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With the 2018 international season now done, and the pain of watching the Wallabies ruin rugby behind us yet again, it’s time to reflect on where the Wallabies are at and the success of the coaching staff.
Recently, Riordan Lee made the mistake of asking Roarers, who are notoriously shy with their opinions, how to fix Australian rugby.
Two hundreds were scored on the first day of the Sydney Test. From start to finish, the day was full of imperious and majestic strokeplay, intelligent restraint and bludgeoning power.
Given the debacle that has been the Wallabies over the last few weeks, I thought it was time that we had a look at what has to happen for them to progress as a sporting team and an organisation.
Having watched Brisbane Roar’s opening game of the A-League, I can’t help but think that in the midst of fanfare surrounding Besart Berisha’s departure to Melbourne, a potentially more vital cog left quietly but may be significantly harder to replace.
Let’s get one thing straight. At no time has anyone other than Kurtley Beale been shown to have done anything wrong during the fiasco surrounding the Wallabies over the last few days.
With all of the controversy surrounding the back-line selections of the Wallabies over the last few weeks, it hass been very easy to overlook the impact (or lack thereof) of the forwards.
With a 3-2 victory over Norwich, Liverpool require only seven points to seal their first league title since 1990. It’s been an agonising wait for Reds fans as our club, steeped in history, has struggled since the inception of the Premier League.
When Michael Clarke put England in to bat on the first morning of the Boxing Day Test, it was neither a mistake, nor a last minute decision.
“But all these people were responsible for “culture”. And for Clarke to surmise that he had nothing to do with a culture so hell-bent on winning that it would countenance cheating, well, he did captain the bloody team. He’s had an effect.”
^^^^
This is the essence of the article. The Author is blaming Clarke, while trying to say he doesn’t.
How far does it go back? Ponting? Waugh? Taylor? Border? All of those blokes captained the team and had an effect, but none of them took sandpaper onto the field. Nor did anyone who played under them.
Clarke is far from my favourite bloke, but this whole line of argument is a nonsense.
Clarke didn’t rub the ball with sandpaper. But he’s played his part in a win-at-all-costs culture
Are you seriously questioning whether or not an international sporting team should have its focus on winning? What kind insanity is that?
That’s like castigating a journo, for being part of an organisation that focuses on writing. By your logic, you’re personally responsible for the waffle that David Lord writes on this site because you’re part of the team that places emphasis on writing about sport, and not being liked.
There were 2 cheats in the Australian team, and one captain who allowed it to happen under his watch. Everything else, is simply blame shifting from a group of people who don’t want to cop that the ones who DID the cheating, are to blame.
I’m sick and tired of this mantra that says if the blokes on the field did the cheating, it must be the CEO / Chairman thousands of kilometres away whose fault it is. Better yet, it’s the guy who hasn’t been around the team in years, because we used to win under him, and we can’t anymore without him, so it must be his fault we decided to cheat.
Grow up.
Clarke didn’t rub the ball with sandpaper. But he’s played his part in a win-at-all-costs culture
I don’t know who you’re talking about DLKN… 😛
But then again, even The Roar publishes some authors just for clickbait..and because they love Randwick
The job of a coach
Thanks Puff.
I suppose that the scariest part for me, is that there is not a single metric on which you could say the Wallabies have progressed, either on or off the field.
That’s just damning.
The job of a coach
That’s one of the things that drives me insane, Emanuel.
Link was one of those coaches that not only taught skills and set piece, he had the tactical nous to adjust the gameplan depending on the opposition. The Reds of 2011 were a brilliant example of that, playing everything from scintillating running rugby, to a game against the Stormers where their entire method was to move the huge Stormers pack around the park.
Chieka on the other hand, seems bereft not only of planning nous, but any tactical awareness at all.
The job of a coach
We certainly are missing Ledesma. A coach who can teach both technique and attitude, wouldn’t that be something.
The job of a coach
Thanks Lano,
I suppose I should write two more.
The Job of the Captain and The Job of the Board. Unfortunately, and spoiler alert, all of them fail, on EVERY count.
Perhaps instead, I’ll put some effort into an analysis of what KPI’s and approach the RA board should take over the next WC cycle.
The job of a coach
I completely agree Val.
With the Reds, whether it was a success or not in their first season, you knew that the team’s focus was defence, set piece and bluntly, getting a year of experience into players with a Thorn-compatible temperament.
I’m hoping that the addition of clearly intelligent assistants, each with a particular area of expertise, will help balance the Reds’ coaching team into a more complete package, and I hope we see them climb the table as a result.
The job of a coach
MJC – You’re not Cheika in disguise are you? 😛
Sadly, I’m not surprised by your experience.
The job of a coach
Or maybe, he’ll take up the role as Director of Rugby so he can give himself some good advice 😀
The job of a coach
SSS,
So, I would suggest that the board are failing in the duties as Directors, and need to be sacked by the members, which in this case is a combination of the State Associations, Waratahs, Rebels and RUPA.
Fundamentally though, this management structure is broken as well. With each of these Divisions having different agendas and targets, the board of RA almost by definition is a lame duck.
My alternate structure would be almost to steal the AFL’s model pretty much directly, but I can’t see that happening in the near term without government intervention.
The job of a coach
I’d take that as a short term fix.
Longer term, there are FAR too many structural issues with Australian rugby which require a root and branch overhaul.
The job of a coach
Hi SSS,
I really don’t think that the other side of this argument has much of a leg on which to stand. The only cogent argument that could be made is that it will cost too much money, but that surely couldn’t be the case when we turned down Twiggy’s $50M
The job of a coach
Yup. I’m in on this team.
I wouldn’t have picked Banks at FB but everything else spot on.
I wonder whose sister Luke Morahan dumped that’s had him treated like he doesn’t exist. The guy is a freak.
Wallabies selector wanted. How hard can it be?
“He controlled the Ireland series decider at Allianz Stadium in June by blowing the ill-disciplined Wallabies off the park to allow Johnny Sexton to land five penalties to Bernard Foley’s three in Ireland’s 20-16 success.”
Pretty sure this is a cut and paste from a previous article. Kinda sums up the laziness of this piece.
Is Michael Cheika about to play Russian roulette with his career?
Sorry Dean, but I disagree completely.
As the CEO, Castle is the custodian of the game. If what she said is being misreported to the detriment of the team, she has a duty to correct it.
Lose-lose for the Wallabies against the Azzurri
Really James?
Everywhere Dizzy has gone, he’s dramatically improved the team and the results. Importantly, unlike Langer, he hasn’t remained in the Australian setup and been a parochial voice playing the “Us vs The World” game that JL has played in WA.
I think JL has a good upside, but nowhere near as much potential as a coach as Dizzy does.
Why is Michael Cheika constantly hammered, while Justin Langer is blameless?
Haha
So true. Can’t believe I’ve never noticed that.
Mark Taylor must be the new Cricket Australia chairman
Yeah, because Maxwell has been so strongly favoured by the selectors!
Australian cricket has a bright future
I don’t think the ICC has any jurisdiction to step in as they’ve already served their ICC bans.
Ultimately, David Peever had no choice but to step aside
Spot on!
It’s all too easy to blame the board and exec, but Peever et al, didn’t cheat, direct a younger player to cheat, or ignore cheating in their team.
Let the bans stand.
We can’t handle the truth - Australian cricket’s culture
+1
Clarke didn’t rub the ball with sandpaper. But he’s played his part in a win-at-all-costs culture