I’m going to cop a lot of flack, but I can say I am a Robbie Deans fan, loud and proud. Dingo or Aussie Bob as we regard him is in his sixth year as our international coach, and the first foreigner to guide the Wallabies.
A man of very few words, he boasts a fantastic rugby CV. A decorated All Black, numerous Super Rugby titles with the Crusaders and assistant coach of the All Blacks under John Mitchell.
With many Australian fans calling for his head, it seems that this coming Lions Test may be the make or break for Dingo Deans.
The strong candidate and the fans’ favourite to replace Deans has to be Ewen McKenzie.
Ewen also boasts a strong rugby CV. A decorated Wallaby prop, who had stints with both NSW Waratahs and ACT Brumbies.
His coaching career has seen him as an assistant coach of the Wallabies before taking the roles of head coach at NSW Waratahs, a brief stint with Stade Francais and then settling down with the Reds and winning the 2011 Super Rugby title.
I respect and appreciate what Ewen has done with the Queensland Reds as a team and to Queensland Rugby as a culture. Rebuilding the team and attracting Australia’s largest membership / fan-base, due to the fast running rugby style he established in the sunshine state.
The downfall I see with Ewen is that Super Rugby is a totally different concept to Test rugby. Ewen, in my opinion seems a tad too one dimensional in the way he coaches the game.
His game play looks amazing, but sometime we will need to slowly grind away wins, especially when we face the European teams in tragic weather conditions.
We all love to mock the coach when we lose, and I think Deans has really copped it. But to be fair, he has never had a fully fit team, and his own downfall is that he is sometimes very stubborn with his selections.
Only one specialist No.7 taken to Rugby World Cup 2011, very weird! Giteau, according to the murmur mill, was poisoning the team, hence why he stayed in Oz.
Deans has changed and accomplished a lot in his six years at the helm of Australian rugby. He adopted a Wallaby team that was in tatters after a dreadful 2007 Rugby World Cup and introduced a ‘no-one is safe’ policy as well as many other strong core values.
Deans blooded the likes of Genia, O’Connor, Cooper, Hooper, etc. He helped Beale rediscover his world class talent with a positional change to fullback, and has also been a major mentor in Beale’s latest off field dramas, as well as many others.
Under his reign we have finally won the Tri Nations after a decade wait, beaten the Boks for the first time in 47 years at the Highveldt and climbed the ranks from sixth to second in world rugby.
His many losses came from the All Blacks, who look to be a once in a lifetime team, and will go down in the history books with a legendary status.
This Lions series will be brutal, a war of attrition, but finally Deans is treated to a selection headache. Let’s give him a chance to reward us with a series win since he finally has a playing roster full of depth.
If we lose the series, goodbye Dingo and hello McKenzie. But I am more than happy to ride with Dingo until the 2013 Rugby World Cup and let McKenzie gain more international experience.
Anthony Hird
Roar Guru
McKenzie is struggling to make the Reds fire, are we starting to see that Deans is still our #1 coach?
ShaghaiDoc
Guest
Deans, while not my selection, is the most successful Wannabe coach against the RSA. Only Lord Ted and the NZ racing identity have been more successful. Deans appears to have difficulty managing certain players. He told Spencer not to throw any cut-out passes, so he promptly sent one to the Evil Wizard. Barnes, can anyone manage him?, and QC, who appears to be, at times, a front row short of a scrum. A bit like the Wannabes really.
George Hendrie
Roar Rookie
The Wallabies in my opinion are the best team in the world or at least second. However Robbie Deans fails to motivate this team they simply are not living up to their potential. Sure they are good when you compare them to other teams I understand, but they can do better.
BetterRedThanDead
Guest
Ha! Giteau's kick was an irrelevance in that game. We lost it well before that kick.
The Bush
Roar Guru
I don't thinks Deans is much chop at it and don't worry, I remember Burgess well. He's back too - watch for Deans to mention him soon... I only mentioned Genia to point out why he was picked - it had nothing to do with Deans having vision - Genia was crying out to be picked.
Sage
Guest
I don't think your recent comments on Cooper were good humoured in the slightest JP
Justin2
Guest
Well played sir, the thread count still ticks over though...
Justin2
Guest
Like shooting fish in a barrel cliffs ;) all true too
amband
Guest
but you can't factor out those AB games. He's gotta go
amband
Guest
Taxi for Mr Deans
Dexter William
Roar Guru
OJ He is 50 now, so we need another 21 million dollars to keep an under-performing coach?
Dexter William
Roar Guru
John Phillipson You started out well at the start of this thread, but you reasoning on you last few post is almost as good as Robbie Deans mother loving her son's work.
Dexter William
Roar Guru
JP You are really have a bromance with Crashball Robbie aren't you? You are clutching at straws with your reply here.
Dexter William
Roar Guru
The Lions tour would be more awesome without Crashball Robbie as coach.
Dexter William
Roar Guru
RD was grooming Luke Burgess (remember the Tah's HB that can not pass) for a long time. He picked Burgess for a long long time before he finally gave Genia a go. RD is also responsible for "lapdogging" Dean Mumm, Pat McCabe and MaCalman (who loss the RWC2011 for us), so how is the RD a great selector of talent?
Train Without A Station
Guest
He's barely the no 2 no2 in QLD pal
Train Without A Station
Guest
So the fact that he has had originally 4, then 5 teams to select from, whilst coaches prior to Conolly only have 3, somehow point to him presiding over a crisis in the talent pool? How do you describe it when Jones, McQueen and Dwyer coached with only 3 and even 2 in Dwyer's case, teams to pick from? Deans has had the largest pool of any Wallaby coach. Fact. It's nobody else's fault he has been unable to effectively manage them.
Cliff (Bishkek)
Guest
Justin 2 - good one - trow a bait at a Kiwi and you will get them every time. Come here fishy, fishy --- Mania - you take the bait
Kane
Roar Guru
Deans must be a genius by now then
Daz
Guest
As Benny says sometimes you learn more from losing than you do from winning. But it's probably about time we put those lessons into practice.