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Joined August 2016
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Australian sporting nut.
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There is a wonderful quote from Lt. General Alfred M Gray, the man brought in to reform the United States Marine Corps in 1987.…
Quite frankly, Mr McLennan, I don’t give a damn if you’re a quitter or not.
This isn’t about YOU.
Except for your dismal record of failure, of course, which for some reason you refuse to accept and / or apply to yourself – but are more than happy to apply to others, even those with reasonably good records such as David Rennie.
You’re part of the problem, Hamish. Step down now, with grace, and disappear.
'I'm not a quitter': Under-siege RA chair won't follow Jones, blames 'broken system' for chaos
Mike, it only costs about $10 a ticket to see the Matildas. Here’s another dirty secret – many spectators get in for free. There’s your answer.
Don’t get me wrong – good luck to the Matildas and I wish them the best. But let’s not ignore relevant facts, either.
And let’s see how many fans show up in say 12 months, once the short term hype has died down. I hope not, but suspect that many new Matildas fans will be fairweather fans and will give up on them, esp if they start to lose.
If the Matildas can draw sell-out crowds, why can't the A-League Men?
So…worst defeat to Wales ever, worst result in a world cup ever, years of terrible results,
3.6% of ARU income to grassroots.
But ‘no regrets, not my fault, give us even more power (‘centralise’), stick to the plan’.
Just ridiculous, in every way.
When you’re used to being totally unaccountable for continual failure, I guess McLennan and the the ARU’s ridiculous position makes perfect sense.
'How did mighty Australian Rugby get to this': McLennan says he has 'no' regrets, outlines three areas to fix
A few points.
#1 You’re wrong – Jones had already commented on the Japan interview story as ‘BS and gossip’. To be fair and in the current circumstances perhaps you should clarify that in your article.
#2 ‘Lineout leaders and leaders’ (Donaldson)- gawd. So many ‘leaders’. How about 1 captain / leader (and maybe 1 vice captain) and that’s it.
#3 Learnings’ (McDermott) – cringe. So many ‘learnings’. Well, they’re not much use when nothing seems to be ‘learned’ game after game eg – ‘retain possession’, ‘don’t drop ball, ‘don’t give away stupid penalties’.
I will add a 4th ‘learning’, especially for Tate – ‘don’t attempt stupid ”instagram moment” overhead kicks in your own 22 at the elite level’.
So many ‘leaders’ and so many ‘learnings’, for so few results.
No wonder Australian rugby is in such a mess.
'F--- mate, what didn't go wrong?' 'Raw, devastated' Wallabies 'got bashed' - players react, Foley weighs in, after disaster
Too easy to blame Jones. Yes his plan has backfired badly, but the Wallabies have been playing terrible rugby for years now. They seem to have forgotten how to play the style/MO that made the Wallabies so good, and have instead replaced it with this bizarre, frantic, error laden shambles we witnessed (yet again) against Wales.
'Bloody disappointed: Wallabies OUT of World Cup as nation to miss finals for first time, Eddie fights for survival
Lords is a very happy Ashes hunting ground for Australia.
Sure – stats are stats – but they do confirm Australian dominance at Lords. As I undertand it, the Australians have played 38 Ashes tests at Lords and won 16 (42%) vs. England’s 7 (18%) (15 draws).
The Australian top order averages at Lords are also impressive (Labuschagne 59, Smith 54, Head 49) with Warner (32) and interestingly Khawaja (26) having averages below 40 (Green and Carey havent played a Lords test match yet).
Australian bowling is also good in particular the quicks. The available data for the Headingley attack – Cummins average at Lords is just 16 vs overall average of 21.9, Hazlewood average at Lords is 23.63 vs overall average of 25.97. Boland and Green have yet to play a Test at Lords.
First Test Talking Points: Defiant Stokes declares he was right, Aussie duo stand tall, big-talking Poms pair left red faced
Smith was their weakest player.
Wallabies ran direct straight at him from 2nd half. They did a real number on the lad. It was obvious he’d never seen the like and he folded like a cheap suit.
