17 October 2011, 11:57 pm
After a pretty disappointing RWC in which The Wobs only registered one decent win (in a game they probably should have lost) has Robbie Deans time as coach been a success. He has the worst winning record of any recent Wallaby coach, presided over the worst loosing streak to the ABs in history and frankly the RWC has been a disaster: - He's played a loose head prop at tight head, and vice versa - our scrum being so strong we can afford such experiments. The scrum he inherited in 08 had just started winning back some respect - what happened Robbie? - He's gambled everything on Cooper, even rearranging the defence to accommodate his defensive inadequacies rendering our once potent back 3 a joke, left Giteau at home, who a few bad kicks aside, has never let the side down, all while Cooper floundered the whole tournament. Cooper should have been made to stand on his own 2 feet and if he couldn't cut it he should have been dropped. For 4 years its been 1 step forward 1 step back. There's been no consistency and while we may have introduced youth we seem to have rejected experience which often resulted in a team that's looked rudderless. It's been like a 4 year recurring dream - how long are you planning to rebuild? And then there's the physicality aspect. I don't completely blame Deans for this as this softly softly attitude seems to be ingrained in Australian rugby from club level up as though we'll somehow convince mothers that rugby's a safer game for their darlings than soccer. It's not and we're an international laughing stock. Who's responsible for this And, why do so many teams feel our team has no respect for them. It's not the fans, we've always been Rsoles. Surely its up to team management to make sure that the team is saying the right things on the international stage to ensure our opponents feel respected, yet it appears this isn't happening. Why? We have some exciting talent coming through and we should be right in the running for the next tournament, and gee, a Bledisloe cup would be nice. I was excite when Deans was appointed but I wonder if his success at the Crusaders was more to a talent production line than special coaching. Deans has another 2 years on his contract but I don't know if he's the right person to be steering our young team towards a Lions tour and the next World cup. I'd love to know what others thought? @Charlie, Sure its an issue but we have more depth than any time in our history. Slipper finished 2010 far ahead of Alexander yet doesn't get a run, and why play them out of position? And half the AB games we lost we were ahead at half time. There's no way we should have lost all of them. Brockoff would have won half those games, ditto Dwyer, Maqueen, probably Jones @Bill P, couldn't agree more. Giteau definitely should have been there, although disagree on AAC. He had a poor season but I rate him highly @George Smith, he never found the elusive blend of youth and experience, mostly experience was just jettisoned @ chrisarrow222, I watched pretty much all the Brumby's games and its just wrong to say Giteau was out of form. He played well in a cr@p team and he should have been selected at leat as 3rd half. Phipps played half a game against Russia - what a contribution! @Rugby Fan, I think we've got good depth in most positions, as Bill P said, Higginbotham was a standout and in many peoples view should have been there ahead of Elsom, and Giteau, who should have toured, would've slotted straight in. Barnes could've filled in as well. They're more than suitable. We have a lot of good players in the squad and coming through and should be right up there next cup. Deans hasn't got the runs on the board and I don't want to toss away a chance at a Lions series just to prove that :( McKenzie has a proven track record with underperforming teams and looks more than up to the task. He should get the nod IMO... Read More »
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