The Wallaby Reputation

[grievous]

Im a supporter. Got into rugby in a big way after watching the 84 slam tour as a kid. This was the start of a golden period of Oz rugby. Great players, great coaches, great conquests followed. Like many Oz sports teams their reputation preceeded them. Never gave up until the death, played hard but fair, played in a style that was envied and emulated by rivals and were above all, respected.
Now, after some very poor seasons and a bombed world cup campaign we arrive at 2010.
Some of those qualities remain but certainly not in such a revered way but now the name of the Wallabies conjures up joke, ridicule, cant scrum, cant tackle, home unions think we are a pushover, NZs biatch etc etc
Who is to blame (supporter mode)?
Players
Coach
Oz rugby system
Proffesionalism
JON
Thats to be covered in other threads but Im sick of a brand in a sport I love so much that has a great ethos and that has taken me to such great heights in my life being down graded to a parody. Im loyal, have been for so long, understand success comes in waves, there are low lows but also high highs. Cant see any on the horizon and have been looking for sooo long.
I thought about giving myself a break from watching the games for a while, im getting too angry, looking for a cat to kick I dont have. But Ive never missed their games.
Not sure if Im speaking for others but Im tired, sick of questioning, looking for answers that dont seem to be there, thinking we are on our way back then days like today happen.
We need our mojo back, dont know where it is but its going to take some time to erode the bad things associated with our estimeed name.
Maybe Ill feel better come friday.

 

[Scarfman]

To be honest G, I've been a bigger Waratah supporter than Wallaby supporter over the last few years. Much more likely to get excited about the Super14 than the TriNations or bloody bullshit development tours. Especially when the coach says that we've got a 5 year plan. A SuperRugby title would mean more to me than the RWC.

 

[grievous]

sounds like double pain

 

[Reddy!]

Quade Cooper was incredibly embarrassing last night, he honestly should hang his head in shame for the complete lack of balls he showed. Some of the headless chook throwing of the ball around last night was some of the worst passages of play I have seen by a Wallaby team - seems like everyone has caught the Cooper syndrome.

Bring on the Super 15.

 

[Gnostic]

To be honest G, I've been a bigger Waratah supporter than Wallaby supporter over the last few years. Much more likely to get excited about the Super14 than the TriNations or bloody bullshit development tours. Especially when the coach says that we've got a 5 year plan. A SuperRugby title would mean more to me than the RWC.

I know what you mean Scarfie, but do you see the inherent danger in that when die hard fans such as us start losing the passion for Test Rugby?

 

[farva]

England were very good last night, and showed in the second half against the ABs that this wasnt a fluke.

We were beaten by a better team. And England are not to be taken lightly at Twickenham.

We did some stupid things sure. Not keeping the ball in hand meant that we couldnt really get our backs into the game, and thats our strength.

But FFS guys, we beat SA in the highveld. We beat the kiwis. We have some excellent talent on show, and are considered genuine chances in every game we play.

Im really enjoying watching the Wallabies at the moment.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Some bad decisions last night allowed the Soap Dodgers to look much better than they actually are.

They deserved the victory as we were too ordinary in too many areas, and played our weakness against their strength.

One bad game now is better than waiting until RWC 2011 1/4 finals to have it. Should shake out any complacency in the team.

Have faith.

 

[RugbyFuture]

I don't think we're in that bad a state, we lost one game since regaining momentum so far, and whilst some of it was our fault, the ref didn't help.

I actually think we're regaining the spark which drives australian rugby again. slowly...

we need our junior system to start acknowledging and just playing forwards play and set pieces, because thats the reason our tight forwards are so bad.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

It is frustrating the inconsistency of the team right now, but when the boys play well it's just breathtaking to watch. I love this game more than I ever have and my history with it is more or less the same as yours grevious. They shit me to tears at times these guys, but I'll still watch them and right now I'm not panicking after one game. If we play well the next couple of weeks then the pressure will release a bit. If we don't then we'll know it's all been a false dawn. It won't have been the first time.

 

[liquor box]

When you are feeling down over losses to better teams it is alway good to rmember that we are usually only losing to better teams, rarely do we get "upset". I would love to beat everyone every game but this is not realistic when you are not the best in the world.

Be thankful you dont support a team that very rarely wins, let alone have a chance of winning

 

[Scarfman]

What??

We just beat 9th. Then we got smashed by 5th. All this "losing to better teams" stuff is crap.

 

[naza]

I don't think its about the team. I think its about how society and etiquette has changed. You just don't see a lot of classy behaviour and good manners these days.

