It doesn’t really matter whether you agree with Ewen McKenzie on this one or not. If you’re a Wallabies fan, you’ve got to back him to the hilt.
Unless you went to bed early last night and this is the first thing you read when you got up this morning, you’ll be aware that McKenzie has disciplined fifteen members of his squad for boozing on the town in Dublin four nights before the match with Ireland.
Are the penalties harsh? Maybe. Are they called for? Possibly.
Do supporters of the Wallabies have a duty to support McKenzie on this? Absolutely.
McKenzie is four months and ten Tests into his tenure of the top job. On the field and off the field he has been attempting to make changes that have been met with a varying level of success, although most of the news has been bad news.
Granted, Jake White’s sensational exit from Australian rugby amid claims of nationalistic agendas at the ARU headquarters may have intensified the scrutiny on McKenzie’s efforts to transform the Wallabies, but this does not mean that any such scrutiny is premature or unwarranted.
Four wins and six losses in his first ten matches.
Five losses from five matches against the All Blacks and Springboks.
Australia dropping to fourth on the IRB World Rankings behind England. It’s not good reading, is it?
Snarky commentators from across the ditch have made merry light of the fact that Ewen’s honeymoon has been notably inferior to that of his Kiwi predecessor.
They argue that for all of the supposed enhancement of the team’s culture, the results are going one direction – backwards. Supposedly we need to re-evaluate our priorities.
Nonsense. By focusing on the culture of the team, McKenzie has sensibly put the horse before the cart.
Success is a science. You won’t get the results if you don’t have the conditions.
Now, although the events of the last seven days or so seem to contradict my thinking, I would say that as a general rule it is counter-productive to have your players drunkenly barging around Dublin town four nights before a Test against a top-tier Test nation.
Whether they deserve the break is irrelevant.
That is a question for the frustratingly mean and greedy ARU executives who draw up the ludicrously crowded rugby calendar.
The only real question for us to ask is ‘what will it take to get us back to being the best Test Rugby nation in the world?’.
Undoubtedly, ‘absolute devotion to the task at hand’ will be indispensable.
Absolute devotion doesn’t necessarily require the players to be angels in every moment of their careers – their privileges and the leeway afforded to them really depend upon the broader context of the performance of the team.
If the team is winning Test matches, if the crowds are turning up to games, if the players are admired, and the trophy cabinet fills – then, yes, the players need not be dealt with too harshly if they decide to make an impromptu expedition to the local watering holes on tour.
Particularly if this has no obvious impact on performance.
However, if the team is not winning matches, if the players are held in suspicion, or if the team does not have (to paraphrase the sacrosanct words of Steve Waugh’s autobiography) players that know their own game and what it takes to win, then, no – some lines have to be drawn that err on the side of rigourousness.
That does not mean that the players involved should be judged too harshly for their involvement. They slipped up and overstepped the necessarily high standards of the team, there’s no denying that.
But if the events are to be viewed in their proper context, you have to at least credit the players on manning up to their primary responsibility by winning the Test match on the following weekend. That is what they are there for.
Still, some of the names of the players involved and the nature of their reprimands will cause some interest.
There will be some dismay to see senior players like Adam Ashley-Cooper and Benn Robinson as among the guilty parties.
At the other end of the spectrum, the rather amusingly effervescent encomiums for Quade Cooper’s apparent non-involvement have already been forthcoming.
To my mind, however, the incident seems to have been resolved on a positive note.
McKenzie has doled out the appropriate slaps on the wrist, and the senior players involved will hopefully be embarrassed enough by the incident to pull their fingers out and start showing some more leadership on and off the field.
Because at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter whether the players drink or not. What matters is if they behave like they’re devoted to victory.
bennalong
Guest
Not true McKenzie singled out AAC (who didn't "get hammered") because he was senior This despite his exemplary record and years of commitment to the Wallaqbies
The V Man
Guest
Alert!!! The All Blacks undefeated all year after Sunday. You will see some drinking then!
jameswm
Roar Guru
I don't get this idea of an inalienable right to drink on tour. These are professional sportmen. Giving up alcohol for certain period is part of being a professional sportsman (and they were not told they couldn't drink anyway). It's part of the job - as I keep saying, can you imagine Sally Pearson or David Rudisha having a night on the turps a week before the Olympics? Why not, they had time to recover, right? They would not. Why? Because the are pros, and very disciplined. This is what McKenzie is trying to instill into the Wallabies mindset. They are too often acting like amateurs. By all accounts Deans let this slip and was selective in his punishments. Deans is expecting the highest behaviour. And I couldn't resist a stab at League - Slater belts a guy at a nightclub and there is no punishment. I like the mindset that our rugby players are disciplined pros and not yobs. No one said don't enjoy yourself. But it is clear the Wallaby staff set much higher behavioural standards.
jameswm
Roar Guru
Being told something is a condition of employment is NOT duress. All of them could have chosen some other job. Turning up for parental access and having your ex-wife tell you you can't see your kids unless you sign a divorce agreement is duress (and no - this did not happen to me, but it did happen to someone I know).
soapit
Guest
you are very much deluded if you think either i) theroar isnt fairly representative of the australian public ii) the general opinion on the roar isnt one of backing mckenzies approach (save for a few who we all enjoy watching tie themselves in knots trying to avoid saying anything complimentary about the new coach). iii) making comment on only a portion of a post is what being obtuse is. though good on you for diving in and giving it a go, i guess after hearing it a few times you got a bit of a feel for how its used but just not quite there.
Jock M
Guest
Banning the players for having a good time days before a Test is further evidence of how sick Rugby has become. I really don't care anyway. Modern Rugby is little different to Rugby League.
