Why Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has to go
- by: Andrew Slack
- I AM not a fan of knee-jerk reactions or firing coaches mid-term. Both reek of panic, and panic solves nothing.
The calls for Robbie Deans' sacking after last week's defeat in Auckland were inevitable, predictable and sad, and in the immediate aftermath, I was convinced there wasn't much to be gained by listening to the howling wolves.
My thinking changed when Deans' appraisal of the match appeared.
His public comments went along the lines of the All Blacks simply being too good, and every other team, Wallabies included, will generally be playing for second when they play the world champions. God forbid he said that to the team behind closed doors. Defeat is one thing, hoisting the white flag is another. Personnel won't change vastly for either the All Blacks or Wallabies before they next meet here in Brisbane next month.
If Deans still has the job, what will his plea be to the players as they prepare?
"C'mon fellas, as I've already stated and you've most likely read, the boys in black are obviously much better than you lot.
"Try and stay within 20 points will you?"
He also chose to praise his team's defensive effort. In the light of not much else going right, it was probably an understandable tack. The Wallabies were gritty and gutsy, but so they damn well should be. They are Test rugby players. Does an English professor get kudos because he's a good speller? It's part of the job.
The worry is there are too many areas within the job description of a Wallaby player where performance hasn't met expectation.
Coaching at this level must be about getting more out of players than solid basics, and not even those basics have been up to scratch.
Perhaps the Wallabies created a rod for their own back by their outstanding performance at Suncorp Stadium last year when they dusted the All Blacks in a superb display of rugby. They showed they can do the business, but rather than being a springboard, it was the summit.
Currently, they look miles below base camp.
A respected former Wallaby star said this after last week's match. "We could try something like play the game wider, clear the ball more quickly from breakdowns, get running forwards to drop their body height by about a foot, kick the ball to open space, or heaven forbid, kick for field position . . . at least that would be something different! Easy from here, but we looked in compete disarray at times, which indicates a confidence lost."
Confidence lost - too true.
Deans' greatest failing has been his poor and inconsistent selections. If there is a policy, it changes from week to week, and players must be confused.
Quade Cooper wasn't picked in game one because he hadn't played enough within the team structure, and yet a week later, there are four positional changes in the backline.
The chosen starting hooker for the All Blacks game, Tatafu Polota-Nau, announced on the Thursday that he wasn't fit enough to be there from kick-off, but might be OK to come off the bench. Team management were happy to accommodate him. Surely they were joking.
Maybe not, because Cooper's performance at a media conference that same day was not only a blight on the player himself, but also team management and the code's administration at the very top.
He was put in front of the media, but chose to give a 10-second statement, put the microphone on the ground in front of the assembled throng, walked away and refused to answer a single question.
For all the media's shortcomings, they are the gateway to the fans, and rugby is hardly in a position to be firing the bird at the public.
Cooper and others can be prolific Twitter users and that is condoned because players are "engaging with fans".
I'll tell you how to properly and permanently engage with fans. Chuck your phones down the toilet and play some decent rugby.
Let's not start on the Wallaby players laughing with their All Black opponents immediately after the Eden Park hiding.
At the time I was sitting beside a competitive, feisty little chap named George Gregan. The smoke coming out of his ears set off the fire alarms.
Deans, and by extension, ARU boss John O'Neill, have been in charge of this litany of shortcomings. O'Neill's pass mark for the Wallabies' third place in last year's Rugby World Cup was as naive as my belief coaches shouldn't be sacked mid-term.
Australia didn't fire a shot in that tournament and that nobody in charge was prepared to admit as much sets mediocrity as a standard Australian rugby seems satisfied with.
In the past fortnight, even mediocrity has seemed some distance away. Without vast and rapid improvement, someone will definitely pay.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...-deans-has-to-go/story-e6freon6-1226463233852
