Aussie Pro Rugby
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@voodoo said in Aussie Rugby:
@MiketheSnow said in Aussie Rugby:
@NTA said in Aussie Rugby:
Pour yourself a rose đ
Not going to be there for 25 Lions and beyond
Surplus to requirements
I think Eddie has been very clear about that
But honestly, thatâs so fucking stupid (from him, not you).
This Wallabies side had the easiest path to a Semi Final of a RWC than any side in the history of the fucking tournament.
Beat Wales, Fiji and Argentina and youâre on the big stage in a SF - who the fuck doesnât grab that opportunity with both sweaty mitts and focus on this tournament right here, right now??!
Who cares about the Lions in 25 yet? Worry about that from 8 weeks time. Since when was a RWC considered a training ground to blood young guys for a fucking Lions tour in 18months!!!
Keep in mind how the story has changed: Originally it was a "smash and grab" for the RWC. That was the focus, that was the reason they got rid of Rennie before the RWC. Now with the benefit of a single solitary win against the might of Georgia, the tune has changed to young side building for the future.
The irony is how many of this current squad are likely to stick around in this clearly toxic environment? They'll fuck off OS at the first available opportunity.
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@NTA said in Aussie Rugby:
And yet I've seen someone on Twitter today referring to McLennan as a sharp operator.
There are still some massively deluded fluffybunnies out there.
It's not known as the world's premier supplier of misinformation for no reason
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@NTA said in Aussie Rugby:
Qld Suburban is basically dead. A few clubs hanging on, playing Friday nights against each other or Premier Club 6th grades.
That said, the Premier scene there always appeared much larger than Subbies e.g. 5 men's grades + a couple of colts in Prem versus 1 or 2 grades
Prem scene always appeared much larger I think, because most of subbeis play(od played, don't know who is there now) in either the Gold Coast , or Northern Coast comps? There only a few subbies clubs (I think) in Brisbane itself.
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Harry posts some good stuff if you can get past all the poetic padding he often throws in. But Eddie will not be chopped cos that would a. cost too much and b. mean McClennan admitting his mistake. Even if the walls get stuffed and then lose the next one, Eddie is here until the Lions minimum
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Fuck we all will be sick of Eddie by then.
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@Chris said in Aussie Rugby:
Fuck we all will be sick of Eddie by then.
I am already, his maaaaaaaaaate and crazy stuff was amusing for a while. But now he is fucking over NZs only major rugby partner - if Oz can still be called that.
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@Tim said in Aussie Rugby:
That's a concern, obviously PE have the word that TV rights aren't going to take a significant jump after 2026? Also if Aus are really looking at $90m loan to keep them going until Lions/WC cash falls, is a worry. And supposedly looking at taking over Brumbies and Tahs as they got money probs. Seems almost they got more teams etc than they can afford, which is a worry, though not new.
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@mariner4life said in Aussie Rugby:
Also, on a less serious note, gateau and Mitchell's podcast is fucking entertaining
Agreed. Sample from this week with Jeremy Paul:
https://x.com/GoodBadRugbyAus/status/1704775112124240233?s=20
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@NTA said in Aussie Rugby:
@mariner4life said in Aussie Rugby:
Also, on a less serious note, gateau and Mitchell's podcast is fucking entertaining
Agreed. Sample from this week with Jeremy Paul:
https://x.com/GoodBadRugbyAus/status/1704775112124240233?s=20
He was an excellent guest.
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I've got on the beers with JP a few times, good bloke
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Jeez, this guy just gets better and better - either he's being quoted out of context, or he's now throwing Hooper squarely under the bus for a lack of leadership and for being responsible for "deeper cultural issuesâ.
Eddie Jones opens up: Why I culled veteran Wallabies
Before the Wallabiesâ must-win game against Wales, the besieged coach hits back at his critics and reveals the ambition driving his second stint in charge.By JESSICA HALLORAN
September 22, 2023Besieged Wallabies coach Eddie Jones says he does not know how long he will remain in the job, but when his time is up he wants to leave Australian rugby in a better place than what he found it.
