At 5.38 pm on Monday night, NSW Waratahs media sent out a release announcing the appointment of a head coach would be made on Tuesday at 10.30.
I replied that I would be there to hear what Mr Michael Cheika, the obvious candidate for the job, would have to say.
Cheika’s appointment had been leaked to the media, in fact, for some days. The Roar ran a note “>suggesting he had the job on Monday.
So there we were at Waratahs Rugby HQ in the conference room at 10.30 today and in walked, surprise, suprise (not) Michael Cheika, the new and impressive chairman of the Waratahs franchise, former Wallaby, Rhodes Scholar and successful businessman Roger Davis and the CEO Jason Allen.
I can report that the siege mentality of the Waratahs franchise has been lifted.
There were smiles all around. Allen shook my hand and said with some conviction, ‘nice to see you.’ He also greeted Peter Crittle, a former NSW chairman and great Wallaby in his heyday, with some affection.
I make this point because at the forum that was held for supporters to meet the players, coaches and staff of the franchise to thrash out what was going wrong, no one among the players or the officials had a clue who the burly, white-haired older man in the audience who stood up and demolished the way the Waratahs were playing was.
It was, in fact, Terry Curley, the great Wallaby and Waratahs full-back and successful coach at St Joseph’s College, Hunters Hill.
I thought it was significant, in the light of this, that Davis acknowledged the presence of Crittle.
And in his impressive summary of why and how Cheika was appointed, Davis said this: “We had about a dozen candidates but the selection of Michael Cheika was unanimous.
“In addition to a wealth of domestic and international coaching experience, Michael has a proven track record as an inspirational leader and an agent of change.
“We believe he is the right man to embrace the Waratahs’ great tradition and ambition and develop a strong and succesful culture that embraces our supporters, partners and stakeholders.”
Davis could not say this but I will. When his statement is deconstructed it means that the Waratahs will go back to their traditional style which is for expansive and winning rugby driven by forwards who are athletic and have, as Cheika noted later on in the conference, a ‘bit of mongrel in them.’
If you want a short-hand description of the traditional Waratahs style you need to go no further than the famous ‘Galloping Greens’ method of the Randwick Club during its glory days of the Ellas, David Campese, Simon Poidevin (a forward with mongrel in his play if ever there was one!) and Michael Cheika, a number 8 who captained Randwick from 1997 – 1999 and later coached them to Premier League success in 2003/04.
The death rites to the appalling ‘win ugly’ vision were read out in Roger Davis’ opening statement and later when Cheika explained why he was pleased about his appointment:
“The opportunity to coach the Super Rugby team of my home state and the responsibility to make all our supporters and all the people from NSW proud of their team is one that motivates me immensely.
“My immediate goal is to establish our indentity loud and clear, inside and outside of the team: who we are, how we are going to play the game and what we are prepared to do to earn the respect of our team-mates, our supporters and our competitors, as an individual and as a team.’
I would make a fearless prediction here as a gloss to what Cheika was saying and just as importantly, implying.
The era of the Waratahs franchise being dominated and almost destroyed by player power is over.
Players, even those at the highest levels in the team, who try and contest power in the franchise from the coach will be booted out.
The back to the future Waratahs will be a coach-driven side. This raises the question: Is Michael Cheika up to this challenge?
His career suggests he is. He has a tremendous experience in rugby in NSW having played 300 and more games for the Galloping Greens. As Davis pointed out, he doesn’t have to be indoctrinated into the heritage and efficiency of the traditional Waratahs game.
As a side-point, Davis explained that the board’s clear determination to base the revival of the franchise in the revival of the traditional Waratahs game led it to insist that the new coach had to be an Australian, preferably as it turned out, someone who did not have to be taught the heritage of the Waratahs.
Cheika also has an excellent coaching record. He has won the Shute Shield with Randwick, and with Leinster a Magner’s Celtic Cup and a Heineken Cup in 2009.
He has done this with teams that have played attacking, successful rugby that supporters have enjoyed and endorsed with big crowd numbers. Hopefully, something similar is in store for Waratahs supporters in 2013.
joeb
Guest
Atawhai Drive, most informative, thanks, and 200K ain't to be sneezed at. Best of luck in his retirement. Maybe now he could author a few books on the topic, meaning rugby. Obviously there's a market.
Bakkies
Guest
A Canberra based journalist launching a campaign to get rid of certain Tahs players from the Wallabies. I would like to see that. Growden's campaign to get rid of Gregan was a disgrace. After Gregan's retirement we saw how valuable he was to Aus rugby.
Parisien
Guest
I think Stade Français have been very inconsistent and patchy the last two seasons. They finished 9th (winning ten out of 26 games)and 7th, (11 from 26), with negative point differentials. The main problem was they couldn't win their away games, against some very ordinary opponents: Lyon, Bordeaux -Begles, Grenoble... Cheika may have had worthwhile intentions but the results weren't there, for whatever reason. I hope he goes better at the Tahs, and gets them playing some positive rugby.
