A History of the Wallaby Back Line - Part1: 1979 to 1990

[Scott Allen]

I've just loaded a new video showing highlights of the Wallaby back line from 1979 to 1990.

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/history-of-the-wallaby-back-line-part-1-1979-1990/

Watch out for parts 2 - 4 over the next two weeks.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Fantastic stuff Austin. It almost makes me want to weep with joy seeing the sublime skills of Mark Ella again. He and Campese were the two blokes most responsible for awakening me to the joy of rugby and how attractive footy could also be winning footy.

One thing that characterised backlines that he ran was a relatively flat alignment, guys running straight and hard, rapid ball movement, sympathetic passing (not spinning the ball) and constant back up and support play. The ball beating the man. It's just so bloody fundamental. But you know who the unsung hero was? Simon Poidevin. The bloke was constantly right up the clacker of the ball carrier, running in support. Such a crucial link player and arguably the greatest back rower we've ever produced.

 

[RugbyFuture]

3 things:

1. its amazing what you can do when the all black backline isnt offside
2. amazing what you can do when you dont drop the ball, and run....
3. wow are players these days heaps bigger than they where or is it just that those shorts are so small?

 

[RugbyFuture]

also you can see these guys knew eachother, theres hospital passes and hail marys but support knows exactly where everything is going., they're all in tune with eachother.

 

[Hawko]

Thanks for the video Austin. Some of the younger commentators on this site do not seem to understand how good back play can be. What I see as not bad now some see as brilliant. The incisiveness of that (80's) play compared to the June/July tests provokes a feeling of mourning for what once was. As I commented on the front page, the All Blacks claim that they can improve 30% is not some sort of mind game - they are still that far off before they achieve the incisiveness shown in that era. God help us, we have got to improve 50-60%.

That said, our back play against England first test was respectable to good; but I haven't seen anything even close to that level thereafter.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

The sad part is Hawko that my introduction to rugby was watching that Mark Ella led backline. Only downwards from there eh?

EDIT: I would say that the backs were excellent in the Perth test. It was as good to watch as the Wales test last year.

 

[Brumby Jack]

also you can see these guys knew eachother, theres hospital passes and hail marys but support knows exactly where everything is going.,

Wait til Campo's British Lions 3rd test '89 effort....Half of the above comments will be true

 

[cyclopath]

Wait til Campo's British Lions 3rd test '89 effort....Half of the above comments will be true

Always amazes me the number of people who throw that up about Campo, yet it pales into insignificance compared to all the very good things he did, and the games he either won, or went a long way toward winning for Aus.
There were many factors in us losing to the BIL in 1989, and that was just one.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

The fact that we were mugged in the second test went a long towards getting done in by the Lions. I'll forgive Campo his indiscretions because I cast my mind back to the first half of the 1991 RWC semi final against the AB's, where he played some of the most sublime footy you'd want to see.

 

[Hawko]

Wait til Campo's British Lions 3rd test '89 effort....Half of the above comments will be true

That's what you occasionally get with a Campese-type player. Beale's grubber earlier this year falls into the same category. But what they bring to the table on the positive side far far outweighs the occasional brain-snap. We now have at least two Ella/Campese-type players: Cooper and Beale. With a good backline coach and good selection around them a return to the sublime is possible. Note I said possible, not guaranteed. But the possibility is so enticing that it should be the number two focus of our coaching team and the number one focus of the backline coach. (Number one is the improvement in our forward work, without which all will be lost anyway.)

 

[Hawko]

The sad part is Hawko that my introduction to rugby was watching that Mark Ella led backline. Only downwards from there eh?

EDIT: I would say that the backs were excellent in the Perth test. It was as good to watch as the Wales test last year.

Better I thought because England's defence wasn't as bad as Wales that day.

 

[liquor box]

Interesting to see that there were only a torpedo passes for the long ball and pop passes for a short ball. I wonder if this makes a difference in handling and not dropping the short ball?

