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Brett McKay is one of The Roar's good news stories and has been a rugby and cricket expert for the site since July 2009. Brett is an international and Super Rugby commentator for ABC Grandstand radio, is the voice of ACT club rugby, has commentated on Under-20s Championships, Women's Uni Sevens and National Rugby Championship coverage, and has written for magazines and websites in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK. He tweets from @BMcSport.
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Pat Cummins admittedly didn’t quite have the smoothest entry into Test cricket, with his second Test coming five and half years after his debut, but with 27 Tests now under his belt, it’s hard to fathom that he is yet to face New Zealand in a Test match.
Last week’s column outlining just how big an off-season the leading Australian No.10 candidates around the country face drew a really interesting discussion, and naturally, it got me thinking ahead to next year, and to a few players who for varying reasons find themselves under the pump.
As Australia rolled on toward their emphatic innings victory over Pakistan in Adelaide on Monday, and with it a dominant 2-0 series win leading into the three-Test series against New Zealand, a new addition was being added to a very curious piece of Test history.
It’s been a recurring theme at the back end of this season.
This is an incredible headline to write only months after an Ashes series that could well have fallen in a heap if not for a once-in-a-generation batting freak in the form of his life.
On the surface, news of competitive tension around a broadcast rights negotiation is great news for rugby in Australia.
“He might be the outright favourite for the role; there may yet be other and better candidates out there. There is plenty of time for the right decision to be made and there’s no need to rush anything.”
Now that we’re less than three months away from the start of the rugby season – and five months away from the end of the cricket season, but never mind – most of my rugby thinking is currently limited to two main and major questions.
On the surface, modern athletes citing mental health battles as a reason they’re stepping away from the spotlight should be applauded as much as their respective sports and clubs or teams for encouraging anyone to come forward and get the help they might need.
The Rugby World Cup post-mortems will continue for months yet, and I remain staggered by the point made during the knockout stages that six of the final eight teams would be going into the 2020 season with different coaches to those that took them out of the pool stage.
The saying really is true: you don’t know how good something is – nay, how great something is – until it’s gone forever.
A replay of the 2007 decider and a playoff game that I still don’t see the point of… that’s the sum total ahead of us, heading into the last Rugby World Cup weekend for the next four years.
England versus South Africa. Who picked it? I mean, really, genuinely picked this as the Rugby World Cup final ahead of time. Anyone?
It always felt like the Western Force and the Canberra Vikings should meet in this year’s National Rugby Championship final well before a ball was kicked, and so it will play out when the two teams run out on to McGillivray Oval in Perth tomorrow.
And then there were four. The Rugby World Cup semi-finals present two absolutely fascinating contests this weekend, and there’s no doubt at all that both winners will have great belief that they can lift the William Webb Ellis trophy.
It was painfully obvious as the fulltime gong went in Oita on Saturday night, and Michael Cheika knew it himself when he bit at the post-match question about his coaching future.
It doesn’t take much for the National Rugby Championship to quietly slip out of view, but there’s no doubt a simultaneous Rugby World Cup in our timezone has made things especially tough for the NRC this season.
So then, here we are… the Rugby World Cup knockout stage is upon us.
The Wallabies are through to the Rugby World Cup knockout stages and that is an achievement that has carried variable levels of confidence at different points this international season.
Valid as all this is, Paul, it doesn’t actually change my point.
Just as NZ cricket has strengthened over time, it’s a not unreasonable assumption to say that that strengthening could have happened sooner had they played more Tests.
But I do agree that this will be a great contest, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out..
The trans-Tasman series gets its long-overdue top billing
That’s a valid point Dave, but it also feeds into how much Test cricket NZ has played historically.
Howarth only played 47 Tests in ten years, but Greatbatch played 41 in eight years. Rutherford played 56 in ten years.
Bruce Edgar played just 39 Tests in eight years, and his opening partner John Wright played more than twice as many (82) in 15 years.
Sir Richard Hadlee played for 17 years, but still only got to 86 Tests!
Fleming, in 14 years, played 111..
The trans-Tasman series gets its long-overdue top billing
See my post above, Jeff, the gap might not be as big as you think – especially NSW and Victoria!
