Well well well! Here we go now. And no this isn’t a jump on the sack Eddie bandwagon article because we lost the Wales game. Most of you G&GRs will know that I’m no fan of Hamish or Eddie and his appointment. As evidenced by here and here!
No, this is Bris coming off the long run up, in fact from outside the boundary fence.
What did we genuinely think was going to happen?
As I mentioned previously in my other two articles, what did we all genuinely think was going to happen here? This was an ill-conceived plan from the very beginning. Who in their right mind sacks their head coach less than nine months from the start of the Rugby World Cup? The excuse we have all heard before: Dave Rennie’s winning percentage just wasn’t good enough. Well, he was competitive that’s for sure. How competitive has Eddie been? Not very, if at all.
The call was made, and Eddie came. And with all things Eddie, the bluff, the bluster and the bullshit came with it. Arrogance, rudeness, stupidity and MAAAATE! And now what do we have left? A bunch of young men who are now very confused and psychologically scarred from a dumb idea executed by two imbeciles. In fact I retract that statement, calling these two men imbeciles will give a bad name to all of the other imbeciles around the world.
From the initial ill-conceived plan, through to Eddie’s flabbergasting selections, to poorly planned and executed game plans, this poor Wallabies squad never stood a chance. And have little doubt the vitriol will flow. For the record I bear no ill will towards any of the player. As Nutta says “They didn’t select themselves!” They went out there and tried to do what they were told in the best circumstances that they could. But if the reports I’m hearing out of the squad in France are anywhere near true, the environment was completely toxic and one of fear.
A fish rots from the head!
G&GRs, I’m not going to lump all of this on Eddie’s lap, although after the way he has behaved over the last nine months I’d absolutely love to! Like the players, Eddie didn’t select himself head coach; old mate Hamish wears that badge of honour. The man who wanted to rid the Wallabies of the dreaded ‘Kiwi disease!’ and bring in a ‘winner’ to inculcate a ‘winning’ attitude and spirit. How’s that spirit going now my fellow G&GRs and Wallabies fans? It simply isn’t.
We now have a team that has performed the worst in a World Cup, by a Wallabies team ever! Winning spirit my arse. Lucky old Hamish pulled out of the private equity deal a week or so ago. Imagine what the Wallabies brand would be worth after that dross. At the rate we’re going we’ll get towelled up by Portugal!
This was Hamish McLennan’s idea, he was the one that wanted Eddie. He went and hunted him the moment he was sacked in England for dishing out bin juice over in Blighty He sacked the then Wallaby coach Dave Rennie and brought in Eddie. This is his plan and he has to own it.
Last week old Hammer Time launched a pre-emptive attack on the state of Australian rugby to try and gain him self some wiggle room, if the inevitable came to pass. Well it came to pass baby! In an absolute drive by, and I don’t think your little preparatory missive is going to give you one millimetre of space to try and worm your way out of this one. The fish rots from the head, and therefore as well as the cancerous tumours within Rugby Australia the head needs to be removed with them.
What now? I hear you say!
Of course there’s still one game to go in the RWC. A dead rubber. Australia will probably come out and trounce Portugal. RA will use that as an example of “Hey look at the improvements from last week!” But no one will be watching and no one will give a fat rat’s arse.
We were never going to win the RWC but we could have at least tried.
So now there’ll be a review. It’ll be sold as an ‘All encompassing, external, no holds barred review’ ! But alas, the people bought into do the review will be found in the RA or ex-player carpark (more than likely the NSW one). It will re-enforce supporting Eddie and Hamish and their grand plans to revitalise the Australian rugby landscape. So, in other words, an exercise in complete bullshit!
What do I think should happen?
To be totally honest, I don’t really know. Such is the state of anger and despondency that I currently feel. But to start with, Hamish The Hammer and Eddie ‘Maaaate’ Jones have to go. Between these two they have taken Australian rugby all the way to rock bottom. And then they hired an excavator and kept digging.
Secondly, Rugby Australia has to issue Dave Rennie with an unreserved apology. We don’t have to hire him back, and to be honest I don’t think him or any coach in World Rugby would want to touch RA and the Wallabies.
Thirdly, when this playing group gets home, they are going to need a lot of support. They’ll blame themselves and will feel guilty, and to be honest they have to own some of this. But not all of it, and certainly not a majority of it. They need to get back with their families and friends, and they need to get back to their state teams (or overseas teams) where ever they belong.
Fourthly, we have to write off this period of the RWC 2023. It was bad, and it was always going to be bad the moment they sacked Dave Rennie.
Fifth, let the players speak frankly and with a guarantee of no retribution. Because I’m sure when we really hear what happened within the Wallabies squad we’ll be dumbstruck. What they were told? By who? When and what guidance they were given? If that guarantee isn’t given, the players are going to come out and back Eddie. They aren’t stupid, they have contracts with RA and want to keep playing; let them speak, and speak freely.
Sixth, we need to start looking for a new coach. And the search needs to be genuine, worldwide. This rubbish about only an Australian coach knows the Wallabies DNA and can teach an Australian style of rugby, what utter horseshit! Australia’s only style at the moment is to pick young players out of position and lose badly. Let’s bring in a coach that knows proper systems, knows how to build a team from the ground up. I’d suggest Joe Schmidt, but I doubt he’d want the job at any price. So away we go.
That’s as much as my fragile little brain can deal with at the moment, but I’m sure you learned folk will also have many many bright ideas.
To finish up, Lionel Tribbey (played by John Laroquette) offers some final advice to Eddie and Hamish.
Over to you G&GRs, have at it!
