I played international rugby against Robbie Deans. He was a good, steady player who liked to kick goals. There was nothing flash about him. And judging by his recent comments about the Wallabies scoring tries, nothing much has changed.
The recently departed John O’Neill needs to accept a significant responsibility for employing someone as the national coach who thinks tries are not important in rugby, especially when our rugby legacy is one of spectacular tries, great skills, and flair.
These days, the Wallabies can’t even catch and pass.
Now you can see why some players are upset with the way the team is being coached. They want to attack; the coach wants to kick goals.
It was the same situation with Matt Giteau.
Deans just wants to pick guys who steamroll their opponents.
I recently spent a month in the UK where rugby fans were asking me, what’s wrong with Australian rugby: why can’t they attack? I wish Deans had said this earlier so I could reiterate our challenges with him as the coach.
In a country where rugby is desperately competing for sponsor dollars and audience share with three other winter codes, you’d have to think that his statement was idiotic.
Just look at the Gold Coast Test match rating? Only around 400,000 people viewed the game and Deans was booed by the crowd.
I just don’t think he understands the situation in Australia. But all he has to do is take a look on Twitter. There’s so much activity there, with the overwhelming majority of comments being that rugby is boring, predictable and disappointing.
We need to get foreign rugby coaches out of our country. We need someone in charge who understands the Australian way, the flair, the passion.
Not a guy who says scoring tries doesn’t matter.
Fans spend hundreds of dollars to watch their national team play. They want to be entertained. Yet, all we give them is kick, kick, kick, and a Kiwi-born and bred player scoring all the points.
I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read that O’Neill’s workload was too much with so many other commitments on Boards other than rugby. I thought being a CEO was a full-time job.
How could the ARU Board accept this?
The feedback that I receive from friends and the public is that many supporters are turning their backs on the game. People don’t want to watch this type of rugby any more.
I have friends in Melbourne who were passionate rugby supporters. They recently SMS’d me to say that they have given up on the game and are not interested in supporting the Wallabies anymore.
What’s sad is they have three kids.
This is the most frightening aspect of what is going on here. We are losing grassroots supporters and players.
I have another good friend who runs his own successful business, but has committed for more than 10 years to overseeing a junior rugby district in Sydney. He has tried, pointlessly, to get a few NSW players and Wallabies to come and sign autographs and meet the kids.
Do think anyone has even bothered to get there?
He puts his own time and effort into coaching, organising, and promoting kids rugby. He doesn’t get paid a cent, and yet he gets no support or assistance from the ARU.
Where is the sense in that?
And where to now from here with the Northern Hemisphere tour looming.
Will the referees make or break the games by making petty calls within goal kicking range?
Will Deans still stand by his quote and reinforce his predictable and boring tactics?
Will we see any change in his style of play, especially after all the criticism?
Will he take the feedback on board and prove us all wrong?
Here’s hoping.
Neuen
Guest
Every one is basically Campo's point which is basically reality. Australia play the way they do because they need to entertain as its fighting with other codes. a Australian know this as he grew up in that culture and the Australian style. NZ do not have that nor did Deans experience it. That bit extra a Australian would care or feel about their rugby will always see the bigger picture than a foreign coach who never experienced it. Take for example Barcelona. When you sign up you are obliged to play 4-3-3 attacking football and you need to entertain Many coaches have come and gone. Some with good records got fired for not entertaining. A Spaniard who went through the Barcelona system who played for them and ending up coaching them knew the Barcelona way and he fulfilled the entertainment value. That entertainment made them successful and he knew this more than anyone else. From a guy looking in you will struggle to continue a proud tradition that made your team successful. Now just replace Barcelona with Australia
Aussie in NZ
Guest
Good on ya Campo. Stick at the bring back the attack campaign! Otherwise the whole game in Aussie will slip further into the mind numbingly boring whole it has been sliding into under Dingo Deans.
