In 1991 the NZRU decided to solve the issue of whether Alex Wyllie, the incumbent, should coach the All Blacks in the World Cup tournament, or whether John Hart should get the job by setting up a co-coaching system of Wyllie and Hart.
The result was that the All Blacks were split into two camps — the Alex Wyllie (Canterbury) faction and the John Hart (Auckland) faction. Players in the different factions did not talk to each other. The coaches did not work together. And a good All Blacks side were defeated by the Wallabies in the semi-final at Dublin. A feature of that Wallaby campaign was the tightness of the leadership group. Bob Dwyer, Bob Templeton, Nick Farr-Jones and Michael Lynagh worked in well together to eliminate the traditional NSW-Queensland rivalry which had been a cancer in Australian rugby.
Fast forward to today, a month or so before the 2007 World Cup starts. The Wallaby camp is showing all the signs of the factionalism that destroyed the All Blacks in 1991. The All Black camp is showing the same signs of solidarity, purpose and unity as the Wallaby camp did in 1991.
At the time it was clear that a potentially dysfunctional Wallaby coaching staff was selected to replace the failed Eddie Jones regime. John Connolly was selected as head coach because he was the last coach standing who fitted the ARU’s requirement that the head coach must have seven years experience at the provincial coaching levels.
The advertisement was written to ensure that Ewen McKenzie, rather than David Nucifora (who did not fit the seven year requirement) got the job. But when McKenzie took himself out of the race, the only coach left was Connolly. Connolly’s record was barely passable with the Reds in the Super 12 and in Europe.
A very experienced person in Australian rugby told me at the time that he and others expected to provide Connolly with plenty of guidance in implementing a more expansive, modern style of rugby which Connolly had avoided throughout his coaching career.
Connolly was allowed to bring with him his friend Michael Foley as the restart coach. But Foley was not made a selector. The two other selectors were Scott Johnson, the backs coach, and Michael O’Connor, who spots talented players for the ARU. The theory behind this selection group was that Johnson and O’Connor would over-rule Connolly’s penchant for cautious selections and negative play.
This theory has come unstuck. Last year, after a Johnson-inspired Wallaby side thrashed the Springboks 49-0 at Brisbane, the Wallabies reverted to a kicking game at Sydney and narrowly won the most boring rugby test ever played. At half-time in the kickathon, Johnson begged Connolly to allow the Wallabies to go back to the game that had worked so well at Brisbane. To no avail.
Connolly has destabilised Johnson’s position further this year by introducing the league great Andrew Johns to Wallaby coaching sessions. To be fair, Johns seems to have introduced some innovative kicks into the Wallabies’ game. But Johnson (probably rightly) feels that Johns is pre-empting his role.
Meanwhile Connolly has gone out of his way to support Foley by praising the improvements in the Wallaby scrum, especially the work of Matt Dunning. In my view this is all nonsense. As soon as the Wallabies got a northern hemisphere referee in the test against NZ at Eden Park, Dunning was penalised and scrummed off the park. And this is a foretaste of what the Wallabies can expect if Dunning remains in place in the front row.
Last week John Muggleton, the defence coach, walked out of the John Eales dinner after Paul McLean, the president of the ARU, failed to name him as one of the coaches who had improved the Wallabies in 2007. Muggleton, the architect of the defensive system that won the 1999 World Cup by allowing only one try for the entire tournament, had put his name forward – unsuccessfully – to coach the Reds in the Super 14 next year.
Greg Growden, who has done an excellent job in the SMH in unraveling this sad story, reports that several players have lost confidence in some of the coaching staff.
So Camp Wallaby is not a group of happy campers. There are splits in the coaching ranks, and between senior players and coaches. The history of rugby suggests that this is a recipe for disaster at the World Cup.
Phil
Guest
I was wondering why you would have Mortlock kicking, when you got Giteau on the pitch. I'm sure the boys would have given it some thought especially when Gits was off on an advertising shoot slotting goals!
Phil
Guest
I'm sure Qantas are relieved that they didn't have Mortlock kicking in the final 2 mins of The World Cup .
