The Wallabies and the ARU need a full clear out.

yep, I thought the half time thing was very poor. Smacked of small time 1st grade rugby like I used to play back in the day... although we didn't get the chairs... we just sat on the grass.

Hi Hertryk - I totally agree with you re the behaviour of the players. Maybe it's because the depth isn't there for them to think that they'll seriously be replaced, so they can do what they want and get away with it (which seems to have been the case). Folau in particular, for a new guy in his second season to be already making noises about a sabbatical - which in his case, is for him to line his pockets even more rather than offer an opportunity to take a real break or try something different (as if 3 codes already isn't enough) - and well as the subtle threat re Beale. Call the bluff I say, tell them to pull their heads in or get out. The ARU is simply kowtowing to the players and if they keep doing so by appointing Cheika, it will only continue. Someone there needs to lay down the law and tell them that if they don't like it, they're free to leave Aussie rugby when their contracts expire (no going early, make them play Super Rugby). I wonder how Cheika sees this from the outside, knowing that large number of Tahs players involves (especially Hooper, who I don't think is anywhere as blameless in any of this as he hopes he'll be seen).

In any other organisation what Beale did would be instant dismissal! So why should he be treated any different! Time for the Wallaby Princesses to shape up! For Izzy to "blackmail" Australian Rugby with leaving if Beale goes is totally unbelievable! No-one is bigger than the game! NO-ONE! They are supposed to be PROFESSIONAL sportsmen for goodness sake! Can you imagine John EAles doing the same, or any other senior ex-player who held pride and passion in the jersey!? Would the so called supporters of Beale be so eager if the text had been sent to their girlfriends/partner/sister/mother! Or any woman they held respect for for that matter!

Compare the efficiency of the AB handling of Cruden versus the amateurish handling of Beale. Cruden handled over night and Beale still outstanding after nearly 3 weeks!!?? The players had no role in making public comments re the Kurtley Beale saga. Some discipline/warnings required for Hooper, AAC, Slipper and Folau. Beale needs to go as he continually shows that he doesn't think that he's accountable to anybody. This Wallaby Fan is tired of the behaviour of the oldest teenager in the squad. I no longer want any of my $$s going in his direction. If Beale stays I'm no longer buying tickets and I won't be alone!! Pulver has to go as his stewardship of the ARU has been shambolic. Time for a new start.......................

Don't mistake me I WAS a MacKenzie supporter? That half time ritual was appalling and humilating for all, it was perhaps an insight into MacKenzie's school master style. As a one off it was fine but to keep doing it. I can't imagine the players were asking for it and as a good manager you can't completely disregard the employees views and feelings. IMO it was a power play, MacKenzie made the team a subject of ridicule for what ever reason. I would have been really pissed if it was me.

Even as a McKenzie supporter I found the chairs at half-time inexplicable.

"…as well as having to deal with the frankly ridiculous expectation that he should be winning more games against the clear top two sides in the world, that should not be an issue." Since you raise it, no, its not ridiculous at all. The fact is that our performance against ABs and Boks has clearly dropped over the last couple of years, and we are entitled to discuss the reasons why. Obviously that won't all be McKenzie's fault, but he has got questions to answer. And its not "ridiculous" to have expectations. "The fact that Hooper and Folau were even allowed to announce their idiotic support for a player under suspension and investigation is unbelievable enough, and they should have found themselves following Beale through the same process." Right, so when Hooper, Slipper and AAC state that they want to see Beale get due process and are concerned about his trial by media (what you call "idiotic support"), they must then be made the subject of an investigation for serious misconduct. .... How are things in the Flat Earth Society these days?

"The entire rugby pyramid needs rebuilding from the ground up." Totally Agree

The Wallabies are the least of Rugby's issues - indeed their performances (on and off the field) are the symptom of a much greater problem. It's not so much that I disagree with the author about addressing culture issues at the top with a clear out, but ultimately a 're boot' is needed well below this level as well. The entire rugby pyramid needs rebuilding from the ground up. This will take years and be very painful which is why people continue to focus on the outcomes at the top - not address the underlying issues of federated governance (i.e. politics), participation (commercial relevance), rules (product relevance), pathways (feeding the Wallabies long term) etc... Maybe in 4 coaches time, should rugby remain solvent long enough, the ARU may do something meaningful. If not, the Australian Sports Commission should do it to them. Its time. Do what the FFA did. Rebuild the Wallabies for the purposes of making it rain, but turn the limited cash inwards with fundamental, root and branch restructuring of the entire game. The pain will be worth it.

Scrounger, absolutely. I am not disputing what you are saying, (even though Wed was a day off, no curfew advised, it was their private time) my gripe was the way AAC and others were treated, how they were belittled in the media. AAC has been a stalwart of the game for Aussie for a decade without any controversy. What happened to the "admonish staff in private, praise them in public". Why did the coach make such a song and dance about it ... to show 'the public' how tough he was? For whose benefit was that what did it achieve? The match he banned the players for was the next match (which I reckoned he would have rested them for anyhow) ......... against Scotland. He had them back for the last match on tour against Wales. I agree about Hooper on field. Off field you would have thought he would have flung his support for his coach would you not?... He chose not to, supporting Beale as 'a mate'. Only Horwill openly supported McKenzie without any prompting that I recall.

