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I realise that English is a complex language, but saying that the "ideal" candidate would be Australian, is not the same as saying that the coach "needs" to be Australian. As it stands, if Cheika falls under the proverbial bus, there is no available Australian candidate that I can see (which...

The memory of Robbie Deans was still fresh in everyone's mind time and having the national team coached by a national is the ideal situation. You'll note, I never said it was an absolute, just the ideal.

Accepting your critique on Cheika for the purpose of the discussion (and I agree with at least some of the shortcomings that your have highlighted), but who do we replace him with? Stephen Larkham, Toney McGann, Richard Graham, Nathan Grey, Chris Hickey, Michael Foley, Tim Lane, Brian Melrose...

To extend your point Seb, name me a player in Australian professional rugby who has shown significant improvement in the past two years. Therein lies the problem. EDIT: And if you are able to name one, then try and name 15.:)

But this is the culture from the ARU chairman down. Why wouldn't the coach and the players buy into it. It's the corporate culture of the organisaton. Nothing, repeat nothing, will change until the whole structure of the game is reorganised. Rugby in Australia needs a purge of Stalinist...

NSWRU has had to be bailed out twice (at least) in the last 20 years or so. Wouldn't surprise me if they were on the cusp of the third strike. They all need to be allowed to go broke (which given the level of governance will happen).

Not me. I'm not quite that grey (yet).:)

That's the nub of the problem. It will be very difficult. It's why I think that almost total collapse is the best hope.

I wouldn't be backing against them. They are a big-game club.

Change is only possible if the structure is changed and democratic accountability is reintroduced. As per the RFU and FFR models, clubs affiliate directly to the governning body - state RUs go completely. There's no perfect system, but the one we have now is a travesty.

I admire people's passion and enthusiasm for debating the selection of one player over another. Without it these threads wouldn't exist. I would point out though that, broadly speaking, we have the best available players in the squad and we have the best available head coach. It's absolutely...

Once he moves beyond playing for Randwick (i.e. at higher levels) Beale has consistently shown that he can't run a game from 10.

A double advantage being if any of of guys have been suspended, we can count these games as being real games.;)

Margin about what I expected. Completely outplayed in the first half, but showed some guts to come back after half time. I at least liked the fact that we attempted to play an up tempo game to match the ABs. Unfortunately our skill level is way below theirs and it showed. Unfortunately I...

He's probably the best prospect on the horizon, but I'd prefer to see him spend more time at Norths before getting into the elite game. Too many coaches, players and referees have been elevated to professional status before learning their craft in clubland. (And dare I say it, I'd throw...

Because the ERU don't really represent Sydney or Brisbane, they represent themselves and a very narrow section of the rugby community.

My afternoon was going badly enough without mentioning the Waratahs.:eek:

Without getting on to a hobby horse, it's actually beyond belief that a team could go out and play a half of rugby with that gale behind them and not use a kicking-based game to gain field position. Have we so eradicated kicking skills as an option than teams just can't/won't do it? EDIT...

Couldn't have put it any better myself. Democracy might be an imperfect beast and sporting organisations run democratically don't always get it right as self-interest does indeed play a part. However, I'd back in an imperfect democracy, with a hint of self interest ahead of a corporatised...

I posted at 10.50pm on Friday, so "yesterday" meant Thursday. As you posted today, I assume that your "yesterday" means Friday?:)