It's the John Connolly versus Eddie Jones Show

Sheek - those grown men are childishly self-centred because the current system indulges them. They probably believe they are doing the right thing, but just like state/fed politics there are party lines to vote along, and by gum you'd better bloody vote that way! The influence of WA/ACT will likely never grow unless they find oil under either administration's HQ, because it would require a vote from the NSW/QLD dominated hierarchy to make this happen, and they won't give an inch. Personally, I've decided to start a political party at state level called "Abolish State Level Politics" and I think we need something similar in rugby.

FOOD 4 THOUGHT! Well said SHEEK, What can I say: I'm enjoying this early prognostic & diagnostic ability that I have acquired in the last few years of personal ostracism from the ARU. When E. Jones was appointed QLD Head Coach I could see "trouble" straight away as it has been previously described E. Jones' ego is inversely proportional to the size of his body. Far from letting other people have a go, intereference would be the regular currency. Too close to the bone and too close to the wounds. Strangely enough since we have lost all the silverware we were holding in recent years, that trophy cabinet should have now, enough room for "humble pies" and Coaches' egos? NOT SO! In my rugby career I was very fortunate because I was well inculcated that in the realm of probabilities you have the odds equally spread between LOOSE-WIN-DRAW (in this order) All those that think THAT ARE DESTINED ONLY TO WIN are MUGS or shall I say: bad loosers. E.Jones has been going around like the proverbial "bear with a sore head" blaming referees and everybody else but himself. Last year John Mitchll had to endure a very tough season (particularly for a winner) he did it with a lot of dignity and RESPECT to himself and others. He also had patience and perseverance! Don't get me wrong, I always considered myself a WINNER, and was one of the hardest working to maximise my chances of winning, but didn't make life miserable for others because I just lost. My focus was always in making the quickest transition from that loss to my next win! We all need to RESPECT our whole "rugby family" because, particularly in the case of those employed in it (are making a lot of money with it) so DON'T BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU, is my messge to all and sundry with the snout near the trough! In 36 years of invovement with rugby in many capacities I never enjoyed being in somebody's payroll and I certainlky wish I had (of course I got paid for the occassional guest speaking engagement, and why wouldn't I? Like many other players of my era, we always spent a fair bit of personal time and expenses travelling to the venues back and forth! Increased MEDIA attention since 1995 has created a lot of "amateur actors" that take advantage of this situation performing and justifying their actions and shortcomings in front of microphones and TV cameras instead of letting the scoreboard do the talking. Also while having those inflated salaries, this situation becomes an ideal scenario for self-justification and self-perpetuation. I said in October 2006, before the Wallabies went to the European Tour that: J.Connolly LOOKED LIKE PREPARING HIMSELF FOR THE POSITION OF RUGBY DIRECTOR AFTER THE RWC! And this is exactly what's happening! (I got my instinct working overtime on this, and have sufficient researched information to say so!). If this is what the ARU wants, why not appoint him now and generate some much needed CONTINUITY by finding the new National Coach and make him part of this year's RWC ?????????? FOOD 4 THOUGHT! tOPO, till next time.

Spiro, You suggest the Connolly-Jones feud has the same potential to derail the Wallabies' 2007 RWC hopes, as did the Hart-Mains feud for the ABs in 1999. With one massive exception. The ABs were a genuine contender in 1999; the 2007 Wallabies are definitely NOT! I, for one, am willing to toss this one (2007) aside. One may or may not, draw some comfort from that observation. What I look forward to, is a rejuvenated Wallabies beating the defending Champions (ABs from 2007) on their home turf in the 2011 World Cup final, with a Kiwi head coach, either John Mitchell or Robbie Deans. Oh, sweet irony! Ah, to dream! Australian Rugby has often been a snake-pit of poison, often to the detriment of the game. Certainly this was the case back in the early 80s during Bob Dwyer's first tenure as national coach. Then immediately following when Alan Jones replaced Dwyer. In fact, Spiro would know better, but it seems to be the norm rather than the exception. John Connolly is a vicious political animal. The sooner Australian Rugby sees the backside of him, the better. I also have my doubts surrounding his coaching ability. I reckon he sucked all the natural flair out of Jason Little, for example. I reckon Little never realised his full potential, & Connolly was the culprit. The Reds won back to back Super 10s in 1994-95, but with the talent Connolly had, he should have achieved more. The Reds were S12 minor premiers in both 1996 & 99, but were rolled in their home semi each time. They lacked the flair to go the extra distance. Danny, a word or two on Eddie Jones' apointment as Reds coach. If life is about learning from our mistakes, & becoming a better person because of it, then I reckon both Jones & Mitchell are better coaches & people for their respective tribulations with the Wallabies & ABs. Thank God we have introduced ACT & WA into the mix. With time, hopefully, these two Provinces will dilute the often destructive (to Australian Rugby) relations between NSW & Qld officials & personnel. To think that grown men can be so childishly self-centered. And a pox on the ARU. While ACT/SNSW & WA may be growing, the game is stagnant in the rest of NSW, & I don't really know the situation in Qld. But in Sydney, the perception & probable reality is that Australian Football, Rugby League & World Football are all stealing ground from Rugby Union. Not to mention talented young players that represent the future wellbeing of any code of sport.

