Sacked Carlton coach Brett Ratten inadvertently gave the Wallabies a wake-up call at his media conference yesterday.
Proving himself a class act after 24 years at the club, and despite the grilling he copped from the Melbourne AFL media, Ratten said of his roster: “We are very fortunate in life. The players have great opportunities to control whatever they want to do, and whatever they want to be, as a person.
“Don’t wait there and have regrets. Do it now, and live in the moment”.
That’s what Carlton didn’t do against the lowly Suns, who waltzed away with a shock 12.7.79 to 9.13.67 win that triggered Ratten’s sacking, just like how the Wallabies played against the world’s number one ranked All Blacks over the last two Saturdays that has led to calls for Robbie Deans to be sacked.
Carlton players were pathetic, so too the Wallabies.
Both didn’t control whatever they wanted to do, or whatever they wanted to be.
Nor did they live in the moment.
The well-chosen words were lost on both.
Ratten didn’t come right out and say it, but his senior players were to blame for a really poor season. Deans can say the same thing about the Bledisloe series, now a decade long, that started well before Deans’ watch.
Player responsibility totally rests with the players. It’s as simple as that. No coach is responsible for players bombing elementary fundamentals of either code.
But last night on the Rugby Club, reinjured Wallaby winger Drew Mitchell was quick to refute any lack of character or passion among his team-mates.
“Clearly we are of the opinion we are not where we need to be at, but that sort of thing (criticising character and passion) really upsets not only myself, but probably the team as well”.
Probably?
Mitchell went on: “Our character couldn’t be questioned at the weekend. Clearly some of our execution and perhaps our strategies could be questioned, but the boys absolutely put everything out there and gave themselves to the jersey”.
Strategies questioned? Deans’ fault?
Like Ratten, Mitchell is a class act. But if he’s right, why did the majority of Wallabies look so disinterested for most of the 80 minutes?
Perception can be dangerous, if wrong.
But despite what Mitchell said, a poor perception is what the Wallabies gave the 50,000-odd crowd at Eden Park and the millions of television viewers around the world.
The real truth is these All Blacks are not one of the greatest sides of all time. But they are a minimum 20-point better side than any other nation at the moment.
That doesn’t make them unbeatable.
But the Wallabies won’t ever beat them by kicking away prize possession, and kicking poorly at that, missing tackles, passing the ball behind supports, and giving away bone-headed penalties when the men-in-black have sharpshooters like Dan Carter and Aaron Cruden on duty.
That’s rugby suicide.
Does that show character and passion?
Hardly.
Next up in the Rugby Championship are the Boks in Perth tomorrow week. The Wallabies have beaten them in five of their last six meetings:
* Won 30-13 at Suncorp in July 2010.
* Lost 44-31 at Loftus in September 2010.
* Won 41-39 at Bloemfontein in September 2010.
* Won 39-20 at Sydney in July 2011.
* Won 14-9 at Durban in August 2011.
* And won 11-9 at Wellington in October 2011.
A week later, it’s the Pumas at Skilled Park for the first time since 2002 when the Wallabies won 17-6 and 24-9 away and home respectively under the coaching of Eddie Jones.
Those games have no bearing on that Gold Coast clash-to-be, but the 16-all draw against the Boks last weekend at Mendoza was very significant.
So let’s reserve judgment on the Wallabies’ character and passion until after the international against the Pumas.
A loss to either side would demand wholesale sackings because the Wallabies would have conclusively proved they have lost the character and passion required to wear the coveted gold jersey.
Dave
Guest
Really? So you have some examples of land, labour and equipment being successfully organised in a financially productive enterprise without the capital input of an employer? Wow Lorry you have to tell the world about this fabulous discovery that will replace capitalism...
JBees
Guest
LOL! I hear yah Banger, it was more a sympathy vote when I included cannon, I just seem to like the guy, but point taken:)
Jackson
Guest
Rabbitz, Drew presents a handsome, private-school, non-tattooed and (dare I say it?) 'anglo' face that the ARU love.... careful where you're going with your list above Rabbitz...
Lorry
Guest
haha, 'employees without an employer'?!! Actually, I think that would be pretty good, and has actually been proven to work fairly well in the few historical examples of workers cooperatives...
Lorry
Guest
what are you on about world's biggest? Don't you remember guys like Tim Horan and Campese having a laugh with the opposition after the game? Not all players have to be sourpuss Andrew Slack faced...
Gravity basher
Guest
Mitchell should retire he's broken. Gone. And he was Pathetic last night whinging like he did. Too much time at the tahs.
liam
Guest
it doesnt help when argie and AB, SA props look like cavemen and wallabie props look like fat babies.
liam
Guest
ditto it would be good to have ireland get up top beat the ABs, would give them a shot of confidence and get the monkey off the back of both teams.
Banger
Guest
Oh JB you had me until you included Cannon in that list of players
garth
Guest
That attitude certainly explains the looks on Deans & co's faces last weekend. The complete disbelief that their players are obviously not listening to instruction.
garth
Guest
Aussies better off signing Argie forward coaches instead.
JBees
Guest
Thanks for the clarification Rabbitz, maybe it is me who is the gullible one, to think the aussies would make positive changes for the good of the game. One can only hope! :)
Red Block
Guest
Funny that you mention 'the Rugby Club' on Fox sports. This show, of which Mitchell is a regular, rarely asks the hard questions. The 'expert' panelists always praise the players and rarely question Deans' abilities 'other then to tell us what a great bloke he is.' Let's hope they soon put a non-Wallaby on the panel who's not afraid of offending his mates. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
Hansie
Guest
In David Lord world, Robbie Deans is responsible for nothing. His team performs like cr@p, yet it can never be the fault of Deans. When the Waratahs were playing poorly, David Lord was quick to blame the coach.
Rabbitz
Roar Guru
Mitchell is quite bright and appears to be able to string a coherent sentence together. Copper? Beale? Genia? I am not sure the spin doctors would trust them to read a prepared statement on the courthouse steps, let alone do off the cuff interview work.
Rabbitz
Roar Guru
Ah JBees, the naivety of our friends across the ditch... It is simple why it is not top down. "Empire Building". The QRU, the NSWRU and the others are not populated with people to whom the best interests of Australian rugby are paramount. The provincial organisation are there to prop up the dinosaurs of the organisation. They are protecting their patch. If the interlopers from the ARU dared to ask them to toe the line, the immediate reaction would be to tell them to sod off. Sadly, their does not appear to be a will to break up these petty empires for the good of the game at all levels.
stillmissit
Roar Guru
Dave great post. As a Robbie Deans supporter I want to give some thought to what you are saying prior to giving a full reply. Might do it in another article. Stopped me and made me think - a dangerous thing!!!!
stillmissit
Roar Guru
Why is Drew Mitchell always in the front row when the crap starts to fly? He was stuck in the same role with the Waratahs meet the fans meeting. He tried to keep a good face on things and you can't blame him for that. Drew Mitchell has never let Australia down in any game I can remember. Where is QC, Beale and a couple of the others when the blow torch is on?
Vic
Guest
Ratten next coach of the Wallabies. Really could they get much worse? It would improve two organizations in Oz, the Wallabies and Carlton.
BigAl
Guest
They do this quite often in NFL, where the game is brutal, the stakes are high and the audience is huge.