Phil
Guest
The only thing twenty20 cricket is good for, in my opinion, is that it might just add more excitement to regular ODI's. Hopefully it wont mean we carry three formats of the game, though. From a player standpoint, particularly a bowler; i would hate to travel across the world to bowl only 4 overs!
Matt
Guest
Brax, Even though I'm no Greg Growden fan I think it's a bit much labelling it a "Sydney media witch hunt". I don't think that goegraphy has really come into it, Mr Growden seems to see demons in every shadow, doesn't seem to matter whether they are red or blue. As far as Knuckles record goes, even the most one eyed fan would appreciate that he had some pretty good cattle to work with. The same goes for any successful coach. Horan, Eales, Little & Tune were once in a lifetime players. The thing that I think most people are critical of if anything is that his gameplan doesn't seem to have progressed much since the days of the Super 10. Despite having some of the most damaging runners in world rugby there is still a reliance on kicking and ten man rugby in general. No-one is refuting that he's brought new players in, it's what he's done with them that is causing debate.
Joshua
Guest
Brax. Nice to hear from you. Sort of. 'Recent rugby history'? What's recent in rugby terms mate? No one talks about McQueen's term as 'recent' so how the flying proverbial can we come to the most bizarre claim that Connolly is recent? And, more importantly, he wasn't that successful ! Are you joking? Super 10? There's 4 more teams involved since then...that truly is the most crap argument. Connolly had Horan, Little, Tune, (match winners all - which can't be over exaggerated) a good forward pack, a great 2nd row...all of which had nothing whatsoever to do with him. Connolly came from the ranks of coaches who were more confortable at the bar at the beginning of the game saying 'f@*^k it, let's see what happens. Make sure one of the lads biffs someone, and I'll be happy.' The Tommy Raudonikas of Union. Brax I can't take you seriously. I'm not from Sydney. I'm from Brisbane. His decision on Cockbain is a disgrace. It's loose. He thinks that the 'good tough mates' paradigm works as well as in rugby as in some pathetic American movie. what a joke. It is truly childish. Just ridiculous.
Andrew B
Guest
Brax, Yes, Connolly has given many new guys a run, but it is his World Cup selections that have been labelled conservative, and he has said as much himself.
Brax
Guest
To all you Connolly baggers.He was in control during Queenslands finest period in recent rugby history, Queensland won the last super 10's under his reign in South Africa, and constantly beat NSW. Some of Australia's best players during this period came out of his teams. My point is he has a track record of success.Saying he has been conservative in his selections is ridiculous, have a look at how many debutants there have been since he took over.He was on a hiding to nothing when he took over & is doing a pretty good job I reckon.Thank God "link" didn't get the gig seeing NSW results this year, we would have been better off keeping Eddie. This all just seems like a Sydney media witch hunt to me by the usual suspects.
Joshua
Guest
The alarmist propaganda from Growden is wearing thin, I agree. And not only that, his attacks on the Wallabies have become personal and derogatory. Without a highly professional journalistic line, any Wallaby is going to take the attack on their coaching staff as an attack on the whole team. Especially as, to their credit, the coaching panel are trying to develop the team ethos - the coaches themselves are taking part. So, Greg Growden, enough of the spite. You're sounding ugly - like the one-eyed parent berating the coach for not giving his golden boy more time on the field. Some balance mate. Joshua.
Chris Beck
Guest
Matt Rowley - I completely agree with your suggestion that what's got people irritated is the fairly continuous feed of unattributed negativity. My engineering background makes me wonder how true some of this stuff can be if there are never any names attributed to anything. I guess we'll know in a couple of months whether all this turmoil is real or perceived or what.
