Yes, the Deans-Cooper saga continues. Queensland’s favourite son was not selected in Robbie Deans’ initial 25 man squad picked to face the Lions.
Deans stated that Quade Cooper still had a chance to play his way into the squad, but wanted Cooper to make more adjustments to his game, reduce his high turnover rate, be more physical in defence, position himself better for contact and allow others to share a load of the playmaking duties.
‘‘It’s not about what Quade does and can do. It’s more about the response of the opposition. And he just needs to adjust the balance of his game a little bit. He needs to be a bit more prepared to take contact and the people around him will thrive,” Deans said.
‘‘Benny Taps is evidence of Quade not quite getting that balance right. He’s not thriving outside him. He’s got to be prepared to allow others to do some of the playmaking as well as himself.”
Quite a harsh statement to both Cooper and Tapuai.
With Deans calling for many aspects of Cooper’s game needing adjustments, is it due to McKenzie favouring Cooper that we have seen him loose touch with the basics of tackling, taking the hit and creating space for the men outside him?
McKenzie plays Quade with a favouritism role, hiding his weaknesses and showing off his attacking genius, his innovation, his penchant for the outrageous as well as his tactical vision and exemplary kicking game.
If not for his shaky defence, he would be right up there with Carter. But we must face the facts that Deans has raised a valid point when he said that Cooper’s shaky defence would be exposed at Test level and hiding him at fullback was not an option.
He also questioned Cooper’s physicality in attack.
Test rugby doesn’t allow him the space and time he enjoys in Super Rugby and thus proficiency in contact is a key performance area for an elite international No 10. Deans is looking for a high degree of certainty and consistency.
Quade will always be remembered for his brilliant attacking ability and the behind the back flick passes. But do we really want those ‘selfish’ moves that have a very high chance of going wrong, or someone who is always looking to offload at any physical contact? No.
Deans is looking for the complete flyhalf. Dan Carter has been the prototype: the excellent distributor and option-taker, the outstanding line- and goal-kicker, the no-nonsense defender who doesn’t stand back for any strike runner regardless of their size.
McKenzie needs to let Quade defend at 10 and stop hiding him at 15.
Allow his confidence to grow, encourage him to be a team player and let others feed off him.
Be harsh and critical on his 1% selfish plays. No more excuses, it’s judgement time for Quade, and I would hate to see McKenzie’s coaching strategies deny Australia’s greatest attacking weapon a spot in gold.
Sage
Guest
Geez, who'd a thought of that
Sage
Guest
Glad you finally worked it out. Yeah, that bloke. An ex coach being asked to comment on the incumbent. Amazing. No doubt your opinion is worth far more but I still thought it was interesting
Justin2
Guest
Wow, just wow.
Tacksharp
Guest
Excellent comment, WRM! As a Cantabrian, I have to say that Cooper is very much like Carlos Spencer - a brilliant Super player but a flashy liability at test level. I say 'as a Cantabrian' because it p-ssed me off when Mehrts was picked behind Spencer, who was just as likely to lose a test as win it. What's the saying? ''Dazzle with them brilliance or baffle them with bullsh-t.''
Positive Rugby
Guest
That is ancient history. All that matters is how good he is playing now.
Dan
Guest
DB, to be fair to Cooper he did recover from his early wobbles in that match and played decently later on, but if you're wondering why it was that he received so much criticism after the match all you have to do is cast your mind back to the lead up and remember Cooper's cocky responses regarding how he felt about the All Blacks. The man basically gave the ABs even more motivation than they already had, and so his brain explosions in the match were pounced on with considerable job by the NZ press.
colvin
Guest
That light in the tunnel could well be an oncoming train.
Anthony Hird
Roar Guru
He has improved, but has struggled to take the ball to the line, take the hit and create space.
DB
Guest
Justin - to support your point, do yourself a favour and have a look again at the RWC Semi against the All Blacks and tell me whether Cooper played the worst game ever OR he was not too bad - did kick out on the full and made one other bad mistake with the pass in goal but otherwise a solid game. I think people forget how badly everyone else played that day. Genia was probably my worst on field - box kicked all game and was rubbish. Their were worse players than Cooper but for some reason he has no teflon coating
Positive Rugby
Guest
"Fails time and time again at international level". Don't think so. What about the numerous successes Rucker? Lets focus on them for a moment shall we?
Positive Rugby
Guest
Yes, fair comment and I love Carter and how good he is. But yes, every minor failing by Quade is highlighted at this time, that is the point.
Positive Rugby
Guest
To be fair, I think that is just Quade's normal face. He can't help that he always looks forlorn, even when he is ecstatic!
chuck
Guest
Justin2 Robbie Deans did play 10 for Canterbury and was selected for the all blacks as a utility back where he could play full back so could cover both position what position did you play you say
AdamS
Roar Guru
I think the fact of it is that JOC isn't any sort of 10 at all and Barnes is worse.
Mike
Guest
He has certainly improved.
Mental
Guest
Why? Deans doesn't pick the best players so there plenty left over who are arguably better than the ones Deans picks and White and McKenzie are substantially better coaches. So in my opinion the left overs would embarrass Dean's side.
Kane
Roar Guru
When was the last par performance from an Australian Fly Half against the All Blacks?
GWS
Guest
So when Cooper accomplishes the same as Carter he will have the same standard applied. Until then he has a different standard. That's not a double standard?
Mike
Guest
Not exactly. According to the stats posted on another thread (I think by Jerry?) the Wallabies have won roughly 70% of the time when Cooper, AAC and Radike Samo have played, and less than 40% of the time when Genia has played. I see the usefulness of such stats as a guide to future selection as something approaching zero. If this was early 2011, no argument that Cooper should be chosen, but that has little to do with who should be chosen now.
Dan
Guest
Yeah, the one who coached the wallabies in far fewer tests and had a higher proportion of games against lower ranked teams - you know, Connolly