Bernard Foley’s Spring Tour goal-kicking was far from the only issue the Wallabies need to address in 2017, but it did raise a broader issue that has afflicted Australian rugby at the highest levels for several years now.
For the Tour Foley kicked 19 goals from 25 attempts, a success rate of 76 per cent. It’s marginally down from his 2016 success rate of 76.3 per cent and down further from his career rate of 76.8 per cent.
But it does now highlight just how good his 2015 Rugby World Cup return of 28 from 35 – an 80 per cent success rate – really was.
These numbers are mostly sourced from the usually excellent South African-based website www.goalkickers.co.za; I say ‘usually’ because for reasons unknown it doesn’t include the final weekend of 2016 internationals in its numbers as yet. Its last update was 28 November, taking in the weekend including the Wallabies’ match against Ireland.
Nevertheless, to that point, Foley had kicked 16 our of 20, or 80 per cent, ranking him fifth among all kickers. The ranking formulas used by Goalkickers take into account things like average difficulty of each shot as well as pure flags up or flags down as the ball passes the uprights.
Ireland flyhalf Paddy Jackson (13 from 13, 100 per cent, ranked first) and Welsh fullback Leigh Halfpenny (18 from 22, 81.8 per cent, second) topped Foley in the overall rankings of the ‘regular’ kickers, though Foley was rated ahead of All Blacks flyhalf Beauden Barrett (11 from 12, 91.7 per cent, eighth), Argentinean flyhalf Nico Sanchez (16 from 19, 84.2 per cent, 10th), Scotland skipper Greig Laidlaw (14 from 17, 82.4 per cent, 16th), and England centre Owen Farrell (17 from 24, 70.8 per cent, 32nd).
Looking in Foley’s Spring Tour kicks – specifically the first four Tests – a bit deeper makes for interesting reading.
For one thing, having clicked on all twenty of those dots, a couple of things stick out.
Foley hadn’t missed a penalty goal at all in the first four Tests, though you might recall he missed one from in front to start the Test against England;
He had only two attempts at goal from inside the 15m tramlines down the right-hand side of the field; this has always been, and remains his weak point on the field.
The majority of conversion attempts were down the left or in front of the posts, suggesting that the Wallabies had a clear left-side bias in their attack or that if anyone did cross out wide down the right, they improved the position of the conversion on all but one occasion; and
Including the England test, Foley kicked 9 from 10 penalties and 10 from 15 conversions.
Foley’s Super Rugby return was slightly higher than his full 2016 season, with my spreadsheet marking him down for 47 from 60, or 78.3 per cent. The breakdown was 34 from 40 conversions and 13 from 20 penalties, which doesn’t sound like a lot, though it should be remembered he missed the first five rounds this season on return from Japan.
Of the ‘regular’ Australian kickers in Super Rugby this season Christian Lealiifano kicked 64 from 81 at 79 per cent for the Brumbies, Reds flyhalf Jake McIntyre kicked 25 from 37 at 68 per cent and Rebels 10 Jack Debreczeni managed only 45 from 69 at 65 per cent as be battled at times just to hold his spot in the team.
The Western Force’s kicking was shared between Jonno Lance (13 from 15, 87 per cent) until he got injured, Peter Grant (22 from 28, 79 per cent) when he took over, and Ian Prior (15 from 16, 94 per cent), who finished the season as the preferred kicker. The Force did a lot wrong in 2016, but their kicking at goal was the best in the country.
These broader numbers are where one clear deficiency in Australian rugby emerges.
In reality Australian kickers just haven’t reached the lofty – or ‘match-winning’, to put it another way – heights of 80 per cent for any consistent period, never mind over a career.
In this day an age when specialist skills, like scrummaging, lineout throwing and indeed kicking out of hand, have specialist coaches charged with their oversight, why is it that Australian goal-kickers haven’t progressed from that fair-to-middling pack?
The Wallabies haven’t really had a sharp-shooting goal-kicker since maybe Matthew Burke, and to find one at Super Rugby level you almost have to go back to someone like David Knox.