Mike
Guest
I agree Ra. I don’t care where they lived before they played for the Wallabies. Weren't 25% or so per cent of all Australians, born elsewhere? Does that make them any less Australian? I don't think so , I was born elsewhere and I'm sure as hell as proud as any other Australian. I'm very happy to have Harris line up just as I was seeing Clyde Rathbone run on for the Wallabies. Re RD being not an Aussie. What the hell does it matter? This is the professional era. Teams try to get the best coach and I thought we did well to get RD. You can debate his record but I think it has nothing to do with his country of birth. We have a South African cricket coach and Chinese coaches for our Olympic gymnasts who are now doing better than ever. Who cares what's on their passport? As for running rugby, I love it but it is much harder hard to attack when the forward pack is going backwards. There were positive signs here in Bledisloe 3. Roll on next season. I believe the Wallabies will dominate. I back RD to have his best year in 2013 ---and finally our backs will stop the aimless kicking that had me shouting at my TV this season---and the bloody appliance never listens! Good post Campo. It registered a good 8 on the statement meter!
Richard
Guest
Dan, what on Earth are you on about? We are talking about Rugby, its a sport, its not Kosovo Afghanistan or the Middle East. Our greatest sporting rivals are the Poms and Kiwis. Just because we want to kill(metaphorically speaking) each other on the field, it doesn't mean we can't have a beer afterwards, no one is suggesting that. Perhaps you would prefer a culture where we all(us,poms and kiwis) sit around smoking weed discussing how culturally similar we all are and singing Kumbaya. We could draw up a roster for sharing players and coaches and handing around the trophies. The culture I'm talking about is a sporting one. Do you understand national sporting culture Dan? Imagine for a moment you are a New Zealand player coach or captain of the All Blacks. Now imagine you have just lost the Bledisloe cup to Australia and the one before that and the...... Australia also knocked you out of the world cup on your home soil and went on to win it. For a start your family name would be tarnished beyond repair for generations to come and people would spit on the ground in front of you and cross to the other side of the street. You would be cast out in your own society. Thats the kind of passionate culture that exists at the base of Rugby in New Zealand and thats what we have to come to grips with, for them, losing to Australia is not an option. If you think that is anything like the rugby culture here Dan then I suggest you take up smoking weed and singing Kumbaya. The culture here has always been a loser culture right form the start. Founded by private school types from the UK. The New Zealand Maori natural ability at the game just confirmed their racist stereotypes against our own aboriginal. The New Zealand dominance of the game was accepted as the natural order of things. Unfortunately Dan you are carrying on with gusto in the same tradition, along with, many others in the rugby pantheon in this country who have a long history of losing to the All Blacks. The question is how do you turn it around. For a start we should acknowledge the faults in our own tradition(eg racism, elitism and a failure to connect with the wider society) The journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step.
stillmatic1
Guest
well firstly the word is spelt grammar, not grammer. but nice try anyway. i think you also meant "fine" instead of "find" further down too!! but feel free to pull out typing mistakes. the question mark things are there for a reason, like you know, im asking a question!! it would be nice if you stayed within your own argument because you state that a plan is needed but then trot out excuses as to why rugby in australia cannot implement them. you havent given a reason as to why australian rugby cant have the same mindset as NZ. trotting out some simplistic nonsense about economies of scale etc doesnt help your cause. is NZ an economy of scale? is australia? what reason can you find that our netballers are so good (from both sides)? swimmers? league players? scientists? miners? scale is only relative to performance, not the cause of it. remind me again where money is the only basis for excellence? you claim that the private school brigade dont have an idea that rugby should be run as a business in australia!? seriously, that is your assertion? i thought you were accusing campo of wild generalisations and over-simplification!? a quick quote from aristotle: we are what we repeatedly do. excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. if you cant get it into your head how important this "wishy washy" nonsense is, then no wonder you are upset and bereft of ideas. you talk about ego, then discount the power of it!! all the money in the world amounts to nothing if you dont strive for success. just ask israel falou. the problem you have is that you continue to believe that your excuses are reasons, as to why something cannot be done. simply blaming history and context isnt a solution, just another boring excuse from someone trying to justify their position. what is a plan without the required stamina to implement it? what is a plan without the required will power to implement it. its got nothing to do with "feelings", and all about mental application. if how we apply ourselves equates to nothing in your world, then how come rugby in australia is in so much trouble (according to you)? i'll discount the comment about there being no conversation about striving for excellence in rugby in NZ. its not a comment made by someone with any idea obviously. sorry for the confusion over BHP, i should have made it easy for you and included billiton. since the single entity of BHP doesnt actually exist anymore, i thought that would be easy to understand. you still havent explained why it is so hard to compete with the other codes? should IGA and aldi close its doors because woolies and coles dominate the market? what about dick smith, since JBH hifi and harvey norman control the market? what about rugby league in NZ, since union and sailing are dominant? what about swimming australia, since so many other countries have all the money to spend? should we all just give up because its all too tough for you? thanks for the history lesson though!! bit emotional though, getting all gushy. fact is, the game has a sufficient foothold in australia to be successful, with a change of strategy and better application with the required determination to succeed. maybe it would have a better leg up if the excuses werent made and people got out and watched the games instead of complaining about how expensive it all is. like you, i acknowledge that its not an easy fix, but why should it be? just never discount the impact of people being determined and striving for excellence (whether or not they get there!!)
