The Waratahs are Wallaby killers
Roar Guru By stillmissit, 21 May 2012 stillmissit is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Michael Foley, NSW Waratahs, Rugby Union, Super Rugby
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I had the painful experience of watching the ‘talent’ wasted by the Waratahs against the Stormers. You could almost read the pain on Berrick Barnes face as he kicked and kicked and kicked.
It then dawned on me that he must have felt that by following this brain dead strategy he was kicking his Wallaby chance away.
Then there is Rob Horne, one of the really talented Waratahs. He did nothing but tackle all day as the Stormers ran the ball back at him from our aimless stupid kicks. His chances of a Wallaby jersey are non existent.
Rocky Elsom tried hard and by pushing things, to try to overcome the lack of ball in hand, gave away a pile of penalties. It’s questionable whether Robbie Deans will take him at his current showing.
Adam Ashley-Cooper was another who put in but found it impossible to shine and had to go looking for the ball, which he did well. He could get a spot in the Wallabies. Bernard Foley like Ashley-Cooper was trying but is unlikely to make the squad.
Both wings will not see a Wallaby jersey as they rarely got any ball. Who knows if they have real talent against serious opposition if the Waratahs do not give them any ball?
Of those that tried within the confines of this madhouse of 1990′s rugby, Dave Dennis stood out and may have earned himself a spot in the squad. Ben Robinson, Kane Douglas and apart from the dropped balls and penalties given Sekope Kepu tried.
Several of the old hands here at The Roar have been on about getting a top quality coach for a few years and I have often added my name to those posts.
Foley is not up to the level needed for the talent he has at his disposal. Chris Hickey was the same. EWen McKenzie didn’t do well, but is now heading a successful Reds team. You cannot win a war with part of your army missing in action and this has been the Waratahs ongoing, deep seated problem.
The basic rule of coaching is the same as corporate management – good managers make things happen!
All Foley is doing is killing Wallabies.
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- Explore:
- Michael Foley, NSW Waratahs, Rugby Union, Super Rugby
May 21st 2012 @ 7:06am
Damo said | May 21st 2012 @ 7:06am | Report comment
Yes but if the Tahs were treated as a business and not a hobby there would be a massive overhaul.
Defining the raison d’être of the organization would be a starting point.
And from that point my bet would be that optimum design of a rugby team/culture would not be an expensive unsupported bunker based in the eastern suburbs of an eastern city on the edge of a massive state.
May 21st 2012 @ 7:34am
stillmissit said | May 21st 2012 @ 7:34am | Report comment
Damo – I agree but that is becoming history as other teams apart from Randwick and Uni are getting their day in the sun. Penrith beat Randwick last Saturday and Manly and Warrigah are top of the Shute Shield.
The Waratahs it could be argued are too much a team with too much passion at the organisational end and too little at the playing end. Therefore the administrators think, we have bought great players ‘the only coach needed is the one to take them to a game’, to steal a ‘Warnyism’.
May 21st 2012 @ 7:51am
Ben S said | May 21st 2012 @ 7:51am | Report comment
As a European I cannot quite grasp this constant bogeyman hunt that surrounds the Waratahs each season. McKenzie and Hickey were panned on the Roar, and now the same is happening to Foley. Phil Waugh took a lot of blame too. Maybe it’s just that the Waratahs don’t actually have that good a roster of players? There are some very, very average players in the Waratahs 22.
May 21st 2012 @ 8:39am
stillmissit said | May 21st 2012 @ 8:39am | Report comment
BenS – that is because we disagree with you regarding the player talent available to the Tahs. They always under perform in NSW and become giant killers away from us. The Brumbies built the most successful franchises in Australia on NSW discards – says a lot really doesn’t it?
May 21st 2012 @ 8:48am
Ben S said | May 21st 2012 @ 8:48am | Report comment
The same players have been selected by the same coaches for the past few seasons now. There must be a reason for that.
May 21st 2012 @ 2:00pm
jeznez said | May 21st 2012 @ 2:00pm | Report comment
Could poor selecting be the reason?
Dan Palmer was left out of the 22 behind Al Baxter so he left. Timani and Douglas have to split a game between themselves while Mumm plays 80 minutes each week. There have been better options available that the selectors have ignored.
May 21st 2012 @ 9:21pm
Ben S said | May 21st 2012 @ 9:21pm | Report comment
True, but why have the three most recent coaches (including Deans) made the same selections?
May 22nd 2012 @ 10:34pm
Minz said | May 22nd 2012 @ 10:34pm | Report comment
I was sitting next to a knowledgeable and involved ‘Tahs supporter at the Brumbies a couple of weeks ago… he claimed that selections in NSW are politics-dominated and that’s why it doesn’t work so well. Makes as much sense as anything else, no?
May 22nd 2012 @ 11:06pm
Ben S said | May 22nd 2012 @ 11:06pm | Report comment
Yes and no. Why would coaches undertake a role with the Waratahs if that were true though?
May 21st 2012 @ 8:01am
Damo said | May 21st 2012 @ 8:01am | Report comment
Stillmissit, it is not a case of players or coach or even the executive, in themselves. It’s the whole show.
The Waratahs strengths are their weaknesses. Player talent, money, access to best facilities, biggest(potential) fan base.
But these ingredients come to nought without proper cooking.
I once was offered a cup of tea in a village in Papua. The kettle had water, tea leaves, milk and sugar in it. Then it was brought to boil.
It didn’t taste like it was meant to.
