With the Reds reduced to a spoiling role at the tail end of this year’s Super 14, Queensland fans have been asked once again to look to the long term for better days.
Has Phil Mooney done enough with the Reds this year to rekindle hope amongst the team’s supporters and will 2009 be the year Queensland really turn it around?
Firstly some basic questions.
Are the Reds a better team under Phil Mooney? Undoubtedly so. Can they continue to improve under Mooney? Highly likely.
Mooney appears to be a coach on the rise, someone who is willing to learn and improve whilst also being able to instill confidence in his players.
He is approachable and honest in his assessments of where the Reds are and, despite his apparently strong connection with the coming generation, he maintains something decidedly old school about his demeanour.
With a coach like Mooney now in charge, it would seem the real problems facing the Queensland Reds rest directly above and below him.
Above, the QRU — an organisation that has in recent years lost the confidence of many senior and junior squad members who looked elsewhere for a greater chance of enjoying success in their playing careers.
Below, the playing squad — a group pruned of its stars and weighed down with a mindset shaped by repeated on field defeats and a sense of hopelessness of it.
The grooming of James Horwill as captain and a selection policy that rewards success rather than extending pensions to faithful servants are actions that will go a long way towards putting right the mental state of the playing squad.
The departure of Chris Latham, great player that he was, will also release a giant albatross from the neck of the developing squad.
For far too long Queensland relied on the individual brilliance of the fullback to the detriment of the team’s growth.
It is imperative now that the QRU ensures their house is in order whilst coach Mooney begins to look outside the squad for players to provide the additional natural talent and physical attributes the side needs to be truly competitive in the Super 14 competition.
Good coaching, even great coaching, cannot make up for a real lack of depth in the squad and nor can it bring anything more out of a player than what he is physically capable of doing.
As faithful and uplifting a servant as the retiring David Croft has been to the Reds, his fortunes as an aspiring international player are almost identical to the fortunes of the Reds as a team of recent years.
There’s always been someone better, someone with that special something in the way they play rugby that can’t be attributed to hard work alone.
No matter how hard he fought it always seemed Croft was fighting up one weight division too many.
Queensland need players who are great at international level, not just great at Super rugby level.
Without some strong recruiting between now and next February, the Reds could face yet another lean year in 2009.
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.
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