Do the Wallabies respect the jersey?

Wallabies pty ltd

This " no respect for the jersey" line trotted out when a team is having a bad run, is a load of bollocks. Don't worry, its been used on our side of the ditch on the (few) occasions in which the ab's have faltered. This is grasping at straws, and if this is the level on debate on where oz rugby is atm, then your game is in more trouble than I thought. The real answer lies in your talent identification,coaching and team strategies. Get those right, and everything else will fall into place. This route is just a road to nowhere.

I have to say that they don't given their way way way below acceptable standard of play on many many occasions-but all this comes down to a lack of a truly national third -tier comp -something that NZ will fight tooth and nail to stop since it would spell the end of their hegemony-more players, more competition , more public exposure means more players available for selection , more competition for national spots and therefore more motivation "to give their best" AT EVERY GAME not just when they feel like doing so .

Uncle, you are MOM today, agree with all your posts. I have said all week that I implore ARU Chairman Michael Hawker to start the clean out now. JON, Nucifora and Dingo must go. They have presided over the current mess and must fall on there sword. The Lions tour is vial for Australian rugby on many levels, if the current regime remain we are p1ssing away another 18 months of ineptitude and medicoracy. Please Lord Hawker, show us the mettle you displayed on the rugby field and in business. Btw - good day for the Redmen against the Blue Giants !

I think he had no choice but to play him. Barnes at 5/8 means AF and RH in the centres, which wont win games against NZ. He is on of the few players with a bit of spark that can cause problems against them.

Why is a long injury list not an adequate explanation for the losses? Remove the same number of AB stars and they look very beatable. Just look how keen they were to keep SBW for 2 tests when Conrad Smith was unfit.There was slight panic there because of other injuries to ex[eroienced players in that position. Everyone is replacable , but a 5% drop in intensity/talent/attitude/confidence is the difference between winning and losing. That is why I strongly object to all the facile results-merchants on this site. Their relentless criticism is bad for WB confidence and is just helping the Boks. If this was war, as some of them call it, they would have been hung.

Johnson....of course they were trying, but were they playing to potential, playing like paid professionals, taking on the AB's as if they wanted to conquer them, supporting each other as team mates - I don't think so. Did they leave every bit of energy and hunger on the field....didn't look so to me and many others who have watched the Wallabies our whole lives. Question asked is....why didn't the true Wallabies turn up to play ? Is there something in the coaching ? Is there a sub-culture dividing the team? Are the AB's too good ? Why are the Wallabies getting done by Scotland, Samoa ? Were they lucky against Wales? So, where is the problem ?

Uncle A -- as to the reason John O'Neil was addressing the team is one thing and I don't know the answer --- his knowledge of rugby is another. JON was brought up in a rugby family, educated at Joeys where he was an excellent sportsman, joined Easts when they were a major rugby force in Sydney after having won club championships, all grades had been premiers and were guided by Peter Crittle. His knowledge of the game is excellent and is soundly based. I think his spray to the team was really voicing the concerns of those who get let down when we don't see the Wallabies playing to their potential . Finally, I also understand JON is in the dressing room to give congrats to the Wallabies when they win.....so, I guess he is not one of those officials we see in Rugby who are only there when the team is going well.

Hey ---- watch theAB's after they lose....you won't see them having a " love in "...they are truly gutted as they know what it means to see the Silver Fern lowered. Playing a shocker like Beale and being 5 to 6 Kilos overweight and through missing two text book tacckles being the main contributor to the loss of a major international should have left him in a state of self examination not chirpy .

I disagree on one point: Robbie can beat the All Blacks with some decent players.

Agree on the players side of things - easy to say they dont put in but I believe they lack strucutre and strategy at present. PS Remember we lose to teams we shouldnt also....

