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I played international rugby against Robbie Deans. He was a good, steady player who liked to kick goals. There was nothing flash about him. And judging by his recent comments about the Wallabies scoring tries, nothing much has changed.
The recently departed John O’Neill needs to accept a significant responsibility for employing someone as the national coach who thinks tries are not important in rugby, especially when our rugby legacy is one of spectacular tries, great skills, and flair.
These days, the Wallabies can’t even catch and pass.
Now you can see why some players are upset with the way the team is being coached. They want to attack; the coach wants to kick goals.
It was the same situation with Matt Giteau.
Deans just wants to pick guys who steamroll their opponents.
I recently spent a month in the UK where rugby fans were asking me, what’s wrong with Australian rugby: why can’t they attack? I wish Deans had said this earlier so I could reiterate our challenges with him as the coach.
In a country where rugby is desperately competing for sponsor dollars and audience share with three other winter codes, you’d have to think that his statement was idiotic.
Just look at the Gold Coast Test match rating? Only around 400,000 people viewed the game and Deans was booed by the crowd.
I just don’t think he understands the situation in Australia. But all he has to do is take a look on Twitter. There’s so much activity there, with the overwhelming majority of comments being that rugby is boring, predictable and disappointing.
We need to get foreign rugby coaches out of our country. We need someone in charge who understands the Australian way, the flair, the passion.
Not a guy who says scoring tries doesn’t matter.
Fans spend hundreds of dollars to watch their national team play. They want to be entertained. Yet, all we give them is kick, kick, kick, and a Kiwi-born and bred player scoring all the points.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read that O’Neill’s workload was too much with so many other commitments on Boards other than rugby. I thought being a CEO was a full-time job.
How could the ARU Board accept this?
The feedback that I receive from friends and the public is that many supporters are turning their backs on the game. People don’t want to watch this type of rugby any more.
I have friends in Melbourne who were passionate rugby supporters. They recently SMS’d me to say that they have given up on the game and are not interested in supporting the Wallabies anymore.
What’s sad is they have three kids.
This is the most frightening aspect of what is going on here. We are losing grassroots supporters and players.
I have another good friend who runs his own successful business, but has committed for more than 10 years to overseeing a junior rugby district in Sydney. He has tried, pointlessly, to get a few NSW players and Wallabies to come and sign autographs and meet the kids.
Do think anyone has even bothered to get there?
He puts his own time and effort into coaching, organising, and promoting kids rugby. He doesn’t get paid a cent, and yet he gets no support or assistance from the ARU.
Where is the sense in that?
And where to now from here with the Northern Hemisphere tour looming.
Will the referees make or break the games by making petty calls within goal kicking range?
Will Deans still stand by his quote and reinforce his predictable and boring tactics?
Will we see any change in his style of play, especially after all the criticism?
Will he take the feedback on board and prove us all wrong?
Here’s hoping.
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.