ARU Denies Deans Bolt - Green and Gold Rugby Blog

Richo

Ah, the soaring highs and the crushing lows of being a Wallabies fan.

Well, mostly the crushing lows…

Colonel Smouch

So its definitely happening then…..

From the sideline

The poor execution by an overpaid wallabies team is not deans fault. They are experienced enough to know what they need to do. They did not deliver not deans. All 1 to 15 should not have got match payments. Pointing out that we went well for 25 minutes is laughable in a 80 minute contest

James

yeah, i mean why do you need a coach at all. i cant think of one example of team that performs better as a team under a good coach then they did as a team of individuals…
- AJ
  
  France did alright in the RWC after deciding to ignore their coach…
  - Patrick
    
    If the Wallabies could have Nallet, Harinordoquoy, Dusatoir, Rougerie and Bonnaire and any three French front-rowers I’d be all for them coaching themselves too.
  - Johnny-boy
    
    That was in fact a brilliant strategy by the French coach to get his players in to a siege mentality. He understood the French culture to perfection. One of the great coaching efforts IMO
- Johnny-boy
  
  Yeah now let’s see. I guess Wayne Bennett is just ‘lucky’ . And I suppose Ric Charlesworth was just a fluke artist and Brian Gorjioran was, well a tin arse really. If the coach is not really that important then why did JON reportedly offer Deans a million dollars a year to coach the Wallabies? Thats one awfully expensive seat warmer ?
  - Bobby
    
    Yep and McKenzie just watched the Reds coach themselves from 13th to 1st in 2 seasons
BDA

That’s a load of nonsense. Deans is only one element of the equation, but an important one nonetheless. He is one of main weak links that need to be thrown on the scrap heap.

Good coaches make good teams great. there are many great examples (McKenzie to the Reds in 2011, White to Brumbies in 2012, Des Hassler to the Bulldogs in 2012) and conversely poor coaching can make an average team shithouse (Kearney for parramatta eels in 2012, Pat Lam for the Blues, Deans for Wallabies). — note they’re all kiwis
- Fulltime
  
  And the coaches for the Chief, Crusaders and Sharks are all kiwis as well.

DC

There is no point in dropping him now, that is just stupid.

If anything, review him AFTER the championship, and if it seems fit then do it then, and let the new coach (Hopefully White or Ewen) take control of the team for the EOTY.

Allow for a extend the playing squad for the newbie to examine his stock and see what he has to work this not only for the EOYT, but prospects for the B&I Lions Tour next year.

Deans is getting too much criticism for what is the PLAYERS who are not performing out there.

Yes, he has made some more choices, but to think guys like Genia were about to be shunned back into club rugby by the QLD before Robbie approached him, because they saw a better future with…Nic Berry?

O’Connor, Quade. Beale, Pocock…these are superstars that Robbie picked out when they were young and vulnerable. He is fine…for now.

James

i’d agree with you if this was 2008.
- Steve
  
  Blaming players vs blaming deans…. Isn’t deans largely in charge of selections? Therefore ultimately responsible for the players?
Johnny- boy

It’s fine if you are a kiwi troll happy to see the Wallabies play badly
- Garry
  
  I’d be shaking in the isles too if I heard Dingo was leaving. That would bring parity back to the two squads.
  
  And our boys will be hungrier to win than a lifer on day release.
Zeno

DC – ‘There is no point in dropping him now, that is just stupid.’

Last night’s rumour was that Deans plans to walk after TRC. No immediate dropping was expected.

