Michael Cheika isn’t a polarising figure. He’s detested by pretty much everyone. Yet does he really deserve to be held in such contempt – has all balance and objectivity been lost or is Cheika really that bad?
Cheika remains the only coach to win both the Super Rugby and European Championships.
He guided the Wallabies to the Rugby World Cup final in 2015. Their performance against England in the pool stages was arguably the best they had ever played until a certain Test match in Perth almost four years later.
But still Cheika is disliked and disrespected.
The way he took over the Wallabies certainly didn’t help his cause. Nobody will ever really know what went on but it was a shameful chapter in Australian Rugby. Perhaps the most shameful.
I say perhaps because we have the Western Force and Israel Folau affairs to consider. No matter where you sit on those issues, they must rank near the top of sporting foul-ups globally, not just nationally.
Cheika has had to contend with an environment not conducive to performance, brought on by poor administration and cancerous decision-making.
Australian rugby royalty played its part in these gross failures.
In fact, the only decent rugby administrator any Wallabies coach has had this century was John O’Neill, who happened to be about between the halcyon years of 1995 to 2003.
That lack of support off the field can’t be underestimated but there is no doubt that Cheika has struggled with a perception he has helped to cultivate and must accept responsibility for.
AAP Image/Dave Hunt
Cheika’s road to public enemy number one has been littered with meltdowns in stadiums, temper tantrums in the coach’s box and explosive press conferences.
Arguably, it is this perceived lack of ‘class’ that has contributed most to his unpopularity.
However, Cheika can’t be compared to Bernard Tomic or Nick Kyrgios. He has a genuine passion for the game of rugby and detests losing. He doesn’t coach for the money but rather the love of it.
If the Wallabies were failing repeatedly without Cheika losing control of his emotions, it would be a far worse thing.
Was there anything sadder than a dignified but destroyed Stuart Lancaster sitting broken in his press conferences quietly shuffling to oblivion? Unfortunately for Cheika, he refuses to break but struggles to bend and keep his cool.
His selections have often been mystifying but for the most are grounded in misguided loyalty and a lack of leadership further up the chain.
Expensive players failing to execute basic skills have repeatedly let Cheika down. Passing, catching and tackling are learnt at grassroots, even tweeting it seems is learnt at home and church.
Rugby AU failed to insist on a selection panel until this year, which allowed blind loyalty to get in the way of emotionless selection.
Now Michael O’Connor and Scott Johnson are balancing Cheika out, we suddenly have a selection criteria that appears to be implementable and working.
Many point to Steve Hansen as a shining example, but his job was made easy by good governance and easier still by the culture he inherited. Keeping on course and calm is easy when you are winning.
All other coaches have lost their cool at one point or another. Perhaps only Joe Schmidt has maintained his composure flawlessly and perhaps that is why he is a favourite to coach the All Blacks one day.
Ultimately, if Cheika gets the Wallabies to the World Cup semi-finals, he will remain unpopular but also will have passed muster. If he wins the thing, most of this will be forgotten
Hoy
Roar Guru
Nope, you are having a lend of me surely? It would be a horrendous decision to give him another 4 years. Right up RA's alley I suppose.
Ryan
Roar Rookie
Just a touch – I reckon he’s finally showing potential by beating the triple world champions and a bit of maturity post match. He reacts like a pork pie but not wearing heart on sleeve would be un-australian. Deserves another four years to bare fruit.
Hoy
Roar Guru
Harsh? Mate, that is toned down. Harsh? Was any of that wrong?
Wayne Hodges
Guest
Bull, the full house was cause here in the west we love our beautiful game of rugby
Waxhead
Roar Rookie
@wre01 MC is clearly the something in between. Basically just a decent provincial coach promoted way above his ability. Major evidence for this is his total inability to develop any game plan other than Cheika Ball. And this is just not good enough at Test level. It indicates a lack of strategic ability and an inflexible mind set not learning from experience. Other evidence is his admission that he never watches or attempts to analyse strengths and weaknesses of opposition teams. How was it even possible that a coach with such a basic level of strategy could be promoted to national level. But added to this is a bigger failing..... You say "misplaced loyalty" and while this is true I'll express it more clearly as "blatant stupid favourtism". His era will go down in history as the most beligerant damaging and senseless Waratah favourtism in the history of the WBs. It's most damaging because it's the enemy of team culture and harmony resulting in poor team morale and loss of many worthy players overseas
Hertryk
Roar Rookie
but it was a shameful chapter in Australian Rugby. Perhaps the most shameful. ...no the most shameful was the axing of Rugby in WA ...
