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It was a good opening weekend for the new, four-team Australian Super Rugby structure. Three of the franchises won, and the only one to lose, the Reds, lost to another Aussie side.
But the Queenslanders are a concern.
Yes, it’s only Round 2 of the season. Yes, it’s a very young playing and coaching group in the Reds’ brave new world, one which will need time to develop.
But already, some little, red warning flags have started to flutter over Ballymore.
The world of modern professional sport is an unforgiving one for a coach, and Brad Thorn is on a timeline. Despite a glittering career spanning 22 years, and all of his achievements as a player at the very top of two rugby codes, Thorn will only be cut so much slack as the rookie head coach.
When he decided to exclude first Queensland’s favourite son Quade Cooper, and more latterly Karmichael Hunt from his playing squad, he chose to either live or die by a sword of his own making.
Maybe Quade did fail to make the requisite effort once too often for his own good, and maybe just the spectre of Hunt’s drug-stained past was enough to spook Thorn in his efforts to build a healthy, new culture.
But if Cooper does move to Japan, and Hunt follows Nick Frisby into French club rugby as the rumour-mill suggests, it will represent a colossal loss for all parties involved.
Karmichael Hunt (AAP Image/Julian Smith)
Cooper is a one-club devotee who returned to Australia on the basis that he could help the Queensland Reds regain the glories of 2011.
He still has two years remaining on a three-year contract, ranging from $650,000 (basic) to $800,000 (with Wallaby bonuses) – a contract the Reds could ill afford financially, even with help from Rugby Australia.
Meanwhile, Hunt was steadily moving towards the centre of Michael Cheika’s plans with the Wallabies at the next World Cup, after some impressive showings in the June 2017 matches.
The loss of Cooper and Hunt – and to lesser degree, Frisby – also left a gaping hole in the backline’s leadership, communication and organisation. Anyone who listened to Hunt when he was mic’ed up in the course of the game against the Crusaders last season will begin to understand how much he contributed.
The most troubling feature of the Reds’ loss to the Melbourne Rebels was that it came on the back of the disintegration of the twin pillars on which Thorn wants his new team to be built: defence and physicality.
“I take defence personally. It’s a reflection of character … what you want to do for the mate beside you,” the former All Black said after taking over late last year.
“Physicality is something I’ve always enjoyed. It’s a contact sport we’re playing and that’s got to come with a competitive mind-set.”
Although the aggression Thorn requires was present against the Rebels, it lacked any kind of control. The discipline that always needs to ride alongside it, whispering in its ear, was conspicuous by its absence.
When Thorn appointed Scott Higginbotham as his captain, he must have been hoping that it would be a case of poacher turning gamekeeper. At AAMI Park, the experiment lasted nine minutes before ‘Higgers’ was sent off for a head-high shot on Rebels second row Matt Phillip:
He could, and probably should have been followed off permanently by Lukhan Tui for a spear-tackle on Will Genia, but referee Brendan Pickerill and his assistants successfully argued themselves out of making such a big call for a second time:
Other potential penalty or yellow card incidents were also ignored – a high shot on Jack Maddocks by Eto Nabuli in the 24th minute and a swinging arm by Samu Kerevi as Tom English went over for the second Melbourne try:
Now imagine a French referee like Jerome Garces, Mathieu Raynal or Pascal Gauzere in possession of the whistle – the penalty-box would have been as busy as an ice-cream parlour on the hottest day of the summer, even before halftime!
Queensland’s defence and work at the contact zone at times showed jaw-dropping naivety. They regularly left two defenders on the ground at the tackle area, which after the departure of Higginbotham meant that there were frequently only 11 or 12 players left on their feet for the next phase:
The Reds have already committed two players to the tackle when Kerevi enters as the third man, despite Reece Hodge’s presence over the top of the melee creating a ruck. The inevitable penalty led to the position from which the Rebels scored their fifth try of the match.
There were also several instances which illustrated a lack of natural leadership and organisation on defence in the absence of Hunt, especially in the back three:
From this kick-off, the issue of having only 13 men to cover all the options is compounded first by Nabuli’s failure to get into the air to receive the ball, then worsened by fullback Aidan Toua standing in the middle third of the pitch and leaving the entire left side untenanted:
There is no evidence of communication between Toua and Nabuli and the Rebels really ought to have converted this opportunity to score after winning the ball back.
The Reds’ defence at lineouts near their own 22 showed the same lack of organisation and leadership. Defensive teams often like to insert the blind-side wing in the 10 channel in this situation, with only a short backfield to defend, and this is how Queensland chose to employ Nabuli (circled) at a lineout out on their left:
As Melbourne begin to drive the ball through, Reds halfback Jack Tuttle gestures for Nabuli to abandon his role in the defensive line and join the maul:
A scrum-half as switched-on as Genia noticed this and ran the arc out on to the Reds’ new first defender, Jono Lance:
Variations on the same theme occurred twice more in the game – so that the home side only had to repeat a similar formula to score.
At a lineout on the other side, just after the halftime break, right wing Chris Feauai-Sautia (circled) was caught defending infield and absorbed in a tackle:
When Melbourne 10 Jack Debreczeni breaks back to the short side, he is able to find a welcoming mismatch against the two towering second rows, with Naivalu and Hodge supporting him and not a Reds back in sight. (see the full sequence on the reel at 1:55-2:05)
Debreczeni went on to repeat the same pattern against the left side of the Reds’ D for the seventh and final Melbourne try (2:28-2:40 on the reel).
Although Nabuli managed to get back on to his wing on this occasion, he backs off and exposes Alex Mafi to a foot race with Debreczeni, a race the replacement hooker cannot possibly win.
The words of Hunt pleading on the miked-up reel ring still echo, “On the short side, who should be talking?”
Summary
Although nobody would have been expecting marvels from Thorn’s new-look Reds on their first serious hit-out, the manner of defeat was disconcerting. Against the Rebels at least, all the fine words about defence and physicality rang hollow.
The balance between aggression, physicality and discipline was off and the defence was naive, especially after the Reds had been reduced to 14 men. They were lucky to be playing the Rebels – if it had been one of the New Zealand franchises, the score would have reached the 70s or 80s.
Even the use of personnel off the bench was questionable, with Sef Fa’agase appearing at tight-head prop after delivering all of his 2017 performances on the opposite side of the scrum.
All of that might be written off more easily had Thorn not chosen to cut both Cooper and Hunt loose, but his peremptory treatment of both players will not have endeared him to the Queensland rugby public and may potentially shorten his timeline for success.
Although Jono Lance will eventually prove to be a more-than-adequate replacement for Quade Cooper (even it’s not a like-for-like trade), there is no such ready fix available in the back three for the absence of Karmichael Hunt. His ability to organize, communicate and lead the defence, and particularly the back three, will be sorely missed.
Brad Thorn’s stratospheric reputation as a player will buy him some time in his new career, but it won’t stop the clock from ticking.