Deans contract extended

[gone]

I thought Beale played 15 for the Wallabies in the midweek games on the EOYT in 2009 before Hickey tried to turn him into a 12 last year unsuccessfully... up till then he had only been a 10 for the Tahs... may be wrong though

 

[Gnostic]

This from Wayne Smith in the Oz. I know it is specifically about JON, but the points he makes about JON not having any real review on KPIs applies equally if not more to Deans.

THE most significant appointment in Australian rugby in the last three years, the re-contracting of John O'Neill as chief executive officer of the ARU, was greeted yesterday by a deafening silence from the game's major stakeholders.

Senior officials of the NSW, Queensland, Victorian and West Australian rugby unions all declined to comment on the record when contacted by The Australian for a reaction to the ARU board's decision to extend O'Neill's contract through to the end of 2013.

Only the ACT's Andrew Fagan was prepared to make a public comment and that, presumably, was because he was happy to say something favourable. "We're very supportive of his re-appointment," Fagan said. "The next two years are going to be very challenging, but will also provide opportunities for the growth of the game. It's a good decision for him to stay on and one that we support. His appointment isn't opposed by the ACT."

All of the rest were stunned and dismayed -- and most of them outraged -- by the ARU press release announcing the news.

The top job in Australian rugby had been filled for effectively another three years and none of them had even been aware the decision had been made late last week. After all, O'Neill's existing five-year contract has 17 months still to run.

But, to a man, all of them stayed silent when asked for an on-the-record comment. Why? Because, as one of them put it, we have to work with O'Neill and the ARU and we don't need the grief.

O'Neill's reappointment raises a host of questions but three in particular: Why so soon? Why so stealthily? And what key performance indicators was he judged against?

The supposed rationale for re-signing O'Neill so soon was to enable him to head off any attempts by the New Zealanders to reclaim Robbie Deans if the Wallabies get the better of the All Blacks at the World Cup in October.

As my colleague on The Australian, Bret Harris, put it on February 5: "The ARU board is poised to extend O'Neill's contract beyond the World Cup which would enable him to make the call on Deans' future sooner rather than later. Keeping the O'Neill-Deans team together will give Australian rugby security and stability beyond the World Cup and build into the British and Irish Lions series in 2013."

With due respect to Harris, I could not disagree more strongly. My observation of Deans over the past three years is that he is very much his own man and would continue to do fine work with the Wallabies irrespective of whether O'Neill remains as chief executive.

It is not Deans hitching his wagon to O'Neill's star but very much the opposite.

Nor is O'Neill essential to the process of retaining Deans as coach. If the ARU is determined to finalise the Wallabies coaching position before the team runs the gauntlet of the World Cup, then that surely is a decision the board itself could make.

Although The Australian broke the news back in September of the ARU's plan to re-appoint O'Neill through to the end of 2013, the issue has been kept off the radar, with senior stakeholders believing no decision would be made at least until the middle of the year.

Then, last Friday, when the eyes of the Australian rugby community were focused on Melbourne and the launch that night of the nation's newest Super Rugby team, the Rebels, the ARU board met in Sydney and rubber stamped O'Neill's new contract.

At least that explains why not a single ARU board member attended Thursday's Weary Dunlop Lunch in Melbourne, passing up the chance to rub shoulders with some of the most influential business executives in the country.

Heaven knows that's where O'Neill needed to be. The ARU, astonishingly, does not have a sponsor for its major competition, Super Rugby. Investec Bank, which had sponsored the tournament in Australia for the past three years, has broken off its relationship with the ARU. So too has Bundaberg Rum.

The ARU is running a deficit this year in the vicinity of $8 million and presumably now, nearly four years after Gary Flowers was driven out of the job for having the courage to deliver what the game most desperately needed, the Australian Rugby Championship, the statute of limitations on what O'Neill's predecessor still can be blamed for has surely expired.

Yes, the participation figures have risen dramatically under O'Neill, reaching a record 209,571 according to a recent ARU release, although as the Green and Gold rugby website wryly noted at the time "you wouldn't have seen so much padding (of figures) since your Year 10 formal".