Great Video

 

[Groucho]

One thing that shone out for me in that video was Campese setting up his supports. If AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) could pass as sympathetically as that when his bullocking breaks run out of room then he'd be a real star.

 

[naza]

Thanks for the effort Austin.

What stands out to me

1. How diabolically awful the defence is. Just truly putrid, not good enough for U13s. Makes it hard to credit the attack when the standard of defence is so poor.
2. Attackers are focused on support, not the ruck recycle. Our current mob seem to prefer to dive to ground and force a ruck rather than position their support runner.

 

[Gnostic]

Thanks Austin.

My intro like a few of the older heads here was with Ella, Campo and Lloyd Walker.

The key to them all apart from tireless training and practice at ball skills was backing up. Ella scored 4 tries in the Grandslam tour as much through his backing up and working to be in position as through his individual brilliance.

Campo's 2nd try against Scotland highlights the whole difference between the backs in those teams to what we have now. Campo offloads and loops around fully intending to get the ball back. That was always going to happen but look at how hard he and the support player (Cutler?) worked to get in the correct positions. It didn't just happen. For mine it is a key of what we are missing now.

As for a previous comment the pop pass can only work if there is somebody there to take it. How many times do we see this from today's Wallabies.

One last point I saw throughout Austin's vid was Poidevin. Elsom could do a lot worse than to have a look at how Poido supported and backed up. Look at his aggression and attitude.

 

[Bruce Ross]

My intro like a few of the older heads here was with Ella, Campo and Lloyd Walker.

The key to them all apart from tireless training and practice at ball skills was backing up.

"Tireless training"?? Mark Ella? Lloyd Walker?

I would have thought: "The key to them all apart from genius and practice at ball skills was backing up."

 

[Gnostic]

Not training as in running and fitness Bruce, even Mark Ella said he never ran flat out. Tireless training in the skills department. Yes they had natural skills but they also put in huge amounts of work in the skills area. Ella and Walker could pass equally as well out of each hand, long or short. Can you ever recall Ella or Walker dropping a ball?

 

[Bruce Ross]

Not training as in running and fitness Bruce, even Mark Ella said he never ran flat out. Tireless training in the skills department. Yes they had natural skills but they also put in huge amounts of work in the skills area. Ella and Walker could pass equally as well out of each hand, long or short. Can you ever recall Ella or Walker dropping a ball?

Yes Gnostic, I chose to read it as "tireless training" rather than "tireless training ... at ball skills".

One of my enduring memories of Mark Ella was from the Manly-Randwick Grand Final at the old Sports Ground. Randwick threw the ball into a lineout and won it but the referee blew his whistle for "not in straight". By the time the whistle had sounded the ball was back in the hands of the Randwick half back. Ella must have seen him move the whistle to his mouth and had instantly looped the ball back to his half back in one fluid movement. I doubt that anyone else noticed it but it has stuck in my memory.

I am convinced that for him the game was played in slow motion whereas for someone as untalented as me, it was basically a blur.

Undoubtedly the most creative player I have seen.

 

[Gnostic]

Yeah definitely Bruce. Glen wasn't far behind and Lloyd was simply magic. I think it was 1992 when I saw a fairly heavy weight Lloyd Walker at 10 for the Wicks and whilst he was as slow as a wet weekend around the pitch he proved time and again the Dwyer saying "The Ball will always beat the man".

My abiding memory of Mark Ella is seeing him attack the ABs lin and get tackled and he passed the ball around the AB defender and hit the support player perfectly. He did it time and again, like you say he just seemed to have so much time even with the Randwick/Dwyer flat line attack.

 

[Gnostic]

2nd test V ABs 1984. Two parts I particularly like in this clip
1) Ella regathering his on drop goal rebound to score
2) Robbie Deans driven over his own try line by Campo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjd5qohmM9Q&feature=related