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Australian rugby commentators and supporters are making some really bad choices. Recently, what annoyed me most is the way Israel Folau was constantly referenced as the “needing more ball” or being “under used”.
Then blaming Ewen McKenzie and Genia/half for not feeding him.
This is being touted as a major recent problem for our poor run.
If you had to list ARU problems, Izzy’s recent touch count would not rate in the top 100. Sure, Israel Folau is good, but he’s no Israel Dagg, Bryan Habana or Jonah Lomu. The point is that he’s not the answer.
High on the rank of issues is the self-entitled and spoilt, rich-kid culture of our young talent. We see this in rugby league too. Instagram-selfies, girls and cash make these players excited, not hard work, pride and passion. This is where we differ with the Saffas, and Kiwis to a lesser extent.
These players have largely been contracted and been half-famous since the time they were young teens. And being told you’re awesome all your life leads to an attitude of self-entitlement. “I deserve this spot”, it seems most Wallabies think, “because I’m talented. So what I’ll do is see hot girls, party and wait, because I’ve always been told I’ll make it.”
This is why the Saffas and Kiwis beat us. The Kiwis are not too dissimilar; but when any one of them under-performs, there is a giant Maori waiting to take their spot.
The Saffas are tough and brought up fighting in a hard land where being a spoilt, selfie-taking-pretty-boy will get you dropped. And yes, we don’t have the third tier competition and that is a big problem, but we don’t exactly have teams of hard working players who haven’t been given a chance yet.
When Ben McCalman gets a run, you’ve surely already scraped the bottom of the barrel. So what do we do? Drop them. Curfews, social media bans, fines, military discipline. Or keep playing badly.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.