Tag Archives: ARU

Mowen departs: Where to now for the ARU?

January 9, 2014 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Ben Mowen is heading to France to ply his trade in 2015. He will be playing out his 2014 contract with the ACT Brumbies / Wallabies.  The announcement of the contract for 2015 has been made, ostensibly, to allow both teams time to plan for the departure of Mowen from the scene.

 

The fact is that Mowen is the incumbent captain of both the Brumbies and the Wallabies, having been elevated to the captaincy in favour of James Horwill on the summer tour to Europe.  He is the incumbent Number 8 in both teams. Mowen’s defection, he has been reported as saying, on family grounds (note that it was reported broadly in October 2013 that there were monetary factors also in play) raises a number of issues for the ARU which, with the Super 15 season so close, must be answered swiftly.

 

The principal issue for both the Brumbies and the Wallabies must be whether Mowen continues to be selected, both as captain and in those respective teams in general.  For the Brumbies the answer is simple: it is a professional rugby franchise rather than a representative one and thus his ongoing selection in both role raises no issues at all.  The position for the Wallabies and the ARU is far more vexed. In my opinion it can not be in the interests of the Wallabies to select a player for whom the allure of being the captain of his country or playing at a World Cup is not strong enough to keep him playing for said country.  I applaud Mowen’s devotion to his family (if one is to believe the reason given) but taking this position leaves a serious question of his commitment to his country.

 

The World Cup is being held in 2015 and the test matches played by Australia in 2014 will be an important guide to the make up of the Wallabies team that takes the field in that tournament.  That being the case, Mowen simply can not be selected for Australia this year can he?

 

The other major issue that the defection of Mowen raises is who will be the next captain of Australia? James Horwill seems to be on the outer as captain and the return of David Pocock to the line up hinges on his return from a lengthy rehabilitation from a serious knee injury.  In Europe, Quade Cooper was elevated to the vice captaincy in the aftermath of Horwill’s demotion.  It should also not be forgotten that Will Genia has manfully taken on the position in Queensland during Horwill’s all to regular injury lay offs.  I am not certain who the ARU will pick for this position as they all have competing claims.  It will be vital though that the ARU pick a captain this year that they, injury and form permitting, intend to be the captain at the 2015 World Cup.  The last thing the Wallabies need after all is more instability.

 

The departure of Ben Mowen again opens the door to a discussion around the recompense of professional rugby players in this country (let’s be honest here: money is an underlying factor no matter the reasons posited by the man himself) albeit I remain steadfastly of the view that the money presently being paid ought be more than enough for the privilege of wearing a gold jersey.

Wallabies and the 2015 World Cup: Super 15 a prerequisite

November 29, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , 1 Comment

Ewen McKenzie has been reported in the press today as saying that he will not consider any player who is not signed with a Super Rugby franchise for selection for the 2015 World Cup. This is absolutely the right decision from the coach and is to be lauded.

To quote the coach:

“You can’t have guys cherry picking their way through and grabbing all the trinkets along the way, you’ve actually got to make a commitment”

AND

“We need people to invest in Australian rugby, so they’re around promoting the game, pressing the flesh, doing the coaching clinics, developing the game on and off the field:

Well said Link!!!!

This is, of course, different to the contracting position in South African rugby where players may take contracts outside of Super Rugby and still be selected for the Springboks. That said, there is a very key distinction between the state of the game in South Africa and Australia. In Australia, Rugby Union is running a distant 3rd as a winter sport to the NRL and AFL whereas in South Africa rugby union is the national game. The need for the stars of the game in Australia to commit to the game here and thereby invest in rugby in the fashion suggested by Ewen McKenzie has probably never been more important.

All of this means that players of the like of Digby Ioane, Berrick Barnes, James O’Conner and Drew Mitchell will all miss out on selection in the 2015 World Cup unless they are back in Super 15 colours by the start of the 2015 season. Ioane, of that quartet, is the only one that really presents as a prospect for the 2015 World Cup in my view and will have a decision as to whether he follows his wallet or his heart.

Rugby in this country has many disadvantages and does not need to reduce its image further by resorting to players who do not support the game and its development in this country no matter who good they might project to be in the team. For taking this stand the ARU and the coach are to be saluted. Now bring on this weekend’s test match and then, in February 2014, the start of Super 15 rugby!

Sanity finally prevails: O’Connor released from his ARU contract

October 3, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , Leave a comment

James O’Connor has been released from his contract with the Australian Rugby Union and will not be selected for the remaining six games of the Test season. Additionally, the ARU has confirmed that he will not be offered a salary top-up next year which could cost him somewhere in the vicinity of $300,000 next year if someone deigns to contract him to ply in Super Rugby in 2014.