Jay-c

Fucking snakes in the grass, do people think this is actually helping?
How bout we all support out national team for a change? If things don’t work out we can look at that outside of competition- but shit like this is doing nothing but distracting the players and the coaching staff at a time they need to be focused. Anyone making a big fuss out of dropping deans now should be ashamed of themselves- sure your not happy with results- nobody fuckin is- but look what happened to the force this year- the wallabies need our support- fuckin pull your heads in

Johnny- boy

It can never be a ‘national’ team when the coach is not a ‘national’. It’s ok when you’re playing a game of skill like soccer maybe but when you’re getiing the crap bashed out of you by 120 kg monsters you need the full passion and support and belief of your country behind you. Deans has never been able to bring this to the Wallabies and never will. Especially while he is obviously determined to make sure his beloved All Blacks are not seriously threatened.
- mark conley
  
  Johhny-boy you’re joking right, there’s no evidence to say such folly. The bloke is obviously a really nice guy. He has been unable to ‘psyche’ his team, though he has not much (relative to say NZ) to choose from. As for intentionally making it easy for NZ what a load of BULLSH*T.
  My comment regarding Australian players, don’t get me wrong they are if not the best very close to it that we have, i as an australian am very proud of them.
  You’re not Johnboy from Canberra are you?
  - Garry
    
    Mark,
    
    I hope you are not an ARU troll.
    
    Dingo’s many failings as an international coach are well documented in these forums, have a search. From his failure to use the bench, to continuing to select under-performers (player management), to selecting players out of position (esp props), etc, etc,etc. Yes, on some level the players need to take some responsibility, but this is difficult in a group structure that includes a lack of the structure of a visible game plan.
    
    Don’t doubt the passion or support of most on the forum. We are hurting and enduring. We realise the disruptive nature of a change of coach (we seen many in his tenure). But like a family member slowly dying, we feel it’s time to cut out the cancer to save them.
@SackDeansNow

Jay whats the point of carrying on only to lose or win with bad habits.Let Ewen in now, so that by the time EOYT comes we have gone thru change already and can start looking at running some essex boys raggid like we used to
- Jay-c
  
  Man I’m not so sure ewen would do a much better job. There’s no denying he did a fantastic job in 2011, but he made a lot of shockers in 2012 and his coaching was made to look amateur by the decisions he made, also when I think about it he was behind a lot of crap decisions at the tahs and their boring style was the reason he wasn’t reappointed as I recall.

Riptide

The comments that Deans as coach should not be held accountable or be responsible for the collective failure of almost any Wallaby to play to their potential or a team that plays so inconsistently is laughable. That’s what a coach does; he gets a collection of players who he alone selects and puts on the paddock to play to its potential.

Blinky Bill of Bellingen

Riptide – Is Robbie the sole selector?

I was wondering if perhaps he’s having players thrust on him who perhaps he would not have chosen.

It seems to me that he needs to start picking on form and not potential. The Kurtley Beale, Quade Cooper and Drew Mitchell business had me really wondering.
- Steve
  
  Can anyone seriously answer this question? Is deans the sole selector? If not, who else is involved in the selections process and how? Do they have selection principlles or guidlines, or do they sit down and mull it over informally? The answer to these questions is important to know anyone got any ideas
  - ooaahh
    
    I would imagine it would be Robbie, Tony McGahan and Andrew Blades. Either way if selections are forced on him he has the choice to use them from a national squad. Top chefs don’t make a shit recipe with good ingredients.
  - ooaahh
    
    I was wrong above. I did a little digging. The selectors are Deans, Nucifora and McGahan
- @sackdeansnow
  
  Me too – how on earth can u justify Mitchell over LaCie turner or shipperly or say Speit – that was pure fantasy and totally irrational behavior by a coach who has clearly cracked under the pressure
  - Pedro
    
    I’m pretty sure Speight is Fijian, but other than that I totally agree. Mitchell is/was a great player but with a few others there or there abouts it seemed strange to put him in fresh from injury. What’s going on with Tomane? he’s the pick of the bunch I reckon.

Skip

Soon big john will state that dingo is the man for the job & he’s behind him 100%. Then we’ll know dingo is fucked.

http://www.andrewmosey.com Moses

Dingo has the full support of the board. Oh shit!

Clean Out

Its time for Dingo to go. More importantly though, its time fo JO’N to go!! The ARU needs to be cleaned out, big time, a la the Reds 2010. The organisation is rotten from the top down and has been for some time. We are seeing the state of dissaray made manifest more and more clearly as time has passed. It will get worse the longer we leave it.