Monty String
Guest
JOSHUA - what happened was this: McKenzie was being groomed as the next Wallaby coach, but he didn't want the job of trying to turn the Wallabies around because, as an ex-member of the Grand Slam front row, he knew there was no way the Ws' scrum could be improved enough to take out this year's RW Cup. So he was happy to wait till the Cup was over and be appointed then, because 4 years would bring some great new blood into the W pack, and the Ws would be real contenders in 2011. So they hired Knuckles as night watchman. The brilliant brains at the ARU were happy to do so because they figured a coach strong on forward play was just what the doctor ordered. And the pack has improved, marginally, under Connolly. However, the backs have gone to hell. And Ewan's chances went to the same destination when the Tars had a nightmare season. So the reason why the Wallabies will not win this year is not only because the pack would/will be destroyed by the ABs, France, England, the Boks, Ireland or the Pumas, but because the backs haven't gelled what with Greegs still doing the Texas two-step, Gits uncertain where he'll be playing, Tuquiri a threat only on paper, and Latho lacking major match practise for so long. It's a great, great shame. Read it and weep.
mcxd
Guest
Joshua, Given the appointment was during Gary Flowers reign at head of ARU I would assume the decision came down to him and the ARU board. I think Spiro's point was that this "last man standing" decision typified the inadequacies of the ARU under Gary Flowers. Regarding the above article, I have been one who has been critising Greg Growden and his articles. I understand that there would have to be some level of substance to the articles he was writing but the frequency and number of articles on negative and inflammatory topics such as numerous and various rifts within the ARU and Wallabies at all levels left me wonder if theres something unknown and a bit more sinister driving the articles. The constant vagueness of sources and ambiguity of details in my mind didnt support a strong reality to the situation. The WC is imminent , it only comes once every four years and is the pinnacle of acheivement in World rugby. As a proud Australian and Rugby supporter I want our team do the best they can and even prehaps win it. I don't beleive that such constant and numerous attacks in the media assists that goal. Don't get me wrong im not one who supports an "ignorance is bliss" approach but surely there must be some balance to the reporting ? Are the Wallabies doing something right ? I would argue yes of course. They are currently ranked no. 2 in the world by IRB rankings and a recently defeated the team ranked no.1 who hadnt been beaten in a number of years and kept that side scoreless in a half for the first time in 57 halves of rugby. That would suggest to me they're doing something right in this supposed mess and quagmire they're in. But what I think what tiped me over the edge coming straight after these frequent and numerous attacks on the ARU and Wallabies was last weeks article "Wallabies Star in theatre of Absurd" in the SMH (and Rugby Heaven) regarding the Wallabies training at Manly..The report firstly featured Craig Gowers presence and past misdemeanours. The majority of the rest of report centred around a drunken heckler in the stands and his antics ? Only one quote from the Coach and it was refering to Craig Gower. There was around forty people to choose from to get quotes about actual rugby but he chose to write on something negative attacking the team and totally irrelevant to the Wallabies and the WC build up. How can that particular article be considered constructive critism and a tool to promote change ?
Joshua Carmody
Guest
RE: Swifty's point about Greg Growden and crying wolf - exactly. Greg Growden is the Union version of John Howard - be alarmist as possible about the enemy and you'll win the argument. On some level, however, I sympathise with GG. He has maintained his point about Gregan for years - ie that he should be replaced by another player, a point which myself and many others agreed with - whilst Eddie Jones and now Connolly have mindlessly ignored the reality. Growden isn't the enemy of Australian Rugby - conservatism, in its most fossilised and gutless form - holds that mantle. Greg just never lets us forget it. And yes it's bloody annoying, but that's the nature of truth sometimes. I've made the point before in different ways in my previous comments, but the ARU has clearly lacked intelligent leadership. Instead we've had too many chiefs inebriated by their nit-picking kava stew stumble around and slap each other in the face like some pathetic pantomine while the rugby community look on in uneasy bewilderment. Let's look at the facts, of which some have been pointed out above and by myself elsewhere; A. Connolly has always been conservative to the point of derangement. His decision making - such as picking Raulini (a non-Australian) over Cordingly (who had the best pass in the game at the time) is questionable. We only had three teams in the Super 12, and Connolly chooses a non-Australian. I'm still pinching myself about this one. I remember working in a Brisbane hotel and over-hearing Connolly talk about where to select Horan. It was weird. Unsettling - like he had no ideas. The bottom line is that those in the ARU who made the decision to appoint Connolly clearly have no nouse for what makes a good coach. How on earth did they expect a tired old dog to learn new tricks? I'd like to know this: who appointed Connolly and why? Joshua.
swifty
Guest
unfortunately greg growden has become the boy who cried wolf everytime he uses his unnamed sources i just switch off i would have thought it would do the game more good to get the names out there and get the whole issue right out into the public eye (if there is an issue) so that it gets resolved ASAP. the funny thing is i reckon growden's writing is actually gathering support for connolly. or at least he isn't the australian rugby public's most disliked person right now.
