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With the Wallaby squad leaving on Friday for their last chance to trial themselves in European conditions before next year’s world cup, it is extremely important we get the most out of them and the tour.
We need to think about not making the same mistakes we have made across the past 12 months. So where did it all go wrong?
Dublin. Plain and simple. Well with a few extra complications of course.
It had always bothered me how that went down. Conflicting stories about whether the players actually had a definitive curfew. Whether they had indeed been told it was okay to have a couple the night before a day off.
These are questions that were never fully explained.
The strangest thing for me was how publicly the stick was wielded by Ewen McKenzie for what I felt was a trivial misdemeanour. It was almost as if he was using the media to flex his power over the players. It was not a good sign because respect is earned. It does not come from wielding a stick – especially through the media.
When later a photo was leaked of the players in question enjoying a game of pool at a quiet Dublin pub with smiles on their faces, all I saw was some well-dressed young men enjoying each others’ company. It looked suspiciously that something was being made of next to nothing. The players had a few drinks the night before a day off.
Say what you want but the players suspended were clearly angry about their treatment. Rightly so, I believe. It was at this point that McKenzie lost the dressing room.
Let’s not forget that weekend they played arguably the best game of McKenzie’s reign. It was not a performance related problem. It was an insecure coach striving for respect through the wrong channels.
McKenzie turned a mole-hill into a mountain through the media. Poetically this happened again almost 12 months later – but this time to his undoing.
Interestingly, it has been reported that the Dublin suspensions may directly be related to the squad confronting him in Italy on the growing role of Di Patston, something McKenzie was defensive about.
Did Mckenzie opportunistically throw half his squad to the lions only to have it come back to bite him a year later?
By and large McKenzie treated grown men like school-boys and that is always unwise. This is made far worse when the grown men are so driven that they can reach the pinnacle of their sport and profession.
If we compare this stance with what Michael Cheika has publicly said about the Waratahs and his approach, it is much more functional. It is much more in line with European expectations.
I am paraphrasing but I have heard Cheika say that he has not had to give curfews or instructions on alcohol intake to his players. There is just an understanding that if you misbehave you won’t get selected. When dealing with adults this is the only approach to have.
For this to work it is up to the rugby fans to take a European viewpoint on player behaviour. We should turn a blind-eye to muck-raking stories. A couple of years back there were a few stories on the Wallabies treating the European tour like a Contiki tour, largely because the players had a few days off to tour a non-UK city.
This was simply an exaggeration of the facts because there was no story to report. Players had been to museums and churches by day and yes they went out to enjoy themsleves at night. If there was outrage every time a Premier League soccer player went out there’d be more stories than newspapers had room to print them.
Players ought to have some time off and see the sights while in Europe. All work and no play etcetera. The calls by some Roarers last year that tours should be completely dry goes against the framework of reasonable expectations on players as human beings. They are rugby players – they are not politicians. They are role models – they are not monks.
Happy players are going to play better. Look at the influence the fun-loving Darren Lehmann has had on the Australian cricket team. All of a sudden a side that had internal strife has begun winning. They seem happy on and off the field.
Players need to be nurtured and coached. They are not school-boys to be disciplined. If they don’t put a shirt on at a managers request they should not be chastised. They should be politely asked once and if they respond negatively nothing should be said publicly there and then or in the media. It should be dealt with internally in due course. If that means missing a week they’ll soon learn.
If Michael Cheika had’ve been on that plane I don’t think the Beale – Patston saga would ever have happened. Beale may not have been selected but that is probably all we would have heard about it.
Cheika certainly wouldn’t have abandoned his team to drive somebody to the airport. I also think if Cheika asks for a shirt to be changed on the quiet, the shirt would simply get changed. No fuss. No drama. Respect.
Now we can all sit in our arm chairs and link a lack of respect for coaches to player power.
The fact remains that the players will always have some degree of power. So they should. They after all are the men tasked with making the tackles and making the metres on our behalf. We shouldn’t fear player power we should recognise it, embrace it and respect it.
The issue for us should be, does the coach deserve the respect of the players and is the player power in healthy proportion?
Cheika certainly has the respect of the Waratahs players because of the fair approach he takes to player management. He treats them like men not school-boys. A coach earns respect in this way.
On the flip-side it is in the players’ best interests to have a strong coach to bring the best out of the players around them. The only player power to be worried about is if they aim to seek a weak coach. I don’t think international rugby players want that. I don’t think the Wallabies want that.
That’s why I think there will be a lot of very happy players this coming tour and I expect surprisingly good results under the circumstances.
The silver lining from all this nonsense is that the right man is now going to coach the Wallabies.
He won’t make the same mistakes as McKenzie. The respect is clearly mutual.
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.