The veteran coach, under pressure five months into the job with one win from seven games, says he will weather and accept the criticism being thrown his way, but he maintains he is helping to lay the foundation of a World Cup winning team for 2027.
âI made the choice to do this; you make choices all the time in life and I made this choice that I want to give something back to Australian rugby,â Jones said.
âWhenever I finish, I want to feel like I leave Australian rugby in a better place than it was.â
In an exclusive interview with The Weekend Australian, Jones said what had become clear over the past five months was Australian rugby has been unable to foster the elite on-field leadership needed to win a World Cup and the codeâs junior pathways were the âmost brokenâ.
To break the cycle of failure, culling senior players was a necessity to start the rebuild.
Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, a friend of Jonesâs who was in Wallabies camp in the build-up to this World Cup, observed some parts of Australiaâs high-performance program were 15 years behind the All Blacks.
What has become clearer to Jones in recent times is the lack of strong leadership in Australian ranks. While the omission of veteran playmaker Quade Cooper and former captain Michael Hooper has caused consternation and debate, Jones says such decisions were made to address what he has previously described as âdeeper cultural issuesâ within the Wallabies.
âWell, you know good teams are always about good leaders and about good senior players and their ability to generate a strong team,â Jones said.
âAnd I think whatâs happened over the last period of time â thereâs been a thereâs been a lack of leadership coaching in Australian rugby and thereâs players who come through to the international level that donât have the fundamental skills of leadership and the mental skills and preparation that are needed to be at your best consistently.â
What is also obvious to him is general standards had dropped severely before he arrived at Rugby Australia HQ â and there needs to be a raising of the bar, not only at an elite level, but across the whole rugby community. âI think generally speaking what has happened is that just the standards have dropped,â Jones said. âI think itâs got really badly affected by Covid, where basically, you know, players are on minimal training loads. It was minimal staff and there was minimal expectation and, and really Australia hasnât recovered from that yet and, and there needs to be a raising of the standards, the raising of expectations across the whole â the whole rugby community.â
The loss to Fiji â Australiaâs first in 69 years â has seen a torrent of criticism stream Jonesâs way.
Former All Black turned Channel 9 TV commentator Sonny Bill Williams said Jones had been âfound outâ, while ex-Wallaby Drew Mitchell unloaded on the coach on a podcast.
âYouâve (Jones) made some glaring decisions around Quade (Cooper), around Michael Hooper, six captains in seven weeks, like, f--king explain some of these decisions to us,â Mitchell said on The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast.
Former Wallabies coach Alan Jones in his News Corp column said experienced heads such as Cooper should have been picked. When asked about the suggestion more experienced players should have been included on this team, Eddie Jones brushed it off and noted this iteration of the Wallabies was in a rebuild.
âI donât even pay any attention to it,â Jones said of the criticism. âParticularly ex-coaches that make comments like that. You know, they know that at some stage in the team (cycle) you have got to build a new team and that comes with difficulties.
âSometimes you can do it (rebuild a team) quicker than others. But generally speaking, to turn any team around, thereâs a three-year process to turn the team around and you have to make adjustments somewhere along the line. We could have kept a number of senior players, but is that going to help the development of the team going forward? So youâre always making decisions for today and decisions for tomorrow.
âYouâre weighing it and the judgment is how many (decisions) you make for tomorrow and how many you make for today and thatâs a continual juggling act that youâre doing.â
Australian rugby is not more broken than he expected, as Jones said he knew the task was not going to be easy.
âI always knew this was going to be difficult,â he said. âI didnât think it was going to be easy; I always knew it was going to be really tough. Thereâs plenty of good talent. Thereâs no lack in talent, but, you know, you get to the World Cup and every teamâs talented. Itâs about your work ethic, your application, your attention to detail and all those things take time to turn around. And Iâve been able to turn it around as coach, (but) I havenât coached well enough, I havenât been able to turn it around quick enough.â
This World Cup was not a âsmash and grabâ job as Jones had once hoped; rather it was a ârebuildâ.
But with the coach the subject of foul-mouthed tirades by former Wallabies, the heat rising on his team selection, and rookies and seniors broken by injury, this still is not the worst position Jones has been in his illustrious coaching career.
