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Believe it or no,t Ewen McKenzie, despite your initial failings as Wallabies coach this year there are a few of us who still believe in you.
We still think you could be the man to deliver the Bledisloe cup and, if we dream for a moment, the World Cup too.
I had been wallowing in pity earlier this week after yet another despondent display from your Wallabies at Twickenham.
After a few days of grieving, something struck me – it might just be a revelation.
You see, I have been daydreaming about your glory days at the Reds in 2010 and 2011, when you assessed yourself as being ready to take on the Wallabies job.
In 2010, you took a group of young players full of potential but low on confidence and taught them how to win, and more importantly, enjoy themselves.
It seemed as though a weight had been lifted from the shoulders of Quade Cooper, Will Genia, Digby Ioane, Scott Higginbotham and James Horwill.
Finally they started to play with a purpose and the Reds future looked up.
That year the plan was simple, attack at all costs. If there was an opportunity to be taken, seize it with both hands.
Sure there were errors, and you guys didn’t win every match, but the play was positive and the players grew in confidence by trusting each other and knowing what they were expected to do.
In 2011, all the pieces fell into place. The Reds had plenty of luck along the way, the lack of injuries was a blessing.
The main reason for the Reds’ success that year was consistiency. Not only in the performance of players, but also in their style of play.
The Reds had developed from the previous year, having gained confidence and a familiarity with your methods. You stuck to the expansive game plan, allowing Will and Quade to control the team and decide when and how they should strike.
There were times when the game plan needed tinkering, against some teams a need to play down the other end of the park was necessary to avoid a barrage of penalty goals being conceded. However, the basics of the game plan stayed the same.
In 2012/2013, your seasons were decimated by injury, making continuing success more difficult. The telling difference was though, the constantly changing of game plans.
The theory was to play in a way that best suited in beating the opposition. The players did a good job of this, having played together and under your tutelage for a couple of years they had the confidence in each other to be able to pull it off.
At least to a point, when it really mattered the wheels started to shake. No longer could the Reds strike whenever they wanted, the tries started to dry up, defensive lapses started to ensue and Quade Cooper started playing fullback.
The constant changing of game plans and players to suit the opposition made it difficult for the players to build any familiarity in their patterns of play. Uncertainty set in.
The thing with uncertainty is, it leads to indecision; and indecision leads to errors and lack of uncertainty.
Some of the symptoms of uncertainty are handling errors, defensive lapses, a perceived lack of urgency, poor decision making, decreased physicality and an inability to identify and seize opportunities.
Do these symptoms seem familiar? They should, they read like the performance reviews of the Wallabies in 2013. The constant changing of players, captains and style of play is too much especially for a developing team.
I know you would expect the best 23 players available in the nation to be able to cope with your expectation of horses for courses but it’s clearly not working.
It seemed as though by the end of the Rugby Championship you had the attack sorted.
Outside backs were taking balls off the inside shoulder, centrefield players were dynamic in their support and running consistent but slightly varied lines.
Forwards knew when to hit the rucks and when to run the ball, and no-one received the ball flat-footed.
With this part of our game sorted, the brains trust of the rugby media turned their attention to defence and of course the scrum.
With one part of our game OK, we needed to tighten up others. That’s not to say that you should stop training attack, but at least there would be time to focus your time elsewhere.
Unfortunately it seems we went backwards when we landed in the northern hemisphere.
Whether it’s fatigue at the end of a long and demanding season or whether it’s confusion due to chopping and changing, only you and the inner sanctum of the dressing sheds will be able to tell.
It seems to me though, we deviated from what we had learnt and what we had just started to do well.
It seemed to many of us armchair experts the Wallabies were lost and knew not what they were doing.
The players need clear and consistient instructions on how they should go about their business. All this chopping and changing of personel and more importantly game plan is only causing indecision.
Please, Mr Mckenzie, realise that when professional athletes make schoolboy errors, it’s not due to lack of experience or skills but unfamiliarity or an overburdened mind.
Yours sincerely,
Australian rugby fans
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.