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Having watched the Wallabies breathtaking attacking play this season, and then the St George Illawarra Dragons clinical precision against Manly last Sunday, it is the Wallabies who are playing the much more exciting and entertaining style.
Both teams are in a comparable position in their development life cycle. Neither has won anything for decades and both are in the process of adopting a new style of play. Both have faltered along the way. St George made an early exit from the finals in 2009, after securing the minor premiership.
The Wallabies have lost several unlosable games in the past 24 months. Both are coached by highly credentialed coaches who were brought in to change the culture and resolve of the team.
Both are now showing genuine signs that they can fulfill their potential in their respective competitions, the NRL premiership and the RWC 2011.
The St George Illawarra Dragons clinical performance drilled the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 28-0 last Sunday. It was a very close replication of the best way to play winning Rugby League. Its execution is to be respected if not admired. The commentators, journalists and I considered it dull but also recognise and acknowledge the skill required to execute it.
Wayne Bennett, Australia’s equivalent of Vince Lombardi, using this style, has transformed the Dragons potential into genuine premiership favourites.
The Wallabies have selected a large number of inexperienced but naturally gifted players, reskilled them (accurate catching and passing), got them fitter, allowed them to make mistakes and gave them an expansive game plan that is literally impossible to defend against.
In making cross code comparisons, it is important to acknowledge the fundamental differences. Rugby is a much more complex game: real scrums, line outs, rucks and mauls and the breakdown.
League’s attraction is its simplicity.
Three to four one out runs by the attacking team, then one to two plays of two passes and then a kick for position or into the in goal. Sounds easy but it is not. Neither is better or worse, just different. But both codes are possession based and both invariably share possession relatively equally over the duration of a game.
In the end, it comes down to whether it is better to win first and entertain second or whether it is possible to do both. Attempting to win and entertain, as the Wallabies are trying to do, is much harder to achieve than playing the low percentage footy that St George have adopted.
The Wallabies don’t have much choice. They have the All Blacks to contend with in every competition they play in. St George are lucky that one of the two teams that could compete with them, the Melbourne Storm, could only do so by stacking the deck.
The other, the Balmain Tigers, have lost their playmaker, Benji Marshall.
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.