CAMPO: Let’s look to the past to kickstart the future
Columnist By David Campese, 18 Oct 2012 David Campese is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- John ONeill, Rugby Union, wallabies
149 Have your say
John O'Neill, (L) with Australian Rugby Union (ARU) chairman Michael Hawker (R), speaks at a press conference in Sydney on October 12, 2012 after an announcement that he will stand down as the ARU chief executive at the end of October 2012. (AFP Photo / Greg Wood)
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So John O’Neill has finally stepped aside. I’m wondering why he didn’t he take the underperforming Robbie Deans with him.
O’Neill, in my humble opinion, has effectively destroyed our rugby history and left us destitute. He seemed totally consumed with leaving his mark behind.
And he sure did a great job of that.
History will always remind us of low Australian rugby fell with O’Neill at the helm.
A few years back, I was watching the Wallabies play the Springboks in Queensland. I was returning to my seat at one point when I came across a gathering of some of the greats of the game – Ken Catchpole and others from his era.
It turns out they were having their 40 year reunion. There was no official function, no gala event, no bells and whistles for some of our finest ever players and their partners.
Just a few beers, some camping chairs, and a basket of chips.
This infuriated me. How disgraceful and what utter disrespect to the history of Australian rugby and those who contributed to the rise of one of the most dominant rugby nations.
Only in Australia.
The modern Australian players seem to know or care little about the past. I suppose it’s not all their fault.
They haven’t been inspired or reminded of the feats of the greats before them, all thanks to the influence of O’Neill.
He made it clear he was determined to wipe the slate clean of the past and use an autocratic approach to controlling every single aspect of administering the Australian Rugby Union.
I’ve become even more aware of this lately as I’m currently travelling in the UK for a month speaking and coaching kids.
At these functions, I often hear former players like Sean Fitzpatrick speak about the wonderful history of New Zealand rugby. It is so interesting and inspiring to hear these stories.
In response, I find myself, embarrassingly, with not much to say or reflect on.
And it’s reinforced again when you see first-hand just how passionate fans in Wales, Scotland and England are about their rugby. They just love the game, and they appreciate and thrive on its traditions.
In 1996, my last year of rugby for the Wallabies, we had a team meeting at which JON, who was CEO, announced that they were bringing out a new Wallaby jersey. They were then modeled to us and the media, with O’Neill gushing that he wanted the players’ opinion on them and that the design would be done in ‘collaboration with the players.’
Do you think we were even asked our opinion? As with all other decisions, it had already been made.
It was just a show for the cameras and a photo opportunity for the ARU.
On a positive note, there is hope that O’Neill’s decision to step aside will usher in a more positive era for Australian rugby, one where respect for the past and planning for the future will happily sit side-by-side.
There is no doubt we are crying out for it.
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- John ONeill, Rugby Union, wallabies
October 18th 2012 @ 6:29am
Johnno said | October 18th 2012 @ 6:29am | Report comment
I agree with a lot of what Campo has said int his article and disagree with a lot too
-I agree on the history part. one of the reasons why teams like NZ do well is they always go on about the history and educate the next crop of players not his history. Plenty of docos on tv over the years on history of NZ rugby, not so much in OZ if any. So he is right there. JON was not an ex-wallaby I think he is a man who just just lives in the now today nothing wrong with that., and maybe he does or doesn’t care about rugby history i don’t know. I don;t know if it is being an ex- banker makes him pragmatic and lives in the now ,perhaps like a lot of bankers do. But if JON just lives in the now and is not a traditionalist or overly sentimental then that is fine with me.
For me I would define JON in his 2nd term anyway as very cautious he didn’t seem to rock the boat too much, and only now is he speaking up a bit on some of the issues being more vocals now he is leaving and the shackles have been broken. The 3rd tier stuff and acknowledging more money has to go into a 3rd tier comp whatever it turns out to be format wise.
And a lot of this is reflected in this aittude towards the 3rd tier and lack of spending on junior development. JON himself has now acknowledged not directly himself but used the word including ours in admitting to neglect club rugby meaning the ARU. he believes we have a 3rd tier and just need to rebuild it. What nonsense we need a an ARC free of the old clubs in shut shield and hospitals cup
But on the subject of this i do agree with JON and to quote Campo’s line in the article
“The decision had already been made to bring in the new jerseys. Money. Money. Money.”