Boys against men. That was the wallabies versus AB's. Can't hack the rough stuff, with some notable exceptions. To see how the AB's can be beaten, look at their second game with Ireland. The irish are a team of tough old nuts. Took on the AB's up front and unsettled their game plan. Got them spooked. Nearly won too. But the irish boys can'd do that consistently. Same thing as happened to the wallabies at world cup. Can anyone name some tough nut aussie forwards in past five odd years? Vickerman maybe, but he shot through after the 07 world cup. He was more of a niggler.

to be honest johnson, normally I would agree with you 100% re joking around after the game. These guys DO all know each other and socialise. TThe thing that got my goat was Beale got a bit of a lambasting last week (with the closer result) for joking with SBW after a terrible performance, and started to tweet how he made a mistake bla bla, yet a week later after an absolute drubbing he and Cooper the same thing. Braindead. Anyway, its a storm in a tea cup. The real issue is performance during the game, not hamming it up after. They try, but it is huff n puff. Their efforts are not directed. Its running around in circles stuff, sometimes you feel like you are running up and down on the spot, especially when the opposition glides past you. And some are definitely going through the motions, getting to rucks too slowly, not shoving hard, falling off tackles, kicking it away or tossing a short hospital pass instead of running into contact. And Deans apparently believes we are doing ok, its just that the ABs are unbeatable. Complete and utter rubbish, for that stupid comment alone he should have been sacked. Disregarding a stupid comment though, believing we are doing ok after the loss to Scotland, the almost losses to Wales and the two losses to hte Abs is head in the sand stuff, and shows just as much muddled thinking as Beale, Barnes and Cooper.

Not attempting to defend Deans here but not taking a designated 7 to the RWC other than Pocock was a strategic move-mirrored,incidentally,by Henry.The Wallabies/ABs both had utility cover should someone be required short-term;with the option of replacing said injured player if necessary. Most squads probably contained compromises of some sort;Deans was not unique in this. I have railed against the 5-2 bench split;a related strategic gamble. I think Ewen McKenzie may have also used the 5/2 at the Reds? Blaming Deans for every little thing that has gone wrong is simplistic and unfair,in my view. Having said that....recalling QC for Eden Park and not dumping Beale entirely strikes me as erroneous. I think pressure (and possibly interference) has gotten to the Wallaby management this past fornight and it might be too late to regain control of the reins. Your point about (lack of) teamwork is a valid one. We got a hint of that from Moore with his comments about the game-plan.

Your right, the Boks have beaten them more than us, but still only three teams have done it. That's a statistic of a good team. They are better than us. They will remain so until Australian rugby as an organisation puts plans and systems in place to be a better team. I just don't fault the players for their effort.

your issues with the selections is one thing, but you don't really provide any startling evidence that the boys are not trying. I think they did well to keep the score line as it was.

Your stats are factually wrong Johnson. During the period 2008 to the present the Boks have beaten the ABs 5 out of 11, the Wallabies 3 from 17. From 2009 it stands Boks 4 ABs 4, Wallabies 2 from 11. Pick n Go gives you the stats...

Have you ever thought that a situation might have arisen that they are good friends off the pitch? They are both leagueys and SBW and cooper have the same manager. They more than likely know each other quite well. After a game of footy it’s not uncommon to have a joke with people you know, especially if you know the opposition socially. I don’t buy your idea of he is obviously not trying in a game being played at the pinnacle of rugby, the bledisloe. He was trying;and joking on the field rather than your idea of the appropriate place the sheds is nonsense. He was probably so embarrassed with his performance it was nervous reaction and he was covering up his shame.

I dont know what sport you watch johnson, but its certainly not what happens in any game of anything I have ever played when you get flogged. Sure, shake a hand and say thanks for the game, thats it until you meet in the shed or the bar for a drink AFTER the game. Not on the field.

its not my whole theory johnson, its an example of all that is being discussed on this thread and several others. My whole theory has been posted many times, namely a sense of entitlement has crept into the selections. They need a good swift kick up the arse. Drop Robinson, Horne, Beale et al immediately. They have nothing to warrant selection in the first place against Wales let alone keep being selected. In fact I would even go so far as to say drop Genia. Nobody is untouchable. Platitude I know, but you are only as good as your last game, and Genia is having a hit miss ratio of performing every fourth game. And was complete shite almost the whole S15 season. Sitting over the ruck hatching an emu egg is just not good enough. The penalty infringement shows his mind is not in the right place. To be told by the coach of the ABs that the wobblies tried hard is an insult to our intelligence. Its all huff n puff. There is a difference between trying and busting a gut. Precious few left it on the paddock.