Must be tough to be the big star in the Twickenham echo bubble one day, then rolled like a school kid in Australia by the Wallabies the next day.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s a classy player. But there’s a big difference when you have to step up to the standards of Southern Hemisphere rugby, as the English and Irish found out tonight.
In particular, pretty boy Markus Smith (with a ‘k’).
Smith may not come back after that woeful performance. Wallabies will definitely target the kid – Eddie Jones should sit him out for the rest of the tour, or risk ending Smith’s career.
REACTION: 'Effing wild!' - Cooper crocked, Banks broken and Swain sent off - but Wallabies overcome chaos
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REACTION: 'Effing wild!' - Cooper crocked, Banks broken and Swain sent off - but Wallabies overcome chaos
Wallabies did a real number on that England lad #10 Smith didn’t they.
The lad had big tickets on himself didn’t he. Big mop of hair, toffy accent and a bit of talent, hyped up in England in the papers.
Well well well.
Funny what happens to a player who comes up against genuine opposition.
The Wallabies ran direct lines at the kid in particular from 40th – 80th minute. Smith is a good player and I know the classy French showed him up in the 6 Nations, but I suspect he’s never faced the battering he got tonight.
The Wallabies really went to town on him. Smith’s confidence must be shattered. He’s no Jonny Wilkinson that’s for sure.
He’d better shape up fast. Wallabies are going to come at him again. A full strength Wallabies with 15 players next time.
Smith has a bit of talent but that must have been the worst game of his career, welcome to the big time lad, you came up against world class players tonight, I guess your days being a Twickenham showpony are over.
Lots to work on but kudos Wallabies, what a great win.
REACTION: 'Effing wild!' - Cooper crocked, Banks broken and Swain sent off - but Wallabies overcome chaos
Cannot believe some of the crap some of you are coming up with. ‘Cheika -he’s just a motivator’. ‘Hansen – master coach, Cheika – flash in the pan thug.’
Come off it. Hansen has the benefit of a massively powerful set up that has produced incredible players for generations. Cheika started with a rabble and took them to a world cup semi-final. How many of you forget that achievement. Now its time to throw him under the bus. is it? Wow. Just wow.
I’m not sure I agree with Spiro’s rather dramatic conclusion that Cheika has gone ‘rogue’. However, the issue Spiro raises – correctly – is Cheika’s temperament. The unrelenting pressure and exhaustion would get to anyone. People react in different ways. Deans seemed to disappear inside himself. Jones, relaxed and confident that he is now, used to be more abrasive. McKenzie struggled. Cheiks reacts with anger and shoots his mouth off.
Personally, I am a massive fan of Cheika. He was a great appointment – a true rugby man, fantastic coach with an awesome track record. Also an Australian, a bit of a relaxed larrikin with a menacing edge. True rugby people, including the players, love him. I still back him 100%.
But he is being tested. He’s a man on a mission, wanting to transform Australian rugby into an attacking weapon. As Spiro points out, aggression at this level is fine if it is focussed, but when it isn’t it just comes across as abrasive thuggery.
Cheiks is going too fast and expecting too much. His ambition and vision is commendable, but hold up. The guys are unable to execute basic skills under pressure right now. That points to the wrong focus in training camp. In the first test, they looked knackered. My first thought – they’re overdone. Having run 5 marathons, I wonder if their taper is long enough.
Cheika needs to learn that temper tantrums are a gift to opposition coaches and, as Spiro says, annoying to referees. It shows a man under pressure and prone to panic. He needs to balance his vision with the boring stuff, making sure the guys are able to execute basic rugby skills with cool heads when faced by the All Blacks.
At Test level, the competition is incredible. His vision will take 4 years, not 1. Cheiks needs to be confident that he has the right vision. But he also needs to be realistic in his expectations and, above all, slow things down and be patient.
He is the right man. I think he will learn and by 2019, the Wallabies will be a powerful force in Test rugby.
ARU alert: Has Michael Cheika gone rogue?
Poor form by The Roar not allowing comments about the Beale acquittal.
Wallabies, Wallaroos fixtures CONFIRMED as Schmidt eyes 'fantastic turnaround challenge' against RWC rivals