The comment about trying to make a profit on 14 games is spot on. Then when you add poor crowds the equation becomes impossible.
Australian SR teams then do not have enough money to pay a high quality squad so absolutely need money from RA to stay afloat.
But spectators want more than that they want success, to see the best players and to see good rugby. If they do then the crowds will grow (especially in NSW and Qld) then more money comes in and the retention and development of players increases!
It’s easy to say but hard to deliver but at this moment in time it seems RA don’t even know what they are trying to deliver with no long term plan hence the mess that rugby in this country (at the professional level) is in!!

Totally agree – for the first time in a while somebody has come up with an idea to solve two problems. While Pone is a Wallaby he is a terrible scrummager at international level in part due to the fact that he has played very few minutes at SR level. His size alone would carry him through a level below SR and he would learn nothing.

Hopefully he gets plenty of minutes over the next month.

The thing about Wilson is that he is going to Welsh rugby. Welsh rugby is in an even worse financial state than Aussie rugby so you must assume this move is not about money. It just highlights that Australian rugby (in all states) just doesn’t know how to bring young players through and give them enough encouragement to stay.

I must also add that the Rebels against the Blues kept Louwrens on at scrum half until the last few minutes when the game was already lost and then called on Maunder. He played over 140 games for Exeter before coming here. How would this treatment encourage him to stay or make coming to SR attractive to other players I don’t know.

If moving forward the Rebels have the financial means not to need any money from RA they should stay!!

Sure the TV money has to be divided by 5 not 4 but it needs to be taken into account the drop in Australian content would mean the share of TV money to RA would diminish as well.

Australian rugby struggles to keep players in Oz, I’ve just read two more young Tahs are going overseas – one to Wales where money is probably tighter than even in Australia! So getting rid of the Rebels will just hasten this process.

RA is still meant to be developing rugby at all levels in this country and not just be focused on the Wallabies and SR!!!

And there in lies the problem. It’s not the coaches fault when he is trying build a succesful team when the quality of player is simply not there. If you go through the side player by player and without the rose coloured glasses that a lot of Oz writers and supporters use how many of the players would be picked in the Hurricanes or a Blues team.

Maybe I am being too harsh but my answer would be none. To make it worst then look at who is going overseas and is 2025 going to be better!!?

Can we please stop using words like ‘Wallaby-in-waiting Tom Lynagh’. It’s both unfair to Lynagh himself and insults the rugby public who know he is nowhere near international standard. He probably at this stage is barely SR standard.

Can we stop building up players after half a season or even one good game?

Every time I watch a Super game I get annoyed by what I believe is terrible marketing by RA. I translate that into poor management and loss of revenue.

What annoys me – the advertising on every match field promotes the Lions tour 2025. Why promote something which sells itself? Why not market the games that need promotion – Wallabies v Wales and Wallabies v Georgia, after all these are full internationals and being played in TWO months time! My son who has bought tickets in Melbourne tells me the Wales game is being played at AAMI park which holds what 28,000?

That is a terrible indictment on the appeal of rugby in Oz and especially in Victoria. Even the game in Sydney has heaps of tickets available. The efforts of RA Executive and the marketing team surely must be concentrated solely on these games to sell them out otherwise the excuse for poor ticket revenue (again) from internationals will be “we only played Wales and Georgia so ticket revenue was down”. Followed by don’t worry though we’ll get it all back when the Lions tour.

It really makes you wonder how good the current executive are.

Before we get on to Tupou let’s talk about Fa’amausili and the fact is that he is “a Wallaby who has been to the RWC”. That is not a recommendation. In fact given given how little minutes that Fa’amausili has played and how often he is out scrummed it is a reflection on how poor the Wallabies choices were for the RWC.

In regard to Tupou and being flogged to death just look at the huge French forwards and how many minutes they play and no-one talks about them being flogged. It’s just another excuse for someone who is not fronting up and justifying the money he is being paid. I like Tupou as a player but watching the Rebels and his play to me he is simply not fit. This is made worse by commentators getting excited after one reasonable game with a try thrown in.

Just let the boy train hard and play hard until his condition runs out!!!

If this is true then it is another example of the piece meal approach of RA. It simply does not make sense to pay on potential and from what I have seen that is all. Jorgensen’s rugby is a long way from being good enough to be of test match standard. Flash’s of something good do not make a test player.

Then we get to potential and ask how many players ”with potential’ in Australia are coached well enough to develop that potential to the maximum. It is the same with Petaia – some moments of good play are followed by a litany of mistakes. What other country would be breaking the bank to resign – Petaia or Jorgensen? I would argue none.

Then there is the knock on effect of over paying some players – no money left in the bank for players who turn in excellent performances week in week out. As a coach I would certainly prefer these players to a unreliable flash in the pan on my team.

Part of any great player revolves around the mental side of the game and how that translates into training, developing, playing levels etc. The previous article on the Roar makes this very clear as to why Scott Robertson is looking to get Whitelock back as a player for NZ.

I am not saying that Tupou wouldn’t improve as a player if he went overseas to Europe where scrummaging is an art but to me To’omua is just making excuses for Tupou. When you take big money then you also take on the expectation of the club and fans which will be high.

Let’s not beat around the bush – Tupou is failing to keep his end of the bargain!

Can anyone please explain to me why when losing by 2 points and three minutes to play you would change your scrum half? This is not a reflection on either player but to me it just doesn’t make sense and I can’t see what you hope to achieve especially when taking off an international for a rookie.

Any suggestions why you would do it!

In every organisation I have worked in there is a procedure for spending money. That applied whether it was for goods or services. The more you wanted to spend the sign offs came from a higher executive.

In addition the accounts went to finance and special items were either mentioned immediately or certainly at the end of month budget meetings.