Ryan
Roar Rookie
Chivas - Are you ok? Chin up. Winners are grinners :stoked:
Nonsense, the stat doesn’t have a heading that counts wins, the stat provides ambiguous infomration.
Kane
Roar Guru
The stat is accurate, they have only won 2 games from 7 attempts against South Africa since 2016. There is nothing not factual about that statement.
Regardless, the stat is inaccurate.
Kane
Roar Guru
Still 5 games where the failed to win, a draw may as well be a loss IMO
The 2/7 vs SA is a bit misleading, from memory there are two draws there as well. So by my recollection it is 2 wins, 2 draws and only 3 losses
taylorman
Roar Guru
gosh, put like that its bleak.
Chivas
Roar Rookie
Ryan you are a fully fledged goose, all you are bringing to the table is blowhard bs. It’s not banter you are engaging in. It’s just childish boorish nonsense. You are not alone in being young and dumb... but you will find it more fun when you are with other young dumb people. This is not down the pub revving up opposition fans before the big game although I understand that it can feel a bit like that... it’s really just a forum for people to chat and share ideas, frustrations etc. Get out and get a life...
Bill Shut
Roar Rookie
I recall Deans had lots of issues with the "team culture" while he was there. That was when Beale, O'Conner and one other were just Pratts. Link Deans and Cheika all have previous success as coaches - heck, Hansen had a nightmare before leaving Wales. Wait until NZ picks a new coach - then we will hear some wailing from the different factions.
Oblonsky‘s Other Pun
Roar Guru
Link did Cheika a world of favours. Cheika basically inherited his 2015 World Cup team from Deans and Link. I think it’s also wrong to suggest Deans was ‘lucky to get out alive’. I was a fan of Deans’ coaching, at least for the first 3-4 years. However, he lost his nerve at the 2011 World Cup and gave up on the risky attacking strategy he had been building to up to that point. From then on he seemed to be going through the motions. Results declined and more importantly the team’s play declined and there was no indication of any improvement. It was time for him to go, but he was given until the Lions series.
Ralph
Roar Guru
It is not either/or. The whole and entire organisation of rugby in Australia must start pulling in the same direction and replace their pride with their humility. Pointing fingers at one another and holding power to ones self won't see cultural change.
Realist
Guest
To be fair OJ, Dingo was a good coach up until O’Neil re-contracted him prior to selecting the RWC2011 squad - pulling him into line with the Tah-at-all-costs mantra. In the year the Reds won the premiership by dominating all of the best Kiwi and Staffa sides in Super rugby, they couldn’t get more of their players into the squad than Tahs. My god they were poor at that tournament (Pocock and O’Connor excluded)
Realist
Guest
The worst part of our lucky run to the 2015 RWC Final was that in the aftermath, Chieka (rumoured to be chased by England at the time) was able to pen a contract giving him 100% control of selections and supporting staff with no accountability. This would become the true era of the ‘Wallatah’ - a potentially fatal blow to the code and respectability of the Wallaby brand. No doubt Foxtel wouldn’t be happy if they tracked the decline of rugby fan subscriptions over the past 4 years
Realist
Guest
I see what you mean with Dingo Deans but I thought he was very competent from 2008-mid 2011 (until his RWC11 squad selection). I agreed with him discarding Giteau as he was in a very negative funk but some of the other choices were ridiculous and a sign to come of NSW power brokers leaning on him to select local favourites after his contract renewal. If I was a NSW supporter i’d be staying very silent during this debate as NSWRU politics have sent the Wobblies into an absolute free fall it may quite never recover from (Cue EagleJack with his impassioned defence of Bernard Foley and Nic Phipps...). One thing you have to say about the new selection panel is they clearly threw out Phipps and Hanigan with a blow torch placed over the most overrated Wallaby since Phil Waugh (Bernard Foley). Whether they can restore Pocock to the starting open side position is out of our control due to fitness issues