Haha – brilliant! All at once! Meanwhile Brad Fittler gives up the Blues to go to Penrith, Bellamy backflips on Melbourne to join the Warriors, McGregor gets punted 1 week before finals – replaced by Ben Hunt so he can suck at both player & coach. Laurie Daley takes over in Canberra and Kevvy Walter still not wanted anywhere.

Sadly, I feel once again this was an unfortunate set of circumstances that was allowed to completely degenerate into a shambolic mess due to the poor quality of journalism that is allowed to exist in the NRL Press. Clowns like James Hooper, Buzz Rothfield, Andrew Webster and the other fools who battle each other every day for any “click bait” and then conveniently serve it up under a “the rumour is…” disclaimer. Somehow those clowns think breaking a story trumps any form of accurate, intelligent journalism as the story plays out. It’s headless chicken stuff. There is no intelligent analysis, no “let me actually think about the real probability of all this” process thinking, nor is there any attempt to present facts and figures. Here was Hooper on Thursday night referencing a $1.6 mln offer to Ivan Cleary – but could not come up with a combined cost to Penrith that included payments to Wests Tigers and severance packages to the departing Anthony Griffin. The look was “mate, I’m not smart enough to do those numbers – my job is to deliver low quality click bait to my employer”. Do they honestly know how foolish they all look?

Now you have a situation where no-one has won. The Panthers have not won. Phil Gould has not won. The NRL have not won. Fans of the NRL have not won. Australian journalism has certainly not won. Ivan Cleary has won – only because he came out and clarified what the other clowns had failed to do. He told the facts. Sadly he confirmed their worst nightmare. They were all wrong and there was no story. Anyone think Hooper, Rothfield et al have learned a lesson here? I ain’t holding my breath! It’s a race to the bottom. It has been for 15 years now. The unfortunate last chapter here is enduring more nonsense that Phil Gould and Wayne Bennet could work together at Penrith. Seriously – someone please engage brain, before engaging mouth or keyboard finger. Oh that’s right — when it all falls over we’ll be reminded “my sources told me it was never going to happen”. It all belongs in the circus, not the media.

Congratulations to every Waratahs and Australian rugby fan on a very comprehensive win. A new dawn unfolds. I trust the celebrations were enjoyable, sleep last night was easier and there is a spring in the step to exercise, brunch or church this morning.

Here in my humble opinion are the facts. Australian rugby is at it’s best when it is confident. Confidence that emerges from well merited self-belief in preparation, skills, conditioning and mental toughness. Self-belief is fuelled by winning and winning fuels self-belief. Australian rugby has not experienced enough winning so self-belief has not been there. A Waratahs side with self-belief after a gutsy performance in Christchurch last weekend took it one step further last night and thrashed a good Highlanders team who were never allowed into the contest. I think some credit belongs here to the Waratahs coaching staff. This was a shattered playing group after the loss to the Blues at Brookvale Oval. They turned things around in Christchurch last weekend and took another important step forward last night. Well done.

Great points! The problem is far too many people are being lured into that unfortunate community who tell you they fully recognise the essential place referees and officials have in the game — yet somehow think it’s their God given right to openly criticise them for the 3-4 decisions they may get wrong, instead of complimenting them on the 96-97 they get right. It’s got to stop. It’s got to stop on the sidelines, in the grandstands, on the field, in the press conferences and in the media like this. Referees are not perfect – never have been. Seemingly now more than ever, we expect perfection and people think it’s OK to get disrespectful when they don’t get it!

Angus Gardiner is a very high quality referee. However, Australia’s contribution to World rugby refereeing after that falls away badly and has been like this for 10+ years. This rather laborious Australian viewpoint that every referee is no good is tiresome. We heard the consistent criticisms of Joubert. We hear them currently about Jaco Peyper, Nigel Owens, Wayne Barnes and anyone from France and NZ. It never changes.

How about Australian rugby starts contributing David? How about one of the leading rugby countries delivers up more than Angus Gardiner? Instead of the constant criticism how about being part of a solution. Right now, I am looking at what Australia is contributing to World Rugby — and very little of it is impressive. There needs to be a change in attitude. Hopefully that leads to a change in results. Both will be welcomed.