The ARU is claiming credit for Melbourne's entry to Super Rugby but in fact Flowers, after awarding the Super 14 expansion licence to Perth in 2005, wrote to the Victorian Rugby Union promising that Melbourne would be given the next licence. So in effect, O'Neill was only honouring that organisational promise, although perhaps the less said about the ARU's role in how the Rebels came to be, the better.

It may be, as uninspiring ARU chairman Peter McGrath said in his press release yesterday, that O'Neill is the best man for the job but who would know?

With the exception of Flowers' 1000 days, the ARU has been O'Neill's fiefdom since the dawn of professional rugby back in 1995.

Promising as the future might appear to be, at present Deans' figures are the worst of any Wallabies coach since rugby went professional, 24 wins from 43 Tests.

So what KPIs did the ARU board employ in re-engaging O'Neill?

Under him the union now has record debt, the lowest Wallabies win ratio of the professional era, a market share that has fallen from 22 per cent in 2001 to 13.7 per cent today, no sponsor for Super Rugby and stakeholders so terrified of head office and its "adversarial management style" as one state official euphemistically put it, that no one dares speak against him.

Australian rugby, you've done it again

Oh well, all here know my views on the tenure of Deans. There have been some good things along with the bad.

IMO the good :-
1) Change in game plan from the endless recycle and possession game to an attack/counter attack focused plan.
2) Finally finding a real alternative/successor to the 10 position - though I am torn in this thinking that most coaches would have selected Cooper on the basis of his S14 form.
3) A return (in the last few games) of real competition at the Ruck (and not just relying on SMith and now Pocock to pinch the ball) and mauling from Oz.

The Bad:-
1) The scrum - it is obvious to many that Deans wrongly or rightly does not value the scrum, given the limited number there are in most matches. Hence his selection preference for Props and second rowers that at best are capable of delivering stable ball on our feed, pressuring the opposition scrum is not possible. At worst these selections lead to humiliating capitulations in this facet of play.
2) The Lineout - without Sharpe to direct the play the lineout is very weak, based solely around selections again.
3) Selection - players who have NEVER really produced the goods at Test level get selected time and again, and are reported time and again to be on their last chance. Players woefully out of form continually selected when there are genuine tested options to them. (I can leave you all to fill in the names)
4) Apparent inability to accept input from specialist coaches who do not agree with his "master" plan.
5) NO results have been produced.
6) The KPIs that were published by JON for Deans on his appointment have not been met.

At least there will be hours (and hours) of enjoyment for the readers of my posts on this subject I am sure.

 

[Gnostic]

I thought Beale played 15 for the Wallabies in the midweek games on the EOYT in 2009 before Hickey tried to turn him into a 12 last year unsuccessfully... up till then he had only been a 10 for the Tahs... may be wrong though

Bob Dwyer originally played KB (Kurtley Beale) at 15 in some Tahs games in 2006? from memory.

 

[qwerty51]

KB (Kurtley Beale) debuted in 2007 I'm pretty sure.. He was still in school in 2006.

 

[Cutter]

My question is this:

Is there any player, apart from the architect, who has actually been dropped by Deans that was a long standing encumbent. I can't think of any?

Sharpe. That has turned his career around. George Smith was dropped to the bench. Gits has been dropped to the bench. Lote Tuqiri was evicted on Deans' watch (and, no doubt, with Deans' input and blessing). Shepherdson, Dunning... I'm sure there are others.

I'm pretty sure the players know, perhaps more than they have in the past, that if they don't perform they will be dropped. There are now also genuine alternatives in most positions. In some cases it might just be replacing an average player with another average player. But we haven't even had that luxury in the recent past.

Deans is criticised over the scrum, but what other options have there been? Palmer has only just cracked a run on position in a province. The architect has had his card marked by the Men of the Whistles. Fairbrother? Holmes? Shepherdson? Of those, only Fairbrother is starting in a provincial side at the moment. Its not as though we have a range of front row options from deluxe to super deluxe.

In respect of the locks, Van was selected as soon as he was fit. The other locks, apart from Douglas and, in hindsight, its clear he benefited from a full off season, were'nt really putting their hands up. Ben Hand? McCalman (another Deans success story) was playing lock for the Force.