You can see it in the amount of booing & whistling when our kicker is taking his shot at goal. In both the Wales and England game, the yobbo element was very loud. You didn't used to get that 10 years ago. Probably still wouldn't get that in Ireland. I know we do it & I'm embarassed when rugby noobs act up. I know the Kiwi PM came out and publicly denounced NZ league fans recently for their behaviour at games, throwing bottles etc at the Kangaroos.

I also feel that the once friendly rivalry and banter with Northern Hemisphere versus Southern Hemisphere clashes has become increasingly antagonistic and spiteful.

Rugby and how the Wallabies are treated is just a microcosm of our society's decline in general as we slide back into the slime from whence we came.

 

[Scarfman]

You're taking the loss pretty hard, naz.

 

[DPK]

What??

We just beat 9th. Then we got smashed by 5th. All this "losing to better teams" stuff is crap.

Cmon, Scarfie, the rankings are bullshit. We lost to the better team on the day.

 

[RedsHappy]

Im a supporter. Got into rugby in a big way after watching the 84 slam tour as a kid. This was the start of a golden period of Oz rugby. Great players, great coaches, great conquests followed. Like many Oz sports teams their reputation preceeded them. Never gave up until the death, played hard but fair, played in a style that was envied and emulated by rivals and were above all, respected....
....Now, after some very poor seasons and a bombed world cup campaign we arrive at 2010.
....Not sure if Im speaking for others but Im tired, sick of questioning, looking for answers that dont seem to be there, thinking we are on our way back then days like today happen....We need our mojo back, dont know where it is but its going to take some time to erode the bad things associated with our estimeed name.
Maybe Ill feel better come friday.

Well said grievous. In a gloomy day, your post above IMO is probably the most profound of many days recently.

I am certain you have given a clear, honest voice to what I would call 'the everyday passionate fan' of Australian rugby. Many, many fans or ex-fans of the Wallabies I know and speak to, state something very similar to that above. These people though are in multiple ways invisible; they don't often blog, they certainly don't post on this site often or at all, and they certainly don't post here everyday, like some. But they are 'visible' in gradually but consistently declining top rugby gate figures, decreasing sports media attention to rugby, and sports market share losses to League and AFL, and soccer too.

We are interested in the competence and capability of JO'N and RD and his Support coaches and Link and Hickey and Elsom and Waugh etc for one sole reason: they have leadership responsibility for the results of Australia's top rugby terms, at state and national levels, coupled with leadership responsibility for the development of adequate numbers of excellent top rugby players who can, in the right teams, consistently win games in a crowd-pleasing manner. Anybody who has worked in enterprise or in an institution knows that leadership and management quality have a massive impact upon the results of such organisations. The notion that somehow good people or excellent players will kind-of self-organise into some form of ultra-democatic commune that steers itself to world-class outcomes is touching in its romanticism, but it's false and illusory.

The stakeholders in any game (or business or university...) should continuously critique the performance of leadership. If they do not do so fulsomely, the calibre of that leadership almost always declines and so do the outcomes from it.

Back in early 2008, our ARU (I use 'our' deliberately as it's the fans that really 'own' a sports code) leadership set forth that (a) a Wallaby w-l ratio in excess of 70% (b) a number of 3N and BC wins and (c) dynamic, ball-in-hand, entertaining rugby were all, in unison, critical to reviving the economic and sports-cultural viability of rugby in Australia. The hard fact of the matter is: by late 2010, we have failed these KPIs on nearly every count. The positives: The Tahs - all credit to them - have reached levels of the S14 Finals or SFs, The Reds have led a positive gate revival in 2010 (only) based upon good doses of (c) (and this year we had 3 S14 teams in the top 6), the Wallabies have promoted some very talented backs and one forward and recently began to play fast, wide-ball rugby in a number of matches, but with, for now, inconsistent results. That is it: there have been no other top level achievements against the ARU's pre-stated key parameters. No major crowd-pulling silverware in these 3 years has been won, the Wallaby w-l ratio is near, at perhaps at, its worst-ever over a 3 season period, and no Oz S14 team has won a Final.

In the light of the above, it is completely appropriate to ask: has the rugby-guiding elite of this country performed at a level of reasonable expectation and competency, consistent with its own stated goals? Based upon three years of hard, measurable evidence: the answer must be 'no'. That absolutely does not mean we have no depth of rugby-loving passion left, no more true-believers, and a bare cupboard of able players and managers. On the contrary, we have many outstanding players. It is just that something has clearly gone wrong with our code's leadership (in the broad sense as above), and, if not soon reversed, our code in Australia will likely be headed for the type of economic and cultural sports-status of, say, basketball, motor bike racing, or dressage.