Matt Rowley
Guest
Spiro, You are, of course, completely right when you say that journo's are under no obligation to report a party line, but rather the truth as they see it. We should never go for a 'just trust me' from anyone, be it the ARU and/or coaching staff. But I think this is 'just trust me and my nameless sources' line, re-iterated many times a week, is what has got under people's skin. No-one would be surprised that in a squad of 30+ players, and who knows how many present and past ARU officials, that there will be people not in sync with personalities like Connolly (old firm QLD) and Johnson. I'm sure even in the McQueen days you could have found dissenters if you had looked hard enough. Moving on from these nameless sources, the problem is that the outright evidence of coaching disharmony is really very thin. We have Mortlock having a go at Johnson almost 10 months ago now, Muggleton getting his nose out of joint with an ARU official (not another coach, and it was Connolly who played peacemaker), players worried about the boot camp (Warney spat his dummy out on this one, but that team seemed fine). None of these coach on coach. The coach on coach stuff seems to centre around again 'nameless' sources saying Johnson is peeved at Johns being around. Do I take that on trust? Seems to me Johns and Johnson are still both there and the Wallabies are taking Johns advice on board, which is very positive. Who is it that Johnson is supposed to be upset with? Johns, the players who wanted to talk with him, Connolly? Otherwise it's that Connolly and Johnson had a crunch talk at half-time during the abysmal SA test a year ago - not surprising considering how the test was going. It appears that Connolly got them to stick to the game plan for the second half (unfortunately). Since then though, we thankfully haven't had a similar approach. The coaching team collectively seemed to learned and move on. So the named and cited evidence of a coaching split is hardly earth shattering. A mixture of old and irrelevant news. The solid evidence we do have though is a pretty dramatic turn around of Wallaby fortunes since the new coaching set up. From losing 8/9 and 5th in the world, to pushing for the Tri-Nations and 2nd. It's not all perfect, but as management turn-arounds go, as good as you can expect. So that's why there's a degree of exasperation around - the 'trust me they hate each other' line isn't really fitting with the facts and results. While Connolly's pointed reply to GG in the Herald was also a bit of a 'trust me' - his story seems to fit the facts as we know them better. As such, they don't seem to be just a reflection of a biased personal agenda.
Andrew B
Guest
Spiro, Thanks for your article. I, like many, have grown to dislike Mr Growden's writing of late. For mine, the biggest reason is it seems like he is feeding the ego's and agenda's of ARU officials. These rivalries and issues may be real, but are too far removed from the game itself - and the game is what most of the rugby-reading public actually care about. I don't really care that some official I never knew about lost some job I never knew existed. He just ends up sounding like a Woman's Day gossip columnist. You appear to agree with much of Growden's points, so what did you make of John Connollys recent rebuttal? "We're not in a crisis" http://www.rugbyheaven.smh.com.au/articles/2007/08/04/1185648205322.html
Chris
Guest
Spiro, I accept you can't gloss or paper over issues or cracks. My point was that rather than making the point in a single article, Growden publishes five different versions of the same story in the space of a week. Last season he only had one tune, and that was to bitch about Gregan, who, to his full credit, with apologies to Kipling, "kept his head whilst all around were losing their's and blaming it on him". Using your logic, Gregan's form this year is attributable to Growden and other armchair critics, and not of his - and the coaches - own doing. And whilst I'm on my soap box, it's hypocritical for him to constantly criticise the politics within the various rugby administrations whilst forever quoting un-named senior figures. Doesn't he realise that just adds to the insecurities and other personality issues afflicting the game. Rugby brings out passions in true believers, both spectators and those charged with running the game. That's what makes it a great game. Growden's constant griping however goes beyond constructive criticism or balanced reporting. Will someone please let me know when its safe to read the Herald again?
Spiro Zavos
Expert
Of course I meant the 1999 Rugby World Cup in connection with Rod Macqueen.