Steve

Couldn’t agree more while you’re at it put the waratards admin in there and hit ‘flush’ on them as well. Dysfunctional…

Matt NT

Okay Deans picked out a couple of young stars who in 3-4 years have not consistantly performed. Whose to say they wouldn’t have been spotted otherwise.
Stop referring to him as “dingo” deans. The nickname infers we have taken a likenning to him. I keep telling everyone its “Drongo” deans.
Drongo defintions:
1. dumbass or idiot.
or
2. A “no-hoper” or fool. Derives from a racehorse of that name in the 1920′s that never one a race out of 37 starts.
You can pick which is more apt. (or both).

Dally M

Exactly.

Most of these young talented players he supposedly spotted, had already been identified by their Super Rugby teams.

All he did was hand them a gold jersey as well.
- Steve
  
  This is absolutely true. Diggers was a superstar among those following schoolboy rugby, as were kurtley and quade. Not sure abt joc but he killed it at schoolboy level so guess he did too. Don’t forget leeroy Houston who deans also selected that year

Robson

Deans IS accountable because that is his job.

The players, however, are not fault free either, but it is Dean’s paid task to get the message across to them; in fact several messsges. They don’t seem to be listening so we can only assume that he is (a) not driving the message home with the kind of urgency that brings goose bumps to their spines and (b) is not underpinning his message with the utterly exaustive work on the training pitch that translates to performance on the park.

Secondly the players are not responsible for the team compostion or the tactics that are employed. Those two areas belong exclusively to the coach and those two areas can seriously been found at fault in a number of different (and excrutiatingly painful) ways.

Garry

Gagger,

It would be cruel to toy with me now. I’m putting the champers on ice, and shaking the dust from the crystal d’arques from mum’s low boy.

If it’s true, I’m rethinking the possibility of Santa’s existence.

Queenslander

yes I too am excited. We can call it VD day either Victory Deans or for the less classy the ridding of an embarrassing pox from Oz rugby. think I will find a nurse to kiss in King George Square

From the sideline

Deans can’t be held accountable for poor execution by the players only a shit game plan. Basic skill lacking. They are paid enough. He did not kick the ball out on the full, fall off basic tackles, play with little heArt, only turn up to play for 30 minutes and think that that is good enough, poor positional kicks, continually taking wrong option when under pressure, not donating their match payments to charity or various u10 local clubs

What he is responsible for is a good game plan for a and b. Not talking the kiwis up and having a real go at the team failing

What he

Patrick

He surely is responsible for their lack of fitness…?

Steve

I agree Dean’s record against the AB’s is not up to scratch, But it is not much worse than his predecessor

From 2004-2008 their record was Lost 7 Won 2
and Deans 2008-2012 is Lost 14 Won 3
Win the next test and the two are the same percentages.
I definitely is worse for a Wallaby supporter to bear due the increasing regularity these 2 teams play now days.

Against out side of NZ during the same 2 era’s the win loss ratio has improved massively against SA (45-66%) Wales (70-87%) and France (33-100%)
Eng and Ire remain very similar (choosing to ignore Scots and Samoa)

Their World ranking was 4th when he took over in 2008 and he built them to 2nd in Sept 2010 and they have been their ever since
During the previous 4 years they dropped as low as 5th in 07 and spent a lot of time ant 3rd and 4th

Also remember during the Deans era NZ have only lost to 3 countries Aust (3 Times) SA (5) and FRA (1)

I freely admit I am a Cantabrian and have great respect fro Robbie Deans, but I do doubt there are too many other coaches who would have done a better job.
Jake White – Lets see how the Brumbies go next year as the wont surprise any teams.
McKenzie struggled as much as Deans has when his cattle got injured
Maybe they need a coach with a harden European record aka G Henry, could that mean Cheika? Joe Schmitt is also very highly credentialed but another Kiwi so won’t happen

@sackdeansnow

Mate the wallabies supporters expect the wallabies to run rings around everyone especially NZ – that is the first thing we think of when catching the footy – so screw being second – when it comes to footy we r the best – and u kiwis know it

wilful

Jim Callinan is odd if he thinks getting rid of Deans is a small part of the story. Frankly i just want him gone, I couldn’t care less where he went.

