Brumby Runner
Jason Little (69)
My dream overnight:
I am Michael Cheika. I am the head coach of the Wallabies’ national rugby union team which has just been trounced by the NZ All Blacks on our home soil. This comes on top of a three test clean sweep by the English against us back in June. I have to do something drastic about our team and the way it plays the game to reignite some fan attachment and to plan for the future of this great game in our country.
I have come to realise that I have to acknowledge some deficiencies in our current team and in the game plan I have devised for them. There are some players I have selected who have disappointed in their game execution, some who appear to not have the level of skills I attributed to them, and others who have tried valiantly over the years but have now gone beyond their use by dates. I accept that it is my error to have persisted with these players and I accept the responsibility now of doing what is necessary to fix those issues.
My first consideration has to be about the suitability of my assistant coaches. I am not shifting the responsibility for our poor performances onto those men, but I now realise that a game plan built on the attacking and defensive structures that have been put in place will never have us competing with the best, and I truly believe some new coaching blood is the starting point for making improvements.
Our attack has been very pedestrian and so far behind the gain line as to have been almost completely ineffectual. Looking at options for bringing in an attack assistant coach, I have decided to offer the job to Mike Cron from the Shute Shield Northern Suburbs club. His success in the Shute Shield this year illustrated his ability to institute an attacking game plan for his players.
In defense, I am now convinced that the era of sliding defences has passed us by. Teams who have had most success against us in recent times play a more confrontational, rush defense and I am belatedly wanting to bring that element to our game plan. I am confident that I can find a suitable exponent from the coaching ranks in our premier club competitions but am still looking at options.
Turning to the players, I admit that I was wrong to rely on players who had forsaken their obligations to our national team in favour of earning big bucks overseas. To that end, I will no longer be selecting these players unless and until they have signed with a Super Rugby franchise and the ARU. I will also be more demanding of them proving their worth over the talent playing in the country. I will, also, as far as is possible, select players who have the full range of skills required of the positions I want them for. Most importantly, I will now be making selection decisions with an eye to the future and especially the 2019 RWC. I will accept game losses, especially to those world beaters the All Blacks, while I develop and hone these new players into test worthy players, with the assistance of my newly appointed assistant coaches.
Immediately, I will replace players whose performance has been regularly underwhelming for the upcoming second test against NZ in Wellington. Quade Cooper, Samu Kerevi, Reece Hodge and Kellaway will come into the starting side for next week, as will James Slipper, TPN, Adam Coleman, Scott Fardy and Lopeti Timani. I will be bringing Tom Robertson, Rory Arnold (or Tom Staniforth), and McMahon onto the forwards bench, while Jonno Lance, and Henry Speight will be joining the bench to cover for the Backline.
The team makeup will be:
Folau, Kellaway, Kerevi, Hodge, DHP, Cooper, Genia, Timani, Pocock, Fardy, Coleman, Douglas, Kepu, TPN, Slipper, with Ready, Sio, Robertson, Arnold/Staniforth, McMahon, Phipps, Lance and Speight on the bench.
I lament the results we’ve achieved this year, but I am extremely confident that the young side I’ve brought into Saturday’s test will provide a sound basis for the re-emergence of the Wallabies as a world rugby power in the next year or two.
I am Michael Cheika. I am the head coach of the Wallabies’ national rugby union team which has just been trounced by the NZ All Blacks on our home soil. This comes on top of a three test clean sweep by the English against us back in June. I have to do something drastic about our team and the way it plays the game to reignite some fan attachment and to plan for the future of this great game in our country.
I have come to realise that I have to acknowledge some deficiencies in our current team and in the game plan I have devised for them. There are some players I have selected who have disappointed in their game execution, some who appear to not have the level of skills I attributed to them, and others who have tried valiantly over the years but have now gone beyond their use by dates. I accept that it is my error to have persisted with these players and I accept the responsibility now of doing what is necessary to fix those issues.
My first consideration has to be about the suitability of my assistant coaches. I am not shifting the responsibility for our poor performances onto those men, but I now realise that a game plan built on the attacking and defensive structures that have been put in place will never have us competing with the best, and I truly believe some new coaching blood is the starting point for making improvements.
Our attack has been very pedestrian and so far behind the gain line as to have been almost completely ineffectual. Looking at options for bringing in an attack assistant coach, I have decided to offer the job to Mike Cron from the Shute Shield Northern Suburbs club. His success in the Shute Shield this year illustrated his ability to institute an attacking game plan for his players.
In defense, I am now convinced that the era of sliding defences has passed us by. Teams who have had most success against us in recent times play a more confrontational, rush defense and I am belatedly wanting to bring that element to our game plan. I am confident that I can find a suitable exponent from the coaching ranks in our premier club competitions but am still looking at options.
Turning to the players, I admit that I was wrong to rely on players who had forsaken their obligations to our national team in favour of earning big bucks overseas. To that end, I will no longer be selecting these players unless and until they have signed with a Super Rugby franchise and the ARU. I will also be more demanding of them proving their worth over the talent playing in the country. I will, also, as far as is possible, select players who have the full range of skills required of the positions I want them for. Most importantly, I will now be making selection decisions with an eye to the future and especially the 2019 RWC. I will accept game losses, especially to those world beaters the All Blacks, while I develop and hone these new players into test worthy players, with the assistance of my newly appointed assistant coaches.
Immediately, I will replace players whose performance has been regularly underwhelming for the upcoming second test against NZ in Wellington. Quade Cooper, Samu Kerevi, Reece Hodge and Kellaway will come into the starting side for next week, as will James Slipper, TPN, Adam Coleman, Scott Fardy and Lopeti Timani. I will be bringing Tom Robertson, Rory Arnold (or Tom Staniforth), and McMahon onto the forwards bench, while Jonno Lance, and Henry Speight will be joining the bench to cover for the Backline.
The team makeup will be:
Folau, Kellaway, Kerevi, Hodge, DHP, Cooper, Genia, Timani, Pocock, Fardy, Coleman, Douglas, Kepu, TPN, Slipper, with Ready, Sio, Robertson, Arnold/Staniforth, McMahon, Phipps, Lance and Speight on the bench.
I lament the results we’ve achieved this year, but I am extremely confident that the young side I’ve brought into Saturday’s test will provide a sound basis for the re-emergence of the Wallabies as a world rugby power in the next year or two.
