Robbie Deans

[boyo]

I don't understand the seeming obsession with selecting players to play out of their regular playing position. Perhaps I need some edumakashion, indoctrination, ....

Losing to teams ranked lower in the IRB system: occasionally, yes ; regularly, no.

My $0.02

 

[RedsHappy]

I wasn't sure where to post this, but here will do.

Was just looking at some highlights from the Samoa match last year and I think it's pretty telling how bad the Australian forwards can be at times.

There was a play where the ball went out wide from a ruck to Gerrard who passed back inside to McCabe.

From that tackle the ruck was then cleared out by Giteau and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), with Ioane picking up the ball (with Phipps behind, so 6/7 backs involved in this passage of play) and then hitting it up, swarmed by several Samoan defenders (mostly forwards) and held up while AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) and McCabe went into try and help rip back the ball.

Eventually the ref blew up for a penalty for an earlier offside.

But during this entire 20 seconds (that's right, 20 seconds) of play not a single Wallaby forward is in sight. Not a single one.

Not only do they not attend to either of the tackle contests, but none of them are even within sight of the camera.

What the hell were they doing? What are they being instructed to do?!

Excellent points, and recollections Slim. I vividly recall how consistently bad our forwards preparedness, intensity and skill were that match. I remember thinking at the end of the game: if this is the best our coaching group can achieve for a forwards pack in a Test not long away from a RWC, we're doomed to mediocrity at that event, at best.

 

[daz]

The writing is on the wall, the hook is just behind the curtain - Mr Deans, please take a final bow & leave the stage.
As a professional national coach, he is just not up to scratch.
A very good summation of Robbie whom really just doesn't have it. If the Wallabies lose on Saturday then he will have a worse success rate than Eddie Jones

WAYNE SMITH
Little things don't add up when Wallabies called to account
·BY:WAYNE SMITH
·From:The Australian
·June 07, 2012 12:00AM

. In one of those quirky statistical coincidences that sport occasionally throws up, his record as Australia coach is identical to Eddie Jones's - played 57, won 33, lost 23, drawn one, winning percentage 57.9. And we all recall how unlamented Jones was after being sent to the guillotine.
.

Our old mate PDV has a higher win/loss ratio with the Springboks which from memory is around 62%. He is currently unemployed and waiting for the phone to ring. Are you thinking what I am thinking?

Our circus needs a clown.

 

[Karl]

All the excuses and platitudes in the world can't hide one thing that must now be obvious even to the most devoted Deans lover - for whatever reason, he is not capable of pulling together and organizing a Wallabies side and equipping them with the skills, plans or attitude to be consistently excellent on the field of play.

He has had ample time, he's not delivering, nothing looks remotely like it's going to change so the conclusion and the required action is as obvious as it is inevitable. It is difficult, it involves risk and probably a measure of short term pain (as if things are so pain free now) but it must be done. Deans has to go.

The players need to see that as the warning and message it is for them as well. Things cannot remain as they are. Excellence, consistent excellence, is an expectation, a requirement, not something wheeled out when thought to be most necessary or desperately required.

 

[twenty seven]

I have posed the question before. Would the All Blacks and New Zealand supporters accept an Australian as their coach? Would an Australian coaches heart lie with the AB's if they were to coah them.

 

[Bullrush]

What the hell were they doing? What are they being instructed to do?!

If you're professional rugby forward, do you really need someone to give you instructions to get to the next ruck??

Alternatively, do you really think RD is that bad of a coach he instructs forwards to intentionally not get to rucks?

 

[qwerty51]

I have posed the question before. Would the All Blacks/New Zealand supporters accept an Australian as their coach? Would an Australian coaches heart lie with the AB's.

I personally cannot fathom foreign coaches in national roles.

 

[biggsy]

Selected players having a great Super Rugby season don't seem to play there best game under Deans, I believe that its him and he has a game plan for the 80 min. Kick,box kick run your guts, defend, run your guts out fall behind on the score board and then Sub in the last 8 min of the game.... The one game where he did use the bench we won. I think player are sacred of getting Dropped if they don't play by what said by Deans


He should let the play makers play there game. Like Genia last game, Scot's were up quick of the line, the stuff Genia loves. But nope Orders from above to kick the ball away or put it through the hands..

There you Go Barbarian, another post you can have field day with.

The quicker Link is Coach the wallabies will start wining...

 

[Paradox]

Nationality is a red herring, as White is proving at ACT. Fuck, he's not even from Canberra.

That's quality Gagger

 

[Paradox]

Well, muddy, he's just got himself another yes man in Tony McGahan. The difference this time is that unless Robbie says "yes" to whatever Totality instructs him to do he may find himself garbage-bagged out the door.
.

Should Totality be Totalitarian?

 

[daz]

That's quality Gagger

Don't encourage him, please!

 

[twenty seven]

I personally cannot fathom foreign coaches in national roles.