Spiro Zavos
Expert
Journalists covering their favourite sport do not want to write doom and gloom stories. They certainly do not do it for mercenary reasons or to generate sales. As a couple of readers have suggested, writing about the splits in the Wallaby camp can lead to readers cancelling their subscriptions. Nor are we alarmist for the sake of generating headlines. There was none of this sort of reporting when Rod Macqueen was coach. The reason was obvious. Macqueen was ahead of the rest of the world in his selection and preparation of the Wallabies. The rugby writers, Greg Growden and myself included, were euphoric about the way the Wallabies were being prepared to win the 1991 Rugby World Cup. If you read 'Watching The Rugby World Cup' (Allen and Unwin) you'll read that Macqueen took myself and Evan Whitton (and probably other journalists too) into his confidence about the tactics and selections he was going to use in 1999. If things were going this well for the 2007 Wallabies, we'd be just as euphoric and supportive. But what are rugby reporters supposed to do if people inside Camp Wallaby tell them that coaches are not getting on, that there are splits in the tactical approach the Wallabies should be taking, that some players are scornful of some of the coaches, and that some players are laughing at some of the drills they have to perform. You learn to trust sources and get a feel for whether people are feeding you a line. If everything seems to add up, you owe the rugby public and the team a duty to expose the fact of splits in Camp Wallaby. Moreover, there is the case of John Muggleton walking out of the John Eales dinner because he believed he was slighted by the ARU President, Paul McLean. This seemed to give substance to what insiders were saying about the splits in the ranks. I would add a further point. For most of this year Greg Growden and myself have been insisting that the ARU under Gary Flowers (Fort Fumble, in Greg Growden's great phrase) was in a state of chaos. I know there was pressure on me to desist from writing these stories. I suppose Greg got the same pressure. The Australian, for its own reasons, mainly because they had an access to Gary Flowers, took the attitude that everything was fine. I know which group of journalists served the Australian rugby public and Australian rugby the best. The truth hurts sometimes. But the hurt, like applying iodine, can lead to healing. As it happened the articles by Greg Growden and myself lead to a new ARU regime with John O'Neill at the helm. O'Neill has already proved his worth in restoring the credibility of the ARU and Australian rugby. If the Wallabies do well at the World Cup it may be that the articles exposing the troubles in Camp Wallaby will be seen as THE catalyst for getting the team on track by concentrating the coaching staff on their main game, preparing the Wallabies to win the World Cup. Shooting the messenger is never a recipe for success. If the message is bad, change the message. This what John Connolly and the coaching staff have to do, starting from now.
David
Guest
I thought maybe Greg Crowden was just muck-raking, stirring up trouble as he does on a regular basis with his anti-Gregan rants. I'm disappointed that you seem to think there's substance to the 'Wallaby camp split' story. To take a positive spin, players and coaches not getting on itsn't always a bad thing, as shown when the Brumbies won the Super 12 after booting Nucifora out mid-season. The only people among my rugby friends who supported John Connolly's appointment as Wallabies coach were Kiwis; the rest of us knew the durge was soon to set in. A conservative head coach and a supposedly creative backline coach just weren't going to fit. Good to see Flowers gone, if this is the state we're in.
Matt
Guest
What a mess! At the risk of being labelled a "rugby tragic" it actually hurts to read some of that stuff. To your credit Spiro you have at least come out and named names for the most part (although I'd like to know who the "experienced person in Australian rugby" is). It was always going to be a fractious relationship between the coaches with such differing views on the game but it seems the theory of healthy debate has gone out the window and given way to something altogether different. I don't necessarily agree that Greg Growden has done an excellent job in uncovering the whole sorry...He reads more like the Watergate scandal to me. I can't help but feel he has an axe to grind...it seems personal to him. As a "grassroots" rugby supporter you can't help but be angry at the powers to be that they let this situation develop (or degenerate)....just another symptom of the game going downhill in this country. My great hope is that once the WC is over the ARU can sit down and appoint a coach/staff in a professional manner and put an end to the endless bickering that has gone on. It saddens me to see the Wallaby jumper cheapened and shamed in this way...The loyal Australian rugby public deserve better.