Right then, what do we need to see from Australian rugby in 2023?

From an Australian rugby standpoint, this shouldn’t be a particularly lengthy list, right?

If only that were remotely true.

Wish lists tend to be overflowing, but remain useful even if just for the purposes of getting goals and ambitions down on paper, if not to use them as a checklist, per se.

So this won’t be an exhaustive list – because they never are – but it’s a decent starting point.

Fringe players to step up
Rugby World Cup years mean two things: the Super Rugby sides prepare themselves for a post-tournament exodus, and a whole lot of contract speculation beforehand.

And the states want to start planning for the next four-year cycle, so what they really need is for the guys who have been solid provincial players for a while, maybe even had some Australia A or Wallabies squad experience, to announce themselves as players a team can be built around.

So the Angus Blyths, the Harry Hooperts, the Isaac Henrys. The Will Harrises, the Harrison Goddards, the Dylan Pietsches. The Billy Pollards, the Tom Hoopers, the Ryan Lonergans.

The Ryan McCauleys, the Tim Anstees, the Isaac Fines-Leleiwasas, the Bailey Kuenzles. The Matt Gibbons, the Jordan Ueleses, the Lachie Andersons.

Some of these guys can even be World Cup bolters. But their CEOs would love nothing more than their signature on the pages of a well-earned contract upgrade and a good start on their 2024 marketing plan.

Young 10s to show the future does not involve the past
Ben Donaldson and Noah Lolesio will get the extra focus, and while I’d love both of them to have absolutely storming years – unignorable years from a selection point of view in fact – I’m actually thinking of the chasing pack behind them.

Tane Edmed and Will Harrison. Reesjan Pasitoa, once he gets back on the field, and Hamish Stewart until he does. Carter Gordon to take the step from promising to quality. And Lawson Creighton to guide his team away from the James O’Connor safety net.

If these guys can step up, then Donaldson and Lolesio will be pushed to new and very welcome levels.

And the sooner they all can, the sooner the Wallabies can move on from Japanese-based players in their mid-30s.

The future needs to be about the future again, not what was the future 15 years ago.

(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

Lineouts to military accuracy and mauls to set your watch by
Remember the first half of the year when all the Australian sides had pretty decent lineout drives? With England arriving in July, and The Rugby Championship to follow, Wallabies assistant coach Dan McKellar’s ambition to create “the best maul in the world” wasn’t too far-fetched at all.

But it got lost along the way.

Folau Fainga’a scored a maul try in the first England Test in Perth and they didn’t score another one until Fainga’a barged over again in the Wales Test to finish the year.

And it wasn’t all about a misfiring lineout, because that really didn’t take hold until the Spring Tour. There were another eight Tests after Perth and before the Wallabies landed in Europe. So what happened to the maul?

The answer probably doesn’t matter as much as the need for the states to get straight back on the mauling bike next season.

A functioning – and ideally firing – lineout drive is going to crucial come the international season and especially the World Cup, so it’s kind of in the national interest that they do.

Player management and conditioning programs to align
If Wallabies coming off the Spring Tour and destined for France are going to be asked to sit out three Super Rugby games next season, who gets to dictate when those three are? Will national interest override a team needing a win? Or a team needing a win to finish in the top four? Or the top eight?

We can only ask questions because it’s rarely laid out properly how it’s going to work in practice.

And what about state conditioning programs? What can or will be done to ensure no repeats of players having to essentially do a second pre-season once the Test season starts?

Lots of ducks will need to be correctly aligned, but these ones feel pretty important.

February form as a start but not the peak
Everyone knows about the concept of ‘February champions’ (and especially how the Waratahs are destined to always be that). It’s also true that you can’t win a World Cup in February, but you can certainly a start a campaign there.

So a really strong start to Super Rugby Pacific across the board would be great, but even more so if that early form line can increase into the finals and the international season. The increase is the crucial bit here; Australia should be pushing hard to ensure four finals qualifiers, and with that a stronger impetus into The Rugby Championship.

The last thing a strong start in February and March needs is a plateau through April, May and June.

Start well, by all means, but don’t let that be the high point.

(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Consistency and momentum please
In a World Cup year – and perhaps more than any other, if what coaches say is true – the last thing an international team needs is the kind of existence the Wallabies have adopted in recent years.

That run of five straight wins in 2021 is the only time in the Dave Rennie era the Wallabies have strung consecutive wins together, and even though it came to a disappointing end on the Spring Tour, you could see them improve as a team. There was serious momentum through last season’s Rugby Championship.

In 2022, however, there was nothing like that, and it was hard to measure improvement amid the lose two-win reality they lived this season.

This has to be addressed in 2023 and, as if that’s not challenging enough with upwards of eight starting spots still up in the air, it has to be addressed in less than half a dozen Tests before the World Cup starts.

You’ll never build momentum without consistency. But find consistency and momentum becomes very real very quickly.

A World Cup to enjoy
Wouldn’t it be nice to have the Wallabies land in France and have things click?

If I can only have one thing come through in the 2023 rugby year, this is that one thing.

Merry Christmas and all the best for 2023
After 80-odd columns and 60-odd podcasts for the season, it’s time to put the feet up for a while.

Thanks so much to everyone who’s read and commented, and tuned in and listened along the way. For all the ups and down in Australian rugby in 2022, there is always something to discuss each week, and so for taking the time out to contribute as you all have, it’s a sincere thank you.

It’s been a big year, headlined by the launch and massive growth in The Roar Rugby Podcast, which has been a joy to produce each week, and it continues to blow me away how well it’s done. Thanks to Harry for planting the seed, and to Tony for giving the green light.

It’s been a busy year too, with a lot of rugby, a late-year change of day job, and frankly, it’s just time to sit back and watch some cricket.

See you in February. All the best to you and yours for the break, and please travel safe if you’re on the roads.