Rugby Tragic I don't believe their is profession team sport in the world that would agree with members of the team getting on the turps until 4 am 3 nights before a crucial game.Yes it was Tues night and when they got back to the hotel it was Wed morning so it was ony 3 nights to recover. Whether McKenzie handled the way it was presented to the players correctly can be debated. However there was no way he could change the team for the Ireland test at that late stage and thats why the Scotland game a week later was chosen. You also don't want to penalise the majority of players that did the right thing. We are suffering from on and off field management at the moment from our senior players as some of them should be assisting Hooper in his decision making process on the field. Great player but he needs some help as Captain.

Right on Tom G -- this is not about the players or even the coach it is all about the senior management of the ARU. Since joining the ARU as CEO Pulver has failed spectacularly to present a plan for a sustainable future at a time when the current and future financials are in a parlous state. Pulver has been long on dialogue but very short on action. The NRC is slowly being starved to death because despite his claims of ownership, Pulver had little to do with its implementation having delegated that responsibility to an underling who in turn resigned and left for greener pastures. It is highly probable that McKenzie's resignation was partly sparked by his belief that the ARU senior management were not about to support him in his ongoing endeavors despite the protestations to the contrary of Chairman Hawker. Any new coach coming into the job is going to have to ask "are my bosses up to the task??" right at this point the answer has to be a resounding NO

Tired of hearing how the problem rests entirely with the players. As someone previously said these guys have sacrificed enormously to achieve what they have. I saw no indication on Saturday that there was a feeling of entitlement in the group, nor an absence of effort. Even old box kick Nic was trying his heart out, God bless him. The simple fact is that the administration of this team is and has been where the problem has been for yearslie. We rightly see questions over Di Patstons qualifications for the job she had, but where are Pulvers.. Other than being a personal friend of Michael Hawker, what actually made him the right man for the job?

If the players involved don't know what a late night with booze does to athletic performance then they aren't the professional athletes they think they are. Corey Jane was out days before the ABs QF v Argentina at RWC2011 and knew he'd done the wrong thing and apologized to the team for it. Our guys don't even admit they did a thing wrong. That's pathetic. Do our players ever wonder why the ABs seem to always finish stronger at the end of matches? How is it that the ABs seem to be fitter when our guys presumably have the very best of sport science available to them?

Apologies, I should know better than to make assumptions. I think Mitchell is not the only Kiwi coach to experience the different psyche of the Aussie professional sportsman. I don't think Link made massive mistakes and for a while his stance on the Dublin issue seemed to work. But the reality is that the young players will always look up to the senior players over the coach, because they are their peers. Regardless of Links ability as a coach or his achievements as a player, he doesn't cross that white line with the team. So there is senior leadership they just don't always agree with the coach. I think one of the really interesting figures in all this is James Slipper, he could well have been the tipping point. You think about the likes of Cheika and Bomber Thompson. They go to lengths to appear as one of the team not the Executive Manger of the Team, you don't insist the dressing room follow you, you become part of the dressing room. That's team unity.

Marbles? .... Sorry just joking...

The other issues was the half time exercise of having his players sit in little plastic chairs at half time... even players on portable benches being massaged... you reckon the players enjoyed that? So whose benefit as that for? No other coach that I am aware of in international rugby does it. So I guess that made the former Wallabies coach right and ALL others wrong ................. Or..... we can each be our own judges on that.

Scrounger, as I understand it, it was a Tuesday night, 5 nights before next test and with a players day off on the Wednesday. There was no curfew notified. If the team management was so upset, why did they have to belittle those involved through the media? I agree with Fin on this. I think it was all about McKenzie (and have posted the same on other threads) not the players at all. Then against the penalty of not being allowed to play on the Saturday test was a claytons punishment, as the match was against Scotland so I would wager the coach was going to rest those anyhow so they would be fresh for the Welsh challenge..

FIN It is no wonder that there is no senior leadership in the team if that behaviour is condoned. What message does it send to the new players on tour who would be looking up to guys like AAC to provide encouragement, leadership and direction. Read John Mitvchells book when he talks about how Australian players want to run the game and take on coaches and autority etc which is entirely differerent to the NZ and SA Rugby culture. BTW I have competed at a very high level in International sport!!

I think what Fin was saying was that regardless of the merits of the decision McKenzie made in Dublin it did not work well for him (or Mikey Arthur in his similar discipline related incident). Perhaps it did not need to be done so publicly. Perhaps he needed greater support from his employer if he were to take this stance. I dont think it is a huge leap of faith to suggest that is where Link may have started to lose the support of his player base.