Just as the AB’S have found it you gotta have money in the bank otherwise you can’t pay the top players, they go overseas. So JON is right there he could realise the commercial realities, and like me if i was hear of the ARU i would like JOn did face up to the commercial realites and put tradition aside. SO well done on that one JON i would do exactly the same thing sponsor the jersey to death if need be and as Camp said
“In 1996, my last year of rugby for the Wallabies, things had changed and the jersey was about to look like a clown top.”
If that is what is needed then so be it i’d rather my jersey look like a clown top and stay no 1 or globally competitive than have a nice traditional jersey, stuff the tradiotnislism and sentimental personalities i say. No 1 , money and winning , should be no 1priority overtime. So I applaud JON on haven QANTAS on the walabie jersey or being called the QANTAS Wallabies all good with me, or the AIG All Blacks it;s fine with me too.
And to Quote another of campo’s lines in the article:
“Rugby is very unique sport, which is why it’s been so disappointing that some people treat it just as a business. No more, no less.”
What an amateur line. Is Campo did play the most of his playing career in the amateur era, still trapped in it or something.
Wake up Campo Pro sport is a business and JON did treat it as such a business and so would I, just as Steve Tew and the NZRU are treating rugby in NZ and the AB’S as a business.
Maybe park footy , amateur footy on weekends is amateur and amateur rugby values and traditions should apply, but at pro rugby level eg the All Blacks and Wallabies, pro values apply and making money and winning is no 1, nothing else counts. And someone made the point with the AB’S and I think the wallabies too, how else with out the AB’S having the AIG logo on there jerseys how else would they get the money,.
Big deal with the jersey being sponsored, same with the wallabies if we don’t treat the AB;S or wallabies as a business how else will they make money. So on that level JON was very right, and Steve Tew, Campo is shooing up amateur ethos and traditions saying it should be respected.
I strongly disagree with Campo about how tradition and so called rugby ethos or values so too speak should be upheld at the pro level. To be honest i was confused how rugby is unique to other sports to be honest, it does seem to come up form time to time that line but I don;t really understand it how rugby is unique to other sports. But JON and steve toe are 100% right in treating rugby as a business and disagree with Campo, it should only be run as a business and not any other way.
October 18th 2012 @ 8:56am
crip said | October 18th 2012 @ 8:56am | Report comment
You know what was great about the old days? Spelling and punctuation. This is the comments section. If your comment is more words than Campos’ article then how about just writing an article yourself?
October 18th 2012 @ 10:33am
GWS said | October 18th 2012 @ 10:33am | Report comment
October 18th 2012 @ 4:09pm
sheek said | October 18th 2012 @ 4:09pm | Report comment
October 18th 2012 @ 9:35am
cm said | October 18th 2012 @ 9:35am | Report comment
Honestly, Johnno, you DO rabbit on! Your posts are the chief reason I’ve lost interest in reading much of the Roarers’ discussions these days. Too far to scroll down to someone succinct!
October 18th 2012 @ 11:51am
redsnut said | October 18th 2012 @ 11:51am | Report comment
Johnno, if you proof read your post first it would make a lot more sense.
TBH, I don’t understand some of the stuff you post.
October 18th 2012 @ 6:34am
Bazza all black said | October 18th 2012 @ 6:34am | Report comment
It was all better in my day, we had it tough, uphill both ways to school…
October 18th 2012 @ 6:49am
aussiekiwi said | October 18th 2012 @ 6:49am | Report comment
Got up before I went to bed……
October 18th 2012 @ 10:34am
GWS said | October 18th 2012 @ 10:34am | Report comment
10 miles in the snow barefoot
October 18th 2012 @ 11:14am
DC of nz said | October 18th 2012 @ 11:14am | Report comment
And fought off the Japanese on the beaches …
October 18th 2012 @ 7:15pm
GWS said | October 18th 2012 @ 7:15pm | Report comment
With a butter knife and pet crocodile
October 18th 2012 @ 11:45am
AussieKiwi said | October 18th 2012 @ 11:45am | Report comment
I misquoted the great Monty Python. I had to get up in the morning at 10 o’clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed…….
Classic, but could be improved upon in Campo’s rugby version…….
When I was a boy,
we had to train in crocodile infested swamps,
use an echidna as a ball,
players took turns at being goal posts,
and our coach would to beat us around the head with a baseball bat after every session…..
If we lost a game he would kill us and dance on our graves…..
But we were happy then….
And if you try to tell this generation of players how it was, they won’t believe you!