Shall we continue to use one incident to deflect a dreadful loss or is the big story in this match the Waratahs were gifted a 29-0 lead by an error-ridden Crusaders team and then run down in 50 minutes?
Would anyone be even talking about this if Bernard Foley had successfully kicked either of the 2 kickable 2nd half penalties the Waratahs were awarded that would have iced the game. The Waratahs losing at home to the poorest NZ side last week was embarrassing. Failing to close out a 29 point lead against the top NZ team one week later was arguably worse. It is what it is.

Now can we please get back to highlighting how the format of Super Rugby is the real reason for the collapse in Australian Rugby? Or is it the conference system? Or all these foreign coaches? God – now I’m confused.

The possession stats were 59% / 41%
The missed tackles were 25 : 11
I understand your viewpoint — but not certain it is supported by match statistics.
The Waratahs fatigued both physically and mentally.
Their physical and mental fatigue was punished. It reflected in all the key stats — most noticeably on the score board. 29-0 after 30 minutes. 29-31 after 80 minutes. Ouch.

I respect your opinion but not certain a final penalty count of 17-7 reflects “the most one-sided refereeing numbers ever seen”.
What is notable is that in 9 games this year, the Waratahs have conceded more penalties than their opposition in 8 of them. This is a side who consistently struggle with discipline. Evidence would suggest that in the heat of last night’s battle the Waratahs merely reverted to type. As the pressure mounted, they kept infringing. A common tactic of a side who consistently have demonstrated very little ability to close out tight contests.

Any side that blows a 29 point lead in a game where conditions played no part has nobody to blame but themselves.
Any side that fails to score a point in 61 minutes of rugby has nobody to blame but themselves.
Any side that misses 2 very kickable penalties that would have iced the game has nobody to blame but themselves.
Any side who miss 2x the number of tackles as their opposition has nobody to blame but themselves.
Any side with a history of ill-discipline that again showed poor discipline has nobody to blame but themselves.
Any side who failed to keep composure when pressure was being applied has nobody to blame but themselves.
Any side with a history of failing to close out tight matches has nobody to blame but themselves.
Any side who allowed the referee to become a part of the contest has nobody to blame but themselves.

Waratahs fans can deflect all the attention they want onto referee O’Keefe. The facts are their Waratahs were gifted a 29-0 lead and tried at all costs for 60 minutes to defend it. They failed and lost a game they should have won. They have nobody to blame but themselves.

Super Rugby is far from a pointless competition. Why it was good at Super 12 and/or Super 14 was because Australia had 3 competitive teams. Then Australia tried to justify to anyone who was listening they had the playing and coaching depth to expand to 4 and then 5 teams. It was flawed thinking – historical results have proved that. Australia still only has the playing and coaching depth for 3 professional franchises – current results are proving that. The reason you watch so few games now is because the Australian sides are uncompetitive. They are uncompetitive because they are filled with players not of professional standard. You would happily tune in if the Waratahs, Reds or Brumbies were beating the Crusaders, Chiefs or Hurricanes like what previously used to happen. They no longer do, so you don’t watch. Somehow it’s the competition’s fault?

As a rugby fan, go watch some of the NZ or SA Super Rugby derby matches. Many are high quality games of rugby. Go watch the demolition the Sharks delivered to the Blues on Eden Park 3 weeks ago. It was impressive. Super Rugby has never been better. The problem is 1 of the 3 key partners is underperforming. They got themselves into this mess, let’s see if they’re willing to get out of it. The future of the sport in Australia feels like it depends on it.

There was only 2 Terry. The Wallabies won the opening test in Sydney in a shortened Rugby Championship.

Interesting points. Let’s bear in mind Cheika only got this Wallaby job after 2 seasons with the Waratahs where he took hold of a dreadfully underperforming franchise, got them organised, got them fit and weeded out the nonsense. They improved in 2013, won it in 2014 but were not the same side in 2015. Cheika took that same model re. culture, work ethic, game-plan and rolled it out with the Wallabies. Year 1 on the NH Tour in 2014 was average, Year 2 in 2015 got them to a RWC Final, Year 3 in 2016 has seen regression.

