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If you’ve been waiting for me to weigh into the horrid mess that’s gripped Australian rugby over this past week, then this article is only going to disappoint you further.
It’s just been too damned hard to work out whether what’s been reported is fact or supposition, who knew what and for how long, who’s leaking what info to whom and for what reason, and worryingly, how long does it have to run before a proper resolution is reached.
I don’t know what to believe and what to ignore – and that makes reaching a conclusion almost impossible.
If you believe that any publicity is good publicity, then Australian rugby has certainly got its money worth in recent weeks. What began as a mid-flight argument en route to Argentina a fortnight ago has descended into claim and counter-claim, media leaks and the accompanying conspiracy theories.
Now two separate investigations have the ability to bring a halt – in the short term, at least – to the career of one of the most talented players of a generation.
Kurtley Beale certainly has form in the indiscretion department, and that may well be what brings his career in Australian to a halt. The public support from the playing group is as admirable as it is completely bloody predictable, but not even the support of the players can gloss over a rap sheet that unfortunately has regular entries.
And the question I keep coming back to with Beale is simply, why?
I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Beale at length, and he came across as a young man well aware that he’s been very lucky in life coming from the background he has. He also recognised that rugby has provided so much for his personal development, from his introduction to the game at St Joseph’s College in Sydney, well into adulthood as a professional player.
Why then, after such a standout season in Super Rugby, where he was instrumental in the Waratahs claiming their maiden title, would he then threaten his standing in the game with a couple of ill-thought and highly offensive photos and messages?
How much of this behaviour boils down to young blokes armed with gadgets and too much time on their hands, or how much of it is due to possible frustration at not being able to crack a starting berth for the Wallabies?
He can hardly be wanting to bring his days in Australian rugby to an end early, because he is off contract at the end of the year anyway. If he really wants to go overseas or switch to league next year, he could just decline any ARU offers that may be on the table and make the decision.
If it is the frustration angle, then what on earth has been going on within Wallabies management that one of the form Australian players in Super Rugby could so rapidly and so spectacularly lose so much of that form on the international stage?
And this is where the focus of this week must rapidly turn toward the preparations for the third Bledisloe, and specifically on how Ewen McKenzie can unite and win back a dressing room that is clearly in disagreement on a number of fronts.
This might be the biggest week in McKenzie’s coaching career, maybe even his biggest in professional rugby. There were utterances yesterday that the ARU had approached Michael Cheika about taking over from McKenzie, to the point where Bill Pulver was forced to deny that was the case.
I don’t know if Pulver used the words, ‘full support of the board’, but it already feels like the result this Saturday in Brisbane could have a major bearing on McKenzie’s future as Wallabies coach.
It’s madness to be contemplating a change of coach with a Rugby World Cup only twelve months away, but as several AFL coaches have discovered in the recent past, it doesn’t take a lot of player discontent to result in a professional coach suddenly packing up his office.
When McKenzie lobbied for, and was appointed to the Wallabies head coach role, he said at the time that he had had good success against New Zealand sides, and believed that he had developed a game plan to defeat the All Blacks. So far, the August draw in Sydney is as close as he’s been in five attempts.
Former Wallabies fullback Matt Burke, was scathing of McKenzie in his Fairfax column on Sunday.
I’m hearing of players looking for direction, but getting none. They are desperately trying to keep the ball in hand and play, but it’s one-dimensional. It looks pedestrian and is easy to defend against.
I believe the tactics have been dumbed down to a style that’s not working with the team; there are intelligent players being stifled because the coach doesn’t have trust in the talent he is working with.
While the suggestion of players not getting the direction they’re seeking could hold water in the current climate, I’d be absolutely astounded if McKenzie doesn’t trust the players to follow his game plan, regardless of whether he’s dumbed it down or not.
And that’s simply because McKenzie selected the players!
The whole reason we see Matt Toomua playing at 12, and Tevita Kuridrani at 13 is because they’re the players McKenzie sees as the best options to play those positions the way he wants them played. It’s why Beale doesn’t also wear the Wallabies 12, and why Adam Ashley-Cooper will bring up his 100th Test cap in the same position he spent many of his formative years playing.
If the players truly have been honest with themselves, they’ll admit they haven’t been playing particularly well, and that this week – maybe more than any other in the last twelve months – is one where they need work with the coach to get the result they all need.
But more importantly, it’s the week where McKenzie must prove beyond all doubt and among numerous distractions that he’s the best man to lead the Wallabies. How he conducts himself this week could determine whether he’s still employed next week.