Exactly. It's not just about ability. Its about pride and passion for the colours on your jumper - or supposed to be.

 

[Bruce Ross]

Should Totality be Totalitarian?

Keen observation, Paradox. I think he may prove so.
.

 

[rugbysmartarse]

Selected players having a great Super Rugby season don't seem to play there best game under Deans, I believe that its him and he has a game plan for the 80 min. Kick,box kick run your guts, defend, run your guts out fall behind on the score board and then Sub in the last 8 min of the game.. The one game where he did use the bench we won. I think player are sacred of getting Dropped if they don't play by what said by Deans


He should let the play makers play there game. Like Genia last game, Scot's were up quick of the line, the stuff Genia loves. But nope Orders from above to kick the ball away or put it through the hands..

There you Go Barbarian, another post you can have field day with.

The quicker Link is Coach the wallabies will start wining.

I report this 3rd hand, but thought to put it here anyway. Campo was having a twitter conversation with lote tuquiri about the current tahs, which drifted to the wallabies. One thing he noted was that he had caught up with drew Mitchell while the tahs were in SA and the word is deans has no control over the "young wallabies" (his term, make of it what you will).

Watching the wallabies I often wonder if he is imposing any game plan at all

 

[Bowside]

I wasn't sure where to post this, but here will do.

Was just looking at some highlights from the Samoa match last year and I think it's pretty telling how bad the Australian forwards can be at times.

There was a play where the ball went out wide from a ruck to Gerrard who passed back inside to McCabe.

From that tackle the ruck was then cleared out by Giteau and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), with Ioane picking up the ball (with Phipps behind, so 6/7 backs involved in this passage of play) and then hitting it up, swarmed by several Samoan defenders (mostly forwards) and held up while AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) and McCabe went into try and help rip back the ball.

Eventually the ref blew up for a penalty for an earlier offside.

But during this entire 20 seconds (that's right, 20 seconds) of play not a single Wallaby forward is in sight. Not a single one.

Not only do they not attend to either of the tackle contests, but none of them are even within sight of the camera.

What the hell were they doing? What are they being instructed to do?!

While I am not going to argue that our forwards were dire in that game, I think something that often goes unrecognised is the ability of the backs to put the forwards on the front foot.

Its seemed like last year in the super rugby, whenever cooper saw the forwards were sinking a bit, he seemed to (more than often) come up with a big play to put them back on the front foot. Ioane does the same thing when he sometimes takes a hit up to get the momentum going again, and likewise genia has an uncanny ability at times to pull something off out of nowhere which sets the team up to refocus and attack.

I firmly believe that the backs ability to shift momentum is what made a pack, that on paper was not great, into the championship winning pack.

The flipside to this, is that it was the forwards ability to execute line out throws to the back and wheel the scrum the right way that allowed the backline that extra bit of time and space.

 

[twenty seven]

Nationality is a red herring, as White is proving at ACT. Fuck, he's not even from Canberra

Deans just can't do it at National level. He doesn't have consistent enough time with them to do whatever he does to make up for the fact that he can't communicate well enough to get simple game plans in place.

I see coaching provincal different from national duties. Coaching at the super rugby is a resume for the chance of coaching nationally, if thats what you want, or for a priemership. Nationally is a cultural thing and Deans isn't Aussie. How many more years, and excuses, is it going to take before we get a coach that can pull it together with the right players, with pride, with passion and the right attitude. We have the players and they certainly have the skills and ability.
Deans has come out and more or less said we don't have Rugby in our DNA!

 

[Gagger]

I find it hard to believe that top professional coaches would "leave something in reserve" when not coaching their own national team. It's their whole livelihood and future and reputation on the line.

Robbie's nationality has had nothing to do with his performance - if anything he came with the halo of Kiwi master-coach who could see all the errors of our ways.

Oh for those more innocent days....

 

[qwerty51]

You don't think there was a part of Robbie that didn't want to win that semi? Being serious, the ramifications for his country if we beat them in that semi would've been quite severe.

 

[Gagger]

You don't think there was a part of Robbie that didn't want to win that semi? Being serious, the ramifications for his country if we beat them in that semi would've been quite severe.

No I don't.

He'd be thinking about how Ted has publicly treated him like a fuckwit and that if he doesn't want to have his career turn into "failed international coach" he'd better pull his finger out.

Was it a lack of Robbies nationalism that lost us the Ireland match? Nope, just shitness

 

[biggsy]

I report this 3rd hand, but thought to put it here anyway. Campo was having a twitter conversation with lote tuquiri about the current tahs, which drifted to the wallabies. One thing he noted was that he had caught up with drew Mitchell while the tahs were in SA and the word is deans has no control over the "young wallabies" (his term, make of it what you will).

Watching the wallabies I often wonder if he is imposing any game plan at all

If thats the case then, why is he the coach.

But this was mentioned over Twitter in Campo conversation so it must be true.