The trans-Tasman series gets its long-overdue top billing
Curious, I popped this into the Google machine and found this little nugget from the last Australia census:
The latest Census in 2016 recorded 518,466 New Zealand-born people in Australia, an increase of 7.3 per cent from the 2011 Census.
The 2016 distribution by State and Territory showed Queensland had the largest number with 201,206 followed by New South Wales (117,136), Victoria (93,253) and Western Australia (79,221).
Have to say, I am surprised Qld is home to the most NZers, and by a long way!
The trans-Tasman series gets its long-overdue top billing
New Zealand have played ten Tests in Brisbane over the last eleven tours of Australia going back to 1980…
The trans-Tasman series gets its long-overdue top billing
is it home and away inside the four-year cycle?
The trans-Tasman series gets its long-overdue top billing
It’s funny, I don’t recall seeing WA and Qld on the World Test Championship standings. 🙄
And it doesn’t say much for the likes of England, Australia, and South Africa if they’re trailing a side that should be kicked out of Test cricket?
It’s maybe sadder that we can’t recognise good sides for what they are, Patrick, instead choosing to show ourselves as something of a plonker…
The trans-Tasman series gets its long-overdue top billing
keep those stereotypes strong, Morsie…
The trans-Tasman series gets its long-overdue top billing
Isn’t their more New Zealanders living in the eastern suburbs of Sydney than in Wellington?
(or is that urban Census legend?)
The trans-Tasman series gets its long-overdue top billing
I don’t know about every other year Jak, but certainly a dozen or so Tests over a decade is nowhere near enough. Especially given how strong the Black Caps have been over that time..
The trans-Tasman series gets its long-overdue top billing
Brilliant summary, PS. Kind of smells like utility, doesn’t it.. 😀
It’s a big Super Rugby season ahead for…
Robbo, I’ve had a little to do with Tuttle since the early days of the NRC, and the maturity about him has always been what’s stood out about him. ‘Old head on young shoulders’ has never had a better example!
Would love to see him shine again..
It’s a big Super Rugby season ahead for…
Haha, good answer!! 😂
Think you make a good point regarding Thorn – I make mention down below how good it is to see James Tuttle back, and great example of the coach moving on rather quickly!
It’s a big Super Rugby season ahead for…
All really good points, Tony. Reckon there’s plenty of merit in that..
It’s a big Super Rugby season ahead for…
You just had to go back to the well, didn’t you! 😂
Scrumhalf will be fascinating, won’t it. All the names you mention will be very good, but I’m really pleased to see James Tuttle get another shot at Super Rugby. I still can’t really figure out what he did wrong last season except pick up an injury..
It’s a big Super Rugby season ahead for…
I’m not sure Holloway is better, Tooly. He could be, for sure, but I’m not sure he’s shown than yet..
It’s a big Super Rugby season ahead for…
Paul, I reckon it’s going to be fascinating, the NSW backrow, it really is. Harris, especially, could be anything at no.8 – and he can still play U20s in 2020, too.
Had a great chat with Rob Taylor late this year, the Sydney Uni and NSW Country coach, and he couldn’t speak highly enough of him, just based on his involvements with Harris during the NRC. And then I saw a lot of that play out in front of me live late in the season!
Which all adds up to Dempsey and Holloway having a real battle on their hands before too long..
It’s a big Super Rugby season ahead for…
Terry, I don’t disagree about Stewart, but I’d kind on touched on his transitioning to inside centre last week.
But you’re right, it’s great to be talking about actual rugby. Always is..
It’s a big Super Rugby season ahead for…
Yeah, I’m just not sure about Hodge Rhys, I’m really not.
He has the attributes to be a good 12, no doubt, but other times he’s looked really good at 13 too.
I’m not sure about fullback though, where guys need to have a bit of playmaking about them from the back now, and I’m not sure Hodge does. And perhaps that’s why the centres seem more likely..
It’s a big Super Rugby season ahead for…
It would certainly be nice if there was a tour going each way fairly regularly Carlin. I’m not sure how regular that is, but it feels like the current arrangement isn’t enough..
The trans-Tasman series gets its long-overdue top billing