Virtually every Australian rugby union comments section on a Wallabies team announcement will criticise the same players.
Commenters write something along the lines of ‘why does he always get picked’, ‘the coach is clueless’ and ‘he is bad’.
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But often these players have been picked by multiple Wallabies coaches, whose job is it is to analyse, review, re-watch and strategise. These coaches have risen to the top of their craft. Maybe, just maybe, they know more about who should play for the Wallabies than you do.
I’m not saying you can’t criticise and voice those opinions, but try to understand where the coach is coming from first.
For those who are continually baffled by certain selections, let me explain why certain Wallabies players that fans love to scapegoat are picked.
Rob Simmons
Picked by Robbie Deans, Ewen McKenzie, Michael Cheika and Dave Rennie
He’s played 100 Tests. But all I hear is stuff about how bad he is. You don’t get to 100 Tests under four coaches by being bad. He is picked because he’s been our best lineout jumper and caller most of his career. He is just a menace in the lineout. Apparently he’s a good scrummager (how do you tell if a lock is a good scrummager though?), his tackling is reliable and his passing is underrated. Granted, his speed, agility and carrying have always been weaknesses in his game, and it just so happens that these are the aspects that people focus on the most when discussing World Cup semi-final intercept try king Rob Simmons.
(Photo by Jason O’Brien/Getty Images)
Ned Hanigan
Picked by Cheika and Rennie
He was picked by Cheika because he showed a lot of promise in Super Rugby. He is brilliant in the lineout, he is hard running and initially he was quite a popular Wallaby. It was clear early on however he was not ready for Test rugby, yet Cheika kept picking him. This is not his fault. He should not, contrary to some opinions at the time, never be picked again. Sometimes players improve. As of 2020 his game has improved, and he was picked again. But according to many commenters, he was the same old Hanigan that got picked too early and as such he should’ve been discarded forever. Never mind the fact he was one of our best in Auckland fulfilling a role similar to what Scott Fardy used to do. People still despise the fact he’s been picked, purely because of stuff that happened in 2017 and 2018.
Dean Mumm
Picked by Deans and Cheika
He was the old whipping boy of 2016. He was a thoroughly hated rugby player. You can’t even mention his name without people making negative comments on the internet. Yet here is the player who came off the bench in the 2015 World Cup final and was equal top of the tackle count. He was another lineout expert (I’m noticing a trend here, maybe we don’t appreciate the lineout enough?) and a great runner of the ball. He was picked over Fardy in 2016 because Fardy was giving away too many penalties that year (although I would’ve stuck with Fardy). His 2014 try against Argentina is one of the great individual Wallabies tries, and nobody cares about it cause Dean Mumm scored it.
Nick Phipps
Picked by Deans, McKenzie and Cheika
He is probably the most hated of all these players. But you don’t get 72 Tests being bad. The Tahs struggled in 2018 before Phipps took over and suddenly they were a genuine finals threat. Watch over those old games. When Phipps comes on, the forwards get moving. The man had an incredible motor. He gave his all for his country in attack and defence. He looked spent after every game. And this was the bloke who broke the AIS yo-yo test record. Watch some of those galloping runs he made, that flick pass against Samoa last year, and his defensive hustle. While I liked other options over Phipps, he was hardly the rubbish player people made him out to be.
Michael Hooper
Picked by Deans, McKenzie, Cheika and Rennie
This is the most egregious one because he’s clearly our best player. Other countries hype up their young flankers by comparing them to Michael Hooper. He’s not as good a pilferer as David Pocock or George Smith. So what? He’s the best tackler in the world, a dangerous running threat, the fittest bloke in World Rugby, and has had an incredible run with injury. Yet so many Aussies don’t rate him. People will build statues of this man. Yet apparently the lineout was bad because our fourth option was five foot 11. The problem was poor throwing and the inability to create an unopposed target.
(Photo by Fiona Goodall/Getty Images)
Plus there’s been a lot of criticism of him as captain. But we do not get to see inside the dressing room, or be out on the field, or run around with the boys on the training paddock. We have no idea what he is like as a leader, apart from his exemplary post-match interviews and press conferences.
Bernard Foley
Picked by McKenzie and Cheika
He is up there percentage wise with the best goal kickers the Wallabies ever had. Do you remember that World Cup we came second? A big part of that was the Ice Man. He usurped Quade Cooper and had years as our number one flyhalf under both McKenzie and Cheika. The 2017 season was the year he received the most criticism yet he had heaps of try assists that year. Rewatch the highlights. He pops up quite a lot. He was a good flyhalf. He created chances, had a pinpoint accurate attacking kicking game that was probably better suited to league than union but was still effective, and he was one of the most beautiful passers of the ball I’ve ever seen. He was probably not the guy to lead us to World Cup glory, but how many players are?
Nic White
Picked by McKenzie, Cheika and Rennie
He kicked the ball when he shouldn’t have in 2014, and we lost the game. He also has had two man-of-the-match performances in two wins over the All Blacks since, which means if we solely put the blame for those results on him, he has a 67 per cent win rate over the All Blacks. I mean, surely we’d take those kind of figures, right?
piru
Roar Rookie
He is probably the most hated of all these players. But you don’t get 72 Tests being bad. It's not about being bad, it's about being the best option. This isn't 4ths, it's international rugby, if you are not the best in the country in your position, you (should) have no place in the side. Phipps was repeatedly picked ahead of better players and then, gallingly, picked because he had 'experience'. Experience he had because he was repeatedly picked ahead of better players.
