Welcome to the Weekend Edition. Today we look at keeping younger players in our game and showing them a path to the Wallabies and long term careers. I have a bit of a moan about the marketing of our game. There’s an update on the Rebels together with some news about Angus Bells’s latest injury. And a plug for the Dropped Kick Off’s interview with Jack Debreczeni.
Home Truths from Les Kiss
Over at the SMH Nick Wright writes about “Les Kiss imploring the game’s leaders to ensure young players still see a path to Wallabies success.”
Les has got a point, hasn’t he? Our young players, like Tim Ryan who made his debut for the Reds last weekend, have to see a path ahead of them in this country. Or they will end up somewhere else. Kiss said the Reds had invested in young players to “improve their game, keep their confidence up, and expose them to the experiences that are necessary”.
“Good players are going to have some interest, that’s never going to stop,” he said. “We will consistently work with RA to make sure we get the right deals we can and that’s all we can do. I think we’ve done some really special things this year in terms of how we’ve built the game around a new facility, our game style and all those things.
“We want to make it difficult to leave, and that’s part of the deal as well and that’s where we’ll play our part. We want players to know that what we’re trying to do with the program we can offer them outside of Super Rugby.”
The younger squad members at the Reds have caught Joe Schmidt’s attention. “We definitely want people to stay and be part of the Wallabies set up, but I love it when someone is unavailable, and suddenly, we uncover a kid who didn’t just score those tries, he finished them superbly,” Schmidt said. “That’s something that excites me, the kids like Tim Ryan coming through. If we do lose people we’ll be disappointed, but if we do, my mindset is let’s get this guy in and build a combination and go forward.”
Time and time again we see talented players produced by our systems. In many cases we see them pop up in other countries’ competitions and eventually in their national teams. We need systems to encourage them to stay in our competitions, and high quality environments and coaching can only make that easier.
Shouting at clouds and shameless self-promotion
On G&GR’s Talking Teams Podcast (out every Wednesday), I half jokingly had a mini rant about Rugby Australia missing a marketing opportunity by not programming one of the two games this season where the Force play Rebels today.
May 4 is made for a clash between these teams. Yes, I know the Rebels and the Jedi from Star Wars were mostly on the same side. And rhyming May 4 with may the force is a little tortured, but that really doesn’t matter here. We’re trying to promote our game, and some decisions coming out of this competition, mmm, lack finesse.
Besides this no-brainer, why was there no game on Anzac Day? Why are there so few Sunday games? Why are there so many Saturdays with four games back to back? It’s a long weekend in Queensland, but there’s no thought of scheduling a match here on Sunday or Monday. I think with a little planning, Super Rugby could be a lot more user-friendly.
Rebels news
News coming out of Melbourne that the Rebels have survived to fight another day. At a meeting on Friday, creditors opted to follow the recommendation of the voluntary administrator and accept a proposal by a private investor group that includes current directors.
The directors have proposed a Deed of Company Arrangement (DoCA) which guarantees employees 100 per cent of their entitlements, but leaves unsecured creditors with as little as 15 cents to the dollar. The DoCA is also dependent upon Rugby Australia (RA) handing the Super Rugby participation licence to the new consortium, which is planning to invest more than $25 million into the club over the next five years.
Look, I’ve watched this unfold over the past few months and no one has shown us where the Rebels are suddenly going to make the money they haven’t been able to make for the past 15 years.
Surgery for Bell
After re-injuring his foot in a scrum against the Brumbies, Wallabies prop has headed to specialist Ben Forster, who also worked on Izack Rodda, to get his foot remodelled.
“If it was someone else that had done it, it’s only a six-week injury but since it’s me I have to reshape my foot again, which will help in the long run,” he told Rugby.com.au “Biomechanically, I’ve got high arches and a stiff foot, so they want to relieve that pressure and lower the shape of my foot.
“I saw a specialist in Queensland who did that along with Izack Rodda and a few other boys and most of the Achilles injuries that have gone through the Wallabies. He’s very trusted, and it all went well from all accounts. Hopefully I’ll make some of the Test stuff, it’ll all depend on how we sit in the big picture, so all I can do right now is put my head down and train as hard as I can. I’ve had the surgery, done my two weeks in the cast, and I’ll be ready, stronger and now trying to better myself.”
“It happens on a dominant scrum, so we had a good push on the Brumbies and as we were going forward and through them, I felt that same sensation,” he recalled. “I was really lucky in the sense that I’ve done so much rehab and prep on my foot that I didn’t actually do too much damage to the original repair of the tendons in my foot, it was in another area in the foot that needed to be repaired. You catastrophise a bit (when it happens) but I got a call from the doctor to say it wasn’t as bad (as last time) so it was a very good call.”
Bell could be available for the Bledisloe in September.
Deb on The Dropped Kick Off
The Dropped Kick Off boys have dropped a great little interview with Jack Debreczeni!