Worryingly, the next group of Australian players are no better, with goal-kicking averages in the NRC stuck at plus-or-minus 70 per cent for the three seasons of the competition.
Most front-line kickers these days do have personal mentors. Foley himself has done some work with Andrew Mehrtens, and Lealiifano has used not-the-former-Rebels-coach Damien Hill for years. But is the odd session here and there or an irregular video review enough to find the improvements needed?
The figures suggest not.
I’m not sure that goal-kicking is part of Mick Byrne’s remit as national skills coach and, frankly, he’s got enough on his plate trying to lift the national skill level anyway.
But if the Australian Super Rugby sides and the Wallabies truly want to take that next step in terms of consistency, kicking three from five every game isn’t good enough.
The benchmark needs to be 80 per cent; if you can consistently kick eight goals from every ten attempts, you’ll win a lot more games than you will kicking only six or seven.
A national goal-kicking coach, therefore, is something that should be given serious thought. The benefits should be clear to all and the workload is similarly obvious when the Australian success rates are highlighted.
Given these numbers haven’t really changed over the last however many years, it makes you wonder why it hasn’t been considered before. No doubt there is the question of affordability, but when no Australian kicker has stood out as being world class for years, can we really afford not to?
Give the right person a bag of balls and a frequent flyer card and reap the benefits.
Jigbon
Guest
Until matt Burke broke his leg he was such a talent. Seeing him on one team am and Christian Cullen on the other was always such a treat. Two of the best I reckon.
Buk
Guest
PS one of my kiwi mates told me that when he was at primary school Don Clarke (a famous All Black kicker yonks ago) had retired but travelled around NZ & gave goal kicking lessons/sessions. He used square-toed boots, and kicked straight through (i.e. not round the corner). He lined up a kick and told them that he was going to hit the upright, which he did. He then said 'just to show it was not a fluke I will do that again.' Which he did.
Buk
Guest
RT - I was both a toe kicker and a round the corner kicker - at high school I had old pair of old fashioned square-toed boots, they had been my oldest brother's - I could kick sideline conversions consistently 10 in a row, far better than round the corner. My last year at high school I never missed a conversion, kicking straight through with the toe. But then my square toe boots got worn out, or thrown out, and all I could buy were the modern rounded-front-toe boots. They were useless for toe kicking. Not sure if they make square-toed boots any more, but if they did, at least for shorter range, I am convinced they would make a massive difference to goalkickers accuracy and consistency. Particularly guys like Foley that seem to have a 'worst side'.
Toulouse-Lautrec
Roar Rookie
Try this for the full ad, that other link is a bit of a tease..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfPZKHLf_04&spfreload=10
Toulouse-Lautrec
Roar Rookie
All this anti-Australian rhetoric about kicking and forward play is burning my ears... Don't you all understand the Australian way!!!! Brett, you especially as being part of the respected Journalist class should be wary about these anti-nationalism rabble-rousing. just play this to the boys prior to kick off if you want results: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gyc_vuI5cjU We'll show 'em how the Wallaby plays!!!!
Sasquatch
Guest
All way better than Foley.
Doubles
Guest
We've seen it again in recent games where Foley has been back at 10. Except for the England game, he does the very basic things right, but we struggled to find our way past even under strength Welsh and French teams (despite how the media may have described the wins). So it was not surprising that we lost to the Irish and England. He has a very limited aresenal to pull he team out, and lacks the vision a flyhalf like Cooper has. It's so frustrating to watch a great backline like ours being starved of attacking space and opportunity, and relying almost entirely on individual briliance. And worse - is wasting the potential and international career of our best flyhalf in Quade Cooper..Anyway i think that either Cooper needs to get serious game time or Cheika needs to cut him from the squad for good. No point at all having him in the squad, having problems at 10..... and not playing him.
