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Will Skelton left Australia early in 2017 to take up a contract with Saracens, where he won two domestic titles and a European Cup.
He moved to La Rochelle in France and has been their best player all year. He’s dominating European rugby, and completely changed his standing in the game because of how good he’s been over there.
But Will, who played 18 times for the Wallabies before heading overseas, has been lost to the national team since 2016 thanks to an out of date ruling that needs to be abolished.
I’m glad to hear that changes to the Giteau Law are being considered by Rugby Australia. For me, there is only one correct decision. That means no tweaks or amendments, just move on and start picking the best Australian players for the Wallabies.
We don’t have the depth of talent to be so restrictive. I know the argument is if you stay it means you treasure the jersey more, but to be brutally honest that’s a load of BS.
Will Skelton. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
I went overseas and it didn’t mean I disrespected, or didn’t cherish, the jersey. I never, ever cherished it any less. The Wallabies was everything to me.
I came back and wanted to continue and was eligible through the Giteau Law – but if you speak to any of those guys overseas they will tell you they want to play for Australia.
Samu Kerevi has just joined the Wallabies squad but you’ve got Shaun McMahon, Rory Arnold and Will among the almost 100 players – myself included – with top class experience who are playing overseas.
Those guys would walk into the Wallabies starting team.
Some have made a tough choice between setting up their families for life from a financial perspective and continuing to chase that Wallabies dream. And it’s a very hard decision to make.
I have nothing but empathy for the guys who have made that decision to play overseas. They’ve sacrificed their dreams for their families, but those dreams to play Test rugby for Australia burn on.
But it’s not just wrong to deny these players their Wallabies jerseys. It also comes back to the fact we don’t have the depth in our player pool to perform as we want without them.
You’ve seen the wonders it’s worked for South Africa, getting rid of their similar policy, at the World Cup and even now.
To me the Giteau Law is old school thinking. It is thinking that says you should stay because you have to cherish the jersey. You should stay because it makes our Super Rugby competition stronger. You should stay so we can see you day to day and we can monitor you.
None of it holds water any longer. Competitions around the world are strong enough and professional enough.
People criticise Japan but look at Brodie Retallick – he hasn’t missed a beat. He literally has come back to be the player he was – the same physical, dominating presence.
That old school mentality doesn’t fit any more with the fact the game is more global and more professional in more parts of the world.
The top rugby teams in Europe, the UK and Japan would beat most of our Super Rugby teams in Australia.
And it’s not just what it’s costing us right now, but about how much more it will hold us back. You look at Marika Koroibete, who is set to play in Japan and doesn’t qualify under the current law.
Can we afford to have him out of the Wallabies set up? He’s been the best player for the Wallabies in the past two or three years.
You can’t blame him for taking the opportunity because he will be paid a lot of money for three years there. But why can’t he play for Australia at the same time?
It’s a situation that is no good for him, or our national team and its chances of being competitive.
I understand the argument that we want to keep our best players in the country to strengthen the local product but you’re not going to stop the bleeding by saying you’re not eligible if you go. The best players in the country are going to get offered big money and they’re going to take it more often than not.
They tried it, but its time is over.
We will struggle to be competitive in games like Saturday’s defeat without the best players available.
I genuinely think we don’t have the level of talent that sides like the All Blacks have. Yes, we’ve got talented players who can be nurtured and grow into players of that ilk and ability, but right now we aren’t there.
But if you look across the globe we have players of that level already, who aren’t old and who are hungry to play for Australia.
Some of the guys who are playing now for the Wallabies might not start if those guys come back from overseas but what an opportunity for them to learn off guys like Samu, Shaun McMahon and Will.
‘We don’t have the skill level’
That loss hurt on Saturday night.
If you look at the first half, we played well in patches. But our problem is we’re not consistent enough with it.
It comes back to level of skill. A lot of times when we execute right we’re getting in behind, getting good front foot ball. It’s allowing Tate to get out and run, it’s allowing Noah to flatten up and allowing us to find space through the middle and on the edges.
We’re just not doing it for long enough. Under fatigue and under pressure we don’t have the skill level just yet.