after 10 years and all the money its hard to uderstand how there are still half a dozen 'schools' running the direction (s) of AustralianRugby

John Mitchell must be loving being in the other side of Australia away from all the in-fighting, back-stabbing and bickering in the east! Is it a coincidence that the currently best performing Australian franchise is the furthest away from rubgy HQ? Maybe!

I agree with Ben. The internecine warfare in Rugby Union that is playing out in headlines in the sporting media (much to the delight of News Corp's awful organ the Telegraph which seemingly has a single mided goal of underming and de-stabilising the code) indicates a lack of leadership from the very top. It is really irritating to see Eddie Jones mouthing off every five minutes, Connolly pontificating on every club issue and McKenzie whinging and sniping, whilst all three of them, currently, have crap records. If rugby was run a professional business, as it flaming well ought to be, the CEO would have told them to pull their heads in or ship out months ago. The entire ARU executive should be dumped. Bring back O'Neill or someone like him and have a completely new group of forward thinking, positive professionals. And if the coaching AND playing staff won't toe the line, piss them all off too- there's plenty of well qualified, (many would say better qualified) contenders for every one of those roles who would glady put their hands up, and some, gasp- what heresy is this?-who might not even be products of Australian private schools!

The pervasive influence of the "senior Brumbies players" is disturbing. One of the biggest problems since professionalism is that many of the players seem to think that they are bigger than the game. The appalling axing of David Nucifora is the most obvious. But what about the tour captain mouthing off to to the coaches during the 06 European tour after being (rightly) slated for staying out beyond curfew. Beyond the Brumbies the silly hijinks like late night drinking and stupidity by Sailor and Henjak are symptomatic of many players thinking they are bigger than the team. MacQueen kept this under control but part of that may have been the relative newness of professionalism when he was in charge. Unfortunately it all deteriorated under Eddie. His habit about whinging about everything under the sun before and after matches, combined with Gregan's verbal diarrhoea on the field understandably left every other team with a bad taste in its mouth. When we won its because we had superior tactics, athletes etc. When we lost we deserved to win but the refereee, the touch judge, the opposition cheating etc denied us our rightful dues. Any wonder the player's attitudes have become so superior. As always the rot spreads from the top. A stronger executive would have been able to keep a lid on player attitudes better and should have prevented this destabilising politics between the various coaching ranks. Bringing back John O'Neill with complete executive control and giving him the leeway to shake all the time-servers out of Fort Fumle is the first step. Only then can we worry about picking the right coach.

I have to agree with the main points in these posts and agree that the rot seems to have started with Nucifora's ousting from the Brumbies, despite being successful, and it seems to have started because as a good coach he looked at succession planning. I did not agree with Connolly's appointment in 06 but it seems that he got the job because he was the last man standing. Did the ARU see the writing on the wall by only appointing him for 2 years? Am I stretching things by thinking that maybe someone had a little insight and thought that the senior players who orchestrated first Nucifora's, then Eddie's demise, would also be going post RWC in 07 and then was the time for a clean out of the cupboard? I do not want to see Connolly as a ARU Director of Coaching. In my mind that would only allow for more politics, patronage and backbiting. Post RWC I would like to see Mitchell or Deans as Wallaby coach and the team/squad selected entirely on form with no one guarenteed a place. Michael Foley has not earnt respect as a coach through performance and would not be the candidate of choice at either the Teds or Tahs.