concerned supporter
Guest
As a matter of interest,listed below is a table of current NRL players life time goal kicking %.( Note the majority would be try conversions not penalty goals.) A Reynolds 83.08 % J Croker 81.39 % J Malony 80.00% J Thurston 79.46% T Hodkinson 76.87% C Smith 73.20% C Parker 72.52%
Mark
Guest
There is a guy floating around in Sydney that was a pretty handy kicker in his day and will bring that love of kicking to the table, in both goal kicking and general play kicking and maybe worth a call from Cheika to see what he is doing to at least meet up for a chat. Dan Parks did some great work in the NRC with the Stars, Country Eagles in the past 2 seasons.
bozo
Guest
Yeah, the improvement in skills was evident by those on display during the NH trip. All of Mick's rugby knowledgeable boosters are at theroar. For me, the disappointment is that there is no local rugby to watch until February 2017. This period of void should not concern a lot of contributors to theroar as they self confess to not watching games because they are not prepared to submit to the commercialisation of rugby and subscribe to Foxtel and pick up their knowledge of rugby from such reliable sources as smh.com.au. No wonder traditional journalism is on a deathslide. Not sure if I will bother with another year of ill-informed theroar haters of individual players in 2017.
Dontcallmeshirley
Guest
The day will come when an AB game hinges on BB's boot. That will be interesting.
Utah
Guest
I think it's such a particular skill set that only a few can master or even know about that it can't just be anyone. It needs to be someone who's excelled at it. People like Halligan & El Masri are evidence that it's not all about skill. There is a process, and a training regime required to excel.
Dontcallmeshirley
Guest
I agree. If he practiced for years it would not help. He would be reinforcing bad habits. But a fantastic player! I would pay good money to watch him but I would not cross the road to watch Owen Farrell kick 12 from 12 straight down the middle.
RobC
Roar Guru
Thanks Brett. Poor kicking comes from the worship of 'Running Rugby' DEATH TO RUNNING RUGBY
RobC
Roar Guru
Daveski Jono needs to be injure free. Then he will be appreciated He's a star 10 imo
Rouaan
Guest
It is quite clear that Reece Hodge and jack Debreczini should be mentored into Wallaby goal kickers...they have the most natural kicking talent. It will also than mean that they should also be mentored into becoming first choice Wallaby players. That is what South Africa did with Frans Steyn...that boot is just irresistible in test matches. When SA beat NZ in 2009..they had Morne and Frans potting it from everywhere and placed NZ under REAL PRESSURE for sustained periods with those big boots. If Reece and Jack can fit into Cheika's 'high octane' ball-in-hand style, there will be multiple threats for the opposition to contend with. At the moment the opposition doesn't even care if the make penalties against the Wallabies...there's a 50% chance they'll miss the goal OR they will chew off 10-15 metres for the Line-out...NOTHREATS AT ALL!!
Fin
Guest
Hi Brett, During a post match interview with George Gregan after the Brumbies marginally lost the 2000 Super 12 final and Stirling Mortlock had had an off night with his kicking Gregan said something that has stuck with me ever since. He said "kickers win you games of rugby. They don't lose you games." Maybe the Australian way is to play running rugby as well as view kickers as bonus match winners rather than identifying them as a reason for a loss.
KiwiHaydn
Roar Rookie
Case and point Beauden Barrett. Poor technique, stabs at the ball, and has stats to match.
cuw
Guest
bigger boot , bigger legs, the strength of the legs to transfer the force and the technique + lots of practice to get the high accuracy. it is like a tennis serve - u can hit the ball har but can u keep it in the box? for kickers , generally the biggerboot helps. look at the long kickers- Frans steyn , Hodge , Marcello Bosch , Nemani nandolo , ---- generally have big boots. also the power in the quads, and remaining more or less injury free on those muscles. most long distance kickers be it rugger or football have huge quads. technique matters, the run , the alignment of the body , the posture , the timing .... but all that counts for nothing without practice. both Wilco and carter were said to be crazy perfectionists , who used to practice even after the others had gone to shower.
soapit
Guest
doesnt that ranking take account of that tho brett (ie they might be taking easier shots but their % is up because of it as well) foley was a long way down based on success and difficulty i think last time i checked it