Deluded or Messiah
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That's it isn't it. You know Aust rugby is going down the drain when they are celebrating losing the Bledisloe for a 15th year in a row because they "didn't give up" while doing it.
The series is gone and they are staring down the barrel of a year that is just as bad as last year having lost 3 games already.
I just can't fathom how anything they have done this year can be seen as a success. It's tier 2 stuff being satisfied with losing.
Weird article too, he claims Clown is the perfect guy to rebuild the wallabies while also acknowledging he was the one that was in charge while the ship ran aground. Should start calling him teflon clown.
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@pukunui said in Deluded or Messiah:
You know Aust rugby is going down the drain when they are celebrating losing the Bledisloe for a 15th year in a row because they "didn't give up" while doing it.
Who is celebrating? I think somewhere between what Cully has printed, and how booboo is interpreting it, and how you're interpreting all of the above, you're missing something.
Most of the people I've spoken to are happy that our most recent 120 minutes of Bledisloe Rugby in 2017 wasn't the absolute shit-show that the first 40 was, but nobody I know is talking about turning a corner or some miracle elevation of rugby across all levels. There was marked improvement, but it just poses more questions i.e. why the fuck didn't we have a warmup game?
As for replacing Cheika: who with? Nobody in Australian Rugby is ready, and who from overseas would want the job? Or be suitably qualified?
All reports are that the players love Cheika as well, so it would be a fairly unpopular decision to move him on.
But fans here are somewhere between ropeable (Perth), and outraged (Queenslanders who won't give up on Quade and still are livid over McKenzie being flicked) to despondent (the rest of us - except Brumbies fans who are both just happy they made the finals) at what is going on in rugby here. Look at this shit:
The Queensland Rugby Union has been ordered to pay former Wallabies and Queensland Reds coach John Connolly $150,000 in damages after he was sacked as a coaching consultant. Connolly launched legal action against the QRU after he was dumped in July 2015, six weeks into a $3000-a-week job he expected to last until the end of the 2016 Super Rugby Season. Brisbane District Court Judge Ian Dearden on Friday ordered QRU to pay Connolly $150,000, with calculations for interest and costs to be determined at a later date. The legal action centred around the termination conditions of the consultancy role, for which there was a verbal agreement and three contracts. But none of them were signed by both parties, the court heard in August. Connolly was coach of the Queensland Reds between 1988 and 2000 and the Wallabies from 2006 to 2007. His legal representatives indicated they would be seeking costs on an indemnity basis. -
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I think a coach does need to be popular with the players. He is essentially the boss and who works hard for a boss they despise? I know I respond to leaders/coaches a hell of a lot better if I like/respect them.
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@Crazy-Horse unpopular coaches don't last long unless you're winning e.g. Jake White.
If we're equating "popular" to "guy who gives me test rugby dollars via the very nature of selection" then EVERY national coach is popular.
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I'm certainly no fan of Chieka's demeanour but, that aside, I wouldn't be sacking him on results.
When the Oz Super teams have gone 0-26 against the NZ ones, it's pretty hard to see that they're going to be putting a team of superior players together. Now, the first 40 minutes of the first Bledisloe was a total shit show, but after that Oz has been quite competitive.
Reality for Australia is that since about 2004, we've had a better test team. they've burgled a few results here and there, but it's bloody hard for a coach to win when he doesn't have the cattle and the opposition coaches are better than competent.
If I was Australian rugby, I'd pretty much do exactly the same as I've recommended for years for NZ Cricket - i.e. for NZ Cricket don't base any selection decisions on what happens against Australia.
For the Wallabies, don't base any decisions on what happens against the ABs.
Judge Chieka on results against all the other opponents.
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since 2015, Aus have a 57% record v NH teams and a 55% record v SH teams, although that is skewed somewhat with the games v NZ...but then the v SH opponents includes Uruguay and Fiji x 2.
TBF, he probably is the best they have right now, but I still think he is a bit of a knob
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@Nepia said in Deluded or Messiah:
@Chris-B. So if we set aside results to a team played most frequently he still has losses to England 5, France 1, Ireland 2, Scotland 1, and South Africa 1.
Those are pretty poor results.
Yeah - they're not great - but, he's going OK against Argentina, SA and Wales, who are credible opponents - he got them to the RWC final and caused a few tremors when Ben Smith was in the bin. Won Super rugby.
He's not congenitally useless.
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I take the points others have made, but I think Chris is mostly correct. Australia are still ranked 5th in the world and aren't that far behind Ireland or South Africa. I think Cheika is on the precipice. A bad end to the season and you could probably justify sacking him. I expect Australia will probably beat the Saffas once, the Argies twice and everyone except for England and us at the end of the season. They are probably going to stay around 5th in the world which is a fair result given their player pool.
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Deluded or Messiah? Probably neither, just another run-of-the-mill coach whose fortune depends on player pool and rub of the green.
Connolly wins case against QRU