October 18th 2012 @ 7:01pm
Matty Two-Tone said | October 18th 2012 @ 7:01pm | Report comment
Perfect response. Aussie Kiwi, this is exactly what this article deserves.
(To the Roar editors, every time you publish Campo’s bitter, retrograde opinion pieces you make this site look amateur.)
October 18th 2012 @ 6:54am
Rugby Tragic said | October 18th 2012 @ 6:54am | Report comment
Seems to me Campo’s beef is more about ‘him’ and what he ‘thinks he serves’ than JON.
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October 18th 2012 @ 7:36am
sheek said | October 18th 2012 @ 7:36am | Report comment
Funnily enough, I was just replying to an email from Dublin Dave who has posted on The Roar occasionally.
He alerted me to an article written by former Tahs coach Matt Williams for an Irish newspaper. Williams mentioned to his readers the massive disconnect between fans & Tahs rugby. He went on to talk about the neglect of developing the western suburbs of Sydney & several other matters.
I replied, among other things, that O’Neill has corporatised rugby & then realised the same has happened with all the footy codes & cricket.
Is this really what we want? Our sport dictated to us by money-obsessed suits? Or pony-tailed marketeers?
I guess the answer is ‘yes’, because it’s already happened.
I pondered to Dublin Dave that the players that broke away from union in England in 1895 & Australia in 1908 to play league, probably had the ‘mix’ right. Initially, they didn’t want to be paid for playing, but wanted medical insurance protection against injury & rep duties remuneration away from work/studies, when traveling interstate, inter-province, inter-county & overseas.
Many Roarers have pointed out that while today’s professional rugby players are bigger, faster, stronger, etc, their basic skills haven’t developed exponentially & they definitely aren’t any smarter. So how has professional rugby made them intuitively better?
It hasn’t .
Anyway, I think there’s a groundswell that Australian rugby needs fresh faces & new ideas. Whether we’ll be inundated with the same old rubbish, or whether the game will head off into an exciting new direction, remains to be seen.
October 18th 2012 @ 9:29am
Spiro Zavos said | October 18th 2012 @ 9:29am | Report comment
I would take anything Matt Williams says as abject nonsense. Most of the problems faced by the Waratahs over the years stem from his abysmal coaching reign. He muscled his way into the coaching job of the Waratahs by undermining Chris Hawkins. He then presided over four dismal years of the Waratahs. He just to say to me when I asked him about why the state with the most players and best record of any in Australia was so pathetic in its performances: ‘I’m working to a four-year plan.’
My reply to this nonsense was that the Waratahs had never needed a four-year plan in its history before, only a one-year plan.
Williams subsequently, and how this happened is a mystery, coached Scotland with spectacular unsuccess. More inportantly, he tried to win with gamesmanship against the Wallabies by deliberately putting them on a narrow football field at Glasgow.
Everything about Williams suggests that whatever he says about Australian rugby, and indeed rugby anywhere, needs to be discarded immediately.
October 18th 2012 @ 9:39am
Who Needs Melon said | October 18th 2012 @ 9:39am | Report comment
It’s tempting for me to take the moral high ground here and say ‘play the ball and not the man, Spiro’ but on this occasion you are actually dead right.
October 18th 2012 @ 9:40am
Ben.S said | October 18th 2012 @ 9:40am | Report comment
And all of this disqualifies Williams from talking about what sheek mentions? Because he was a poor coach (which he clearly was) his opinion on an alleged disconnect between the Waratahs and fans is irrelevant? Smells like yet another Zavos agenda being pushed in public. The media, in the majority of cases, are an absolute pox on the game IMO.
October 18th 2012 @ 9:51am
Hurl said | October 18th 2012 @ 9:51am | Report comment
It seemed to me that Spiro was pointing out the ironry of his comments. Perhaps the cause of the disconnect between the Tahs and their fans could be laid at Matt Williams feet. The Warratahs were awful under his coaching
October 18th 2012 @ 9:57am
Ben.S said | October 18th 2012 @ 9:57am | Report comment
I accept that, but dismissing somebody so personally is not on when you are a public voice. The majority of rugby reporting is now tabloidistic and vitriolic, like soccer, and I find it totally unnecessary. Williams still has an insight that could be accepted or rejected in a more appropriate manner, especially when Spiro himself appears to purposefully manipulate facts in his articles.
October 18th 2012 @ 10:23am
Justin2 said | October 18th 2012 @ 10:23am | Report comment
Ben I dont know the answer but the more important question in reality is did Williams address any of these issues when hie was there?
