. I could not beleive how out of shape Maafu looks. You’d think he’d have some pride in wearing the Wallaby jersey but it looks like he takes it as a given he is a Deans pet and can get away with it.
October 3rd 2011 @ 5:27pm
AC said | October 3rd 2011 @ 5:27pm | Report comment
You can’t go past Sharpe with ball-in-hand — they guy always gets in a low body position and drives forward across the gain line. That’s exactly what we want the locks to do. And he gets well stuck in at those rucks. Sharpe over Simmons any day of the week. Sharpe over Vickerman too…
October 3rd 2011 @ 9:26pm
GPC said | October 3rd 2011 @ 9:26pm | Report comment
yep, ive been defending the selections of those guys all along as well. if those are fit and firing, we can win this thing, without them, we were doomed anyway.
October 3rd 2011 @ 9:50pm
Justin said | October 3rd 2011 @ 9:50pm | Report comment
TPN is a better player when fit. On the evidence of Ireland he is FAR inferior to SF right now. Why didn’t TPN get more match time on Saturday, presuming he is going to play offthe bench come Sunday. Elsom has played one good match. Horne was luckiest guy in AUS and should be home already along with McCabe
October 4th 2011 @ 10:28am
Bakkies said | October 4th 2011 @ 10:28am | Report comment
Saia Faingaa is rubbish. Can’t scrummage, can’t throw a hooker in a flanker’s body. TPN needs to learn how to tackle properly then he won’t miss so much rugby. The Waratahs should have corrected it years ago
October 4th 2011 @ 3:14pm
Scot Free said | October 4th 2011 @ 3:14pm | Report comment
Yep, Justin. Horne sure was lucky to break his cheekbone in his very first tackle after a long layoff.
October 3rd 2011 @ 1:45pm
Gary Russell-Sharam said | October 3rd 2011 @ 1:45pm | Report comment
A great summation Rob McCourt, I agree with every word. In the corporate world Deans would have been sacked long ago based on performance. Lets face it this is a performance industry like when players don’t have a good performance they get dropped. I was always of the opinion that Coaches were in the same category but somehow Deans seems to be absolved from any responsibility. I note that in recent times he has tended towards diverting blame for a loss from the coaching staff to laying it on the players and their attitude. I’m over his taciturn ways and his little sayings I just would like to get some results. As R M says if the Wallabies win the WC I will be the first to eat humble pie and publicly apologize, however unfortunately I remain convinced that that will not happen.
October 5th 2011 @ 1:30am
ThelmaWrites said | October 5th 2011 @ 1:30am | Report comment
I think you are over-simplifying the corporate world, GRS.
October 3rd 2011 @ 3:25pm
Pete in Singapore said | October 3rd 2011 @ 3:25pm | Report comment
Couldn’t agree more with this article. The unfair manner in which Connolly has been treated has been appalling and it is pathetic to see how his supposedly poor record is used to support the appointment and the disgracefully opaque re-apointment of Deans. See Spiro’s article on this website on 17 August for a good example of this sort of commentary he even trots out the tired old argument that only Queenslanders spring to the support of Connolly). Connolly has been one of the great men of Australian rugby, far more so than O’Neill and his cabal in the media and elsewhere. And I am a New South Welshman in case anyone is wondering.
October 3rd 2011 @ 8:35pm
Redsareback said | October 3rd 2011 @ 8:35pm | Report comment
I’ve seen enough to say Australia can go all the way.
Winning the Tri Nations is reasonable form for me.
And Northern Hemisphere sides have won one cup and that was in extra time.
I didn’t agree with picking a NZ coach but he has got enough world class players to make him look good.
James Horwell and Will Genia believe in themselves and have played like leaders.
So bring it on.
It has got that American Cup feeling – down 3 zip with one race to go !!!!!
Mark Corones
PS Connelly was a good coach but in the wrong place at the wrong time of Australian Rugby.
October 3rd 2011 @ 9:43pm
Bakkies said | October 3rd 2011 @ 9:43pm | Report comment
One blight on Connolly’s Qld record was that his Reds team failed to win the Super 12 and they struggled to score tries. That team was far superior to the one that won this year.
Eales
Horan
Little
Damien Smith
Connors
Kefu
Wilson
Cockbain
Herbert
Tune
Latham
Foley
Unbelievable talent and couldn’t take them to the Final.
October 3rd 2011 @ 9:56pm
Justin said | October 3rd 2011 @ 9:56pm | Report comment
They won 2 Super 10 finals mate so I think back to back is a pretty significant effort.
October 4th 2011 @ 12:20am
Bakkies said | October 4th 2011 @ 12:20am | Report comment
There were no Brumbies back then (a team they have only beaten three times), the comp was split in two pools and the NZ teams were NPC provinces
October 4th 2011 @ 10:20pm
The Other White Wendell said | October 4th 2011 @ 10:20pm | Report comment
There were no Force or Melbourne either and there had been no female Prime Minister and the twin towers were still standing and Anthony Mundine was still a footy player and Jonny Farnham hadn’t retired yet and blah blah fuggin blah.
make all the excuses you want Bakkies QLD won the comp that was they played in and Connolly was the coach.
October 5th 2011 @ 9:32am
Bakkies said | October 5th 2011 @ 9:32am | Report comment
Like I said it was in an amateur era where they didn’t play half of the teams in the competition.
October 3rd 2011 @ 10:59pm
Rugby realist said | October 3rd 2011 @ 10:59pm | Report comment
Gosh…….this all sounds familiar to a NZ supporter. Enjoying reading all the similar fears from an Aus p.o.v
”We still have no idea what our best back row is. We have no idea what our best 12/13 combination is.”
Replace back row with second row, replace centres with halfback and outside backs for NZ, although at least outsides are almost finalised, in the knockout stages of a WC!
October 4th 2011 @ 9:01am
Jerry said | October 4th 2011 @ 9:01am | Report comment
What? There’s no doubt in my mind (or it seems, the selectors) that Whitelock/Thorn is the first string combination. The only question is which of Boric or Williams will be on the bench (once enough loose forwards are fit that we aren’t required to have Boric as loose forward reserve). Though it was a bit weird to see all 4 locks on the pitch the other day.
October 4th 2011 @ 10:30am
Bakkies said | October 4th 2011 @ 10:30am | Report comment
The best one was Macdonald at 13 when Umaga was fit. Thanks Mitch.
October 4th 2011 @ 2:48am
Johnno said | October 4th 2011 @ 2:48am | Report comment
Maybe it was his assistants John Muggleton and Scott Johnson to blame. Will dingo blame his assistants eg Norieaga and Williams if we lose. I still can not believe John O’neil signed Robbie Deans up until 2013 before the world cup has even ended. It just does not make good business snese. Surely a team does a review of the world cup then reviews where to next for the 4 year cycle. Simply baffling ARU bad business designs, were you afraid you would lose Robbie Deans i’m not. He can go home as far as im concerned. Wait on he is home lol. If Deans was free agent now i can guarantee they would want Kieran Crowley ahead of Deans. And Crowley actually does meet the NZRU eligibility criteria as he has coached in NZ for 3 consecutive years in the last 5 years. He has been in the NZ papers they have been talking him up, I hope he gets it he has done an amazing job with Canada a team with far less talent then the AB’S. Think of what he could do with the All Black talent at his disposal