Coaches are no different to players. Some transition to a higher level and stay through skills and evolution, others struggle to meet the greater demands. Time will tell whether Cheika can enjoy sustainable success at international level, but this year has been a significant learning curve. By in large, the Wallaby playing style is little different to the Waratahs playing style of 2014. It has been well analysed, broken down and exploited by smarter international coaches and players. How else do you explain that against the 3 best sides in World Rugby in 2016, Cheika’s Wallabies were 0-8? Why else did 9th ranked Scotland and 7th ranked France so nearly beat the Wallabies on very limited preparation last month? Somehow Cheika himself confessed that player fitness levels were sub-standard for much of 2016 – yet he wanted to play an up-tempo, “Australian Way” style. Hmmm!!

Cheika claims the future is bright due to the injection of new players into the squad this year. All this of course after his original strategy of bringing back Drew Mitchell, Matt Giteau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Will Genia and James Horwill largely flopped for him in the domestic tests. Some young players looked test calibre players and held their own. Others looked the next best player in their position and were no threat on the test arena. Cheika believes all can evolve into good test players. Some will, others will have their effectiveness nullified through clever opposition coaching in the same way Israel Folau and the Pocock / Hooper pairing were nullified in 2016.

The major problem Cheika faces is the ground lost this year to New Zealand, England and Ireland will not be easily made up. Ahead of a critical Lions tour in 2017, be assured the All Blacks will be rolling out a 2017 game plan that will have evolved from this year’s model. Ireland and England will be certain to undertake a similar approach for the upcoming 6 Nations.

Yes Australian players will be expected to be better conditioned come Super Rugby next year. Will they be better skilled, better disciplined, better finishers, better defenders, better under stress? All were key weaknesses in the 2016 Wallabies.

Cheika feels to me to be making a whole series of assumptions for 2017. The same set of assumptions that 12 months ago had 2016 going just like 2015. Time will tell. The fact he will only have Fiji, Italy and Scotland to test them is a whole different subject.

An interesting assessment Fionn. In looking back on a very forgettable year for Australian rugby, what strikes me the most is this report could have been overlaid at 3 or 4 different points of this 2016 season. What was different in the 15th test match in December to the 1st test match in June? Recall in Brisbane the Wallabies got out to a fast start, ill-discipline bought England back into the match, poor composure under pressure gifted tries to England and ineffective conditioning and a weak bench cost the Wallabies dearly in the last 20 minutes. The Bledisloe Cup games were a mirror image, ditto the loss in Pretoria to a dreadful Springbok side.

I saw a Wallaby side that made improvements in attack on the European tour – simply because it was appalling against the All Blacks as 2 tries in 3 test matches would illustrate. Most costly was a Wallaby side that either could not, or refused to make the necessary adjustments to better take the referee out of the contest. Either Michael Cheika and Stephen Moore were wrong or Romain Poite (2x), Jaco Peyper (2x), Nigel Owens (2x), Craig Joubert, Wayne Barnes and Jerome Garces and a whole host of assistants and TMO’s were wrong in the Wallabies 9 losses this year. Rightly or wrongly, Cheika and the Wallabies maintained an abrasive, no backwards step attitude with opposition sides through the season. A similar attitude with officials was naive and expensive. Only in 2017 will we see whether those lessons have been learnt. I would not feel optimistic.

Appreciate your thoughts Chivas. It was certainly a unique set of circumstances this year that an ex. Wallaby coach was coaching to beat the Wallabies and recruiting other former Wallabies as part of the crusade. Bottom line is it will all count for nothing once the game kicks off but in a week that had few other distractions, I wonder if rugby in Australia missed an opportunity to better promote itself – and the virtues of tonight’s game. There will be some real positives tonight around match-up’s, playing styles and use of possession. Somehow we heard little of all that, but did hear a lot of name calling.

“Just a bit of fun and a laugh”. Really Michael? Didn’t sound like a lot of humour in the tone of your damning remarks on Eddie Jnrs and Glen Ella through the week. All this of course after saying nothing in June and being rather schooled on and off the field by Jobes and England. The sad reality for me is I’m not sure anyone has won with this week’s exchanges. Rugby prides itself on having thoughtful, intelligent men in key positions of responsibility and both Jones and Cheika looked little more than a couple of 6 year olds in a sand pit this week. Is this what rugby in Australia has become as the competitive sporting landscape around it intensifies?