Wallabies future is bright, insists Cheika

Until the Wallabies can play the full 80 , there is the problem.....England can play their type of game for the full 80 and they knew that the Wallabies would fade and make mistakes. Cheika has to live in hope , but he has a lot to do and to be honest he is just not up to it , as is his support staff except for one.

Most Qld supporters have for decades just wanted one thing - a good Wallaby team. Most NSW supported have for decades just wanted one thing - a Wallaby team with as many NSW players as possible. It's nice now that some commentators at least acknowledge that rugby is also played north of the wall.

Being Anti-Mediocre Tahs doesn't make people Pro-Reds buddy!

did you see the first bledisloe? youd have to go a long way to find a performance with less commitment.

That's all well and good but they said 2016 was going to be a good year and we won only 6 of 15, including 5 in a row at one point. It doesn't matter if you lose by 50 or 1, losing is losing. This kind of year should never be acceptable. There wasn't much improvement in basic skills and the same players were making the same mistakes in December as they were at the start of the season. So optimism is great and all, but be a realist. 2017 will be another mediocre to poor year

6 wins from 15 games. Coach of the year?

Apparently he's "rebuilding" in 2016. That's why he brought back AAC, Giteau and Mitchell. He kept trying to play Skelton even though he was fat, slow and had failed to fire at Test level over two years. Mumm has played 50 dud tests end on end. If it were not for injury our backline could have been Phipps, Foley, AAC, Giteau, Horne, Mitchell and Folau. Cooper stepped up to play 10 when Foley was out form. Foley kept either Hodge, Kerevi or Godwin out of the 12 spot and did his best to crowd out Quade. The fact that Wallaby rugby has developed at all this year is in spite of the clown and not because of him.

Exactly. But you'll never convince those North of the Wall who have NEVER gotten over Links demise. They want to drain the swamp of anything un-Red. It's bizarre.

Agree with this mate, and these cultural/mental aspects of the game seem to be Cheika's strength. I've got the same criticisms of Cheika as everyone else, but can't overlook the positives and this is definitely one of them.

Eddie Jones and Trevor Bayliss are currently polishing turds with some degree of success

Before Cheika came along I, along with a huge majority of Roarers, asked for one thing: That the team play with passion for the jersey. Above all this was the request. That they cut out the disciplinary issues and put in the hard yards. That's all we wanted. In this regard the Wallabies of the last 18 months have delivered. Zero off-field issues and not once have I read here (maybe I've missed the occasional troll) that the team lacks passion and respect for the jersey. I hate watching us lose, but what makes it easier is the look on the teams faces when they do. They hate it too and they are working hard to get better every game. This year has seen consistent improvement in a lot of areas, despite the fact that you can see how this long season is playing on their bodies and minds. Do I agree with selections? Not always. Do I always think tactically they are on point? No. But I do love watching 15 blokes put in everything they have week in week out and the more I see it, the more I remember how much I missed it when it wasn't there. They are great examples of humble and hardworking sportsmen to the younger generation. If ANYTHING they deserve a lot more respect than they get. Roll on 2017.

There was only 2 Terry. The Wallabies won the opening test in Sydney in a shortened Rugby Championship.

Richo ..You forgot the 3 thrashings by the All Blacks in 2015 under Michael Chieka too

I hope they are all fit for next year. When super rugby starts the franchises are all fit, 80 minute players, striving for that. They are professionals, so should try to improve that aspect. It will make Cheikas job easier if they are. I was stunned how the start of super rugby 2016 that the oz teams were under prepared. Fitness should be a given if you want to wear the yellow jumper. Or if you want to keep it. Lots of work to do.

Critical hit. There is no coming back from that siccckkkkk burn there. Primary school argument tactics at their finest. Take a bow.

Well said Ruckin Oaf.

MC, the good the bad and the ugly. The good, MC; 1 is creating depth 2 is developing players 3.is giving those players good plays to work with The bad. MC; 1 is playing players out of position 2 isn't using his bench 3 isn't developing a kicking game The ugly. MC; 1 Persists with weak players when better are available 2 Persists with weak combinations when better are available 3 Hasn't developed defense enough 3 steps forward, 2 steps back. There is great potential in his squad and performances will get better.

Totally agree Xiedazhou. I want Cheika's Wallabies to be strong and do well, but his approach and team selections have been startling at times, to say the least.

Hang on a sec I thought 2016 was supposed to be the good year. You know the one where the Wallabies kicked on from their World Cup success. I sure hope that next December I'm not hearing that 2018 is gunna be the year................

Interesting points. Let's bear in mind Cheika only got this Wallaby job after 2 seasons with the Waratahs where he took hold of a dreadfully underperforming franchise, got them organised, got them fit and weeded out the nonsense. They improved in 2013, won it in 2014 but were not the same side in 2015. Cheika took that same model re. culture, work ethic, game-plan and rolled it out with the Wallabies. Year 1 on the NH Tour in 2014 was average, Year 2 in 2015 got them to a RWC Final, Year 3 in 2016 has seen regression. Coaches are no different to players. Some transition to a higher level and stay through skills and evolution, others struggle to meet the greater demands. Time will tell whether Cheika can enjoy sustainable success at international level, but this year has been a significant learning curve. By in large, the Wallaby playing style is little different to the Waratahs playing style of 2014. It has been well analysed, broken down and exploited by smarter international coaches and players. How else do you explain that against the 3 best sides in World Rugby in 2016, Cheika's Wallabies were 0-8? Why else did 9th ranked Scotland and 7th ranked France so nearly beat the Wallabies on very limited preparation last month? Somehow Cheika himself confessed that player fitness levels were sub-standard for much of 2016 - yet he wanted to play an up-tempo, "Australian Way" style. Hmmm!! Cheika claims the future is bright due to the injection of new players into the squad this year. All this of course after his original strategy of bringing back Drew Mitchell, Matt Giteau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Will Genia and James Horwill largely flopped for him in the domestic tests. Some young players looked test calibre players and held their own. Others looked the next best player in their position and were no threat on the test arena. Cheika believes all can evolve into good test players. Some will, others will have their effectiveness nullified through clever opposition coaching in the same way Israel Folau and the Pocock / Hooper pairing were nullified in 2016. The major problem Cheika faces is the ground lost this year to New Zealand, England and Ireland will not be easily made up. Ahead of a critical Lions tour in 2017, be assured the All Blacks will be rolling out a 2017 game plan that will have evolved from this year's model. Ireland and England will be certain to undertake a similar approach for the upcoming 6 Nations. Yes Australian players will be expected to be better conditioned come Super Rugby next year. Will they be better skilled, better disciplined, better finishers, better defenders, better under stress? All were key weaknesses in the 2016 Wallabies. Cheika feels to me to be making a whole series of assumptions for 2017. The same set of assumptions that 12 months ago had 2016 going just like 2015. Time will tell. The fact he will only have Fiji, Italy and Scotland to test them is a whole different subject.