Mike
Guest
Dexter, its not "loyalty to the incumbent", but rather deep dissatisfaction with the poor and often contradictory arguments being put forward by others. The Wallabies are at No 2, which is pretty much where they were under Jones and Conolly, and pretty much where they deserve to be. Until we change our thinking about Australian rugby in general, and understand that there is no easy answer (like just changing the coach), we will never improve. I want to see us at No 1, and not just for a few games.
Mike
Guest
Why is the selection of Mitchell wrong? He has been one of our most penetrative backs in recent years, at test level. Plenty of players can look good at S15 level, but only a few of them can perform in the pressure of test. New blood like Cummins and Shipperly are at the start of their careers - they will not miss out just because Mitchell gets a few test berths at the twilight of his. If Mitchell is match-fit (which I cannot judge from the sideline) then I would have thought his selection makes a lot of sense. I would also look seriously at Rathbone next season.
richard
Guest
ok.. now you are talking and you make a good point.
richard
Guest
Haha I almost have a mind to move, sounds like rugby Mecca! Don't under estimate your abilities or your capacity to be absorbed by the AFL monster. All the best to you guys and please come down on tour,.Jazz it up and take on the AFL in its home land . All it needs is some imagination and some personal connection to get things going
Dan
Guest
I get it fine. It's you who has trouble getting it. England and Aus, NZ and Aus... these rivalries are fierce in OUR opinion, but they don't compare much to any number of international rivalries and the cultural differences at play are barely worth commenting on. Sure we love beating each-other, but we don't go and try kill each-other in the streets after a match and our boys fight side by side in the fights that actually matter. In short, these rivalries are little more than trumped up sibling quarrels, but we make them out to be more than they are because it makes for good TV. But seriously, anyone who HONESTLY hates the poms and the kiwis over our sporting rivalries knows f#@$% all about the real world and needs a cold hard dose of it fast, because they're living in a fish bowl and need to grow the F#@$ up! As for beating NZ on a regular basis in the Rugby, anyone who know anything about Rugby test history knows our success against the kiwis has only ever been fleeting, much like theirs against us in Rugby League. Seriously, some people on this board need a solid dose of bloody reality! How's having a local coach helped the English, French or Irish beat the All Blacks? Some teams are just bloody hard to beat.
Dan
Guest
I really didn't think it would be necessary to explain this, but you clearly have no interest in placing current problems in any kind of context. You're grammer and spelling are atrocious, so I'm going to assume you're young and may simply not see the full picture. We'll make it simple though shall we? Rugby is in all sorts of trouble. Why? For starters Rugby League and the AFL control the majority of the Australian sporting market TV money wise, an important fact for development. Why do they? Rugby League and AFL both had very strong footholds with professional competitions in Australia's two most populous cities for more than 100 years, meaning they have had plenty of time to develop very deep roots. Rugby has deep roots too, but they're far fewer of them. Why? Because Rugby A. only recently went professional, and B. suffers from a centralisation within the private schools at the developmental level. Both of these factors present very large challenges for the game in trying to develop the (clearly) essential third tier in the modern game. In England and France there is plenty of room to move and develop because outside of soccer there isn't a tonne of competition and the club framework was already there from the amateur days. This could have been true for Australia, but with two very wealthy and equally well established contact football codes already established, the market simply isn't as pliable. This is just a FACT. I know people like you and Campo like to think that this doesn't matter, but it does. Money talks and ... well you know the rest. Put it to you this way: Have you played FIFA 13? Have you played Rugby Challenge? Now, which game is better? Here's an example of how economies of scale impact sports (even at the sim level), and it's pretty devastating. The simple truth is that if you can't capture a significant enough market, you just won't be successful. Rugby in Australia might have a stronger foothold if not for the game's