Management of Waratahs should be replaced or at least overhauled.
The management of the Waratahs, or should I say mismanagement of the Waratahs needs to be fully reviewed. I am a business owner, and have been many years, and there is no way I could afford to have one of my departments being run as badly or incompetently as the managers at Moore Park are running the Waratahs.
These are some of my reasons:
Firstly, the reaction from the Waratah's management was diabolical about the Beale incident. They said they didn't see it coming! If you are a player in Australia and want to perform at your best, any good player manager would be advising you to either play for McKenzie of MacQueen. There is no way that Hickey was ever up to scratch, as he was always "learning on the job". If he is learning, then all you get is a 1 year contract which is renewable after annual review. If I had a players as valuable as Beale and Mitchell, I would have a minder talking to their manager and to them to make sure they are happy, and most importantly protecting my best assets.
Secondly, the selection of Hickey as coach. As I said above his contract was too long. Hickeys responsibility for the performance of the team against the Cheetahs was terrible, his team selections are a incredulous. They are still talking about playing Halangahu - who is below standard. Barnes has no X factor, and Burgess cannot pass to the right. With regard to Burgess, don't take it from me, in the next game, watch Burgess pass to the right, it is short and close in. Burgess most often takes the option to run when he has to pass to his right due to his weak pass. He has been able to cover it up well, but the All Blacks are licking their lips when they see him selected. Ok for Super Rugby but no good in the international arena.
Secondly, James O'Connor is available, and on the market. What is the Waratah management saying ....nothing! The Waratah's management should be chasing him hard, especially after Beale has left. I say James O'Connor would really fire up the Waratah's back line, who would receive a strong pass from Phipps then passing to Barnes, who would pass to Ashely Cooper. This would start to fill the football stadium. Now all we have to do is fix the foward pack. I think Foley is doing a good job, as long as they leave Al Baxter on the bench, and pick someone big ( > 1.97 m) and ferocious at No.8 as back up to Palu, and pick Polota Nau as Captain.
Thirdly, the guys who selected Hickey. The amount of money Hickey, and the guys who appointed him, has cost the Waratahs is mind boggling. The lack of interest and half filled stadiums this year is very costly. At a quick guess that calculates to be about 10,000 fans not attending per home game @ say $50 = $500,000 x 8 games gives you a grand total of $4,000,000 in lost revenue. No wonder the Waratah's income is declining and making losses. Over 2 years is $8,000,000.
As a NSW / Waratah's fan since the 1970s, I am sick and tired of being disappointed year after year of below par performances. Also standing by and watching the NSW management in business terms "drop the ball" - eg. budgets, "knock on" - eg. poor management selections; "unable to make a tackle" - eg. grabbing O'Connor; "can't pass" - realise they are stuffing up, and "taking your eye off the ball" - letting Beale leave. The all adds up to a big "F" for failure.
It is time for change at Moore Park. Time to get some clear thinking hard headed management to run the operations.
I am available for free for 1 to 2 years!