The reality is that our tight forward depth isn't brilliant. Its improved (particulary when there arent too many injuries), but its not overflowing.

All things considered, I can't see how any other coach could have done better.

 

[Lee Grant]

Yep - and Dwyer wasn't the coach in 2006 anyway.

You had a shocker Gnostic: two mistakes in one sentence. It usually takes me longer than that to make my first two in a post, but then I usually write more sentences than you do.

 

[Lee Grant]

The architect has had his card marked by the Men of the Whistles.

Gold Cutter; very JRR Tolkien.

 

[Bullrush]

Sharpe. That has turned his career around. George Smith was dropped to the bench. Gits has been dropped to the bench. Lote Tuqiri was evicted on Deans' watch (and, no doubt, with Deans' input and blessing). Shepherdson, Dunning... I'm sure there are others.

My knowledge of the Wallabies may get shown up here but....

George Smith has been dropped to the bench before - nothing new. There was period where Waugh was pushing him hard for that starting spot and they were both getting played with Smith at 6. And I think George Smith was getting near the end of his time whether Pocock was there or not.

Gits got dropped in the last 2 games. Some people here think that was about a year too late.

Tuquiri being let go had nothing to do with on-field performances. He probably rates as one of the Wallabies best performing players in the last 5-7 years.

I'm not sure about Shepherdson but Dunning was pretty much in and out of the team depending on how many intercepts he got wasn't he? Were these two really 'long-standing encumbents'?

 

[Reddy!]

I think Gerrard was an incumbent who was overlooked severely, despite being the best fullback in the Super 14 for 2 seasons.

 

[Ruggo]

People still think George Smith was dropped? I would put it into the succesion planning catagory as it is a little odd to se a player dropped then take part in a role sharing exercise like that we seen on the 2009 EOYT. That would have to be added to the list of Deans successes.

As for the scrum, this is a double edged sword as Deans selected players on their Super 14 form and showed loyalty in persiting with them. That loyalty and persistance I see as a huge reason why we are seing such good player retention from the ARU. No doubt it was ugly but we should not lose sight of the fact that Deans put himself in the line of fire in doing so. I am not sure others would have the courage to do that.

In saying that I can understand the frustration of some fans to a point.

 

[waratahjesus]

the thought on george smith and tuqiri can be moved well away from deans tot eh JON thread. tuqiri had his problems but it was ultimately the offer of him staying on at half his contract from JON that led to him going, while and maybe a few brumbites might confirm this, the succession planning of pocock over smith came after the ARU offed smith a new contract but he also would have had to have taken a pay cut, so decided it was time for a change.

deans came in at a time when the ARU were slashing budgets and contracts and as much as we would like to believe in Deans being some sort of super master mega coach, the best country in the world (according to IRB rankings) didnt want him, yet were paying him more than any other coach to be mediocre.

 

[Scotty]

I thought Beale played 15 for the Wallabies in the midweek games on the EOYT in 2009 before Hickey tried to turn him into a 12 last year unsuccessfully... up till then he had only been a 10 for the Tahs... may be wrong though

My memory is that Deans only had him on the wing in mid week games.

 

[Gnostic]

Yep - and Dwyer wasn't the coach in 2006 anyway.

You had a shocker Gnostic: two mistakes in one sentence. It usually takes me longer than that to make my first two in a post, but then I usually write more sentences than you do.

I will claim the noble sacrifice of those brain cells (and the associated memories) to the copious amounts of fermented beverage required to endure those seasons.

 

[Gnostic]

the thought on george smith and tuqiri can be moved well away from deans tot eh JON thread. tuqiri had his problems but it was ultimately the offer of him staying on at half his contract from JON that led to him going, while and maybe a few brumbites might confirm this, the succession planning of pocock over smith came after the ARU offed smith a new contract but he also would have had to have taken a pay cut, so decided it was time for a change.

deans came in at a time when the ARU were slashing budgets and contracts and as much as we would like to believe in Deans being some sort of super master mega coach, the best country in the world (according to IRB rankings) didnt want him, yet were paying him more than any other coach to be mediocre.

