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Last Saturday night, I had a great time toggling between the Super Rugby and Malcolm Turnbull’s unfolding horror.
It was compelling stuff. Tight battles for territory and possession. Sniping attacks and obdurate defences. Surprise advances amid predictable plays and 50/50 calls. With opinionated commentators wittering their observations – both considered and crap – throughout.
The rugby wasn’t bad either.
I sat transfixed by the brilliant punch and counter-punch of the Hurricanes’ eventual subduing of the valiant Blues. But by the time the result of the Stormers vs Rebels match looked undoubtedly in the visitors’ favour, I had flicked over permanently to a much more enthralling contest – albeit one still in search of a result at the time of writing, almost a week after the commencement of play.
It was more gripping than it should have been watching the big swing all but knock the incumbents from their perch. Malcolm’s double disillusionment etched all over the forced gloss he attempted to put on things amid the whinging of his petulant full-time speech.
I wondered if Michael Cheka was watching. And if he so, was he doing what I was doing and drawing parallels between the PM’s predicament and his just seven days previous in a public theatre of similarly shattered dreams just up the road from the Wentworth Sofitel?
When confronting the stark reality of losing 3-zip to the poms, Cheka, like Turnbull, must have wondered how it had it come this.
Both men’s failures were a dim world away from the glorious optimism that swirled around them when ascending their respective thrones.
The more I thought about it, the more I realised there are remarkable similarities in their stories. Both are products of Sydney’s Eastern suburbs and are self-made men, making their fortunes in careers different to the ones they are now in. Both were destined for the top job, but each got there a little earlier than planned, taking the reins from poorly performing predecessors who departed before their ‘contracts’ were up.
Both swept to power on a wave of expectation and a widely held belief that, finally, the cream had risen to the top and all the wins each had enjoyed in life to that point would carry over to a new era of success.
Indeed, just after Malcolm stuck the knife into Tony Abbott last September, Michael was plunging one into the hearts of home fans with the Wallabies’ dominant victory over England sending the home team tumbling out of their own World Cup.
And how it unravelled so spectacularly for both barely eight months down the track. Each coming unstuck against under-estimated opponents that out-thought and ultimately out-fought them.
Yet, despite all this, both are secure in their jobs for now, due largely to a paucity of credible alternatives.
And both have a golden chance to dramatically turn their fortunes around in coming weeks – one by somehow winning enough seats to scrape through to form a majority government, the other by beating the All Blacks and winning the elusive Bledisloe Cup.
Unfortunately for each, neither looks remotely possible.
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.