Robbie Deans' message levels Super 14 playing field

By Wayne Smith

February 13, 2009

ONLY now is the full genius of John O'Neill's master-stroke in recruiting Robbie Deans as Australia coach becoming apparent.

Already, after just one season in charge of the Wallabies, it is obvious Deans has added much to the Australian game - with the promise of so much more to follow.

What's more, he makes disciples of every player to wear the gold jersey, sending them home to their provinces to spread the word and confidence.

The ripple effect is at work and his circle of influence in Australian rugby is ever-widening.

But right at this moment, that's not what makes Deans such a good buy.

In one fell swoop O'Neill not only made the Wallabies more competitive, he levelled the playing field in a Super 14 competition that had just about reached its fill of Crusaders domination.

Under Deans, the Crusaders were all but unstoppable.

In his nine seasons with the club, Canterbury missed the play-offs only once.

Of the other eight campaigns, seven ended in the final, five of them with them holding aloft the Super rugby trophy.

Had it not been for Graham Henry's selfish decision to denude the 2007 competition of 20 All Blacks to keep them fresh for a World Cup campaign that was to end in disaster for New Zealand, there's every chance the Crusaders would be chasing their fifth successive championship this year.

Under Deans, the Crusaders won three games out of every four - 89 from 119, for the pedantic.

And, if anything, the Crusaders were growing in strength.

Last season, they easily scored more tries than any other team - 16 more than competition runner-up, the Waratahs - while their defence was the stingiest in the league.

Had Deans remained at Jade Stadium, the Crusaders might well have hugged the Super 14 to death.

True, the NSW TAB Sportsbet still lists them again as favourite, narrowly ahead of the Hurricanes, Sharks, Bulls and Blues - the Waratahs are rated only sixth favourite, with the Brumbies eighth, the Western Force 10th and the Reds 11th.

But for the first time this century, there is a genuine sense that the top spot is up for grabs, that not everyone else in the competition is playing for second place.

Pundits can allow their hearts to sway them if they choose but punters, the successful ones at least, tend to be dispassionately objective.

It's not surprising then that the four Australian teams find themselves bunched in mid-table in the pre-season betting.

There are question marks over all four of them.

The Waratahs have jettisoned Ewen McKenzie and replaced him with Chris Hickey who is, all at the same time, both the oldest coach in the competition and the least experienced at the fully professional level.

Then there is the not insignificant loss of five Australia forwards, three of them - Rocky Elsom, Dan Vickerman and David Lyons - for good seemingly, with Matt Dunning and Sekope Kepu out for the season.

The Brumbies likewise have made a change of coach, turning to A Friend in their need to find the spark that has been missing every year since the club succumbed to player power back in 2004.

Picking up Test hooker Stephen Moore from the profligately wasteful Reds was a masterly coup and one that should restore credibility to their set pieces.

And it will be intriguing to see whether relieving the Wallabies skipper of the captaincy has the same effect it did in 2004 when the Brumbies won the title after George Gregan handed over the provincial reins to Stirling Mortlock.

The Force has the potential to do and be anything this season - champions even if it can harness the experience of tight forwards Nathan Sharpe and Tai McIsaac to the most exciting back row in the competition and the club's all-Australian backline.

Much will hinge on early results - starting with Friday's crucial clash against the Blues.

The Reds, meanwhile, seem to have cornered the market on the players who could form the core of the Wallabies in the years to come, the Berrick Barnes and Quade Coopers, the Hugh McMenimans and Digby Ioanes.

But talk of potential is wearing aggravatingly thin where the Reds are concerned and it's time for all the mushy talk of promise to give way to some hard-headed delivery.

In that respect, while they need to be flogged for allowing Moore to slip through their fingers, Phil Mooney and his coaches warrant a fanfare for moving so decisively to grab New Zealand's Daniel Braid the moment the ARU removed its import tariffs.

It's not just that Braid is a warrior in the mould of the retired player he replaces, David Croft, but more importantly he has opened the eyes of young Queensland players to the mindset that has allowed the All Blacks to rule the world for the past quarter-century, give or take the odd World Cup calamity.

Time and again when the Reds were about to call it quits at the end of a session, Braid has quietly announced that that's not the way the Blues would do things, let alone the Blacks.

Chastened, the Reds have returned to work with renewed vigour.

And the look on Mooney's face when Braid approached the coaches one day to ask if he could keep the wingers back after training to help them improve their work at the breakdown must have been a sight to see.

Of course, the biggest bonus all four Australian provinces have this season is access to the man who mastered Super rugby.

Not that Deans hands anyone the answers.

He prefers the Socratic approach.

It's not the answer that's important.

It's the question.

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