All too true Christy, unfortunately.

I’m a life long rugby fan and Waratah supporter but have stopped going to the Tahs games (despite living less than 5 mins walk from the stadium) in favour of going to club rugby, the Roosters or the Swans (sometimes all three in a weekend, if I’m allowed).

Having said that I still watch the Tahs on TV…. It’s just that if I’m going to be bitterly disappointed with a result, I’d much prefer to be bitterly disappointed from the comfort of my own couch with a nice glass of red wine in hand, rather than being bitterly disappointed at a stadium nursing a $13.50 beer.

What would get me back there supporting the Tahs live? Sunday afternoon games would be a big start. Then it would be consistency of on field performance and commitment, resulting in a team/club you can get behind and support proudly.

For far too long something has been really rotten inside NSW rugby and that has translated into extended periods of significant underperformance on the field, with commensurate drop off in membership sales and fan loyalty.

To lose one front row forward, Mr. Coleman, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose 10 looks like carelessness.

Somewhat confusing article but lost me at “woke”.
I don’t understand why people invest time writing an article, carefully crafting sentences and arguments, then throw in a highly politicised dog-whistle. Why not just yell “MAGA!” and be done with it?

I think Skelton took his mother out for a nice seafood dinner and never called her again.

An alternative view could be that RA has too many issues on its plate currently, and that staving off the collapse of the Rebels might be a way to move onto other pressing matters.
If this turns the Rebels into a standalone, sustainable entity, then happy days. Or if it only buys the Rebels a few more years, then that would be helpful for RA as it would get them past the Lions tour and potentially the RWC.

Thanks Mike – very interesting article.

Thanks Christy. Understood and appreciate the response.
Enjoying the articles and the engagement in the comments – please keep it coming!

Thanks Stu. For reference, I’m using Safari. Haven’t tried other browsers though.

Hoy – Yes, on my phone. Unfortunately I’m giving up quite often and not reading articles due to the weird jumping issue.

Thanks Christy

Admin query: about 50% of the time I’m reading articles on the roar I experience an issue whereby the article moves along of its own accord in a very jumpy kind of way, making it next to impossible to read or comment. Refreshing the browser sometimes helps but not always. Likewise, any embedded videos in the article seem to immediately pop-up and need to be minimised before you can keep reading. Unfortunately it seems to be getting worse recently. I’m on an iPhone 14. Anyone else experiencing the same issue?

Unfortunately that was a terrible performance from the Rebels. Game plan, skill level, cohesion… everything was missing. Dead in the water and it’s only week 1 of the comp. What a shame.

So, you’re saying that Hoopers captaincy was some sort of deal between RA and the Tahs and part of a broader conspiracy to undermine the then Wallabies coach and replace him with someone from the Randwick / Tahs stable…? This is the same coach (McKenzie) who was born in VIC and spent most of his playing career in NSW (Randwick, Tahs) and ACT (Brumbies), then moved into coaching (Tahs, amongst others) before a comparatively short, but successful, stint with the Reds? He actually spent more years coaching the Tahs than the Reds…

Anyway, let’s move on…

Sure, Hooper was too young but he only became captain after Stephen Moore (Brumbies) got injured, who only became captain after Ben Mowen (Brumbies) left surprisingly early for Europe, who only became captain after Pocock (Brumbies) got injured, who became captain after Horwill (Reds) moved on… In fact, did this whole sequence of conspiratorial events actually start with Horwill (a Qld’er)!?

Thanks Christy.

On point 1, of the names mentioned in the press, in my view Schmidt and Cheika are the only candidates with a CV to support their selection (ie proven experience in coaching championship winning teams, whether that be provisional or national). Include Ronan O’Gara in that mix as well but not sure he is a real possibility of leaving La Rochelle.

With all respect to Larkham and McKellar, they’ve not proven they can achieve that, yet. While some commentators think that being Australian trumps all else in the coaching selection process, I feel we need the best possible coach. And that person needs to have the runs on the board in driving a winning culture, irrespective of their place of birth or accent.

With all due respect to Bobby’s view (and it seems to be held by quite a few) I really don’t understand why a professional national side needs to be coached by a person from that same country.

Surely we want the best possible coach, irrespective of that persons place of birth or residence.

IMHO, we also want a coach with proven success in leading teams to club/provincial championships and, ideally, at the national level. With all respect to Dan McKellars career (and that of Larkham) they haven’t achieved that yet.

Of the potential candidates that have been mentioned in the press to date, it seems to me that Joe Schmidt, Ronan O’Gara (if available?) and Cheika are the only seasoned options with a proven history of success.

Disappointing on a number of levels:
– he’s incredibly talented, gets involved, knows his way to the try line and is great in the air
– he’s very marketable and recognisable (case in point, the queue of kids to get his signature at the pre-world cup send off event was enormous)
– the lions tour is clearly not that much of a draw card for young players anymore

I don’t get the whole preoccupation with where the coach is from.

Would you not prefer a coach like ROG that has taken teams to the pinnacle of the European club championships on multiple occasions (an incredible achievement) and fostered a culture of winning, than a coach who has some international experience but hasn’t won anything (international or club level)?

Thanks for the article – insightful stuff and well articulated.

