.... I for one think it is getting more than a little tiresome that you and RedsHappy seem to relate everything that goes wrong in a team to one individual.....
Mission accomplished Scotty (and notable others) - I have had enough of the increasingly snide and close to 'personal' material above - I shall depart GAGR for a (good) period. As Scarf has rightly said, we do not want tedium, and one thing the Admins know about me, I have supported GAGR (and all it stands for) in a sincere and committed manner. But the Moderators IMO have not sufficiently encouraged 'play the ball' in the recent period re this coaches-related debate (which most other codes btw would see as entirely normal and healthy for the code), and the whole tone here (in many threads) is thus spiralling.
Let me close with this:
A. If you do not witness what has happened at Twickenham and Munster (and the fact that Australia A has won just 1 match out of 4 it has played this year, and that Australia generally has won just 1 match out of 5 it has played v England this year) and not see very serious deficiencies in leadership and management in this current Wallabies coaching group, than anything I do to attempt to articulate the needs for changes in this area, will never persuade you (and related others);
B. Yes, it's fun, amusing, recreational etc to have continuous debate about, say, whether Turner or Mitchell is better, or if Mumm should play this week etc. But that will turn no tides, no one outside this forum will be sighting that with great engagement and being significantly influenced by it.
C.
It is top leadership that fixes things, and makes them better, generally. Look at the role Gagger played in setting this place up, then a small group of fine blokes who really loved and cared about the code, built it further (and well done to them). There lies the key. I have NEVER said 'Robbie is responsible for everything'; that is just an insult to all I have ever written here over 5+ months.
What I believe is that Deans has failed to create the right kind and breadth of competencies and personnel in his core coaching group to adequately rebuild top level Australian rugby and that he has failed to select and train the optimum set of players to achieve a w-l ratio of at least 60-65%+, period. No team, over time, in elite sport today ever exceeds the calibre of its oversighting leadership in terms of the results it achieves over time. There are multiple Wallaby player failures yes, but I do not believe for one micro-second that we are just a nation now composed of piles of ordinary players, or not enough good ones, so we must just accept a fate as a 3rd ranked force in global rugby, and, it's kind of 'all their fault', that is a totally invalid and unproven excuse for failure IMO.