October 18th 2012 @ 10:22pm
Ben.S said | October 18th 2012 @ 10:22pm | Report comment
Who knows? Maybe he’s speaking with hindsight etc.
October 18th 2012 @ 1:54pm
Coxy said | October 18th 2012 @ 1:54pm | Report comment
Spiro,
Why don’t you try to argue the point rather than shooting the messenger.
Of all the pomposity that drips from your keyboard, this takes the biscuit.
Are you to tell all of us Roarers that our opinions are only valid when read in conjunction with our playing/ coaching/ administrative record in Rugby Union?
And where exactly does this place you?
How dare you discredit someone’s opinion based on his coaching ability.
In fact, I’m surprised your comment wasn’t moderated off. It’s plain insulting.
October 18th 2012 @ 4:16pm
sheek said | October 18th 2012 @ 4:16pm | Report comment
Spiro,
I’m aware that Matt Williams must be taken with a grain of salt.
However, I also think in Desiderata it says something about, “even the dull and ignorant, they too have their story.”
One thing Williams is right about is the disconnect many fans feel with the direction of the game, especially in NSW.
And the lack of penetration in Western Sydney is also visibly true.
October 18th 2012 @ 7:19pm
GWS said | October 18th 2012 @ 7:19pm | Report comment
Lack of penetration? I doubt they could find us with a map, compass and gps
October 18th 2012 @ 9:50am
Mike said | October 18th 2012 @ 9:50am | Report comment
“Many Roarers have pointed out that while today’s professional rugby players are bigger, faster, stronger, etc, their basic skills haven’t developed exponentially & they definitely aren’t any smarter.”
Would you include the ABs in that assessment?
October 18th 2012 @ 9:54am
Hurl said | October 18th 2012 @ 9:54am | Report comment
Whether they’re smarter is debatable but I think the All Blacks basic skills have improved since the professional era.
October 18th 2012 @ 4:18pm
sheek said | October 18th 2012 @ 4:18pm | Report comment
Mike/Hurl,
The basic skills of the ABs has improved, but something is amiss with the Wallas.
Are the ABs smarter? Hard to tell if they’re playing against dopes!
October 18th 2012 @ 9:58am
crip said | October 18th 2012 @ 9:58am | Report comment
We’ll be inundated with the same old rubbish Sheek you can safely bet your left testicle on that.
The only hope for Rugby is to add to Campos idea and build a time machine. Go back to the time of George Gregans’ Bledisloe Cup winning tackle 1994 and say from now on players will be paid and nothing else needs to change.
Or a new breakaway form of Rugby needs to be created (using 1994 rules of Rugby Union) and bypass the broken system – ARU, IRB and media all together.
October 18th 2012 @ 7:39am
krisl said | October 18th 2012 @ 7:39am | Report comment
ARU hired a banker and they got a bank job done……… hopefully the next tiger will address grass root rugby and rugby itself including the wallabies…….
October 18th 2012 @ 10:00am
crip said | October 18th 2012 @ 10:00am | Report comment
Well said.
October 18th 2012 @ 10:39am
Happy Hooker said | October 18th 2012 @ 10:39am | Report comment
On that basis krisl, we’d better hope a blow-in doesn’t get the job ….
October 18th 2012 @ 10:59am
crip said | October 18th 2012 @ 10:59am | Report comment
Maybe that is exactly what Rugby needs Happy!
October 18th 2012 @ 4:51pm
Wally James said | October 18th 2012 @ 4:51pm | Report comment
Absolutely correct Krisl although some would also argue you have confused your b’s with your w’s.
Cheers
Wally
October 18th 2012 @ 8:00am
Jean Polet said | October 18th 2012 @ 8:00am | Report comment
Want to develop grass roots rugby? Start with the grass in Victoria and South and Western Australia where they’re playing Aussie Rules.
Get the evangelists out there telling the kids/youths that if they switch to rugby they might just get the chance to see SA, NZ and the Argentine and get paid for it. And if they’re really good they could find themselves pulling on an Aussie jersey and playing the Home Countries and European nations. Ain’t no such thing as a 20-nation Rules World Cup.
October 18th 2012 @ 3:46pm
clipper said | October 18th 2012 @ 3:46pm | Report comment
or indeed get them out to the Western Suburbs in Sydney with the same message
October 18th 2012 @ 5:03pm
Funk said | October 18th 2012 @ 5:03pm | Report comment
And remind them that they might even get to represent their country at the olympics.
