Roar Exclusive: The Roar approached the Wallabies’ most successful coach, Rod Macqueen AM, for his thoughts on how rugby can run with the ball in Australia again. His answer is the ‘Einstein Project’.
Can Einstein fix Aussie rugby?
One of my favourite Einstein quotes is when he was conducting a physics class examination and one of his students pointed out the questions were the same as last year. Einstein replied: “Yes, but this year the answers are different”.
That applies so much to sport and business, and particularly to rugby as it is today. So, here are my thoughts about some of this year’s answers…
Our own unique and united rugby plan
Rugby union has changed significantly since the beginning of professionalism and is continuing to evolve. If we look at the key performance indicators of some of the top New Zealand, teams there has been a dynamic change, predominantly over the last ten years.
Australian rugby has lost a great deal of its intellectual property edge; countries around the world have taken a lot of the innovations the Wallabies introduced and are now well ahead with their own initiatives.
New Zealand, especially, has undertaken an inspired business plan to put systems in place to take their rugby into the future. They continue to work together to develop their skill level and physicality which keeps them at the very top.
This has been achieved by further deepening a united pride in the New Zealand rugby community and the way they play the game.
(AFP photo/Franck Fife)
No short fix – bottom up, top down
Australian rugby is now at the stage where it must undertake a plan that is not a short fix, but rather a plan based on creativity, data and evidence-based innovation. We need to develop and build an understanding of how the game will be played in the next five years.
The appointment of Rod Kafer is a great initiative by the ARU. Rod has always had a clear and insightful understanding and appreciation of the game. Looking to the future, we need to develop and build a brand of rugby that is unique to Australia and gives us many on-field options.
Once we have this blueprint, we will need to select the personnel and skill sets to match.
Armed with a vision and a plan, we need to embark on a nationwide program and include the grassroots on the journey. The people in the clubs are the hearts and minds of our game. To be successful, we must have a unified sharing approach. We should take the game to the nation; educate the grassroots juniors, the age representative levels and senior ranks.
An important element of this proposed new connection would be developing a respectful Australian culture with enjoyment and pride being a key factor.
Supporting this would be an obligation from contracted players to spend time with allocated club sides. This would achieve two things – increasing the knowledge and skills of the club sides and ensuring that the professional players continue to have a strong bond with the grassroots.
Initiative – on and off the pitch
We also need to be mindful, proactive and clear with our goal setting.
For example, it was critical for us to win the Tests against England last year. As a lead-up to that series, England had just competed in the Six Nations.
Conversely, Australia did not have a lead-up game at all. We should never undertake a critically important task like that without having at least two warm-up games. In today’s unforgiving professional game, you simply cannot give another team that sort of advantage.
We also need to be aware of the highly competitive sports marketing environment in which we now operate. The recently-announced decision to appoint Alan Jones as coach of the Barbarians team (another good initiative), not only provides the Wallabies with an important warm-up game, but opens up new options and sparks great interest.
Kids are our future players and fans
Boys and girls are our future and it’s going to be extremely important that we address the participation issue as soon as possible. All other sports are well advanced in meeting the challenge.
Rod Macqueen AM with his rugby team.
For example, some years ago Tennis Australia came up with a simple solution when looking at new ways to introduce their game to young kids. Tennis developed the now highly-recognised success story, Hot Shots, a simple concept that used a smaller court, along with three different coloured and pressure balls, as well as modified racquets.
The program is designed to help every child, no matter their age or ability, to jump in and start playing tennis, competing and having fun, while at the same time developing their skills and co-ordination.
We have a tremendous opportunity to take a new approach with our rugby juniors by using digital media to develop a series of simple, innovative and exciting games to make it fun for the kids and easier for the coaches; at the same time, they will develop the specific skills that our national plan has set for the Australian game in the future.
Apps can be developed to support the ongoing education and programs which can go direct to the junior clubs and coaches.
The implementation of these thoughts will not be easy because people perceive change as risk, however the greatest risk is not changing our thinking. As Einstein said, “This year the answers are different”.
Gus
Guest
Please please come back as RA CEO... The rugby community in Australia desperately needs & wants you back in a leadership role otherwise a really fear that our once great game will be lost forever !!!!
Tom G
Guest
Someone from the ARU should beg Macqueen to be the next CEO.
Matt
Guest
There certainly are a lot of repetitive one-out hit-up phases.
Matt
Guest
They could certainly do with sinbins to combat cynical fouls and play-acting
RobC
Roar Guru
aha, didnt realise RM himself is the writer. Welcome Rod and hope to see more articles!
Marto
Guest
What neck ??
