Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: Rugby Australia needs drastic restructure if Wallabies are to improve

  1. #1
    Immortal Contributor The InnFORCEr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    West Leederville
    Posts
    16,871
    vCash
    3102000

    Rugby Australia needs drastic restructure if Wallabies are to improve

    Greg Growden
    ESPN Rugby


    Rugby Australia must get its priorities right and undergo a dramatic restructure before it has any chance of reviving an ailing code, according to one of this country's most experienced sporting administrators.

    Former NSW Waratahs, Western Force and Australian Rugby Union Players' Association chief executive Greg Harris contacted ESPN this week because of his deep concerns about rugby's wayward direction; the latest sad chapter being another dismal Bledisloe Cup campaign that sees Wallabies coach Michael Cheika's position under threat.

    The call was made this time last week that Michael Cheika and his support staff must be replaced. Nothing has changed. It has actually become far more urgent, writes Greg Growden.

    Despite the bells tolling louder and louder, Rugby Australia CEO Raelene Castle confirms Wallabies coach Michael Cheika will not be fired

    ESPN can also reveal Cheika is not as safe as Rugby Australia officials are publicly making out, and Wallabies staff changes are inevitable.

    Harris's credentials span three football codes, being chairman of selectors at the Sydney Swans AFL club, a first-grade rugby league player with Cronulla Sutherland, chairman of the NRL education and welfare committee, while he made Sydney University a sporting powerhouse during a lengthy reign as its successful executive director.

    His contact with senior rugby administrators is strong and extensive, resulting from a six-year period that ended in 2016, heading either RUPA or the Waratahs.

    Harris still finds it hard to comprehend what he had to deal with.

    If the Wallabies wants to lift themselves from a parlous fifth world ranking, Harris believes Rugby Australia must dismantle its coaching structure, and follow the AFL example of introducing a powerful overseer, whom the head coach reports to. He added that dreadful administration of the game has led to the current dramas.

    "I do have some empathy for Cheika," Harris told ESPN.

    "He can only play the cards he has been dealt with. The playing stocks are bare. Because of that he is playing far too many youngsters, who haven't played together to form a competitive team against the best in the world.

    "Compare the number of Super Rugby and Test matches which the Wallabies and All Blacks have amassed. It's lambs versus lions stuff. It's not an easy task for any coach. But the system is broken as much as the coach and his entourage are struggling.

    "The structure is the problem. Rugby Australia needs a Director of Rugby who the coach and his crew are accountable to. They need a Neil Balme-type of appointment."

    Balme, the general manager of football at the Richmond Football Club in the AFL, is widely credited as being a major factor in the Tigers winning the 2017 premiership, breaking a 37-year drought. Balme left Collingwood in late 2016 to go to Richmond.

    "But the real culprits who have gone untouched as those who sowed the seeds of the program many years ago," Harris said.

    "The system in Australia is broken. After the 2003 World Cup, the Kiwis restructured their rugby program so that it was all centred around the All Blacks. They did their homework, including adopting two key concepts which Rugby Australia has not implemented -- STRATEGY and CULTURE."

    Harris said the past ARU regime of Michael Hawker as chairman and Bill Pulver as chief executive and current combination of Cameron Clyne and Raelene Castle were similar in one respect.

    "From Hawker to Pulver to Clyne to Castle... there is no strategy. RUPA has been prepared to discuss substantial changes to player engagement, including national contracting and a draft system, but it was not even raised by successive Rugby Australia administrations."

    It was imperative Rugby Australia CEOs 'look after Australian interests first and foremost in international negotiations.'

    In that area, Harris believed Pulver who 'wanted to be fair to all... was disastrous for the local game', while he is concerned with Castle's close relationship with her 'mentor' -- the New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew. Castle has regularly approached Tew for advice.

    "There has to be an Australian first and foremost policy. Also administrators cannot be fans. This is a business, after all," Harris said.