Unfortunately, hit the nail on the head. Our game is stuffed. And this unchecked parochialism will only act as an anchor to the necessary changes needed for rugby to remain anything close to professional in this country.

Wrongly or rightly I view RA through a business lense. If it is not maximising its revenues through TV rights and sponsorship, then it can’t reinvest in the game and grow the sport.

HM didnt previously have senior sports admin on his CV (arguably, that is the role of the CEO anyway). But he’s held / holds senior exec and board positions with major media and related corporates. He has overseen and managed significant domestic and international business interests. He clearly has an extensive list of contacts and has been involved in major contract negotiations.

With all due respect to Herbert and Waugh, as far as I’m aware they haven’t anywhere near that type of experience.

In my view (and not withstanding the last few decades to the contrary) RA is meant to be a professionally run, large and growing enterprise. Led by professionals that bring a range of experience and capabilities to the table. It shouldn’t be an amateur cottage industry-esq entity led from behind the scenes by a bunch of “I know boats” parochial types that would prefer to tear down the game than have their cheese moved. It has been failing at this for decades but seemed to be heading in the right direction, with a pathway towards improved financial and high performance viability (bridge loan to the lions tour and ‘27/‘29 RWCs, plus decades overdue plans for centralisation).

And to say “apart from his business contacts” is kind of like asking “but what have the Roman’s done for us lately”.

Again, I’m no fan of HM. I think his decision with EJ was catastrophic. And while it’s irrelevant now, I don’t think this putsch was in the interests of the game. With the serious financial predicament RA is in, the instability this has created, the further damage to the brand, and the potential for financial backers to walk, I have a very grave fear it will set back the game in our country massively (I gather they were just in the middle of a debt negotiation FFS). I hope I’m wrong.

I’m no HM supporter, but what a disaster. Complete amateur-hour stuff. To suggest anything else is just short sighted, ignorant of the ramifications, deluded… or you’re a QLDer.

RA is left with two highly inexperienced administrators, with no real business leadership experience between them, walking a financial tight rope, upcoming TV rights negotiations and major reforms desperately needed. This is possibly the worst time for rugby to go through this type of coup.

Understand that this could be the death of rugby in Australia in its current form – no clear funding path, major sponsors at risk, TV rights a real concern, financial supporters all backing the ousted Chair….

Good work QLD rugby, you clearly know best. Let’s stick with the status quo because it’s worked so well for you and all of rugby in this country. And ACT – you guys are broke – you just want to bring the house down with you??

Difficult for HM to survive this. His captains pick with EJ was catastrophic at so many levels. But I don’t believe further blood letting now is the right move, particularly with an inexperienced CEO at the helm and some major reforms that need to happen.

With this uprising from certain states, it seems to be self interest writ large, with them voting for the status quo. The system in Australian rugby is failing (actually, has failed) and massive change is needed for the game to survive. Fuck the status quo – that has failed.

The turkeys don’t want to vote for Christmas but sometimes you need a nasty prick to swing the axe. Perhaps HM needs to be that prick for the betterment of the game

Just wow….

Can this whole shite show get any worse?

There will be a case study written about this one day.

An absolute omnishambles.

If true this has been a truely disastrous period for Australian rugby.

Complete failure in tactics (timing of rebuild and apparent lack of any on-field game plan), wrong selection strategy, terrible treatment of previous coach and senior international-standard players, removing any continuity in coaching ranks by blowing up the national coaching group, treating fans like mugs and burning capital with the public more broadly, budget blowouts (payouts and staffing), tarnishing the image of Australian rugby domestically and abroad… the list goes on.

And it’s not as though the game can absorb this financially. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time with funding negotiations and future TV rights discussions.

What an omnishambles.

With the human lie detector or whatever he/they are called, when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

I know my blink rate goes through the roof whenever I hear someone chewing gum with their mouth open. Doesn’t mean I’m lying – just that I’m struggling to control my inner rage getting the better of me. And perhaps Eddie also just wanted to belt the particular journalist in question?

Or maybe he was lying….

Here come the vested interests…

Thanks Spiro – enjoyable read.

Rugby in Australia, both at national and state levels, has a history looking for heads to roll when the proverbial hits the fan, with numerous coaches and CEOs sacked or forced out, and countless high performance reviews undertaken.

Perhaps in some instances that was the correct move. But it also seems there’s rarely (or never) been the hard changes implemented to actually improve the structure of the game here. Was it a lack of vision? David Nucifora springs to mind. Or just hubris and vested interests getting in the way? David Nucifora again springs to mind.

As much as people might dislike HM and EJ as individuals, and for all their faults, IMHO these people are actually making change. As painful as that process might be. And personally, I fear that if they were to go, it would de-rail the necessary initiatives that are underway, while potentially dissuading others in the future from pursuing a similar difficult agenda.

After the disaster in France, I struggle to see how their positions are tenable (EJ in particular). I also don’t know how it will benefit the future of the game if they go. Sure, it may make many people feel better, for a short time. But a fourth coach in 4 yrs won’t help anyone. And a new Chair (with a new and inexperienced CEO in the seat) will only slow the rate of change that’s desperately needed for Rugby to survive in this country. Cool heads need to prevail.