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Jake White’s baby Brumbies have shown the other Australian Super rugby teams how to create a winning team, quickly.
Last night’s game against the Rebels added to this debate by demonstrating how not to create a winning team.
The Brumbies cut deep and hard, recruited youngsters and dreamt of the future.
This reset the supporters’ expectations to zero. They hired a coach in Jake White who had already proven he could mould disparate groups into a cohesive unit focused on one goal.
Just eight games into the season, the results are there to be seen. The youngsters have stood up.
The Rebels chose the other path, the supposedly safer lower risk option. They recruited experienced players and dreamt of days gone by. One man’s experienced player is another man’s journeyman or has-been.
Sadly, Lipman, Campbell, Byrnes, Blake, Freier, Holmes, Davidson, Johansson, Hilgendorf, Huxley and Gerrard have been found wanting. Even the mighty Rod McQueen’s legacy has been tarnished.
The Rebels even boasted of the number of captains in their 22, from memory 11.
In year two, they added Beale and O’Connor. Any chef will tell you that gravy will enhance a well cooked meal but cannot mask a poor one.
There was significant sentiment in the choice of several players; I include Huxley’s brave return from a brain tumour, Lipman’s return home after a distasteful departure from Bath and England, and the chance that Tim Davidson would finally succeed at Super level after such outstanding success in the Shute Shield.
The Rebels’ standout players in 2012 have been their youngsters such as Lachlan Mitchell, Luke Jones, Hugh Pyle, Tom Chamberlain and Nick Phipps (though suffering second season blues). The standouts have not been their numerous former captains.
Workhorses Delve and Robinson are to be commended for their efforts but they are the exception rather than the rule.
The Brumbies removed almost all of their underperforming players in one fell swoop, Wallaby or not. They retained only Alexander and Moore and newbie Wallaby Pat McCabe.
Further, they recruited talented young players who were desperate to play Super Rugby. In doing this, they handed starting jerseys to Matt Toomua, Christian Lealiifano, Nick White, Michael Hooper, Scott Fardy, Joseph Tomane, Jesse Mogg et al.
In a rebuilding team such as the Brumbies, a starting jersey for a young player is a big deal, because the player knows that a good performance will consolidate their position rather than see them returned to the bench when the big-name incumbent returns.
For the Brumbies, there are more youngsters to come. Prior, Colby, Fainga’a, Robbie Coleman and Cam Crawford can all play.
A youth policy is not new when rebuilding a sporting team. Just ask Ewen McKenzie, or perversely, Rod McQueen when he established the Brumbies.
The Rebels are now at least two years behind the Brumbies.
How could the Rebels get it so wrong?
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.