Rugby Franchises that have the right cultural ingredients cooked properly taste like they are meant to.
Brumbies Rebels Reds and even Force do.
Tahs don’t.
Tahs don’t just need new ingredients or even a new chef.
Tahs need a whole new kitchen.
May 21st 2012 @ 8:37am
stillmissit said | May 21st 2012 @ 8:37am | Report comment
Damo – love the analogy. I think this is a truism to some extent. My experience in life tells me that one person with the right vision and strength changes everything without throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Great managers/coaches make babies grow into men.
May 22nd 2012 @ 8:44am
Matthew Skellett said | May 22nd 2012 @ 8:44am | Report comment
Right on the money Demo that’s why I think the only solution is for the ARU to take back the franchise licences for tne NSWRU and give it to someone else/ some other entity , it’s the only way we will get bang for our hard-earned .
May 21st 2012 @ 8:51am
Red Kev said | May 21st 2012 @ 8:51am | Report comment
wallaby killers … all I can picture is Foley stuffing Barnes, Horne and co into a hessian sack with a couple of bricks and drowning them in a lake
May 21st 2012 @ 8:55am
kingplaymaker said | May 21st 2012 @ 8:55am | Report comment
Good point that who knows how good those wings are in such a badly coached backline, and when the team kicks most of the time.
And who knows how much talent is not brought on from the larger squad.
May 21st 2012 @ 9:46am
Harry said | May 21st 2012 @ 9:46am | Report comment
One thing I’ve learnt from many years experience, regardless of how poorly the Tahs teams are going, come Wallaby selection time there is always huge noise generated from Sydney to pick as many New South Welshman as possible.
This year it seems to be Dave Dennis who while being consistent hasn’t done anything standout, apart from being on the field in losses to the Highlanders, Saders, Bulls and Stormers (you’d think the Tahs could have one at least one of those, useless bunch). The two form big backrowers are clearly Higginbotham and Mowem, both ahead of Dennis – and it would be better with the Brums number 8, Rocky or even Palu if you are looking for a bench player with impact.
May 21st 2012 @ 9:58am
Grimmace said | May 21st 2012 @ 9:58am | Report comment
The week in week out debarcle that is the Waratahs. it doesan’t seem to worry them, even the unflappable Link was visibly getting annoyed at the Reds losing streak, but those at NSW are like Michael Clarke and couldn’t care less, maybe its a NSW thing?
I’m at the point where I have as much empathy for the ‘tahs as I do for any NZ or Saffa team. And thats sad as I’ve spent a lot of my working life in NSW as well as playing for and running Rugby Clubs in NSW. As mentioned in other threads the board especially needs a clean out- look what it did in QLD.
May 21st 2012 @ 10:33am
stillmissit said | May 21st 2012 @ 10:33am | Report comment
Grimmace – I guess we are in the same boat. I played for 5 years at the end of my time in Sydney and then reff’d for 20 years. It seems that the passion and urgency of some of us is not reflected in the Tahs and that rankles. Although it could be that the thinking is wrong, I know that some people get into a certain method of thinking in reaction to poor performance – conservatism becomes very attractive, it is not the answer.
They really need to utilise some of the old players and coaches like Rod McQueen to bring in new ideas but the key thing is to appoint the right coach and they seem incapable of choosing a good one. Maybe McQueen should be on the interview panel?
May 21st 2012 @ 10:01am
allblackfan said | May 21st 2012 @ 10:01am | Report comment
Michael Foley was assistant coach for Fiji at last year’s RWC.
I went to the Fiji-Samoa game and it was the most dour, forward-oriented and clueless game I think I had ever seen Fiji play.
May 21st 2012 @ 10:11am
Johnno said | May 21st 2012 @ 10:11am | Report comment
Foley destroyed Fiji’s world cup campaign he is soley to blame for it I went to the match too, it was very sad to see, now he Foley is destroying the Tahs.
May 21st 2012 @ 10:21am
jameswm said | May 21st 2012 @ 10:21am | Report comment
Robinson, TPN, Kepu, Douglas, both Timanis, Palu, Alcock, Elsom, Dennis, Barnes, Horne, BFoley, Mitchell, Turner – I don’t think quality of players is the issue. The Tahs have a strong enough squad on paper.
It’s coaching a game plan and backs. The forwards are good, but the Tahs haven’t worked out how to have them win games for you yet.
Having said that there are some like Mumm and Hangers who really shouldn’t be in the squad any more.
May 21st 2012 @ 10:45am
stillmissit said | May 21st 2012 @ 10:45am | Report comment
Jameswm – Totally agree, the squad is not the issue and it never has been it is the approach, ability and the focus of the coach that is missing. I guess that a new coach comes in and looks at the squad and thinks this is going to be OK some minor challenges but it looks good.
You would have thought that Alan Gaffney and Scott Bowen would have the backs running like a nuclear clock but instead it more like a broken cuckoo clock .
I bet there are a few arguments amongst the coaching squad, I would love to be a fly on the wall in one of those meetings…..
May 21st 2012 @ 11:23am
Bakkies said | May 21st 2012 @ 11:23am | Report comment
The Tahs are a paper team, always have been. Don’t know why McKenzie was called a failure in the original post. He took them to the Final, SFS had 30,000 at nearly every home game, the team had proper marketing. Then they sacked the man that made more competitive and successful (by Tahs standards) and remember he took over a team that lost 96-19 and 50 put on them the week after in a home semi final (which was the Brumbies only win in Sydney).