With all the rumour and mistrust surrounding Australian Rugby at the moment, real or perceived, I think it demonstrates even more strongly the need for Knuckles successor to be from outside the never ending cycle of ARU-NSWRU-QRU politics. We need a new Coach with a winning history who can develop players while taking care of his proven stars, a man who is removed from historical baggage. Most importantly a man who knows what it takes to win in New Zealand against New Zealanders in the lead up to RWC 2011. Nucifora may very well be a future Wallaby Coach however Australian Rugby is in serious need of an enema, a fresh start with a break from the cycle, so as to rebuild on the strength of our current crop of rising talent. There is only one man to meet all those criteria, Robbie Deans, take a bow. To yet again go to a Provincial tarnished Coach post Connolly will be a major failing by the ARU leadership.

I was dumbstruck the Reds appointed Eddie in the first place. His axing following failure with the Wallabies was always going to leave him bitter and I'd be surprised if his unprofessional and critical tongue hasn't sparked the whole sad situation. Knuckles is playing his part and clearly positioning himself for 08. And MacKenzie is also positioning following his poor season. Tah squad composition - in particular the excess exposure to ex-league players who to a man have let down NSW - is being questioned as Tah discards at the Force perform well. Team selection is also under the spotlight. All three men are under the pump for sure. But while all three men play games the ARU continues to rot from the head. I personally believe senior Brumbies players have effectively conspired since 2003, firstly with Jones to remove O'Neill because he wanted a fresh start post 03 RWC, and subsequently with Flowers to make Jones the fall guy for the 05/06 Wallaby performances. They did the same to Nucifora to the obvious benefit of the Blues. Knuckles became a beneficary in 06 and now "coincidently" strongly supports these players. And now we hear a new Director of Coaching position may be created with Knuckles its first jobholder! In this professional era most players and management in all codes stay on the gravey train until they are pushed off. Regeneration is tough but necessary.

One word answer I think fellas, "What is the Connolly-Jones row all about?" .... EGOS!!!!

Agree pfitzy, and great post Spiro. The problem with Connolly is that he doesnt seem to take risks, he was more than happy to select the usual suspects during his reign and now its almost too late to start experimenting with up and comers before the world cup. He needed to make the hard decisions early. As I keep posting, what do some of these super 14 guys have to do to get a start in the Wallabies, pick the team on form not on who the incumbent players are!!

Pretty optimistic assessment - I think the foundations will give way long before the World Cup. To my mind, Connolly's mindless plan to pick the fattest players possible, while conveniently ignoring the form guide, is what threatens to derail Australian rugby. Some of the greatest Wallaby and All Black teams didn't field giants, because it was the guys with the skill and mental strength that did the job. Look at Rodney Blake - QLD pundits will claim they've done wonders with him, taking him from West Harbour in Sydney as a 150kg teen and trimming him to a positively svelte 130kg. Yet two years in professional rugby and he still hasn't managed to get to a decent playing weight and fitness. Prominent against soft opposition like England, when the heat came on against the All Blacks and their high-paced game, he was nowhere to be seen. Many theories abound that Connolly favours QLD players, and in Blake's case in particular you'd be hard-pressed to argue. This year, with the excellent form of the Brumbies' scrum (at last Fisher is making good on his promise to play it in the forwards), Guy Shepherdson should be the first-picked tighthead. It remains to be seen that Connolly isn't doing favours in order to curry his own at QLD. The entire exercise of smoke and mirrors appears to be Connolly's way of paving his retirement on the Sunshine Coast, while popping in the odd bit of coaching here and there. Grant Batty was on NZ television recently, amazed at the level of politics in the game over here. Hardly surprising Grant - put a bunch of these private school toffs in a room and its no surprise they end up in a dick-measuring contest. At least in NZ they've learned from their failed World Cup campaigns and have all decided to move in the one direction, at least for now. And this sort of politicking is where guys like Connolly will have an environment to flourish in - with two major stakeholder and a group of minority states practically ignore, all you need is the ear of one state president and the majority of his state peers, and you're in like Flint.