Every executive who was at RA when this overspend occurred therefore has to accept responsibility and therefore needs to go – nice fellow or not!! It just shows the lack of enough knowledge to run a business.

Forget the Wallabies, once Joe Schmidt was chosen and given his budget there is no need to be involved in the running of the Wallabies. The only responsibility is about keeping a close look on the financials and strategic planning to extract the maximum benefit from the Lions and RWC which can be put back into the whole of the rugby family!!

Hanigan is a classic example of a major flaw in Australian rugby which was shown again by the No 10’s taken to the World Cup. Picking players for the Wallabies after too few games! This is a flaw that the commentators fall into as well.

Hanigan is a much better players now after more seasons playing rugby including Japan. Lolesia is a much better player now than when he was picked after playing more seasons including in France.

Lets at least start picking players who have shown they ability over more than one game or one season!!

Noah is now the main man and that just helps his game. However he must still be good enough to take on that role and spending time in France has helped him there. (Players just seem better after a spell overseas as also shown by Salakaia-Loto).

Looking at the other 10’s in Aussie teams this should be Noah’s year!

Absolutely correct, this is a rubbish article and highlights a lack of understanding about Aussie fans. What we all want to see is a well coached team giving it’s absolute all to win games. If Joe’s rigid style just means better discipline on the field and the players know what they are doing then the Wallabies will improve. Can they beat NZ – who knows?

What the article forgot to mention is the alternatives. Lets be fair neither Larkham or McKellar are full of charisma plus are they really successful coaches!! Neither have won anything and McKellar is even struggling to get Leicester into the top four in England.

Let’s just celebrate that we have Schmidt and support him in a very difficult role!

Simple question – why with concentrated coaching can’t Gordon become a 80% plus goal kicker. It’s not just the Wallabies who would benefit but the Rebels as well. Surely this is what the off season and coaching is all about!!

Everybody comments on Jones as a RWC specialist. Let us really look at his record. A losing final with an already built side with Australia, one special game with Japan, I discount his time with SA and a losing final with England, probably his best tournament.

Then you look at his poor long term record with Australia, the Reds and England all leading to him being sacked. His record with England at the end was horrific.

The decision to employ him and also give him a long term contract when everyone knows he burns out players and coaches after at the most three years was a decision by McLennan that showed a lack of understanding of what Jones would do.

Every does make mistakes but not as obvious ones as McLennan made and therefore he should resign or be sacked.

The difference was that the three RL players mentioned Sailor, Tuqiri and Rogers were established stars of the RL world. This is just a kid who hasn’t even made it in RL yet.

I know that Qld is a bit biased about it’s players but 8000 people turned up to a trial game with the QLD Reds just to see Sailor play.

Those three had enough experience and skill that they were never going to fail – the same cannot be said for Suaalii.

As another comment said an open search for the new coach is a must.

If we look at the three names suggested they all have issues – such as Larkham has never succeeded in a head coach role. Would you want to go back to Cheika after we saw the return of Jones. An open selection process is a must as I would suggest there are many coaches out there with the experience and skill to do the job well ie Ronan O’Gara.

However we must all acknowledge that even leaving aside the problems with RA Australia does not at the moment have the world class players to compete at the highest level. I do believe though that the Wallabies can be vastly improved by the right coach. Then you can see how good or poor the Wallabies really are.

Now if you could get Ronan O’Gara then the Wallabies would be getting a real modern coach used to winning!! Or is that too much to expect!

The absolute front of Eddie Jones as he continues to not take full responsibility for the debacle. If he is as knowledgeable about rugby as everyone claims then before taking the job he would have scoped out the state of rugby in Australia. If he didn’t that’s his fault not RA’s fault.

Of course Hamish McLennan created this debacle ( I understand he made the decision as a ‘captain’s pick’) in his rush to sign Jones who had just been sacked by the English because his results were terrible. Why are we surprised then that Jones’s results in Oz are just as bad.

At least Jones has gone but McLennan must follow as well!!

Every thing heard or read about Quade in the camps with both Rennie and Jones was how good he was. Carter also said how much help Quade gave him and who was always competing for the No 10 jersey.

To come out and say he was not the ‘right type’ is absolute B–s–t. It just seems now Jones wants to go and is making the atmosphere around himself toxic so that RA have no choice but let him go.

He’s not the type you want around the Wallabies!!!

Is Eddie the right person to lead the Wallabies?

Perhaps the question should be how good a coach is Eddie these days?

What have his teams actually won? He won a Grand Slam with England who just happened to be at the time the country with the most professional players and the most wealthy! And didn’t that turn over the last three years to where he was sacked for poor results!!

Is he still living on the glory of Japan beating South Africa and England beating NZ in a RWC semi-final (England then got really touched up in the final)

My thoughts are that Eddie’s time as a world leading coach has passed him by as shown by the fact that (not that the Wallabies lost) but he gave them no clear plan on how to win. No clear plan also showed in selection which chopped and changed every game because no-one had any idea of the strengths they were looking for.

Planning for 2027 was just bu—–t. In a contact sport like rugby this is so hard to do. I must say that I want my teams to win today and not tomorrow, especially if I am spending hard earned on supporting them!!!

The real question is whether Jones is still a good enough coach overall to lead the Wallabies. Let’s not forget that he was sacked by England because his results with the English team were terrible. Coaches like players have to evolve and Jones looks as if he has stood still.

The reasoning that he didn’t have enough time is an excuse. He certainly had enough time to develop a style and some attacking moves (missing). Sure it would not be as smooth as Ireland but that is understandable.

But look at how he compares with Gatland and Wales – it’s a very poor comparison for Jones!

They were in the same pool as Wales and Fiji – both teams beat the Wallabies!!!!