Cheika shows Wallabies his darker side

FOS Link quit, Cheika just happened to win the s15 and was obviously the best man for the job, Link obviously did something wrong.

I think making the semis would be a good result. The team is just not that flash. I still hope we can do better but I think it ilikely we will lose both to Eng and Ire and semis would be fine. Agree with RT the most hated player was Knoxy, I use to love the Knoxy chant, but that was a special era of club rugby. People wonder why we won two world cups in the 90s and I believe it is due to the strength of club rugby that brings depth and experience to new players. Now players have little rugby nous, we need smart players like players such as George Smith. I would bring G Smith back

It's about time these overpaid footy players met a coach who dosen't mince his words and wants results, good on you Cheika work them and then work them even harder, show them that this is serious business pulling on the Wallaby colours!! Maybe they'll train that hard they'll be too tired to get up to mischief, be proud boys that's what that old bastard is trying to instill in you, never lose, whoever runs out against the Wallabies will never forget the pain of the competition, man up boys there's only half a dozen tests before RWC!!!

The conditioning done now will have ZERO long term benefit, as they will immediately go on a break. Anyway my point is that you cannot work hard enough to significantly improve conditioning, whilst at the same time, recover adequately between test matches every 7 days. This two things are counter productive. Neither I nor anybody else is claiming the Wallabies were fit enough. Due to schedules, Wallaby camp is generally not the time to work on it significantly as they are never in camp for more than a fortnight before games.

He is looking long term. The Wallabies were ridiculously unfit compared to the ABs and SA. We faded in nearly every match of the Rugby Championship. You could see it happening around the 65th minute. Geez even Argentina looked stronger at the back end of each game. It isn't normal to push guys fitness wise on the EOYT. But then again it isn't normal to take over 3 days before flying to Europe. And yes it is then up to the Super franchises to carry it through. But I suspect the following up on players performances will be more stringent from this coaching regime. Way too early to write Cheika off. Although I'm guessing many on here would be happy to see him fail. Sad to say the least.

Considering we are 2/3 on this tour I struggle to understand your figures.

Yeah not sure I interpreted the piece to suggest the players were getting flogged at training, I hope not. Possibly more intensity in there work, lots of repetitive stuff with real purpose and focusing on ball retention !

there is an alternative: support rugby, but not the Wallabies. Still, its nice to know that in the view of the Tahs, condoning sexual harrassment is an OK price to pay to get one of their own in as coach.

doubt it

I don't see that Cheika is indulging in "punishment drills." Simmons is quoted as saying " we’ve lost now so what we’ve got to do to be better is step up every little thing,” It seems to me that that means tactics, positioning, line-outs etc. It's hard to believe that an experienced coach, no matter how much he "wears his heart on his sleeve," would be flogging the players' fitness or strength in November. Surely he's drilling all the tactics he's planned for the match (and hopefully he's on the same page - or a close one - as Scott Allen) and drilling these until they're second nature to the players. I still have that line in my head from the All Blacks v USA match, when the American observers were commenting on the fact that the ABs did not once put a ball down in 2 hours of training.

I'm sure he bore a fair share of the responsibility, but it takes two to tango. Rather than work through it though, both sides appeared happy to part and it is the players that are left standing. They played their part and, as you say, they don't seem to be mourning his loss. So it is on them to show that they are better without him than with him. It is no different from firing someone that is key to your team - you have to show it was worth it and his absence can't then be used as an excuse. The big call was made and it was made by you. As for the lost lounge rooms, I know a few folk that sit in some of those rooms. No idea if they are widely typical, but they have not tuned out because McKenzie isn't there but because of the debacle that saw him leave. It doesn't seem to have been a one off thing...I get the impression that is more a last straw situation with the bouncing from incident to incident over the last few years. It worries me because I don't get the impression that "redemption" is going to be gained on the field...I'm not even sure how it will be gained. It appears they will continue to support the levels below (so far at least, having renewed memberships), but having tuned out the elite level I do wonder how they'll go maintaining their kids interest in the face of other distractions. My previous observation stands though; that if they lose the grassroots there won't be money for the grassroots. It is that downward spiral the Unions are currently trying to arrest in their typically hamfisted way, but this incident seems to have been the biggest lurch in the opposite direction for some time. Can't believe (and am frequently reminded) that my initial reaction was that it was just a storm in a teacup. Who knew...