The best way to learn is in the pressure cooker. Being in that environment with the Bledisloe on the line, learning to execute those skills under pressure.
No doubt we’ll be better for it. Maybe for now it might be better simplifying our game plan just a little bit in order to find that balance between winning now and also building for the future.
Marika was excellent coming back in. He brings a lot of high energy, works hard off the ball, carries well and he’s getting so much better under the high ball as well. And Andrew Kellway was very good.
I didn’t think the centres combined well or played particularly well.
I was expecting Matt To’omua to make a bit more of an impact and a difference around dictating play and being more of a general. I thought we were a bit lost in the backline around managing the game.
Some of the decisions we made in respect of our kicking just put us under a lot of pressure – some of the grubbers we were putting in, we were kicking the ball straight back to them.
It’s an area of the game we need to work on in general but in isolation, in the Test just gone, I thought we were quite poor in that area.
That falls on the senior guys in the backline, Matty and to an extent Tom Banks.
With Samu Kerevi back in the squad for the third game in Perth I’d be picking him straight away at No.13 with Hunter back to No.12.
Hunter is a good player and I rate him but I think there are levels to it.
(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Samu is on another level in terms of his ability to create things around him, his ability as a ball runner to beat defenders, make breaks and create opportunities with the offload.
He’s really grown his game since he’s been away in terms of his kicking and passing. And his presence – you can’t not have an eye on him, which then creates more space.
I really like Noah and Tate at 9 and 10. I think Noah is starting to find his feet a bit. You have to persist with him. Hs upside is very high.
I’d love to see Quade Cooper get an opportunity, even if you put him on the bench and bring him on as a senior player in the similar role to Matt To’omua in the first Bledisloe – to bring experience and composure.
Dave Rennie said at the start of the series that Quade’s like everyone else, training and putting his hand up to be selected, so off the back of a few poor performances, maybe it’s time to give him an opportunity.
‘Tate’s electric and starting to look more comfortable’
Tate McDermott can have that No.9 jersey for 10 years. He’s that good. As long as he continues to work on that pass, so that it is never an issue, so it’s consistent and it’s on the money.
The second half for everybody is a write off, because it was an absolute demolition, but his first half performance was outstanding.
We managed as a team to get in behind and play front foot forward and put them under pressure because of his ability to attack around the fringes. He was finding space himself but he was putting players around him in space.
He had the defence in two minds every single time. He has speed of foot, which we saw in that try just before halftime. He’s electric, he’s got good feet.
(Photo by Getty Images)
I thought he kicked well, too. There was a passage of play where he put the box kick up, we get the ball back, he identifies there’s space over the top again and executes it perfectly.
He looks like he’s starting to feel a lot more comfortable in that arena. His pass is improving as well. I’d like him to continue working on it and I know he will be.
If he’s getting comfortable in that arena and expressing himself, that’s what you want because you can build a game plan around guys like Tate and Noah once they feel comfortable to express themselves.
He’s got everything else. He’s got a high footy IQ. It’s all instinct. He plays what he sees and he more often than not makes the right decision and he’ll get better at that the more he plays at this level.
I’ve always known he can kick, through the work I’ve done with him. He’s an excellent technical kicker but also excellent at reading when to kick the ball. It’s no secret how big of a fan I am of his.
He’s a natural footy player and has the gift of youth. You can go out there and do all those things because you don’t have baggage of memories that have happened before.
Everything is new, everything is ‘how good is this!’ The key is to continue the mindset of growth and improvement as you go along.
For someone who was there for 10 years, I found the middle was where it got challenging.
It can be a lot of things. I got to a point where my first start was 2009 and I was starting halfback until 2014 when I got injured. I got benched for a game in in 2013 but was brought back in the game after.
Maybe you get a little comfortable. It’s not like I didn’t do the work that I’d always done, but maybe in your mindset you get a little comfortable and perhaps that’s the reality check you need to get that edge again – the motivation to continue to give everything.
That’s the challenge. Ask anyone who has played high level sport for a long time – in those lulls that you have, finding something that continues to drive you, being creative in how you so things so you keep it fresh, so you stay driven, motivated and in a good frame of mind to continue to be the best you can be.