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In the business world, managing expectations is a crucial ability. Estimates are supplied to a project manager, who takes into account the resources we have at our disposal, our ability and experience, the complexity of the task at hand, and any potential roadblocks that could stop a timely delivery.
We take this approach because it’s a way of making a commitment without making a commitment.
Save for an extraordinary development either way, you get a result without surprising or disappointing anyone.
The same is quickly becoming true in professional sport. We seek solace in the fact our club is ‘taking it one week at a time’. When they do not publicly identify targets, we are told ‘being up for the challenge’ should suffice. Justifying a game plan becomes ‘doing the simple things right’, opponents are ‘unpredictable’, and unsavoury types ‘colourful’.
It seems an entire language has popped up to lessen the blow of perceived failure, and while this is sensible to a degree, smoothing out the lows can also smoothen out the highs. It can stop people daring to dream.
Let me use my beloved Melbourne Rebels as an example.
In our first year, expectations weren’t really an issue. If the players turned up and tried as hard as they could, the die-hards were thrilled. We finally had the game we loved in Victoria, represented by a group of outstanding young gentlemen who believed in the culture that the club was trying to foster. Our expectation was to begin building something we could be proud of, and in this respect, the Rebels were a raging success.
As the franchise enters its second year, and the new becomes the familiar, a greater spotlight will be shone on the on-field exploits of the Rebels.
The side will, rightly, attempt to manage the expectations of a membership, and a public that is split between appreciating the need for patience, and equating the team’s high-profile recruits with instant success.
Said recruits, on their first day in front of the cameras at their new home, put it perfectly. James O’Connor, when asked about his expectations for the year, stated “[I] don’t want to look too far ahead, but if you look at the training, everything’s coming together really well”.
Kurtley Beale answered the same question with: “We’ll take it game by game and face the challenges ahead of us.”
Both answers are fair enough. How should either player know what to expect when they have just begun playing in a new environment, especially one that has yet to fully define itself?
What happens, though, when these answers become rote? Do we risk mediocrity becoming a par score? It can be argued that both the Western Force and the Waratahs have been victims of expectation over-management. The Force are entering their seventh season without a finals appearance, a fact met with silent chagrin by most Force fans I have encountered, and the Waratahs have the words ‘long suffering’ so ingrained into their culture, they have to hold fan forums to placate their membership, potentially becoming the club with ten thousand coaches.
As I said previously, the problem is not the managing of expectations. It is forgetting the ability to dream.
For those of you who have children in your lives, you’ll understand what I mean. That period, early in their lives, where all you can do is dream of what they might be, of what they could achieve, of all the things they are capable of. I’ve only seen it in cousins of mine, but even then, it’s incredible.
This is what I think the Force and the Waratahs lost, and something I want all Rebels supporters to cling on to, in the nascent stages of our club’s existence. By all means, be realistic in what you expect of the club in the immediate future, but don’t be afraid to dream of what will be.
Here’s one to get you started: I honestly believe the Melbourne Rebels will win Super Rugby before the Waratahs do. We are a well-built club with a second-to-none culture. The fact that we are a private for-profit business directly links successes on-field and successes in the boardroom. We worked long and hard to earn the privilege to enter Super Rugby, and as such, we will not be an also-ran. We are based in the sporting capital of the world, and your average Melbourne punter loves a winner, any winner.
Compare this to a union-run team that sees success in this competition as an entitlement that they have constantly been denied, and the result is a certainty, right?
Maybe it’s not that simple.
It’s possible this belief is just the product of my natural dislike of the Waratahs, combined with an appreciation of how funny it would be to see NSW bested in its chosen sport by all of its neighbouring territories. But we can dream. No matter what may come our way in this season, or any other, we can dream.
So, people of Victoria, I implore you: buy your memberships, grab your jersey, get your scarf, and prepare to board the ride of your life a second time. Whatever happens, keep this in the back of your mind.
We can win Super Rugby, Melbourne, and one day, we will.
Never forget that.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.