    "The two major assets rugby has in Australia are the school system (mainly private) and the senior district clubs, who are all segregated and disenfranchised from Rugby Australia," Harris said.

    "As the first development manager in the AFL in Sydney in 1986-87, I know the intrusion of AFL into the private school sector has been a generational operation, which is only beginning to now bear fruit. Rugby administrators must understand that the competition for elite athletes and commercial revenues in Australia is far greater than international competitors.

    There are three major collision sports in Australia, which provides unique challenges.

    "Australian rugby also sadly has a culture more attuned to personal gain. It's more about dollars in player contracts than team achievement. That is especially the case when you compare Australia to the All Blacks. This has to change and will only do so with drastic changes to player contracting and the competition structures.

    "The All Blacks represent all of New Zealand. The Wallabies only represent a percentage of the Australian public, and this is decreasing as the results worsen. And the Australian sporting public have other football options which they can and are gravitating to in their droves."

    While Castle this week stated Cheika's position was safe until next year's World Cup, ESPN has been told by Rugby Australia sources that several influential officials are 'eager' for him to depart beforehand.

    Apart from his dismal 50 percent Test success rate, which drops to just 41 per cent for internationals after the last World Cup, some Rugby Australia officials are dismayed by Cheika's belligerent attitude when he is under pressure. There are also concerns he has become such a dominant figure at Rugby Australia that in the words of one official 'he always gets his way...which is not always the right way.'

    During Pulver's reign, Cheika was clearly the boss. Cheika's dogmatic, aggressive manner has alienated some, including players.

    However what is easing the tension on Cheika somewhat is that due to Rugby Australia's shaky financial position they may not be able to pay him out early. Cheika is on a substantial salary package.

    Rugby Australia has in recent weeks talked to at least two other coaching candidates, while several others, including two highly capable and successful New Zealand coaches, have shown interest in the position. An interim Wallabies coach is also being considered.

    Immediate changes to the Wallabies structure are scheduled to include the introduction of an independent selector to provide a differing view to Cheika. Cheika has not distinguished himself as a selector during his four years in the position, often confusing players with his 'chopping and changing' of personnel.

    Questions have been asked about several recent Wallabies team management decisions, including the wisdom of spending a week on an island resort off Auckland before last weekend's Test, and the vast expense involved in funding expanding Wallabies training squads.

    Due to the All Blacks scoring 12 tries in the two Bledisloe Cup Tests, Wallabies defensive coach Nathan Grey's position is under scrutiny.

    http://www.espn.com.au/rugby/story/_...s-greg-growden

    2 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    80 Minutes, 15 Positions, No Protection, Wanna Ruck?

    Ruck Me, Maul Me, Make Me Scrum!

    Education is Important, but Rugby is Importanter!

  2. #2
    Legend Contributor Alison's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    7,308
    vCash
    5000000
    Well, derrr!

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby

  3. #3
    Player lou's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    313
    vCash
    5000000
    a good analysis of the situation

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    The truth may set you free, but only evidence convicts

  4. #4
    Champion MI5_Dog's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Rockingham
    Posts
    1,728
    vCash
    5000000
    ""He can only play the cards he has been dealt with. The playing stocks are bare. Because of that he is playing far too many youngsters, who haven't played together to form a competitive team against the best in the world."

    Too many youngsters? Who are you kidding Greg?

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!

  5. #5
    Legend Contributor
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    5,259
    vCash
    5100000
    The real problem in Australian rugby is a focus on symptoms and an unwillingness to even contemplate the actual root causes. This article is more of the same from one of the longstanding culprits...obsessing with the coaching structure of the Wallabies, despite having specifically identified the problem in "the playing stocks are bare". Might want to drill into why that is, perhaps...

    1 Not allowed! Not allowed!

  6. #6
    Immortal GIGS20's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Rockingham
    Posts
    20,508
    vCash
    1296000
    You might be right that the playing stocks are bare Andy, but what is the root cause of that?