No one says the current underperformance by the wobblies is 100% Deans fault and that all will be roses and we’ll be no 1 as soon as he’s replaced. But he is responsible for the shapeless game we currently play with no structure, definition or plan, and he’s responsible for very odd selections and a failure to use the bench. He’s had five years, it’s more than long enough.

Chucka

I also don’t care where Deans goes after the Wallabies……… Unless he goe’s to the Tahs!! Then I’ll cry
- @sackdeansnow
  
  If he goes to the tags this is going to be fxxxking comical

Dally M

To all those naysayers who think that changing the coach won’t fix the problem, would you have said the same thing about the Reds or the Brumbies prior to Link & Jake taking over?

Sometimes just the change itself can rejuvenate players who have become stale because of the game plan, way they are used, position or role they are forced to play etc.

Plus a new coach has no baggage coming in and can make the hard calls to dump players who are not performing, while giving a shot to players who deserve a chance.

Better to do it now that the Bledisloe & Rugby Championship are lost and give the new coach plenty of time to get it sorted before the end of year tour & Lions tour next year.

NTA

Take a big step back everyone, here comes the truth:

Deans IS responsible, but only for trying to persist with an attacking game plan that keeps failing with this crop of players. Dwyer said it: change is needed here.

Saturday night was a big step up in heart from Bledisloe#1, and for that the players need to take a bit of credit for showing some pride. You can see it in their defensive work, and Timani was great I thought.

But here I now delve into the people who need to shoulder the blame:

#1 PLAYERS – these guys are paid not to go sit in an office for 8-10 hours a day to make other people money while worrying about their kids, mortgages, and the next unanticipated bill maxing out their credit card. They are paid – and bloody handsomely in a lot of cases – to play rugby at the highest level. The lack of fitness in some of these guys, combined with their “brand” bullshit and some of the stupidest haircuts I’ve seen, make me think that some of them aren’t taking it seriously enough. When you have nothing but team meetings and weight sessions to fill the space between 8AM and 6PM, you should have a bloody rugby ball in your hands and learn to CATCH and PASS. The skill level being shown by other nations is putting us to shame. If you want to “get away from the game” then fucking quit and let someone else have a go. Rugby is your life – the hundreds of thousands of dollars say so. Shit or get off the pot. Look what White did with a bunch of Club Players down in Canberra in one short year.

#2 ANY COACH WHO EVER TRAINED THESE PLAYERS. Right from juniors through to Super Rugby. These are the men responsible for instilling the beliefs of Australian Rugby into these guys, namely the value of holding the ball, running straight and hard, or deceiving the opposition with silky skills and near-perfect execution. I don’t see this, and it isn’t the national coach’s job to do this. By the time any of these lollygaggers get picked for the Wallabies, they should have their skills at 100%, and the national coach simply gives them the blueprint for victory using the talent he possesses.

#3 THE ARU – they keep propping up a system that just waits for once-a-generation talent to come through and dominate, rather than spreading rugby into new areas and trying to build a broader base. I dealt with Subbies for years here in Sydney, and they and NSWRU are the biggest fairweather friends Western Sydney could ask for: pat your back when you’re winning, stab it when you’re not. There is a complete failure to understand the grassroots outside of the Axis Of Evil (Uni, Randwick, Easts).