QED
Roar Rookie
While I agree with the sentiments of your article I disagree with you with regard to Michael Hooper. He may or may not be our best player at the moment but for many of the tests he has played, he was not our best 7. In RWC 2015 Pocock was arguably one of the players of the tournament playing out of position at 8 and next to your ‘best player’ in the wallabies. I don’t think he was fully fit for RWC 2019. However, before that, he had in absolute terms the most turnovers of any player at a RWC. He had at that stage played in two where McCaw for example plaid in 3. With respect to average tackles made per match, he was equal first with Dusautoir on 12.5. Again for comparison next was Skulk Burger on 10.4 and McCaw on 10.2. While this is a subjective opinion, before getting injured Pocock was Captain and the debate was who was best McCaw or Pocock. Nobody has made an argument that he returned a worse player than before he was injured, rather he continued to improve. I have not been part of any conversation where people have compared Hooper to McCaw as to who was the better 7.
Zander Hoskin
Roar Rookie
People always think Michael Hooper is an average tackler because you never notice all the hits he makes and only notice the ones where he's sprinted back to cover a break and just let slip a rampaging back.
Zander Hoskin
Roar Rookie
Hooper tops the tackle count in practically every game he's ever played and still manages to snag a few turnovers and do the grunt of the offensive ruck work.
T Bradley
Roar Rookie
Great article ARF! I enjoyed this article and have to admit i get frustrated with all of those players you listed except Nic White. He got unnecessarily crucified in 2014 when the Wallabies were getting pushed back toward their line. He was the scapegoat in the way Damien Martyn was when he had that long test hiatus. Defending Simmons based on intangibles is naturally difficult
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Very clear observations HiKa. In short we had an 8 year period of sketchy playmaking, while a silly unproductive ‘Ford vs Holden’ argument raged. There are playmakers and there are playmaking systems. The former does not live without the latter.
James
Guest
This is the best thing I've read on roar outside of Bishop's clinical post game analyses! I avoid places like this on the internet most of time because the hate train/blame train on individual players is just boring, cynical and frankly a waste time. However it is intense and unrelenting, don't you have wives that you should be enjoying?? The Hooper thing really gets me though, even the bloody AB's themselves praise the bloke, what wrong with some people. He's probably one of the greatest Wallabies of all time, just had the miss fortune of coming of age at the very beginning of the worst period of rugby management in Australia's history. Honestly can you imagine playing with the heart and passion that guy does every game and then having to sit in a press conference with Cheika and not only having to maintain your belief in the jersey but having to sell it to an ever dwindling fan base. Tough gig, I have so much respect for him just as a person let alone as one of the best flankers in the world, did you notice Sam Cane throw his toys when things started not to go his way? I wonder who's going to fill the void of the Quade vs Foley war of Roarers for Rennie's tenure, JOC and Lolesio I imagine. Probably a good thing Toomua is out for a while....
U
Roar Rookie
And defended by his mum when he justly faced punishment for wrongdoing
U
Roar Rookie
He certainly spends enough time out wide to be a center
Mike
Roar Rookie
I probably agree with you on at least some of those, but there were always plenty of others who disagreed with both you and me, and picked holes in the skillset of each of those players. I am not saying that meant they were right.
stillmissit
Roar Guru
Mug: Pocock will be remembered as the player the coach and other players sacrificed to save them the trouble, of the coach teaching others how to attack the breakdown and the players elongating their career by staying out of the breakdown. That is way too harsh and several of the players were told to stay in the D and not compete. It was a total debacle.
freddieeffer
Roar Rookie
Yes, I'm not suggesting they were without some defect in their game, but imo they were superior players to those at the time who kept getting the jersey.
Mike
Roar Rookie
Yes, but you are saying that those players didn't also have significant holes in their skill set? Seriously?
ScottD
Roar Guru
Agreed. It leaves the whole backline a second less time every time they touc the ball. Its the difference between a line break and not. Tates passing is slow and soft, if he fixed it he'd #1 in my view and one of the best in the world because the rest of his game is excellent
Pinetree
Roar Rookie
Not doubting that Hooper is a great tackler, but I would be very surprised if Hooper had a better tackles made/success rate and dominant tackles made per game over a long period of time than Cane or Du Toit, but I would have to analyze a sample over at least a year period to confirm my suspicion.
freddieeffer
Roar Rookie
Yes Mike, imo, plenty of players have gone o/s because they were blocked by Cheika and his favourites. In recent years, Fardy, McMahon, Toomua and White to name a few.
Oblonsky’s Other Pun
Guest
Yeah, but that was hardly just due to Samu. I’d say Toomua and JOC were the biggest differences in selection. And I’d like to see Samu get picked. I think he should be and balances the back row pretty well. He or Wright at 6.
Mike
Roar Rookie
“And that’s the rub; our Test coaches of recent times have.” Are you saying that each of our test coaches ignored players who were available and did not have such significant holes in their skill set? Who did you have in mind?
Mike
Roar Rookie
So who do you see as the players we should be developing (or should have developed in the past) to become these ruck specialists?
Mike
Roar Rookie
Good point. Tactical nous is not only a matter of raw ability, but also experience. Sometimes its worth retaining a more experienced test player than dropping them for the latest new hope from Super Rugby.