Once again Australia are just too feeble with the bat. They never ever learn from their mistakes and are not addressing constant batting woes properly.

Doesn’t change the fact the top order is woeful.

Again Australia 4-48! What are they doing to address this?

Again, Australia three wickets down for under 50 runs? How many times have they found themselves in this position lately?

Why do they constantly make the same mistakes and not learn from them? If Finch gets out, why would Head think that is a necessary shot. You can hit boundaries with orthodox cricket shots and you still get the same amount of runs.

I accept that sometimes a team can be skittled by awesome bowling, but something has to change in this team. It’s just stupid and stubborn cricket.

Hoy, I’d throw in foolish and stubborn with unprepared. We never learn anything.

Kane, great point regarding residency rules.

Completely agree about Deans. In any case, i don’t think there’s much of a mentality difference between Kiwis and Aussies. I would think that both nations share a fair bit in common. Deans was hardly a ‘foreign’ coach but he was from NZ. But that isn’t the point anyway.

What has the Australian philosophy behind how to play rugby done for it recently anyway? Whatever the Australian way is, it’s not a winning way.

I can’t believe that at the same time as saying that we have no coaches capable of coaching the Wallabies, we then say that a foreigner can’t coach us. Where else are we left to turn? Is that not a glaring contradiction.

Interestingly, teams that have swallowed their pride recently, have found it to be hugely successful. Is Eddie Jones English?

I’d like to hear an argument as to why a foreign coach won’t coach again? This is basically the same article as you keep writing and you can’t seem to come up with anything beyond just simply saying that ‘there’s no one better’ or ‘he’s the only man for the job. Seems kind of empty.

Is anyone genuinely surprised about this ? Australia say and do the same thing over and over and it’s got them no where. I think Lehmann is partly responsible for the mentality that our batsmen have.

The difference in intelligence between Australia and other nations is staggering. Australia haven’t learnt a thing since their latest Ashes capitulation and will continue to be a collapsing joke barely resembling a top tier cricket team until wiser and more objective heads are put in charge. How long can they continue to collapse so feebly ?

On another note: Please take a lesson from South African bowlers in regards to getting out tail end batsmen. They don’t try and bounce out the final few wickets with ridiculous tactics and concede another 100 runs in doing so, they simply put the ball on the spot and wait patiently for the mistake. That’s just an observation not entirely relevant to what’s happened again today but it should be noted.

The Cricketroos ? That’s the best we can do with all other sports.

Please don’t. National sporting teams don’t need nicknames for the sake of it.

Certainly a rush of blood in regards to Cheika. Australian rugby had to swallow it’s pride after Ewen and go for someone in the long list of quality coaches outside Australia.

I would say that the entire All Blacks panel and all of the NZ’s SR coaches would have a better grasp on gameplan, tactics and selection than Cheika does. Is that negativity or objectivity ?

Australian rugby isn’t that bad. In it’s own right it’ isn’t bad at all. It’s long struggled behind other codes in this country but that doesn’t mean we’re a bad rugby playing nation, especially when you see the amount of talent we have to pick from even without our exodus recently. And i don’t care when people say that no Wallabies would make the All Blacks team because it’s not the point and never will be and people should stop saying it.

The quality of the league is just about the best i’ve seen it since i can remember.

The big men are not making it easy for each other any more. Guys like Maric and Andersen just won’t have their way in the paint like they might’ve only a couple of seasons ago. Especially with some of the big Americans who have been recruited.

Good read- thanks.

The best thing the Wallabies can do is just be quiet. In the past they’ve foolishly talked themselves up almost arrogantly and with no basis. Same kind of attitude as the fox sports commentary team

They should just rock up, play with purpose and learn from the result.

I’ve never thought Cheika is the right man for the job but i don’t think it’s going to matter what his record will be by the end of the year. I think the ARU have decided he’s the man until the 2019 WC. In saying that, i would support the recent calls to bring in a top tactical coach to complement him. At the moment it’s not the losing to NZ, it’s more so the aimless way they go about it. I don’t think their maximising potential at the moment.

Love the title !

Although i’ve been critical of his coaching, i do find his ‘straight shooting ‘ approach quite refreshing in the age of political correctness.

I felt the same when he dismissed the question about Graham Henry’s comments with ‘i don’t care what he says’ or something like that.

I even found it refreshing when he questioned the refereeing in NZ following that loss. The real issue was that it should of been secondary to their own performance but i still like his honesty and rugged toughness that you don’t see so much in the modern world.

Port have now got 3 picks inside the top 30 this year. The upcoming draft is considered strong so i guess they’re getting in on the action.

Hi Josh

Really enjoyed reading that. I’ve thought the whole free agency has been a shambles since day 1.