 

[I like to watch]

Yep, Dressage is always the benchmark I use when discussing the status of rugby with anyone.
You keep making the same point over & over. Do you think RD will be signed to another 4 years without a review? If so you are the only one.
If you are suggesting he be sacked, then maybe you should offer an alternative, in the timeframe you are suggesting.

 

[Nusadan]

What??

We just beat 9th. Then we got smashed by 5th. All this "losing to better teams" stuff is crap.

Soccer's the same, top ranked teams can get beaten, especially away from home and having few injuries, by much lower ranked teams...so rugby's not an isolated case...also look what happened in the mungo game final on Friday night!

By the way, Scarfie, I'm also a bigger Tahs supporter than of the Wallabies, so understand where you're coming from...

 

[barbarian]

I think you guys are massively overestimating the effect this loss will have. One win vs the ABs did FAR more for Rugby and its supporters here than an undefeated Spring Tour ever would. Especially in the manner we achieved that victory. The things that will get people supporting the game are results and playing style. One is vastly improving and the other is the best it has been for years. Finally we have some marketable figures! Say what you like about Quade, Kurtley and JOC (James O'Connor) but they excite me when they have the ball.

Look we had a bad game vs England at Twickers. It happens. It isn't the end of the world, and I think the reaction on here has been a bit too much. Way too much by some (I have honestly stopped reading a few posters today, and I doubt I will resume frankly. I am sure you could work out who they are.). England are a very good side now. But in reality most rugby fans will forget this game come S15 time next year. The wagon rolls on, as it always has.

 

[Bowside]

Yep, Dressage is always the benchmark I use when discussing the status of rugby with anyone.
You keep making the same point over & over. Do you think RD will be signed to another 4 years without a review? If so you are the only one.
If you are suggesting he be sacked, then maybe you should offer an alternative, in the timeframe you are suggesting.

Its not about sacking certain people and replacing them with certain people. What RedsHappy was saying is that the ARU has FAILED as an body to successfully organise and run the game of rugby in this country, by their own standards.

I think it's ironic that the code that is supposedly run by people in the 'higher' classes of society is the one that is failing. The schools system is flawed, the clubs system is flawed, the expansion plan is flawed, there is no provincial comp, and the wallabies have the same reoccurring problems.

Some of the above problems occur as a result of poor finances, but poor finances occur due to a failure to effectively grow and market the game. So in the end it all boils down to the ARU.

 

[Gnostic]

I think you guys are massively overestimating the effect this loss will have. One win vs the ABs did FAR more for Rugby and its supporters here than an undefeated Spring Tour ever would. Especially in the manner we achieved that victory. The things that will get people supporting the game are results and playing style. One is vastly improving and the other is the best it has been for years. Finally we have some marketable figures! Say what you like about Quade, Kurtley and JOC (James O'Connor) but they excite me when they have the ball.

Look we had a bad game vs England at Twickers. It happens. It isn't the end of the world, and I think the reaction on here has been a bit too much. Way too much by some (I have honestly stopped reading a few posters today, and I doubt I will resume frankly. I am sure you could work out who they are.). England are a very good side now. But in reality most rugby fans will forget this game come S15 time next year. The wagon rolls on, as it always has.

Same old again Bar man. I assume I will be one of the few you will stop reading? Oh well, I have to ask why even be involved in a forum if you aren't interested in other view points. I might not agree but I read and take note of most here, some more than others sure.

On the first part highlighted, from all the rugby and borderline rugby people I know not one thinks the AB win was anything too special and the same flaws were apparent in the WB game. I personally don't worry so much about the result as in the mode of play. If the team developed and put forward some complete performances I would be happy as that can truly be developed upon. However that has not happened and the England performance last night was far more balanced and completed than anything we have seen from the WBs under Deans.

If the team played a complete game the results would look after themselves, and people would be attracted to the game. As it stands now those fringe rugby followers of my acquaintance are largely turning off and even the more fanatical supporters me included just can't be bothered anymore. Up until this year I used to watch the games two and three times.

So basically it isn't this one game its three years of games like this with constant promises of injured saviours returning, the team "putting it together" etc etc. People are voting more and more with their feet and their wallets and the sponsors will follow unless people are brought back to the game. This is the inherent risk I was talking about earlier in this thread.