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In the modern day world of professional sports coaches will do anything to give their team the edge over their rivals. So why is Ewen McKenzie giving his opponents an early look at his team?
Traditionally a coach will leave it to the last possible minute to unveil his team. Usually this is done on a Thursday to ensure your counterpart has as little time as possible to prepare his team and do player analysis.
Link has, in my opinion, developed a bad habit of releasing his team sheets on the Tuesday before a game – effectively giving his opposition an extra two days to analyze exactly who their players will be marking on the weekend.
Sure, you may say that opposition coaches will probably know the general make-up of the team anyway, and just plan for the few ‘maybes’ that will arise.
But why not keep them guessing and wasting their resources, while trying to prepare for every player available.
If a player has to prepare to cover a few different opponents he won’t be truly focused. There will always be that little nagging doubt that he’s doing too much prep for one player or not enough for another.
Give him his mark and he will be able to concentrate on learning all their ins and outs well before looking at the rest of the team.
Silly little mind games maybe, but uncertainty before a big game can plant other seeds of doubt; have you really done enough? Are we ready for this?
It costs Ewen nothing to hold onto his selections for another few days. Let the players know early if that’s your policy, but keep as much mystery about your team as possible for as long as you can.
Graham Henry used this tactic well during the last 2011 World Cup.
Always trying to leave as much doubt as possible about his starting team because he wanted the other coaches wasting time looking at video of players when they might not even be playing.
To give away your team and positions early just gives an unfair advantage to your opponent. Not something Ewen can afford to be doing at the moment.
With his team sitting last in The Rugby Championship and desperate for a win against a top four side, I would have thought he would be doing everything in his power to give the Wallabies a leg up before the weekend.
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.