MitchO
Guest
I recently an article in a recent Inside Sport (no I am not involved with them in anyway) which extracted a book by Sam Walker who was/is editor of the Wall Street Journal's sports section. He talks about the importance of Captain v Coach for the worlds greatest sports teams. It looks like he falls on the side of the Captain being the most important. Cant do it without the coach but it is the Captain which makes the difference. Consider how many games Richie McCaw's leadership won for the ABs. He was one of the best on ground with a broken foot in the second last world cup. Great leader. John Eales was a big leader. Remember he told the ref to sort out the French dirty stuff or he'd take the team off. That is serious stuff. Look at the starch Hodgo added at the Force compared to what Hooper was able to extract out of the Warratahs. Hooper is a tough man, one of the best rugby players in the world, vastly experienced - but he is (currently) quite simply not a powerful enough leader to extract from NSW (and the Wallabies) what needs to be extracted. His example is exemplary but it is clearly not enough. And George Smith cannot sort out Qld's go forward. If Walker is correct and I reckon he is onto something then it follows that the Wallabies need to build around a great leader even if that is at the expense of picking the best player in that position. Coleman can't be ready to captain and he may never be better than competent. Pocock is the one with the power; with the insane strength of character and moral fibre.There is no better leader in the players available for the next World Cup. Remember the onfield stance he took against homophobia. You may or may not agree with it but gee that showed a man comfortable to lead.
republican
Guest
.........League is a good analogy me thinks. This code is holds a status in NZ takin to Union here, yet the Kiwis are number one in League internationally. Why?
republican
Guest
Australia has a real challenge in respect of GR sport I believe. We are a nation obsessed with commercial criteria in growing sport, at the neglect of the GR. Tennis may well be attracting healthy participation and to an extent has always been up there in the top 5 in this respect, however this is not evidenced with results by Australians at the international tier of the game - why? Swimming is now following suit, a sporting institution in this country, that we no longer assume international kudos from, at meets i.e. the Olympic games or as evidenced this month, in the FINA Worlds. Union does well considering its niche sporting status here, compared to those sports we traditionally excelled at. Related to this is the recent Australian performance of the Junior C/W games swim team, who finished well behind England, Saffa. NZ, Canada and even Singapore on the Swim Medals table. NZ's young Swim team managed 7 gold medals while we didn't glean a solitary gold - why?
RobC
Roar Guru
The way Refs manage the game have changed after RWC15, but Aus still plays the same ole game. SA has evolved, and its shows. Aus Rugby continues to ignore the new skills needed to win in this speed oriented ethos. Well except the Force, perhaps. Dont talk about innovation, if you dont understand how to adapt to the basics.
Jigbon
Guest
As baldrick would say Gatesy....a cunning plan. And a fine one at that ...well done..
Kavvy
Guest
"he was also a boatieso he wasalways going to be good" Epitomising why Australia will never be a top rugby nation again right there
Kavvy
Guest
But despite NZ Rugby's issues at the time it was still the nation's number one game. It's sitting at about 6 or 7 here in Oz, it's a lot further back and the game is the opposite of inclusive here (realize that is a part if your point but we are light years away from that starting point. even)
Al-Shazahd
Guest
Wow so much generic BS by Rod Macqueen You must be stupid if you think attractive and winning Rugby by the Wallabies = Increased popularity of Rugby in Australia. The problems are so much deeper than that. How much change did the 2015RWC bring to the sport here. Nothing. The next week after the final Rugby faded back into obscurity.
FunBus
Roar Rookie
I'm simply responding to the OP who pontificated on the 'death of rugby' comparing it unfavorably with AFL. It's an incredibly parochial outlook. I'm not sure what you think the reason for AFL's continual inability to raise any interest for the sport outside of OZ might be, other than those who have watched it find it boring. I'm thrilled for Aussies who love their 'unique' sports market - I merely suggest that an understanding that there's a big world out there is a start to discussing the 'death of a sport' which is actually doing very well. You raise American sports as a comparison. NFL, Baseball and Basketball have big followings outside the States.
Docta Z
Guest
Crooked rep coaches, see it too often
Goodnight and Farewell
Guest
Maybe it is time to hoist the white flag to RL or AFL? It was good there for a while.
Marlins Tragic
Guest
Don't know a great deal about Parra, but I can tell you that with Penrith the issues have nothing to do with promotion of the game, it is a large area that has a lot of very successful subbies clubs & the collective talent out there is warehoused within those teams, I read the other day on a Facebook forum that Perinth are seen as a club that caters to Poloynsians, not my statement BTW. More needs to be done from within the Penrith collective to make them competitive again. Mind you, they gave my team, Manly, a run for their money yesterday :(
Trev from the Bush
Guest
With you there brother Pie Warmer. Both the clubs administrators and coaches are left with their pants down by the National Body aka ARU. A lot of what Rod has expressed here is exactly what Robbie Deans implemented in his time in Australia but again it all imploded.
Trev from the Bush
Guest
Do it better ! The ARU could start by making it easy for clubs for the simplest things - like getting a club player registered online, even that is a botched system and a difficult process.