NSW Rugby, and the ARU, needs a big shake up, and then we can start to see our biggest province contributing to rugby like it used to.

murph

Agree with alot of what you said but what is that attacking gameplan again?
wilful

Seriously, this “brand” and “haircut” bullshit has got to stop. Firstly, you might not have noticed but James O’Connor wasn’t on the field last week, due to injury. Secondly O’Connor more than stood up during the recent World Cup, he was one of our top three players.Thirdly it hasn’t seemed to have affected his playing. You don’t like his haircut? I really don’t care about your fashion tips. You really think it gets in the way of his playing? How? Tell me directly, with examples.
- Patrick
  
  wilful is right, would that our props were concerned about their brands!!
- NTA
  
  You’re taking the reference to haircuts too literally, so I’ll present my argument in more literal terms:
  
  These guys are more interested in the value of their playing careers in financial terms than they are about anything else. You may point out that this means they’ll want to do their best to make sure they’re in the top tier of paid rugby players in this country, but I maintain that this no longer holds true. There are too many incumbents in this team; the Gen Y players who basically know they only have to be un-injured (you couldn’t say “fit”) to be picked, because they know that anyone else is not considered up to scratch.
  
  YOU tell ME how match-fit Kurtley Beale looked when he was dropping simple ball in Bled#1 and running upright into tackles rather than looking for space or driving in low and denying the opposition the ball.
  
  YOU give ME an indication how Quade Cooper’s kicking game was up to scratch for a top flight first five in the sport, despite a few years at the top level to do it.
  
  I think if you got some of those guys at the Brumbies, who are on far less dosh than some of the “stars” and put them in front of the All Blacks, they’d give at least as good an account of themselves, despite not getting all the marketing hype and sponsor dollars to furnish their lifestyles.
  
  You hold O’Connor up as an example – do you honestly think he would have done any better?
  
  P.S. James if you’re reading – get away from those Swisse guys. You’ve been broken since you started with them, and the other two points I’ll make are “Ricky Ponting” and “James Magnussen”. Poison Pills mate.
  - Dally M
    
    Take Hooper and his performance last weekend as an example. No frills, first test and he got stuck in.
    
    We need more of that!
  - http://BigFella Big Fella
    
    You’re onto it NTA.
    Rugby is now simply following other global sports where their young stars have been selfish, self promoting and personal image obsessed for years.
    US College athletes entering the NFL & NBA are classic examples with their bling, mega expensive suits and large entourages.
    The HUGE difference is that these emerging college guys back it up with on field/court performance, where our few flashy Wallabies who behave this way don’t walk the talk.
    Coaches and the playing group need to make sure they keep off field antics away from on field performance.
    Men sort out the boys.
    Where is Deans and our senior players strong leadership?
    Do we have any MEN in the Wallabies or are they just older boys?
    Maybe our next coach might want to chat with the Sydney Swans about their ‘no dickheads’ policy.
    Sadly Robbie is too nice to change himself or others.
- @sackdeansnow
  
  If ur fringe is too long sometimes it can affect u under the high ball
Fulltime

Very true and very well expressed.

murph

If Deans is given the arse by the ARU then turns up as the Waratahs coach I could very well laugh so hard that a tiny bit of wee comes out

Johnny-boy

Yeah if Deans goes to the Tahs then as a Reds supporter I’ll be wetting myself with laughter. The Tahs appear to have had Deans imprint all over them this year. I’d put money on Deans being told to help out Foley and Foley foolishly went along with it. McKemzie didn’t want Deans poison round the Reds and Deans sure as hell couldn’t tell Jake white anything about successful coaching. Maybe it explains the negative tactics of the Rebels and Force under Deans direction. I mean what else does deans do during the year. The attacking kicking strategy is straight out of the Crusaders coaching manual when Deans was there. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Foley do Ok at the Force now he is far enough away from Deans Tah/Sydney centric influence. Yeah pick Deans Tah board. Please !

JK

I am of the opinion that Dingo needs to go as well as a serious overhaul of the structure of the ARU but seriously, how is Mr Teflon aka Mr Nucifora still not getting any wraps for his part in the dismantling and undoing of the current up coming talent being fed into the Australian top tier?
The guys just beneath the super 15 are not up not to scratch and therefore under performing wallabies arent overly concerned about turning in bad performances because seriously, who else is there to pick from? Australian rugby is at the crossroads, time for a total overhaul.