Instead, he likens it to the situation he was confronted with when he took over coaching Japan in 2012, though Jones said then he had more time.
âWith Japan, I had four years to turn them around, but here Iâve only really had five months,â he said. âSo weâre just racing the clock. But I can see change in the team, but itâs just not quick enough at the moment.â
Jones, and others, will say Australiaâs onfield performance can be linked back to a systemic failure and neglect at its grassroots. When rugby had its moment to fly in the early 2000s, not enough was done. Instead the game slowly burned, almost to the ground.
As rugby league clubs cherrypick most of the best juniors, Jones laments the talent lost.
Once proud rugby schools in Sydney such as Scots, Kings, Trinity and Newington colleges, plus Anglican Church Grammar School in Brisbane, have produced NRL stars Cameron Murray, Angus Crichton, Kalyn Ponga and now Siua Wong.
âThatâs probably the system thatâs the most broken,â Jones said. âWhen youâre a small sport like rugby in Australia, whatever talent youâve got, youâve got to identify quickly what is your top five, 10 per cent and youâve got to make sure that the talent is being absolutely optimised and you donât lose that because you know that top five in the senior player group is the five or 10 per cent that rugby league want ⌠and that now maybe Aussie Rules want.
âYouâve got to cultivate those players with good habits with a love for rugby ⌠because rugby does present opportunities that other sports donât get, like playing in this World Cup â you donât get that in rugby league or AFL.
âYouâve got to be putting those opportunities in front of the players, keeping your best talent and not losing it. And what I see over the last 10 years, particularly, a lot of the good talent has been lost.â
If the result does not go Australiaâs way against Wales on Sunday (Monday morning AEST), what does that loss say?
âFirstly, I havenât done the job well enough,â Jones said. âI am happy to accept that ⌠but secondly thereâs a rebuilding job to be done and Iâm just starting and Iâm just putting down the foundations.â
And a win?
âThen weâre on to Portugal and all weâll worry about is Portugal,â he said.
As Jones sounds upbeat in a difficult time, he reiterates he is only in the job for one reason.
âI accept all the criticism, I accept all the negativity, but you know, for me itâs always been about coming back home at the end of my career and Iâm at the place where I want to give something back to Australian rugby,â he said.
âI know if I finish in three weeks or finish in three years, I want to make sure that Australian rugby is in a better place and sometimes the results donât show that, but sometimes you get results further down the line.
âI see this team as the basis of a World Cup-winning team in 2027.
âYou just look at the age profile of this team, itâs almost perfect. Yeah, itâll be perfect by then.â
JESSICA HALLORAN CHIEF SPORTS WRITER
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He and his fat CEO buddy are lying through their teeth, 'smash n grab' etc. Now building for 27. Utter bollocks attempts to save their hides by shitting on everyone else first. The ultimate tactic of those who know they are fucked, put the blame elsewhere before the inevitable fall.
And how the hell aren't the press pulling his bullshit up to his face is disgusting. They are as bad as the cheerleaders over here never mentioning to Fosters useless face about how the learnings are never learnt
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Is this Eddie's last dance? - Andy Goode
Eddie Jones has won just two of his last 11 Tests as an international head coach and another defeat to Wales this weekend could, or at least should, spell the end of his coaching career.
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SBW is biased-Quade is his bro.
But this doesn't pass the smell test from Eddie:"And Iâve been able to turn it around as coach, (but) I havenât coached well enough, I havenât been able to turn it around quick enough.â
Gotta say, either Eddie is right and Rennie destroyed the Wallabies, or Eddie is wrong and slightly megalomaniac. Results seem to indicate the latter.
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@Machpants said in Aussie Rugby:
And how the hell aren't the press pulling his bullshit up to his face is disgusting. They are as bad as the cheerleaders over here never mentioning to Fosters useless face about how the learnings are never learnt
Rugby media in Australia has declined along with the game. Now they're looking at existential crisis.
I'd also suggest they're numb to it, a bit like political journos and Trump. Not sure what to do...
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