Hallelujah!!!!!

I salute the ARU for taking this step. The continuing breaches of team rules and the contractual arrangements by which O’Connor was employed by the ARU simply could not be let stand and anyone who suggests to the contrary is just flat out wrong.

I am heartened by the statement released by O’Connor in the aftermath of this decision in which he is quoted as saying:

"I recognise that given my actions and the circumstances it is best for the team and myself to go in different directions in the short term. I remain focused on earning my place back with the Wallabies and will be looking for the right opportunity to do this.”

I hope he can come back from this because his, largely unfulfilled, talent is prodigious to say the least.

More to the point though I hope that the ARU and the Wallabies selectors remain firm on this new position they are taking when it comes to player behaviour. It is heartening to see that, despite the rebuilding phase we are going through presently, behaviour such as that of O’Connor’s will no longer be countenanced and, indeed, rewarded as it was during the “Deans era”.

Since when was $196,000 not enough to play for your country?

October 1, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

In the world of rugby today the big news, aside from the ongoing hand wringing that surrounds the Wallabies in general at the moment, was the prospect of Ben Mowen leaving these shores to ply his trade in Europe because of a pay dispute with the ARU.

The story is that he has signed with the Brumbies through 2015 but that that contract has been predicated upon Mowen receiving an ARU top up. The ARU, having spent the GDP of a small country to keep I Folau among others in Wallaby gold, does not have the cash to pay such a top up.

I was sympathetic to the case of Mowen, after all he is the current incumbent for the captaincy of the country and has improved markedly over the last year to secure a spot in the Wallabies line up. Then I read that each Wallabies player earns $14,000 per game. Further, assuming Mowen is selected for all 14 games the Wallabies play this season, he will earn $196,000 on top of his contract with the Wallabies. AND any top up payment will further increase the sum to be paid to Mowen for the honour to represent his country.

Are you kidding me? $14,000 per game is not enough? I know it is a professional game now but can anyone put their hand on their heart and say that the price of representing ones country should be one cent more than the exorbitant amount already paid?

Much like my response to rugby league players breaking contracts to enhance their value on the market, I have a simple response to the grab for cash currently being undertaken by a player seen as a future captain: go and play in Europe! Because frankly: if $196,000 is not enough to keep you in Wallaby gold then I have to question you commitment to that jersey.

Rugby: Finally someone does what Robbie Deans would not!

September 20, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , Leave a comment

James O’Connor has been stood down by Ewen McKenzie from the Wallabies indefinitely following his poor conduct at the Perth Airport.

All I can say is: finally!!!! After the era of Robbie Deans pandering to the whims of O’Connor and his poor form and conduct the McKenzie era has now been stamped with not accepting poor player behaviour like that of the past!

I hope O’Connor learns from this. Equally I hope that the ARU also learns from this a message that facilitating poor player behaviour does not lead to the player’s behaviour actually improving. This is a step that the ARU and it’s previous coach should have taken some time ago.

Rugby: Time to give McKenzie a break!

September 12, 2013 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , Leave a comment

I have been fascinated by calls of late questioning the selection of Ewen McKenzie as coach of the Wallabies following his first three test matches. There is only one person I blame for the poor form of the Wallabies and it is not Ewen McKenzie: blame for Australia’s poor form has to rest with Robbie Deans.

McKenzie has had, since the end of the Super Rugby season less than two months to work this Wallabies team into a team that plays, for want of a better term, the “McKenzie Way”. It is ridiculous to suggest that the Wallabies were going to be able to magically erase 5 years of Deans’ coaching and strategy in such a short time frame.

Even with the injection of new players there are still a significant number of players in this current team who were schooled in the game at test level by Deans. McKenzie needs time to mould this team into his own image and to his own style of play. The move to drop Will Genia is an important part of McKenzie stamping his authority on the team, indeed it is more important that the return of Quade Cooper in my view.

We need to give McKenzie some time without knives in his back: to even the least ardent of Wallabies fans it must have been obvious that immediate improvements were a pipe dream and now we know that to dream to be a reality. Let’s assess the start of the McKenzie “era” at the end of the Rugby Championship or even after the end of season Northern Hemisphere tour. By then we will know whether McKenzie’s midas touch as a coach, as we saw at the Reds, translates to the international game.

In the meantime, here’s hoping that Australia win and win well against Argentina this weekend in Perth. To lose will only increase the disharmony in the ranks of the fans, if nothing else.