Fulltime

At a crossroad? or straight downfall. Very tru what you say. Somebody else commented on this point of future Wallabies. “Look at what / where the under 20s are” and you will see the future of the Wallabies.
Sackthelotofem

Very good question about Mr Teflon (aka David Nucifora). He’s one of the selectors, he was or is In charge of the *cough* high performance unit and was coach of the under 20s and it appears he has been doing a shit job at all of them. In fact the only unequivocal success he appears to have had is coaching the Brumbies where he was famously sacked by the players, and they went on to win.

nufz

”There has been a concern that for some time within the Wallabies camp that while several experienced hard heads continue to provide the backbone, and put in the hard work, they have been let down by several supposed team superstars, who are too inconsistent on the field and too easily distracted off it.” Moore

http://www.dumptackle.blogspot.com Philip Bailey

No way Deans should go.

He can’t be blamed for poor decision making from players such as Barnes and Cooper and the lack of schoolboy skills such as catching a ball (Mr Beale).

The forwards are still the area that needs the most work too. Why not bring someone in to help if necessary?

There’s an article defending Deans below:

http://www.dumptackle-rugbyblog.com/2012/08/opinion-australias-robbie-deans.html

I’m sure most on here disagree, but it’s worth a read still.

nufz

I wouldn’t mind one iota if RD returned to the Cru as we havn’t won a super Championship for a while now.

I also wont mind a bit if RD coaches the ABs as given good players with a good attitude RD is a great coach.

For most coaches at most sports if the talents average and the attitude below average its pretty hard to turn out a champion team.

Dally M

OK then, we’ll swap the Wallaby coaching staff for the All Black coaching staff and i guarantee within 12 months we would be back to at minimum a close contest against the AB’s.
- nufz
  
  “I’ve spent a lot of time coaching with him, he’s not a bad coach. Any team that gets his services are going to benefit from it,” Hansen said.
  
  “They’re still the number two side in the world. He’s copping a lot of flak for losing to us, rather than people looking at the bigger picture.” Hansen.

redbull

The coach is responsible for basic skills.

The basic skills of the current Wallaby team is shithouse.

f*#k right off please Robbie

Spirit of Montreal

The game of Two-Up has had a really bad effect on the Australian character.

Let’s face it. Two-Up was invented by bored blokes who were so drunk they couldn’t keep count above two.

One consequence is that Australians are prepared to gamble on anything. I’m sure much of the grumbling about Deans is by punters who have lost.

A second consequence is binary thinking. Yes/No. Black/white. First or fail. Gold or zero. Australians are now notorious for believing that a silver medal is worth nothing. To people with a sense of proportion, it means you are second-best in a planet of seven billion people.

There is a third consequence. But I cannot mention it here as this is an Australian forum (binary, remember?).

BloodRed

Losing 22 – nil is not coming second it’s the definition of getting your arse handed to you. We were not in the competition and if you’re not trying to win a gold medal there’s no way you’ll win silver. We came fucking last by a country mile on Saturday, no silver lining there. And what the fuck has two up got to do with Deans inability to get adequate performances out of his current team.
Robson

Seven billion people don’t play rugby.

galumay

seriously i think you guys are dreaming if you think that changing the coach will change anything. Link is no magic solution, he has been exposed before as an ineffective coach, one season of success with the reds, in isolation, does not a coach make.

our problems are structural, the ABs are that much better than us, shit most of the ITM teams could beat our S15 teams on a good day.

we wont start consistently beating the AB’s unless we start playing rugby in public schools, develop a serious club competition across the major states, and live and breathe rugby every day of every week like they do.

if you want to understand this culture come to NZ, spend some time in the south island travelling between towns and see just how pervasive the rugby culture is.

graham henry was a crap coach that was very lucky to get the job back, yet even he couldnt lose a world cup last year with the team he had at his disposal and the depth of talent to cover injuries.

under steve hansen the AB’s are playing like shit, one try against the rabble that was the wobblies was a disgrace, but they are so much better than the competition that it didnt matter.

dont worry about calling for deans head, unless we can turn the game around at the grass roots level its all irrelevant anyway.