October 18th 2012 @ 8:12am
rob said | October 18th 2012 @ 8:12am | Report comment
Campo would not be tolerated on JON’s watch. Campo’s heart is in the right place, like all of us he wants to see AUS rugby thrive. Now with a fresh start comes a new opportunity. Many former Wallaby greats have gone on to lead very successful lives, perhaps there is one for the ARU? One who has played at the highest level and knows how to run a business. I think we are always more receptive to a new coach if he has played the game successfully? In my view we need similar attributes in a new CEO for the ARU and its broad church.
October 18th 2012 @ 8:27am
Christo the Daddyo said | October 18th 2012 @ 8:27am | Report comment
Underperforming Deans?
Is this the same Robbie Deans who has just coached an injury decimated Wallabies to second place in the Rugby Championship? The Robbie Deans who is the only coach in the last couple of years to have tasted success against the All Blacks? The Robbie Deans who is the coach of the second ranked team in the world?
Campo must be talking about someone else…
And as for this quote: “I often hear former players like Sean Fitzpatrick speak about the wonderful history of New Zealand rugby. It is so interesting and inspiring to hear these stories. In response, I find myself, embarrassingly, with not much to say or reflect on”, well maybe Campo should educate himself on Wallaby history instead of expecting someone else to spoon-feed him.
October 18th 2012 @ 8:47am
Red Kev said | October 18th 2012 @ 8:47am | Report comment
Yes that Robbie Deans.
The same Robbie Deans who has had more tests in charge of the Wallabies than any other coach in the professional era but only just manages to keep his record above Eddie Jones’ (who has the worst in the professional era). The same Robbie Deans’ who has 39 wins from 66 matches (or 59% success rate) when the professional era average is 64%. The same Robbie Deans who has produced the worst try-scoring year for the professional era Wallabies in 2012 (12 tries from 10 matches). The same Robbie Deans who guided Australia to back to back losses against Scotland and the embarrassing loss to Ireland in the RWC pool match in 2011.
That under-performing Robbie Deans.
October 18th 2012 @ 9:23am
Justin2 said | October 18th 2012 @ 9:23am | Report comment
You forgot to mention the second worst try scoring year since professionalism too, 2009.
October 18th 2012 @ 9:53am
Mike said | October 18th 2012 @ 9:53am | Report comment
You’ve made the point with your own statistics Red Kev – Robbie Deans’ record is really no worse and no better than his predecessors. You can put in the positive achievements – most straight wins ever against the Boks, first 3N in a long time etc, and they are balanced out by the negatives.
Australian rugby has not gone anywhere in the last 11 years, basically since we started playing a lot more tests each year. A comprehensive overhaul is required.
October 18th 2012 @ 10:09am
Red Kev said | October 18th 2012 @ 10:09am | Report comment
We agree on the last sentence at least.
If you think 5% is “not really any different” then I’ll take 5% of your pay thanks.
I don’t think you can call the 3N in a World Cup year when both the All Blacks and Springboks fielded under-strength sides as a positive.
Similarly injuries are and always have been an excuse. Eddie Jones was sacked despite missing 8 of his preferred 15 on the losing run that ended his tenure.
If you want stats to really make you think I suggest looking at G&GR – the Wallabies haven’t beaten the ABs or the Springboks without Quade Cooper since his debut on the 2008 EoYT. The Wallabies’ winning percentage with Cooper is almost double their record without him since his debut.
October 18th 2012 @ 10:31am
Mike said | October 18th 2012 @ 10:31am | Report comment
I don’t wear the excuse of “world cup year and understrength sides” for a moment. It is nothing but an excuse for losing. In any case I don’t think its true – I think SA in paticular tried that year to maximise their strength at home in circumstances where they were regularly losing to Aust sides anyway. It didn’t work.
Re injuries, I agree they were a problem for Jones and many people unfairly blamed him for them.
“the Wallabies haven’t beaten the ABs or the Springboks without Quade Cooper since his debut on the 2008 EoYT” – I suppose so, although in fairness to Giteau the Wallabies beat South Africa at Suncorp in 2009 with Gits at 10 and Quade on the bench. But sure. You could as easily see that as demonstrating how Deans showed faith in Cooper by selecting him as the 10 in 09, 10, and 11, despite criticims by many commentators who felt that Giteau should have been persevered with (and still do). I am not one of them by the way, but its interesting.