Basically, they’re defeating the purpose of a player being a free agent in the first place by offering compensation picks. If the AFL introduced this system and teams found their best players being poached then too bad. It’s up to that club to then be just as proactive towards other free agents as their opposition poachers were to them in order to find replacements. You can’t have a free agency system like this and you can’t have these ludicrous compensation picks. It’s either free agency or it’s not.

The AFL abolished trading as the main form of player movement that offered fairness and promoted loyalty through carefully orchestrated trades that were fairly rare. If they want free agency, do it properly or not at all.

What i forgot to add:

And are you seriously suggesting his exit was stage managed ? That was opportunist camera work at its finest. You could see the disappointment in his eyes when the All Blacks clinched a late try in his final game. The fact that he waited until after the game to call it quits says otherwise.

The Wallabies were far more impressive under Link in my view but he didn’t have support. And now, the team is under-performing badly, but because they like Cheika, his job is probably not under the same amount of pressure that Link found himself in. Is that not still player power that everyone was so worried about?

Which form of player power is more dangerous in your view ?

eaglejack, what does ‘lost the playing group” mean exactly ? Does it mean that a bunch of highly paid professionals just felt discontented ? That’s player power at it’s worst. The position that highly, as well as over paid professionals, will only respond when they feel 100% content.

If some within that group didn’t like Link, then too bad !

Yes, he was ultimately responsible for the culture, which probably cost him his job, but it’s almost like being sentenced to death without a fair trial when players influence decision making. That’s the problem with with the recent culture of the Wallabies. They just don’t get on with it.

Don, good point. When the ARU and the public convince themselves that all these problems are out of the hands of the head coach, then we rob Cheika of responsibility. He is then granted excuses and given time.

Yes, and now McKenzie is probably lost to Australian rugby forever. And i think he’s a better coach than Cheika.

It didn’t just happen to the All Blacks this year. A lot of those guys played behind the veterans of the team and developed that experience before stepping into the responsibility of becoming a regular first choice starting player. They planned it perfectly for some time. They do the same with their coaches.

Look, i know we’re not NZ but we can still learn from them.

Michael Cheika doesn’t identify players for positions and then stick with them. He just chops and changes re-actively. The Wallabies aren’t even given much of a chance to build again anyway.

Oh and i’m absolutely certain that guys like McCaw, Nonu & Carter would not be asked to step aside. If they were still up to it, they’s be wisely handled and balanced with the up and and comer for their positions.

Fionn,

Of course the French trio are the obvious one’s to point out but so far they haven’t stood in any younger players way because they can’t stay on the park. It was always a gun for hire approach with them. Besides them we have only two players-Moore and Fardy- that i can see who probably won’t be of service by 2019. The rest are more or less around the age where they typically enter their prime. Kepu and Genia should still be considered. Especially Genia, surely ?

Losing to The All Blacks had nothing to do with age. But the fact that we were feeble and noncompetitive had a lot to do with coaching. Why can’t our players beat them ?

I don’t think you’re being harsh at all. The Wallabies need something just remotely resembling a balanced and settled team. I just wonder under what basis people make the claim that our players are too old and suddenly hopeless.

Ricky Page,

That’s one of the reasons they shouldn’t of rushed his appointment in the first place.

Where does this widespread belief that we don’t have capable players been coming from lately ? It’s just simply not the case and has helped excuse Cheika of responsibility.

Nice article Fionn, but i’ve got a couple of challengers for you:

Who are these old ‘has-beens” ? Ashley-Cooper has returned to France anyway. Giteau is injured and won’t be selected. Mitchell is still quality and can’t be dismissed because of age. There are a couple of guys in the forward pack who’s time should come under question, but for the most part, the bulk of this squad should be in the prime of their careers. Furthermore a lot of them should already be in the frame for 2019.

The other point is that on what basis do you select the national team ? Is the World Cup the only reason you play the game ?

And should anyone lose their time with the Wallabies at the moment because of incredibly poor coaching ? For me that’s the real issue. The Wallabies are not that old at all. And it shouldn’t come before the real issue, surely ?

How could you say that ? If anyone can be excused for the expected patchy form that comes with a coaching change, its South Africa. I think we’ve all rushed into judgment regarding them.

Are you suggesting South Africa are currently in a worse scenario than Australia ? They WON their mid season series. They held of Argentina in the first round. The Argentina road trip is becoming increasingly tricky. We should know they weren’t the first and wont be the last to lose there. Australia are 0-5 so far. Do they even compare ?

I only just read the section where you say you are South African. We’re all harsher on our own nation than anyone else. That’s always been true. And it works both ways here.