Larry
Guest
Just to clarify Brett, I didn't think he wrote complete nonsense, nor did I have a problem with him writing negative articles. However, he certainly did develop and pursue some personal vendettas (Gregan, 'Radio') in his time which became predictable/boring and detracted from the serious analysis of the game contained elsewhere in his articles.
peterlala
Guest
I find the gossip and innuendo offensive.
Brett McKay
Expert
I can't wait for the day I get to start my own peronsal vandetta, Bakkies! :evil: (I kid..)
Brett McKay
Expert
yep agree about the Tele now, Jamie and Iain Payten cover it pretty well between them..
Atawhai Drive
Roar Guru
Hi Brett Yes, I knew Georgina Robinson was from Brisbane and has a strong rugby track record. Have to confess I'd never noticed her details before. Other than some track events, the Olympics largely passed me by, as they usually do. She seems more willing to engage with the public than Growden was. Jamie Pandaram may be having second thoughts, but at least rugby _ including the Shute Shield _ gets a reasonably good run in The Daily Telegraph.
Bakkies
Guest
Fairfax's whole Rugby reporting has changed this year. Even the Canberra Times online reports are directed to Rugbyheaven (which I avoid mainly because of Growden). I rather read a negative report from Spiro than Growden. At least Spiro is passionate about the game and does think about it. He mixes it with good and bad whether you agree him or not. This very site has done a lot for the game and you get reports from people like Brett, etc that you wouldn't read in the papers. It's not all negative either. These guys don't gave as many personal vendettas that Growden has against certain figures in Aus rugby. Growden has been constantly negative for at least 10 years.
Brett McKay
Expert
AD, Georgina Robinson has been covering rugby for a few years now anyway, she'd only just come down to Sydney from Brisbane at the start of this year. Her contacts have been listed all year, too, as they were throughout the Olympics while she was over there.. I'd be surprised if she does it on her own though, I'd imagine the SMH will put someone else in there. It could've been Jamie Pandaram if he didn't jump ship just before the RWC last year...
Atawhai Drive
Roar Guru
Greg Growden has been accused of having too negative a mindset. That may be the case, but let's face it, there's a lot to be negative about, especially where the Waratahs are concerned. I haven't seen a formal announcement, but it looks like Georgina Robinson will be the SMH rugby writer. Her email and Twitter addresses are published for the first time at the end of a piece she wrote today. A new face for a new era of exciting running rugby at the Waratahs. Or something like that.
Atawhai Drive
Roar Guru
I don't think he's been sacked, joeb, any more than experienced and talented operators such as Josh Rakic, David Marr, Andrew Stevenson and Doug Anderson have been sacked. Fairfax and News Limited are both trying to cut costs. In a time of falling circulations and catastrophically declining advertising revenues, they have to. One way of cutting costs is by shedding staff. That can be done the hard way, by mass sackings, or the easy way, offering senior staff generous severance packages which they are free to accept or reject. When you're pushing 60, maybe not quite as energetic and enthusiastic as you used to be, and someone from management walks up to you and offers you $200,000 after tax to go away, it can be hard to refuse. Just about all the redundees at Fairfax have been voluntary, some in the senior category who we probably won't hear from again, but also younger ones who back themselves to find another job.
sledgeandhammer
Guest
sounds like a couple of the Roarers - maybe he has an alias?!!
Chivasdude
Guest
I agree with KPM and Ben S. I did not aleways agree with Growden, but I never felt he was negative for the sake of it. Journalism is about reporting the truth. And the truth is that the game is in a bad place right now and struggling against League and AFL. The truth is hat the Waratahs have been terrible the last few years. What do you want the journalists to do? Ignore this? All this would do is ensure that change will be slower. If Growden's negativity helped bring change at the Waratahs, then thank you and God speed.
Bakkies
Guest
I haven't started on his constant gossip and innuendo yet.
joeb
Guest
"Growden will be gone in a month, AH. Maybe he’ll sign off on a positive note." Why would they sack Growden? He's the only honest straight talker there, and as for his negativity towards the Tahs, they deserved every bit of it for all their boring negative play,
Ben.S
Roar Guru
You're spot on - Growden is a wonderful investigative journalist full of integrity who clearly respects the game. He has effected so much change in Australian rugby that I simply don't know how the world game will cope without him. How I will miss his 'rumour of the week'... (sigh)
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Bakkies if it weren't for journalists like Crowden who tell the truth those in charge of the game would be able to continually produce low quality rugby, ineffective systems to run the game, a code which is woefully set-up to counter its rivals, with teams like the Waratahs which until today have been abominably run, and the whole sport would slip from being in a bad state to utter collapse. It is only the pressure put on the rugby establishment that sometimes forces them into minimal action. Crowden is in fact a wholly positive force in highlighting the disastrous state of the game and doing the best possible to enforce change. He should be warmly thanked rather than villified.
bennalong
Guest
Chieka has already scotched the idea of Rocky getting a spot!
Phil Bird
Roar Guru
There's a difference between leadership and meddling in what the management is trying to do with the team. Players are players. Right or wrong, they play the game