With a Super Rugby championship and World Cup final under his belt, you’d think Michael Cheika might get a little more love from Australian rugby fans.
But alas, nothing is that easy in an age where everything is under a microscope.
Once heralded as Australia’s saviour of the masses, a mastermind in the good book of rugby, Cheika’s aura has faded thanks to poor results and a general frustration with the game in this country.
One of the reasons he’s fallen out of favour with many pundits was his approach to selection. However, the latest Wallabies squad announcement for the upcoming Rugby Championship looks to have turned the tide.
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That’s thanks in part, or due entirely, to the new three-man selection panel set-up that has mediated Cheika’s power.
The running joke that’s latched onto the former Randwick number 8 that he picks his old charges from the Waratahs, then fills out the rest of the team sheet regardless of form. It does the rounds and gets a few chuckles from most whenever a new squad is revealed.
That theory has had its ups and downs over the years, verging from fair criticism to silly myth fueled by disgruntled rugby fans. Either way, the fact that it exists isn’t a good look.
Truth is, in every single tournament since Michael Cheika’s appointment before the 2014 Spring Tour, the Waratahs have made up more or as many players in the Wallabies squad than any other Australian Super Rugby club.
Only on two of those occasions did the Brumbies manage to have an equal amount, but when it came to the final 23 to take the field, the Tahs would again win out for the sheer presence of numbers.
Every Michael Cheika squad as Wallabies coach
| Year | Series | Squad size | Waratah Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Spring Tour | 32 | 11 |
| 2018 | Rugby Championship | 28 | 10 |
| 2018 | June Internationals | 32 | 10 |
| 2017 | Spring Tour | 32 | 7 |
| 2017 | Rugby Championship | 34 | 9 |
| 2017 | June Internationals | 34 | 9 |
| 2016 | Spring Tour | 32 | 9 |
| 2016 | Rugby Championship | 42* | 11 |
| 2016 | June Internationals | 39 | 10 |
| 2015 | Rugby World Cup | 33 | 12 |
| 2015 | Rugby Championship | 41* | 14 |
| 2014 | Spring Tour | 33 | 9 |
*Total players used for series
Coming in off the back of his Super Rugby success with the Tahs, it’s easy to see why he stuck with what he knew was working at the time, but as the years have gone on and the Waratahs have slipped away as the main power in the Australian Conference, his backing of the New South Welshmen seemed to hold strong.
Even in 2017 when the Waratahs finished with an embarrassing four wins from 15 games, coming in second last in the conference, Cheika still picked more Waratahs in his Spring Tour squad than any other side.
But the new three-man selection panel of Cheika, director of rugby Scott Johnson and former Wallaby Michael O’Connor has brought about a first: Cheika has a Wallabies squad with fewer Waratahs than another team.
While not quite the fewest he’s selected as a whole, the nine men from New South Wales have been trumped by the ten from the Brumbies. It was impossible to ignore the contributions and success they found at such crucial points during the second half of the season.
Their selection numbers are a just reward for their stellar late-season push to the finals and record winning streak, also an immediate impact of the influence the new selection panel system has.
The question has to be asked then: is the Waratahs obsession finally over?
(Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images)
The omission of 70-Test veteran and usual Cheika favourite Nick Phipps could be the answer to that. Even if he wasn’t in the starting 15, Phipps was usually always good for a bench spot and a shoo-in for squad selection. Not this time.
Polarising Waratahs back-rower Ned Hanigan always seemed to have the backing of Cheika regardless of his good or bad form. Not this time.
Another halfback, Jake Gordon, was in Cheika’s sights as a Wallaby of the future when he made the squad and subsequent international debut in 2018. He, too, has been left out.
While not quite as obvious as the others, Curtis Rona has fallen out of favour after just three caps in the green and gold. No mention of him in the squad.
You get the point.
It might look a little innocuous and circumstantial, but this is a big deal for Australian rugby. This latest squad is one that looks balanced. It has a mix of youth and experience and it looks to be the most in-form Australian line-up that’s been presented in a long time, something the selectors wanted to point out after the squad announcement.
“We tried to look at Super Rugby form, what players can bring and what they’ve done before,” Cheika said.
“It’s a bit of a mix and I suppose that comes in with the form of the Super Rugby teams this year.”
He even mentioned the changes that the new system has on the selection process, one that has seen a dip in the Waratahs Wallaby presence.
“It was very tough, it’s the first time we’ve really worked in earnest as a selection panel.
“There were differing opinions, we were really challenging one another and I think we’ve come up with a better outcome for that than maybe if I’d have picked it by myself.”
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
The last half of that sentence is insightful. Cheika seems aware of his past selection issues and habit of falling back onto the Waratah sword at times.
The Brumbies were rewarded, especially in the forward pack, for their recent charge. Maybe they don’t have the most experience in the country. Maybe there are players elsewhere with more games or a more fruitful past, but this crop are the best players in their positions right now.
That’s something we’ve not always been able to say after recent Wallabies squads have been announced. It’s a welcome change.
QED
Roar Rookie
hmm to answer my own post. CLL out with injury so ok Nard in, Possibly DHP woud not have started at wing if Koribete had been available. So maybe just maybe things are changing
piru
Roar Rookie
Is there any reason we don't have top players tested and graded in different areas in the same way the NFL does their combine? I mean we often argue about who's faster or got a better pass or kick, if we had this recorded somewhere it would make comparing players a lot easier.
