The week that was: Little things hurting the Wallabies

This week in sport saw more woes for the hapless Wallabies, the lead-in to the NRL Grand Final and changes afoot for James O’Connor and Lance Franklin.

It’s the little things
The Wallabies’ loss in South Africa was extremely frustrating, not least because it was avoidable if only they had played a bit smarter.

I’m not talking so much about the overall, kick-orientated game plan but the little things that just seem so obvious that the Wallabies continue to do.

Zane Kirchner’s try is a perfect example. Why oh why do we kick the kickoff to a strong block which just allowed the Springboks to set up a huge driving maul?

That is their bread and butter. With the maul sucking in a lot of defenders the Boks backs finished fantastically but, with a better kick off, really long or a really short and contested, it was an easily avoidable highlight of the game.

Willie le Roux’s try was equally frustrating. Five Wallaby defenders marking two Springboks in a 15-metre space and they scored, with one pass getting on the outside of our five defenders.

A lack of experience was mentioned in the commentary but a complete lack of rugby smarts is more to the point.

A situation like that is eaten up by a confident team. Five guys happy as hell the ball is coming down their channel with only two poor Springboks to truck it up.

Yet the double guessing and the lack of communication meant the Wallabies were on their heels, with no line speed and no idea of what was in front of them.

If a team outclasses you there is no shame in that, work hard and get better.

However if you know a team’s strengths, it’s simple – don’t play to them!

They’re at it again
It’s Grand Final week in the NRL after two one-sided semi-finals. South Sydney showed 25 minutes of brilliance but a dogged Manly pegged them back and really, in the end, ran over what was a surprisingly tired-looking Rabbitohs.

The Roosters were far too strong for the Knights who showed that it’s very difficult to be continually ‘up’.

Manly thus far have managed it, but it’s very hard for a team to have sudden death games back-to-back-to-back and still be able to rise with the same level of energy, aggressiveness and skill. The week off in a finals series helps a lot.

So as a Dragons man, who to support? On the one hand you have the team everyone loves to hate, and on the other hand you have the other team everyone loves to hate.

So I’m very much in the ‘who cares who wins’ camp. Go out there, rip in and put on a show boys.

Hawks farewell Buddy with a win
Hawthorn won their second Grand Final in six years. After losing to the Swans in the 2012 season finale, they went one better this time beating the Fremantle Dockers 77-62.

Didn’t watch it, don’t know much about the game. The big news to follow however was that Buddy Franklin is heading to the Swans for a whopping nine years for an equally whopping $10 million.

Buddy has the ‘troublemaker’ reputation, the outrageous talent with an outrageous ego.

Some will say a player like Buddy doesn’t fit with the Swans ethos of hard grind and discipline, however, Buddy would have known this was the case when signing there. Perhaps it’s a type of discipline he craves.

Perhaps out of the AFL-worshipping fishbowl that is Melbourne Buddy will discover he can’t rely so much on his name and reputation and it will be his deeds that get his name up in lights.

Perhaps an environment built on solidarity, sacrifice and no one man being bigger than the team will bring out even more from this already talented player.

Perhaps he is challenging himself to be something more, to inspire a generation of young New South Welshmen to follow his lead and example and pick up a Sherrin, instead of a Steeden or a Gilbert.

Or perhaps it as just all those zeros. I hope it’s the former.

Little Jimmy
James O’Connor’s decision on his future coming in the next few weeks will determine a lot more than where he is playing next season.

It will determine what kind man he wants to be. It is too easy for him to come to Europe or go to Japan and make cash.

He would come here, do very well and probably have a long career playing professional rugby, happy days.

However, at the end of his career, or life, could he look back and have his lasting memory as he sits on the rocking chair on the verandah be ‘I was once very good, troubled, but made some good cash in France that paid for my pool’.

Or does he dig in, look Western Force coach Michael Foley in the eye and say, ‘I’m here for this team and I’m going to its best player because I’ll work harder and longer than anyone else for the team… because I have to’.

I hope it’s the latter.

Snippets

• Thanks to Jimmy Spithill the Australia’s Cup is now safely back in America. A win for the good guys over the darkness. At the moment I’ll take it.
• The Ashes is on again in a month. Yikes.
• The Heineken and Amlin Cups start next week for European Rugby supremacy. It might be the last time it’s played in this format so tune in to Eurosport and catch the mighty Bordeaux hand it to English Premiership contenders Bath next Sunday morning Australian time.