decision to stay amateur for so long and the privateschool boy attitude that refuses to understand the game needs to be run like a competitive business and so needs to be far more structurally meritocratic than it currently is. You're right about one thing: excuses don't solve problems, but neither does this wishy washy nonsense about people like you keep trotting out about "expecting the best", "believing you are the best" and even "patriotism". That stuff doesn't solve stuff all, it's just the cry of the hurt ego for the lazy and the unimaginative. The All Blacks aren't the best team in the world because they simply "expect the best"; they're the best in the world because the entire country's national identity is tied up with the team's success and they have built an incredibly efficient multi-tiered structure that is perfectly geared toward creating a perfectly rounded national team. They have no conflicts of any magnitude between club, super team and the All Blacks. No team in Europe, nor in SA and Aus have anything remotely close to the level of unity of command and purpose represented in the NZ set-up. THAT'S the difference between what they do and what we do. They are completely focussed and have the ideal structure in place. There's no conversation in NZ about "either expecting the best or not", they simply work out how to win; they make the bloody plans in other words, rather than just talking about wishy washy feelings like people of your ilk. And as for Bennett, he wouldn't want to take credit, but believe me when I say he's more than entitled from what I know from first hand accounts of NZ rep players. To sum up, Rugby in this country has plenty of issues, but they're not going to be solved by people who know nothing about the history nor the context within which the game exists in this country. It's find to look at other countries and see what they've done right, but if you ignore the market realities for the game here you're only going to doom it to more failure. What we need is people capable of cool and hard analysis. Not pent up, self entitled and emotional fans with nothing but irrational frustration to vent but no real plan or understanding. P.S If you didn't know BHP started in Australia then I can only assume you're not an Aussie... BHP Billiton is a multinational resulting form a merger FYI.
Ra
Guest
You and Campo need to realize that the Anglo Italian names that use to be prominent in the Aussie teams 20 plus years ago are being heard less at representative level these days. The names being called at big matches have a distinct Kiwi/Polynesian ring to them. The style of game is much more brutal than it once was. The body sizes have changed, the rules have changed, the defense has tightened up, and Aussie has been left behind, because people like you, Campo and JON have got left behind a little bit. You and Campo are wrong if you think those kiwi/Polynesian bros are not proud to wear the green and gold. They werent given those tops because of their heritage. They earned them by the job they do on the paddock. And we expect them to put in 100 plus because they are ours. I don't buy into that trash from the small minority that Harris & co came over here to play because they couldn't make the All Blacks. If they weren't any good they wouldn't be there - simple. I don't think it's a colour thing with you two, but you don't have to have an Anglo Italian heritage to have national pride and the Wallabies have a style of play now that they believe in because we all saw it at work in the last two games. Yes ball handling skills by ozzie players at the top level has been rubbish all year. The Reds have been the best by far these last two years and you can argue that its because they have an Ozzie coach, but i want you to ask how many of their families travel on kiwi or Pasifika passports. (pause) I rest my case. Now check out the passports of your super rugby coaches, and their winning records. As I said in another article, take out the kiwis from your game right now and it will collapse. People bleat about the number of top Aussie players playing the game off shore, but young Aussie and kiwis have always travelled away to foreign shores. Instead of being mechanics or students, their trade is sport. If anything your administration needs to get a handle on, is how to deal with the new cultural wave that is coming into the game here and work with it. Not try to bash it with the old. NZ rugby had to do that 20 years ago. Ewan McKenzie seems to have the wood on most other coaches over here in understanding how to work best with his culturally diverse player group, and that's why he's been so successful - and not because he's Aussie.