Thats a bit different to the reality.

The team is not significantly different to that which trotted out under Deans in the first year. Last year he even brought back Chisholm who has been a consistent non performer at test level instead of trying Simmons or Douglas at an earlier stage. As for the argument that Deans has selected on Super form, what a crock that is. For example if that was the case Weeks and not Ma'afu would have got the propping spot and Giteau would not have made the starting 15 and argument cold be made for him not to be in the 22.

 

[waratahjesus]

Thats a bit different to the reality.

how so, both the ARU and the Turq have stated that he was offered a reduced contract at half his rate to stay and said no and then was terminated. so reality would have it being fact IMO

 

[Gnostic]

how so, both the ARU and the Turq have stated that he was offered a reduced contract at half his rate to stay and said no and then was terminated. so reality would have it being fact IMO

Not in any media release I have seen. The official releases I recall all declined to say why his contract was dispensed with, though there are those who know here. He wasn't offered a new contract as the contract he had was still current. His issues as you said were what caused the review and ended the contract.

As somebody else said he had been up to that point one of the most consistent Oz backs if not in the best of form.

 

[RugbyReg]

My memory is that Deans only had him on the wing in mid week games.

nup:

Mumm to lead Qantas Wallabies against Gloucester
November 02, 2009 - 4:24pm
Story by: ARU

The Qantas Wallabies team to play Gloucester at the Kingsholm Ground, Gloucester, on 3 November, 7.45pm kick off (6.45am, 4 November, AEST), is:

15. Kurtley Beale (NSW Waratahs)
14. Lachie Turner (NSW Waratahs)
13. Ryan Cross (Western Force)
12. Tyrone Smith (Brumbies)
11. Drew Mitchell (NSW Waratahs)
10. Quade Cooper (Queensland Reds)
9. Luke Burgess (NSW Waratahs)
8. Richard Brown (Western Force)
7. Matt Hodgson (Western Force)
6. Mitchell Chapman (Brumbies)
5. Dean Mumm (NSW Waratahs, captain)
4. Dave Dennis (NSW Waratahs)
3. Salesi Ma’afu (Brumbies)
2. Tatafu Polota Nau (NSW Waratahs)
1. Sekope Kepu (NSW Waratahs)
Run on reserves:
16. Pek Cowan (Western Force)
17. Matt Dunning (Western Force)
18. Mark Chisholm (Brumbies)
19. Wycliff Palu (NSW Waratahs)
20. Richard Kingi (Queensland Reds)
21. Matt To'omua (Brumbies)
22. James O’Connor (Western Force)

Back to News Archive

 

[Lee Grant]

Beale made his test debut on the 2009 EOYT when he came on to replace Mitchell on the wing against Wales at the end of the game.

Maybe that is what folks are thinking about.

 

[Ash]

Deans dropped Mitchell (deservedly too, may I add) this year, and left the spot open for Mitchell to work his way back. Since he got another chance, Mitchell was absolutely fantastic. As Mitchell said on the rugby club, sometimes you need those wake up calls, even if you don't like getting them.

 

[MrMouse]

I read the first page then decided to stick in my 2c without reading the rest so apologies if it's already been covered.

FWIW, the article doesn't state that Deans has been re-signed, and has a two year extension. Key terms are expected and anticipated. Nothing is ever, ever set in stone until the ink is dry on the contract.

It could be that they're in talks. It could be Deans' management spruiking. It could be ARU faceless men seeding ideas to see the public's reactions. We just don't know.

I do know that I'm not satisfied Link is ready to lead the team yet (but I do believe he's the best candidate to lead them to 2015). I do know that continuity (risk-aversion) is often favoured in these situations, particularly from conservative types such as Mr O'Neill. I do know that if he wins the RWC he'll be a hero, but until we see genuine results I struggle to see Deans as the Wallabies coach beyond 2012.

As such, I'd be happy enough if they offered him a one year extension at some stage through this process. I'd fume if they gave him a 2+2 slam dunk. But at the end of the day all of this is hyperbole and speculation!