Markus
Roar Rookie
Depends on your definition of "better" careers. The main reason they keep getting shifted around is because there have constantly been better players in their way. Using Beale as an example, his original move from flyhalf to fullback was because he couldn't even outplay Halangahu for the Tahs. Then he shifted to inside centre on his return from overseas because there was no way he was going to outplay Folau at fullback . If Beale settled into one position, he may have become better at that one position but there is absolutely no way he would be up to 83 tests.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Actually Muddy, they were not. A loss to the Hlanders 49-12 was the only big differential. All the rest were narrow-Ish losses (or wins).
Muddy
Roar Rookie
KCOL... Tahs were massacred all year
Patto
Guest
What`s going to happen when Karmichael Hunt is fit? He will be in Cheika best 23.
Zado
Guest
Yep Realist, more talented skilful tougher and smarter players wont be heading overseas to the RWC under Cheika.Guys like Higginbotham, CFS, Fardy, Morahan, Powell, Gill and Quade will be left behind .We will have dummies going to RWC 2019 like Foley Hanigan Hooper Phipps DHP Toomua and Dempsey instead.
Humey
Guest
I heard it on good authority that Phipps and Hanigan were left behind as Cheika knows what they can give in the gold jersey.( good apparently ) He wants to see if the others are of the same quality.Powell White Wright Jones etc etc Don`t be surprised to see those two proven spuds in Chekkos best 23 when the players get back from SA.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Gatesy, ‘how we won in 91 and 99’ did not have the run up we’ve had for the last 4 years. I beg to differ about the ‘settled combination’ that you see as essential. We have had certain ‘settled combinations’ since 2015 that have delivered an unprecedented win/loss ratio and provoked many verbal stoushes and column inches throughout that time. I don’t think we should realistically be talking about victory at this cup. We haven’t had anything like the lead up that other cup winning teams have had. Many would just like to see our best possible individuals and systems in place having a go and improving in a sustainable way. And we have seen little of that since 2015.
gatesy
Roar Guru
There are almost as many backs worthy of selection as their are Roarers commenting on them, and I do not want to comment on it. Great that there is now a selection panel, and predictably, it has had some influence, and we'd be pretty unimpressed if they didn't have an influence. I believe that we will get it right, but we should not be trying to get ahead of ourselves in picking backlines for certain scenarios. Let's just get the most powerful, in-form backline that we can, then work, work, work, and get the combinations right. In years past, you got a settled combination a year or so out - that is how we won in 91 and 99 - now with more players to choose from it doesn't happen, but it sure as hell needs to happen now. The team that plays SA should be the nucleus of the team that starts the RWC
jeznez
Roar Guru
I think White must be signed with the Brumbies. Article on the RA website today saying the reason O'Connor is not in the official squad yet is that he hasn't got the Super contract inked. https://www.rugby.com.au/news/2019/07/08/rugby-championship-wallabies-oconnor-koroibete-pocock-update
QED
Roar Rookie
There are some clear litmus tests to determine if we have ushered in a new era. If Kerevi plays 13 nothing has changed. If DHP plays winger nothing has changed. If CLL does not start, nothing has changed. If Arnold and Rodda are not our starting locks , nothing has changed. We shall see.
Chris
Guest
Snoz and Scojo look to be weak as water as the selections have suggested. Dempsey Latu AAC Robertson Toomua Beale Foley are still picked even when they have been in poor form all year. McCaffrey Higginbotham Mafi Rangi Quade McDermott Speight Meakes Naivalu Philip should feel ripped off. I`ll save my biggest savaging for Latu and Dempsey. Those two have been DIOBOLICAL this year. How can they be picked ?
MitchO
Guest
Hodge can play 13 okay as can Kerevi. Hodge didn't look a world beater in the games he had at 13 for the Rebels but when he played 13 in test matches he looked okay. Kerevi can play 13. His defence is better at 12 but when he played 13 he as saddled with Beale at 12 and a nonsenical defensive pattern. I don't mind AAC being around the team more as assistant coach not as a serious candidate to play. AAC has a lot more nous in contact than the other backs.
JP
Guest
Todd Blackadder was the worst All Black player of the modern era slightly ahead of these plodders; Scott McLeod, Ofisa Tonu'u, Alama Ieremia,Bruce Reihana, Charles Riechelmann,Troy Flavell, Reuben Thorne, Gordon Slater, Norm Hewitt, Andrew Blowers,Tony Brown, Mark Carter, Rhys Duggan, Royce Willis, Mark Mayerhofler, Flavell, Cribb, Oliver and Kelleher. Blackadder is also a shocking coach. Not a great resume.
JP
Guest
The other 50 percent are the dregs of the NRL.That`s why the Kangaroos are World champs in league. Not Zealand.
terrykidd
Roar Pro
No
adam smith
Guest
I agree PeterK about Hodge. I believe Hodge could be a great fullback (in the Chris Latham mould). But, I believe the biggest issue with Hodge (& indeed Australian Rugby as a whole), is the constant chopping & changing of his position. If only the Aussie Super sides could all pull in the same direction, Hodge could already be a world class Fullback, as opposed to him just being a very good utility currently.
Bourkos
Roar Rookie
What I appreciate is the astute opinion with genuine positive aspirations for the future, rather than jumping on the band wagon and tearing into cheika and the wallabies. We need more positivity around the game and hope for a better future post world cup.
soapit
Roar Guru
I can only think aac is there for as a bit of of a coaches pick based on his experience.