ScrumJunkie
Guest
What a suprise. Will you ever agree with anything Link does, or just moan about Deans for the next few years? The past is behind you, and nothing can change it. Deans had his half decade and is no longer coach, surely it is time to move on. Just came onto the roar, and every comment along the side of the rugby page was from you bascially saying the same thing 'Deans awesome, Link no good' Talk to people, you will realise that many if not most are unhappy with the way the season has gone, yet happy that the team is showing a discernable direction and trust Link to make the hard choices. Deans is not coming back, no matter how much you wish it.
Stray Gator
Roar Rookie
That's not what you've argued for all day, though, is it? Your argument - or one strand off it at least - was that, having let its hair down and ignored idiotic rules, the team performed better than it ever has, ergo, it was ok or even commendable larrikinism to do so. The logical extension of which is that it's the team, collectively or individually, that knows best (or better than the coach) which rules to keep and which to break. Your logic. Flawed, I would argue.
Mike
Guest
Ah, someone who understands! :)
Mike
Guest
You are not the Australian public, believe it or not. Neither is some silly internet poll. I will say it again, since you seem to be deliberately obtuse - I disagree with Rob's demand that Wallaby supporters must not question McKenzie on this .
Mike
Guest
Okay, I'll play your silly little red-herring game for you: You are aware that with "McCabe crashballing", we scored an average of 2.75 tries per match in 2011? And that is leaving out RWC with the 21 tries scored against USA and Russia. The "1 try per match" essentially came about in 2012. It was most likely due to injuries to key players and lack of depth behind them. The loss of Vickerman followed by Horwill exposed our lack of depth at lock. The later loss of Pocock and then HIgginbotham and Palu showed up a similar problem in the back row. Replacements like Timani, Douglas, Hooper and Gill were pretty inexperienced and it showed. Then there was the problem at 10. Cooper was out injured for most of the season, and definitely not his previous self in the three games he played (remember the 4 charge-downs and the passes going straight out? Almost certainly he came back too early from his surgery). O'Connor was out for the entire season as well. And there were others. Getting back to the thread - if the argument people want to use is, "Robbie Deans turned a blind eye to everything" then of course it invites the response that we are doing worse now. Its probably not relevant either way, but then why bring it up in the first place?
Mike
Guest
You misunderstand me Justin. I am not saying "sack Link", or "pronounce final judgment on his record now". Whilst I am not happy with our performance this season, I have no difficulty with him going the full term on his contract - sometimes players do better over time, same for coaches. My comment above is responding to those like Sam who tell us that Deans' apparent "lack of discipline" adversely affected the team's performance. Its the wrong time to be coming up with that argument, because objectively our performance this season has been worse than the past 5 years. That is not denying that we may improve dramatically next season. An argument that these sackings are a good thing is based on speculation - which might turn out to be correct, but that is in the future. So far, its not a lesson taught to us by the past.
Rob na Champassak
Roar Guru
Laugh off the Scots at your peril.
joe
Guest
after so many losses and link voting for a different captain weekly depending on success its not surprising half the team showed little respect for management and revolted. scotland is a soft game so why not show who is boss? do you think the players lack any perception? get these players freshened up for Wales because scotland will be lucky to get nil again. rather transparent attempt to take focus off leadership coach
soapit
Guest
the australian public have. its just that you and kpm disagree with them.
Sage
Guest
Good article and well articulated Rob. I suppose me agreeing with you wholeheartedly would help that opinion a bit too. I think it's really simple and he's done the right thing. It's just part of building a culture and at the heart of any good culture is everyone being on board. As humans there will be slip ups along the way that need to be dealt with but when you're representing your country on foreign soil, your form has been lacklustre, are a highly paid professional athlete and are fully aware of the rules and have signed up to them, surely the only story here is the news they did it. Exactly the same if it was Robbie Deans meting it out too. Although it would be denied, I'm confident some of the loudest anti-voices on this issue would be far less loud if it was Deans doing it.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
RK, in these situations (long tour or conferences with many drinking opportunities yet a lot of work to do) my favorite approach is: "guys, I am not going to impose any curfew on anyone as I cant control what you do anyway but I expect you to be adult and professional enough to not make the headlines for the wrong reasons. Plus I want everyone reasonably fresh in the meeting room/pitch by 8.30am every morning. There will be sanctions If you're late/ not 100% for our day's activities". IMO JOC not turning up for the team's presentation was worse than what happened on the w-e, provided all guys were on time the following morning (and didn't puke on the pitch !)
Dirk
Guest
“Robbie Deans seemed to turn a blind eye to everything” "And achieved better results." oh how i miss the 1 try per game we were averaging under Robbie Deans. Edge of the seat stuff don't you think Mike? In fact I'm gonna get out the tapes and watch Pat McCabe crashballing it time and time again cause i miss it so much. Oh for a return to the golden days.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Potential hosting cities for the 2014 wallabies tour and beyond: Pyong Yang, Teheran and Karachi. 5 weeks in Rome, Paris, Dublin, London etc without a bender is simply inhuman. Good attempt Ewen though! When 50% of the troops did not abide by the rules you know you might have to consider changing the rules! More seriously I get your point Will, and others, its just that I hope it wont damage team's morale and unity. Managing a team is also about sometimes accepting that the troops didn't want to listen to you on a particular occasion and, maybe, turning a blind eye on a minor mistake. Tough call really.
stevjam
Guest
Link had little choice but to make an example of them after the whole team (and in particular senior players) made such a song and dance about buying onto an improved team culture ... at least they all know where they stand in the future!