stillmatic1
Guest
didnt realise BHP/RIO started out as a large multi national company dan!? nor that either started off in australia either!! but there you go. the analogy is quite simple to understand (dont know how you can confuse the wallabies with being BHP/RIO, since i never said they were!?). the analogy being that it is no excuse what competition is around if you believe that you will be the best. were any of these companies the major world player in their field when they started out? i'll let you do a bit of research before answering if you like. best not use wikipedia though!! maybe an easier example would be apple, if that sits well with you. if you think there isnt an issue with trotting out the line "oh but we have 4 professional footy codes" as an excuse for rugby unions woes in oz, then heaven help us. so i ask you again : do entities (sporting or otherwise, just to help you out!!) succeed by complaining about the supposed competition they have to compete against? where did rio/bhp/csl/brambles start from? where did league/union/football/afl start from? which of these enitities had the required gumption to assert themselves and be dominant? forgive me, but im pretty sure excuses dont get anyone anywhere. you either want and expect excellence or you dont. meaning if rugby wants to be and expects the best from itself then maybe it will get there. you are dreaming if you believe that wayne bennett was coaching the nz league side, and dreaming if you think that he had such an immeasurable effect during that final game. pretty sure by meeting him whilst he was with the broncos (being a member) that he wouldnt like to be taking credit for the win. it was one game for heavens sake. hows deans going again against his countrymen? but it is the want of a few on here to grasp to a single win as a significant sample size, isnt it? why is there a sporting rivalry between our 2 countries then? and why would it make sense that we would want our fellow countrymen to be there to go into battle with? the rivalry exists for a reason and using the old gus hiddink example doesnt change this (i didnt think we had such a rivalry with the dutch!!). deans would be the ultimate professional, this is not in dispute, but can he fire the passions of a bunch of australians against his own countrymen?
Ra
Guest
Poly boys too heavy to jump around like fairies, Richard, that's why Falou failed and so will AFL. So I guess you not bringing your boy over cuz?
Richard
Guest
You don't get it. When it comes to sport we love beating them and we hate losing to them and vice versa. In fact it is the most passionate sporting rivalry outside of Aus v Eng. And they are the most similar to us in culture, ironic isn't it. Would you suggest we get an English coach to coach our cricket side in an Ashes series? it would never happen because the Australian cricket team are winners who have pride in their traditions and their culture ! It's about national pride and right now we haven't got any in rugby union because we are coached by a new zealander, its a national disgrace. The fact that you and others keep making excuses and apologies for this situation shows how far we have to go if we are ever going to beat NZ on a regular basis. Get some pride in your Jersey and some hatred of your sporting enemy you rugby union losers!!
Dexter William
Roar Guru
Mike The current way RD coaches is a big negative as we are fast losing fans just like the Tahs did. You may not think that a change is necessary, but changes always brings a breath of fresh air and inspiration. We can not stick to something that is not working and say that it is as good as we get. I see your loyalty to the incumbent but if we just go on the way we are going, I am dreading the thought that Deans will continue to as coach till 2015. Please just comment as you see it. I am sure that you, like any many other genuine Rugby fans can see that the current Wallaby under Robbie has got no pattern of play that gives us hope. We are winning because we are fighting tooth and nail rather than playing good rugby. This a clearly a good Wallaby squad playing bad rugby tactically, so the coach must walk.
Dan
Guest
So am I. I'm just making the point that anyone who thinks Kiwis and Aussies have too little in common to unite is betraying a vast ignorance of the real world and of history (including sport history).
Richard
Guest
I share Campo's view that you need national pride and belief in your style of game. We have always been great runners of the ball and creative in our play, the key to this kind of play is not making stupid mistakes over and over again under pressure and needlessly kicking the ball away. I don't think foreign coaches and players are doing us much good at the moment I don't see why that means I belong in another dynasty. Don't disagree re the structure of the game, thats where the main problem is and in the umpiring, there is far too much whistle blowing.
Richard
Guest
I'm guessing thats why AFL became a nation wide sport by asking everyone to move to Melbourne . AFL will be taking over Western Sydney soon.
WEST
Roar Guru
theve had there chance at whipping the AB why dont they....oh yea the hurt themselves walking off the bus. Sorry mate cant see them whipping anyone anytime soon. with that backline, not consistant enough. Copper cant pass-tackle-or kick well. Genia??? whos that hes a long time recovering even by next RC, Loane gets lost in test matches like a magician with a great disappearing act, Oconnor come on hardly think hell compete with the standard of AB wing or full backs, and Beale you all have short term memory loss pulls a game out of his a## one in three but majority looks confused and lost, Especially against the All Blacks. you may need to think of who there marking up against before you make crazy statements...have a quick look and compare Folau will try anything that wont mean hes going to be good at it. But cant be any worse than what you have. Christian, another kiwi sorry mate your dreaming injury prone at best.