Dally M

Back the truck up a second.

Didn’t Link take the Tah’s the Super Rugby finals twice, almost winning against the Crusaders except for an ankle injury to Beale playing at 10.

Didn’t Link also coach Stade Francais reasonably successfully in the comp over there & Heineken Cup.

He then coached the Reds from last to Super Rugby champions.

That’s a good enough resume for me.
- nufz
  
  Whats Links record against RD coached teams?
  - Dally M
    
    Who cares?
    
    Deans was coach of a talent stacked Crusaders team that was the nucleus of the All Blacks for the much of that time.
    
    Does that mean that anyone who coached another team over that period is automatically shit?
    
    It certainly doesn’t mean Dean is the bees knees because he has failed to deliver on what he was hired to do.
    
    And to top all that, he’s now rolling out a defeatist attitude.
    
    How about you take him for All Black coach, oh that’s right, you didn’t want him either.
  - CT Hong Kong
    
    Quick bit of research, though I may have missed some overlap:
    2001 – 2003 Deans Asst coach of AB’s & Link Asst coach of Wobblies: 7 games played, Aus won 4, NZ won 3, no draws
    
    2000 – 2008 they coached at Super level, Tahs and Crusaders: after a good start, the Tahs winning the first two games, they then got beaten 5 games on the trot, including one Super XIV final. Played 7, Tahs won 2, Crusaders won 5.
    
    So not exactly sure what that proves, other than the Tahs have been rubbish for quite a number of years! :-)
Pedro

Why even field a team at all with that attitude?

The bottom line is if someone is not performing in a high level organisation, then they should be replaced. It doesn’t matter what someone has previously achieved, it’s what they are achieving now.

We didn’t have the same culture as NZ in the past and we have been competitive. It’s about getting the best performance out of the players you have at your disposal.
- nufz
  
  “It’s about getting the best performance out of the players you have at your disposal.”
  
  Couldn’t agree more. So on thise criteria RD is a great coach!

FedEx

Have to agree with observations about ‘brands’ and ‘ink’ and ‘haircuts’ on highly paid professionals that can’t produce an effort or level of skill that is worth watching ( or listening to post match).

What has me annoyed about Robbie Deans is this.

Was at Eden park last year to watch that semi final against the darkness with Quade Cooper being both hidden in defence and almost exposed on every level to the embarrasment of every Australian at the ground.

So back to Eden park take 2 last Saturday, and Robbie picks Quade again. Did his front line defence improve with 9 months off due to injury? Did his kicking skills improve? Did his fear of physical contact improve?

So what did Robbie Deans see in the last nine months that none of us saw?

murph

You didn’t watch the s15 then

Garry

With the possibility of Lance Armstrong’s stripping of his TDF victories for past violations, could the RFU renounce NZ’s
RWC victory for sending a mole to hobble a serious challenger?

AJ

People are just starting to sling mud now. Haircuts aren’t the problem – they’re not an accurate representation of the culture at the top level. Players are allowed to let loose, despite being professionals. Drunken antics and criminal convictions should set off alarm bells, not haircuts and commercial interests. And I don’t think any of us (with the exception of Bob Dwyer) have the right to criticise Deans’ coaching credentials.

What we *can* say is that the gameplan he is trying to imprint on this team is unsuitable, and that he has had years to adapt it to the skill-sets of Australian players. He has failed to adapt, and that is (arguably) why he is not the right coach for the job.

Let’s try to be constructive, and not pessimistic bandwagon supporters.

Fulltime

AJ – “adapt it to the skill-sets of Australian players”
either the Australians do not have skill-sets or Dingo / Drongo (Robbie for us) Deans is playing according to this Australian “skill-sets”.
I am disappointed with the Wallabies experience (coach and players), but let’s be realistic. The guys do not walk the talk (they are going to do this and that) and we are all still waiting. As for Nucifora, why the heck is he still at the point of also selecting? I thought that Deans would asked Jake White to assist / consult. Ewen is too desperate to get the job and maybe he should be given the opportunity … and you would have a better result against the AB’s the loosing margin could be less.
The Other Dave

^^ This.
Renewing his contract BEFORE the RWC was a shithouse idea, but that’s a poor reflection on the ARU, not Deans; Deans was acting rationally for accepting it.

We need a coach who focuses on execution, it seems like Deans’s approach works well with drilled players – which is what NZ produces. I think coaches like White and Link are more adept at whipping a team into shape, though I wonder if this could be done by ANYONE before the lions’ tour next year…
nufz

If my memory is correcy a BD tahs team did play a RD cru team a few years back. Can’t quite remember the score though?
- nufz
  
  Apologies for the typos.
  Bobs team lost 96 – 19.
  Which just goes to show the Wobblies could do a lot worse than 22zip.

Fulltime

apologies, it should read the “skill-sets” required.

Paskypool

I think we need to face the hard facts. Regardless if we have Deans or anyone else, until we have forwards who muscle up and get over the gain line we will never beat the All Blacks. If Carter was a Wallaby in this current team he would look crap always play off the back foot. Look at all great wallaby teams of the past, they all had dominate forwards. We have always had great backline players…. we just need good to great forward packs.

Robson

There is a lot of comment here that implies – or states outright – that the coach is not the main issue where the Wallabies plight is concerned.

If that is the case, Ewan McKenzie should never have succeeded with the Reds, who have come near or at the top of the S15 table for the last three years from wallowing near or at the bottom for a damn long time. Jake White (a foreign coach!!) should never have made the progress he has with the Brumbies, Dave Rennie should never have made the progress he has with the Chiefs from zero to S15 champs in one year and Mark Hammett should never have made the progress he has with the Hurricanes; and from being immensely unpopular to start with.

The coach is the hub of everything that a rugby team does and to go into denial on that is to be deluded by what is really happening.

A revealing insight to how the Deans mind works when it comes to rugby is his insistence that it is an “industry”. When you speak of the sport you coach in as an industry you allow people to wonder whether you think of the team you coach and the players in it as some sort of manufactured “product”.

It is no accident that the NZRU went with Graham Henry over Deans five years ago when it was widely expected that Deans would get the job after Henry’s lamentable RWC performance in 2007. The frailties that Deans exhibited as a backs coach for th All Blacks with John Mitchell were far more telling than any of the perceved weaknesses Graham Henry had.

bill

We named a swimming pool after Harold, should we go with a swimming pool again here? Maybe the ARU could go with the Nucifora-O’Neil-Deans conference room.

I’d be sorry to see Robbie go, seemed like there was a decent individual under there but the final arbiter of performance is performance. And frankly the kiwis are better than us as a team at the moment. However the wallabies have gone backwards in the last year or so since 2010.

The wallabies do have talent enough to challenge for no1. Victory loves preparation. And who’s in charge of that?

It’s a bad sign for a coach when he gets assistants parachuted in. Though I don’t know who had the say in this current mob.

richard

sackdeansnow @5.45 “we are the best, and you know it” – another delusional ozzie supporter; and we kiwis thought it was just your team that suffered from this affliction.

Oz rugby is only strong whilst it is playing in competitions with nz and sa – and poaching nz coaching and playing talent. Get into the real world, dipstick!

Dirt Tracker

If memory is correct, it was Richie McCaw’s insistence that swung the All Blacks decision to keep on with Graham Henry after 2007. McCaw’s been coached by Deans, Henry, and Hansen, and has a fairly keen rugby mind.

Has anyone hereabouts asked Richie?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6J6rMsBPOg Billy Bob Tweed

Bledisloe 2012, Eden Park: The ROBBIE DEANS & TONY McGAHAN Edit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6J6rMsBPOg