Departing coach delivers damning assesment of Wallabies
By Jon Geddes

Departing coach delivers damning assesment of Wallabies | The Daily Telegraph

March 14, 2008 12:00am

DEPARTING defensive coach John Muggleton says the Wallabies have to learn to perform when the heat is on if they are to regain their premier status on the international stage.

The former Kangaroo forward gained an intimate knowledge of the team and what makes them tick after working with them over the past decade.

"Playing under pressure is their greatest problem, I think. It was certainly shown up in the quarter-final of the World Cup (against England)," Muggleton said.

And he believes that has been an issue for the side going back to 2001.

Muggleton said that pressure could manifest itself in different circumstances, whether it be playing in South Africa or in inclement conditions in Ireland or, indeed, in a sudden-death quarter-final.

"It's just the ability to handle that pressure and still put in a consistent performance," he said. "There is plenty of talent around, it's just getting it on to the park."

And he believes the problem is a generational one. Today's players know virtually nothing outside life as professional footballers.

It is different from the era when Muggleton was playing with the Parramatta Eels and all footballers had fulltime jobs.

"In the old days when I was a schoolteacher and I had a shocker on Sunday, I had to go and face those kids in all my classes telling me I had a shocker," he said.

"It certainly puts things into focus and the effect you have on other people. Having a job and not being a fulltime professional makes you think a lot more about things outside football and the consequences of your football."

Muggleton said mental toughness had been described as character in action. He said people only became mentally tough when they were exposed to situations where that quality was needed.

"Our young blokes are at times shielded from things like that or they are shielded from opportunities to build that character," he said.

"Remember, we get young kids and we've got to turn them into men - and I don't think in rugby league or rugby union we are doing the best job of doing that."

Unemployed and looking for a new job, Muggleton holds no bitterness about his departure from the Wallabies' staff after the appointment of Robbie Deans as coach.

"I always said if they didn't want me I was quite happy to walk away as long as they looked after me financially," he said. "As an employer, that should be their right. A new coach coming in should have the staff and responsibility that he wants.

"It just means I've been forced into a situation where I have to do something different, which is sometimes good. You can get stale doing the same thing for a long period of time so I'm looking forward to finding something else to do."

Muggleton believes that the Wallabies are in good hands with Deans in charge.