That PTG is absolutely correct! Cheika needs to pick the team on individual merit who totally deserve to be the custodian of the gold jersey! No one one is bigger than the game! Let the coach do his job and show some support and realise he knows more than most of the wingers and sceptics! Can someone answer this.....?..... If Rod Kafer is so b....y good at analysing and giving his words of arguable "wisdom" on how the players should do and shouldn't do why the heck isn't he on the coaching team! I personally am tired of his verbal diatribe! Just call the game that's in front of you for the good of viewing!

Horwill, Leali'ifano, Tomane I believe and Moore all came out in support for him. Which is about as many as did for Beale. If you ignore all the facts that contradict your view, then your view sounds good.

I recall seeing Cheika get sent off for a headbutt at North Sydney oval.

This year has been a disaster,so it is time to experiment,try different combinations and tactics.As a coach let the players know who is the boss and let them know what to expect for next year.Give every player a Christmas report card and where they need to be for next year, because the real work starts in 2015. No excuses,no crap from anyone ,no blowing hot air ,just get the results to get the believers "Wallabies supporters" back because we have suffered enough.

Punishment drills - medieval. Justin is right and so is Bfc - games are won as much with clever on-field thinking not to mention raw courage. Games are lost by loss of concentration as much as by poor match fitness - witness the way the Blacks win so many games against our switch-off mentality when the whistle goes. How many punishment drills does it take to create the miracle pass from Campese to Horan. Or the tactical confidence of a Michael Lynagh to engineer that memorable match-saving try at the death against Ireland that led to our WC win. If fitness is the issue, how come a Wallaby team with so many Tahs in it is so in need of punishment training? Skelton is some kind of talisman, but is in fact both a skills and fitness fizzer. How many punishment drills for the whole team will get this lummox up to speed - or give Folau his mojo back . This "heart on sleeve" mantra is simply junk - emotional outbursts as the response to problems is just tantrum throwing. Great coaches show players a way to win, based on their strengths and weaknesses. Witness Macqueen. I fear we are facing a serial round of excuse making - we lost, but the coach has his heart on his sleeve. Chieka is a winner at the provincial level - if he is up to the step-up in level, he won't need his heart on his sleeve but a strategy in his head.

Exactly right. It's basically past the point of seeing any real benefit. Many of the players are close to burn out (e.g. Folau who they are monitoring his load heavily this week). If the team isn't fit enough now, they aren't going to get there on their tour, without being fatigued for their games. If the team isn't fit enough to play how Cheika wants, right now he needs to change his game plan. The Wallaby environment isn't the place for building up the fitness base. There is no pre-season/off-season training conducted when they are with the Wallabies due to the schedule. The conditioning work needs to be up to scratch at Super Rugby level. Comments like this and the comments regarding the playing style, errors and time to adjusts suggest Cheika isn't adapting very well to test level, thinking he can just do exactly what he did at the Waratahs. That's concerning because if there is a person who would be a better Wallaby coach out there, there is nothing to indicate it, as Cheika is the best credentialed option left.

RL is more objectively reffed because they've worked out fans want to watch a game of footie not watch some officious little show pony demonstrate his latent school master tendencies. It also seems like there is some correlation between how simple the game is and how highly skilled its players are and why we love it when players like Izzy, SBW and Burgess defect to rugby.

Not if you're losing every week.

I remember that little easts 1/2 complaining about Bucknall being cited on the eve of the GF. Eases got done that day and if I remember correctly that cat Knox tried to kick Brial in the head. Cheika was definitely tough but that Randwick team in the late eighties, early nineties had some tough guys (kearns, McKenzie, Eddie jones, mark giacheri, Warwick Waugh, Simon poidevin, the list goes on). Notably three guys from that era have now coached the wallabies Jones, McKenzie, Cheika. I wonder if that has ever happened before in the world.