    Why do we have no experienced, capable #10s in Australia? Could it be because they saw no future in beating their head against a brick wall playing Super Rugby for a pittance with no hope of being selected in the Wallabies because Bernard Foley appears to have photos of Cheika in a compromising situation?

    Is the blame for that the player? the development system? the coach? In several key areas, we've lost high quality young, and experienced, players to overseas contracts SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY SAW THEY HAD NO FUTURE WITH THE WALLABIES!!!!!

    Liam Gill, Sean McMahon, Kieran Longbottom, Matt Toomua, are just the names that spring immediately to mind, all of whom are a better option than the incumbent who is routinely selected, all of whom have gone overseas in frustration to make a dollar.

    I think Cheika's loaded selections are the root of most of the problems in the Wallabies, He selects Hooper at 7 and captain, Hooper knows he can't be dropped, Hoooper doesn't need to bother doing his job well, because he's locked in.

    Drop Hooper for a couple of tests, tell him he can return when he genuinely challenges Pocock for the spot, we will see the character of the man then!

    It worked with Sharpie who Deans benched for a tour of South Africa, when he returned, he was LIVID, and played out of his skin for the rest of his Wallaby career.

    The other solution of course is to kill off the Brumbies, increasing the massive impact that cutting the Force has had on the situation!

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    C'mon the

  7. #7
    Veteran Bakkies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Posts
    3,728
    vCash
    5000000
    It has least put the heat on the Foxsports team to make the coaching staff and administration more accountable on their platform. I have watched more than a few clips from Super Sport and Ashwin Willemse's tantrum aside their analysis is so far ahead it is not funny. They criticise the administrators and coaching staff when it is due.

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    'I may be a Senator but I am not stupid'


    https://omny.fm/shows/the-alan-jones-breakfast-show/cameron-clyne

    Link to Senate Report http://www.aph.gov.au/senate_ca

    https://www.change.org/p/rugby-australia-petition-for-cameron-clyne-to-resign-as-chairman-of-the-rugby-australia-board

  8. #8
    Immortal GIGS20's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Rockingham
    Posts
    20,508
    vCash
    1296000
    Quote Originally Posted by Bakkies View Post
    It has least put the heat on the Foxsports team to make the coaching staff and administration more accountable on their platform. I have watched more than a few clips from Super Sport and Ashwin Willemse's tantrum aside their analysis is so far ahead it is not funny. They criticise the administrators and coaching staff when it is due.
    Perhaps having the head of the coaching "improvement" program as one of the presenters and the key analyst on the show is getting in the way of strong critique?

    0 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    C'mon the

  9. #9
    Veteran Bakkies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2017
    Posts
    3,728
    vCash
    5000000
    Absolutely.

    I got more out of watching Brendan Venter's interview on Super Sport when discussing the similar problems SA had two years ago.



    Jake White did a good one on the same show

    Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmTA6TQg0eA

    Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpI2rCEzK6o

    1 Not allowed! Not allowed!
    'I may be a Senator but I am not stupid'


    https://omny.fm/shows/the-alan-jones-breakfast-show/cameron-clyne

    Link to Senate Report http://www.aph.gov.au/senate_ca

    https://www.change.org/p/rugby-australia-petition-for-cameron-clyne-to-resign-as-chairman-of-the-rugby-australia-board

Similar Threads

  1. Where the Wallabies Must Improve
    By Darren in forum Wallabies
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 11-10-10, 19:29
  2. Wallabies looking to improve away record
    By NewsBot in forum News Feeds
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 26-08-06, 00:47
  3. Rampant Wallabies still need to improve: Connolly
    By NewsBot in forum News Feeds
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 17-07-06, 09:13
  4. Gregan - Wallabies must improve
    By NewsBot in forum News Feeds
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 06-07-06, 05:37
  5. Gregan urges Wallabies to improve
    By NewsBot in forum News Feeds
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 05-07-06, 20:05

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •