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Kurtley Beale

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barbarian

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
My take (after a few beers approaching midnight, the only time I feel it's safe to read this thread):

- The Link/Patston rumours sound like guesswork to me. Male boss has a close female confidant, who he promotes. Regardless of her competence, immediately some will think 'he's fucking her'. No doubt some players have made this leap too. There has been nothing to suggest this is anything other than a close professional relationship, and hence I am assuming its bogus.

- The Beale text messages indicate a big disconnect between the Wallabies and the ARU. The fact that it was handled 'in house' in June but only come to light in St Leonards now indicates big issues.

- There is clearly some disquiet over Patston's role. Robinson isn't just making this shit up. There is a reason the players are sticking up for Beale here. I can't see her carrying on in her current role if she doesn't have the complete support and respect of the players.

- Beale is probably fucked. As soon as Pulver said the texts were 'deeply offensive' the writing was on the wall. Given his past history and current patchy form I can't see him pulling on the gold any time soon.

- I don't buy that this saga means the Wallabies are a shambles, and the Kiwis will belt us in a few weeks time. It's just backroom shenanigans concerning a non-coaching team official and a fringe squad member. It's not ideal, but it's not exactly indicative of a 'toxic environment'.

- The NSW/QLD talk is a bit much. I don't want Cheika at the Wallabies, I want him at the Tahs! All but the most rabid of fans will prioritise the health of the Wallabies over the Tahs, and I am the same.
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Muglair

Muglair

Alfred Walker (16)
Too much conciliation, manipulation and posturing. All of the Wallabies are going to be highly focussed and motivated individuals, aggressive, arrogant and stubborn. That is how they got there.

Go and find my posts on the subject at the time if you like but I said then that the whole McKenzie for coach thing was a charade perpetuated by gullible media acolytes (shit, where is the spell check, I can't believe I spelled that right).

A whole lot of what has been posted here fits my misgivings, except a whole lot worse than I would have speculated. It all starts at the top and it looks to me like Pulver can't handle the personalities that this sport will throw up at the national level while trying to balance perceptions of what the public wants.

NRL has the same problem which has Phil Gould teetering on apoplexy for fear of his game's future.
 
ACT Crusader

ACT Crusader

Jim Lenehan (48)
qwerty51 said:
How the fuck does the Daily Telegraph get access to internal emails, which ARU official is leaking this shit.
Click to expand...

Could be Beale's manager. The way that article is written does seem to paint Beale in a better light - "trying to broker a peace deal" "Patston warned against it"
 
Strewthcobber

Strewthcobber

Mark Ella (57)
The electronic trail details how Patston initially warned Beale away from attempting to broker a peace deal before a dramatic change of heart 48 hours later.
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That is one terribly written sentence.....
 
Muglair

Muglair

Alfred Walker (16)
Time to bring in Batman, 13 posts gone missing.

Looks like the Barbarian isn't the only one humming at this time of night!
 
Slim 293

Slim 293

Stirling Mortlock (74)
Muglair said:
Too much conciliation, manipulation and posturing. All of the Wallabies are going to be highly focussed and motivated individuals, aggressive, arrogant and stubborn. That is how they got there.

Go and find my posts on the subject at the time if you like but I said then that the whole McKenzie for coach thing was a charade perpetuated by gullible media acolytes (shit, where is the spell check, I can't believe I spelled that right).

A whole lot of what has been posted here fits my misgivings, except a whole lot worse than I would have speculated. It all starts at the top and it looks to me like Pulver can't handle the personalities that this sport will throw up at the national level while trying to balance perceptions of what the public wants.

NRL has the same problem which has Phil Gould teetering on apoplexy for fear of his game's future.
Click to expand...


 
ChargerWA

ChargerWA

Mark Loane (55)
My problem with Beale is his lack of respect for Link. Link does him a solid and keeps the initial text shit under wraps, then Kurtley basically sells him down the river by escalating it again.

Kurtley can't be the sharpest bloke if he hadn't realised that the skeletons would come out of the closet once he went down that path.

But I will say, if the innuendo about McKenzie/Pattson proves to be true, McKenzie has to go. He's the top man in Aus rugby and there are certain standards that have to be met, and that sort of behaviour (missing trainings/dinner) isn't good enough.
 
ChargerWA

ChargerWA

Mark Loane (55)
My problem with Beale is his lack of respect for Link. Link does him a solid and keeps the initial text shit under wraps, then Kurtley basically sells him down the river by escalating it again.

Kurtley can't be the sharpest bloke if he hadn't realised that the skeletons would come out of the closet once he went down that path.

But I will say, if the innuendo about McKenzie/Pattson proves to be true, McKenzie has to go. He's the top man in Aus rugby and there are certain standards that have to be met, and that sort of behaviour (missing trainings/dinner) isn't good enough.
 
Ash

Ash

Michael Lynagh (62)
I'd say that GR will be writing very favourable stories for the players, as they are her source and she is trying to stay close to them.

Whether that means her stories are entirely factually correct or contain quite a bit of hearsay, you can be the judge of that. If you read some of her initial stories about this whole kerfuffle, they weren't exactly all facts.

Same goes for every other story / journo out there. For instance, if Growden had insiders in the ARU and didn't need a favourable rapport with the players, then he'd write what he wanted about the players.

This could all still end up being a storm in a tea cup, or a bit flaming disaster. It's still all up in the air.
 
mst

mst

Peter Johnson (47)
Muglair said:
While I admire everyone's obsession with the sports pages this situation plays out every couple of months in the business section. I think anyone who thinks anyone in management is going to be pushed out over an airplane argument without starting a much bigger and more lucrative fight is delusional.

Rugby HQ and SMH both say the text issue was dealt with by the Wallabies in June. Why save it and bring it out now? Attack must be the best form of defence (at least someone on the Wallaby team management now understands this).

We can't expect much from Pulver here, he is hopelessly compromised given his grandstanding on McKenzie's appointment (running rugby? Tahs 2005-2008? Give me a break). If the weight of rumours is true then the ARU is even more hopelessly compromised agreeing to the appointments in the first place.

Can't be long before we get taken over by the NRL so they can have access to the World Cup and Olympic Games (we need some of their forwards anyway).

Who might be a replacement coach? Cheika needs years and cooperation from 5 Super Rugby franchises to make his game work (another thread is already open on this maybe?). Deans and McKenzie have both struggled with trying to put together a cohesive team from these bits and pieces and performed best on EOYT. The dressing room is split; that might mean McKenzie doesn't have support but it could also mean the same for the incoming coach.

Another interim appointment a la Connolly? An expendable Jake White to come in, sharpen the forwards and our kicking game, salvage something at the RWC and ride off into the sunset? Doesn't look as silly as it did 20 pages ago.
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I don't think Pulver is compromised at all. If Kurtley has sent inappropriate text messages then Pulver can view this as grounds for dismissal. We would agree with such a decision if the evidence supports that the offence happened.

If the Wallabies business manager (I would assume has to be a senior position) receives inappropriate social media content from a player, and its personally offensive an apology may suffice. However for the Wallabies brand / organisation (workplace), formal action should have been taken regardless of who its was directed at, and it reported to Pulver. This report may have been that it was resolved at the time.

The risk to brand Wallaby and the professional of the ARU workplace, including management protocol have been breached by the incident not being reported. As an employee of the ARU has failed in their management obligations. to both protect the ARU, ensure workplace professional standards are met, and be accountable, there are sufficient grounds for dismissal. Again, we would support this if the evidence was there. I personally would dismiss them from not reporting to the ARU and removing themselves for dealing with the issue as they could not be judged to make an unbiased decision, thus being a conflict of interest.

If McKenzie had any knowledge of this, same as above, except it is a bigger failure. He is a senior employee, leader of the team and a public face of the game and holds more responsibility to the protection of the integrity and performance of the Wallaby brand than any other.

The above would similarly in-turn apply to the players. maybe to a lesser degree, but the sanction should be proportional to the evidence. EG: if they received the messages and did not report them, and are "senior" Wallabies player, dismissal should be consider like above.

One thing that need to be clearly proved or disproved is is there any relationships that exist in the ARU that are a conflict of interest (real or perceived). This includes personal relationships in the ARU workplace that may have had a bearing on events.

At the end of the day Pulver need to decide what's acceptable, and none of the above is.

He, like the ARU board need to man up and clear the deck sadly, and its going to hurt, but unless we want to viewed like the NRL in regards to these issues, this current soft blinkers and scripted approach WILL hurt the game.

I will say the next ARU affiliated person who says anything about the "strong Wallabies culture" or "have full confidence in" is making a fool of themselves with all of this going on.
 
Muglair

Muglair

Alfred Walker (16)
If the innuendo is true then missing training and team dinners is the least of the issues. The people running the ARU are very highly paid custodians of a major enterprise. If there are legs to this story I wouldn't pay them to run a coffee shop. The implications of that are huge. Then we are not talking about turning the Titanic 1000 feet from the iceberg but more like 1000 feet from the ocean floor. Technically more difficult.
 
The_Brown_Hornet

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
ChargerWA said:
My problem with Beale is his lack of respect for Link. Link does him a solid and keeps the initial text shit under wraps, then Kurtley basically sells him down the river by escalating it again.

Kurtley can't be the sharpest bloke if he hadn't realised that the skeletons would come out of the closet once he went down that path.

But I will say, if the innuendo about McKenzie/Pattson proves to be true, McKenzie has to go. He's the top man in Aus rugby and there are certain standards that have to be met, and that sort of behaviour (missing trainings/dinner) isn't good enough.
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Dead right. If I were Link I'd be furious with KB (Kurtley Beale) right now. It seems that there is a cohort of players in the Wallaby system who feel that the normal rules don't apply to them. In these situations either the team or the players win and I guess time will tell which it is in this case. The EOYT will be interesting to observe.
 
Beefcake

Beefcake

Bill Watson (15)
ChargerWA said:
My problem with Beale is his lack of respect for Link. Link does him a solid and keeps the initial text shit under wraps, then Kurtley basically sells him down the river by escalating it again.

Kurtley can't be the sharpest bloke if he hadn't realised that the skeletons would come out of the closet once he went down that path.

But I will say, if the innuendo about McKenzie/Pattson proves to be true, McKenzie has to go. He's the top man in Aus rugby and there are certain standards that have to be met, and that sort of behaviour (missing trainings/dinner) isn't good enough.
Click to expand...

I'd put it, if the Link installs a 'fixer' with no designated job description, which evolves at a rate where it encroaches on the players ability to scratch their nuts, without a hint of an explanation (obviously players are dismayed either with the appointment of Patson or lack clarity in her role), then under the guise of this deception, Link, in the first instance, has disrespected the players. For all his talk about culture, rule one of culture club, is there are no rules. Should have led by example.
 
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