October 18th 2012 @ 10:33am
Justin2 said | October 18th 2012 @ 10:33am | Report comment
RK – I watched the Bledisloe from 2006 when Knuckles was in charge in Auckland. We lost the match but the shape and style of game we played was superior to anything I have seen in Deans tenure. It relied more on team work, strategy and execution from all the players.
The players we have now are hugely talented they just need some structure IMO.
And yes I saw those stats on G&G – not surprised.
October 18th 2012 @ 10:44am
GWS said | October 18th 2012 @ 10:44am | Report comment
Like I said he can play and the kids love him but he’s not allowed to point out any problems. Wtf
October 18th 2012 @ 5:22pm
Funk said | October 18th 2012 @ 5:22pm | Report comment
“The Robbie Deans who is the only coach in the last couple of years to have tasted success against the All Blacks?”
Err Cristo, you seem to have forgotten that other fantastic, coach who also tasted success over the all backs in the last couple of years…that’s right the enigmatic Pieter de Villiers!
October 18th 2012 @ 5:45pm
Mike said | October 18th 2012 @ 5:45pm | Report comment
*LOL* good point. Poor old PdeV has had his detractors (mainly in SA) but he did enjoy some real success.
October 18th 2012 @ 8:31pm
Snobby Deans said | October 18th 2012 @ 8:31pm | Report comment
“The Robbie Deans who is the only coach in the last couple of years to have tasted success against the All Blacks?” I’m pretty sure the Boks have won at least one game – 2011 in Sth Africa.
That said, I think the Wallabies – and Deans – are harshly judged given the huge injury toll. The question for me is, why does Australia have a large number of injured players compared to NZ and, a lesser degree, Sth Africa.
Had to laugh at the news tonight that Ben Alexander was ruled out – the “23rd first-choice player” – not bad when a team only has 15 first choice players (or 22 if you want to count squads).
October 18th 2012 @ 8:47am
B-Rock said | October 18th 2012 @ 8:47am | Report comment
Campo – Please, enough about “back in my day…” Every article seems to bemoan modern rugby in one way or another. Can we mix it up a bit?
I think your opening comment is a bit strong: “O’Neill, in my humble opinion, has effectively destroyed our rugby history and left us destitute.” – How can someone destroy history? Its not the CEOs job to preserve history, its to plan for the future.
Yes, the past has plenty of valuable lessons, but the examples you note are hardly destroying history and driving the code into destitution:
– Not honoring past greats appropriately (Do we know that they actually wanted an official function? – maybe they wanted a low key catch up with old mates?) and
– Not consulting players on jersey designs (Running a business – which the ARU is – is not a democracy, not everyone gets a vote – this would make the ARU even less efficient)
Every CEO has ticks and crosses against their names by the end of their reign. JON has done plenty of good for rugby as well as made plenty of mistakes. The reality is that its not an easy job. He has operated in one of the most competitive sporting environments in the world in terms of codes/teams per head of population.
It seems like the biggest red crosses against his name are renewing Deans contract prior to the RWC and shutting down the ARC with no plan for developing a 3rd tier. Im sure there is plenty of other gripes, but best to concentrate on the 2 major ones.
The initial appointment of RD was widely applauded. The timing was poor in renewing his contract but the reality is we are not overrun with candidates to replace him. RDs record has not been flash but you do need to factor in the broader factors influencing this record:
– butting up against one of the great teams in history over an extended period more than any other team in world rugby
– horrific injury tolls in several years – the Wallabies have performed well with a “normal” injury toll
– He inherited an ageing, disgruntled team. His first few yrs were focussed on developing young players, which he did very well. I actually think this is his strength as a coach.
The ARC was poorly designed and unsustainable. It needed to be overhauled at the very least. As this was a low point for Australian rugby financially, JON took the bold step of abandoning it. He should have worked on a new 3rd tier structure, but the reality is this is not an easy thing to do in a highly fragmented code domestically. This should be a priority for the next administration.
Its easy to throw mud as they head out the door but lets at least think about the bigger picture and have a reasoned debate about it
October 18th 2012 @ 9:25am
Justin2 said | October 18th 2012 @ 9:25am | Report comment
BR – regarding your first line I agree wholeheartedly. Perhaps the editors could have a word to Campo or not bother publishing this stuff ad nauseum…
October 18th 2012 @ 8:55am
tc said | October 18th 2012 @ 8:55am | Report comment
Campo Campo Campo , i’m a Kiwi and even I know Australia has great Rugby history ,and I think you were a part of that history.