N
Newter
Guest
I've been reading Rod MacQueen's book, "One Step Ahead", and got to thinking about the ways he transformed the Wallabies in basically one pre-season in 1998. The situation was remarkably similar to the one we're in now: the All Blacks had beaten us seven times in a row, achieving whitewashes in 1995, 1996 and 1997. MacQueen inherited the side shortly before the end of year tour in 1997 and basically discovered that the squad had no self-belief. Sounds very familiar.
Yet in 1998 he turned it around. We beat the All Blacks 3-zip. It seemed to come from nowhere.
These are some of the things he did differently:
1. Better fitness program.
2. Clear style of play (continuity, backs playing like forwards, forwards catching and passing, etc, but the important thing was the team knew what they were aiming for).
3. Public unity between himself and John Eales.
4. Giving ownership of onfield and off-field decisions to the playing group (not just the captain).
5. A high level of off-field daily organisation.
6. Pride in the history and culture of the Wallabies (e.g. former Wallabies handing out jersies before Tests)
7. Selecting players for positions, not positions for players (e.g. identifying Larkham's skill at evading tacklers in tight quarters, putting him at 10).
Looking at this season alone, I think Robbie falls down in most of these areas.
1. Fitness program. We have been less fit than the All Blacks. They consistently win momentum in the last 20 minutes of Tests against us. Don't blame the short turnaround between Super 14 and Test rugby, because the Cartel had the same time to work with.
2. Clear style of play. It does seem to be very clear to the players how they should be playing, so a tick here.
3. Public unity between Deans and Elsom. There's no open dissent but I don't get the feeling they are tightly bonded either. The body language of Elsom at press conferences suggests he doesn't recognise his coach's input into the side, and is leading the team on his own. Graham Henry, by contrast, heaps praise on his captain frequently.
4. Ownership of decisions to the players. It seems pretty clear that Rocky gets a big say in how the team does things. But do the other players? I wonder if the re-starts and attack realignment issues we've had this season would be fixed if individual Wallabies were given final responsibility for them.
5. Off-field discipline and organisation seem fine.
6. Pride in the history and culture of the Wallabies. I haven't noticed anything in the Deans era to cultivate this aspect of team performance. Graham Henry oversaw the creation of new forms of the haka ffs, and look how proud his players have been in their performance. Causal link? I think so.
7. Selection. There have been some successes, including Beale at fullback and McCalman at 8. But Robbie continued to select Richard Brown at 8 when the poor guy just didn't have the leg drive for that position. Robbie picked Matt Giteau to be flyhalf for two Bledisloe Tests, and the result was predictable attack because Giteau can't and never has been able to play at the line, unlike Barnes or even Beale. James O'Connor on the wing never worked, whereas Turner did and McCabe probably would have.
On balance, Robbie's coaching has been poor this season (again). I suspect Robbie is a very good assistant coach, as he has made a definite difference to the skills of our backs and forwards, and seems to have personally turned Will Genia and Quade Cooper into the quality players they are now.
But he is not a head coach's arsehole. Somebody ran the show brilliantly at the Crusaders, and may still be there. I don't think it was Robbie.
Yet in 1998 he turned it around. We beat the All Blacks 3-zip. It seemed to come from nowhere.
These are some of the things he did differently:
1. Better fitness program.
2. Clear style of play (continuity, backs playing like forwards, forwards catching and passing, etc, but the important thing was the team knew what they were aiming for).
3. Public unity between himself and John Eales.
4. Giving ownership of onfield and off-field decisions to the playing group (not just the captain).
5. A high level of off-field daily organisation.
6. Pride in the history and culture of the Wallabies (e.g. former Wallabies handing out jersies before Tests)
7. Selecting players for positions, not positions for players (e.g. identifying Larkham's skill at evading tacklers in tight quarters, putting him at 10).
Looking at this season alone, I think Robbie falls down in most of these areas.
1. Fitness program. We have been less fit than the All Blacks. They consistently win momentum in the last 20 minutes of Tests against us. Don't blame the short turnaround between Super 14 and Test rugby, because the Cartel had the same time to work with.
2. Clear style of play. It does seem to be very clear to the players how they should be playing, so a tick here.
3. Public unity between Deans and Elsom. There's no open dissent but I don't get the feeling they are tightly bonded either. The body language of Elsom at press conferences suggests he doesn't recognise his coach's input into the side, and is leading the team on his own. Graham Henry, by contrast, heaps praise on his captain frequently.
4. Ownership of decisions to the players. It seems pretty clear that Rocky gets a big say in how the team does things. But do the other players? I wonder if the re-starts and attack realignment issues we've had this season would be fixed if individual Wallabies were given final responsibility for them.
5. Off-field discipline and organisation seem fine.
6. Pride in the history and culture of the Wallabies. I haven't noticed anything in the Deans era to cultivate this aspect of team performance. Graham Henry oversaw the creation of new forms of the haka ffs, and look how proud his players have been in their performance. Causal link? I think so.
7. Selection. There have been some successes, including Beale at fullback and McCalman at 8. But Robbie continued to select Richard Brown at 8 when the poor guy just didn't have the leg drive for that position. Robbie picked Matt Giteau to be flyhalf for two Bledisloe Tests, and the result was predictable attack because Giteau can't and never has been able to play at the line, unlike Barnes or even Beale. James O'Connor on the wing never worked, whereas Turner did and McCabe probably would have.
On balance, Robbie's coaching has been poor this season (again). I suspect Robbie is a very good assistant coach, as he has made a definite difference to the skills of our backs and forwards, and seems to have personally turned Will Genia and Quade Cooper into the quality players they are now.
But he is not a head coach's arsehole. Somebody ran the show brilliantly at the Crusaders, and may still be there. I don't think it was Robbie.
