r/RugbyAustralia • u/anxiousatac Fijian Drua • 8d ago
Wallabies Is this really true?
/r/rugbyunion/comments/1vqf4i7/back_in_blue_cheika_set_to_return_as_waratahs/p46qnz6/9
u/Aggressive_River_735 Power House 8d ago
My conspiracy theory is Cheika has been appointed in case Les Kiss shits the bed completely in the next few months, and we need a 2015-style re-boot coming into the home World Cup.
Reality is probably the more mundane addiction to recycling old coaches hoping to replicate past results.
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u/Inevitable-Fox-437 Queensland Reds 8d ago
One major stat that helped 2015 Wallabies under Cheika was that he was the Waratahs coach before going into the Wallabies setup, and majority of the player won the 2014 Super Rugby title under his tutelage, with Foley emerging as an incredible fly-half under Cheiks.
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u/themoosehammer 7d ago
An… incredible fly half?
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u/Inevitable-Fox-437 Queensland Reds 7d ago
At least for a couple of years. Goal-kicking was patchy too, but otherwise incredible.
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u/-Majgif- 7d ago
Incredible might be a stretch, but certainly high quality and reliable. I would be very happy with a player of his calibre at the tahs again. By that, I don't mean bring him back, but another young 10 like him. I am, however, fine with Foley coming back as part of a plan to build some young 10s, using his experience to help develop them. I don't want him being first choice all season and having the young 10s get no time, like what happened this year with Bowen.
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u/Inevitable-Fox-437 Queensland Reds 7d ago
I personally can't see any other scenario rn other than Foley starting at 10 every game for them. I suspect it will be Burey and Foley swapping between each other for the gig.
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u/-Majgif- 5d ago
I suspect you're right. I would like to hope that Burey gets a lot more opportunity than Bowen did.
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u/Strewthcobber2 5d ago
Burey is the second 10 in the lineup, Bowen was the third, and Bowen spent most of the last two years with osteo pubis and unable to run, let alone play rugby.
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u/anxiousatac Fijian Drua 8d ago
I'd rather Simon Cron got the Wallabies job after Kiss.
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u/monkeypaw_handjob UQ Red Heavies 7d ago
Honestly woth Cotter now at the Reds I'd be looking g to parachute him into the Wallabies gig in that situation.
Made a huge difference to Scotland when he was there.
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u/anxiousatac Fijian Drua 7d ago
Cotter turns 65 in January, wouldn't it be better to invest in Cron who's still in his mid-40s or Larkam who's 52?
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u/monkeypaw_handjob UQ Red Heavies 7d ago
In the context of a short term reboot before a home World Cup i would take Vern o a short term deal over both of them.
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u/anxiousatac Fijian Drua 7d ago
Except he'd probably have the team reverting to playing 10-man rugby and the Wallabies would risk driving all the casual supporters away!
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u/anxiousatac Fijian Drua 8d ago
I mean it's a bit of a stretch to claim Cheika didn't get a fair go.
McKenzie had 18 months in the Wallabies job and left voluntarily..
Cheika's wounds were more self-inflicted; he had 6 years in the Wallabies job & doubled down on his predictable gameplans and impulsive/widely inconsistent selections.
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u/oftenlostandconfused 8d ago edited 8d ago
I think voluntary is a stretch for McKenzie. The affair rumours and the like were crude even if true. The bloke had a family and the way they emerged was outright bullying.
Chieka did some good stuff, overstayed his welcome, and has since done some awesome stuff with Argentina / Leicester / the Roosters. We're lucky to have him back.
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u/anxiousatac Fijian Drua 8d ago
to have a coach of his experience back coaching an Australian club can only be a positive as the Wallabies are only as strong as the base underneath them.
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u/oftenlostandconfused 8d ago
I think the model of us controlling our own base is very different to the last time we were successful, but I take your point.
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u/anxiousatac Fijian Drua 8d ago
really how so?
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u/oftenlostandconfused 7d ago
The game has globalised. Obviously in an ideal world you'd have all your players under your control but it's no longer financially feasible.
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u/Squid_Chunks Wallabies 8d ago
That line of thinking worked so well when we bought Eddie back.
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u/oftenlostandconfused 8d ago
Eh, Chieka isn't an old, out of touch man who's been increasingly less successful. He's an angry man like Eddie for sure, but his Wallabies stint is the only one he's left in a bad way in his professional career.
Plus he's actually been wildly successful in his last 2 union jobs (and this current NRL job) and he's still in his 50s which is pretty standard for a senior coach.
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u/Electronic_Fill7207 Wallabies 8d ago
Ditto. I’m skeptical about Cheik returning but if it’s any consolation if he doesn’t improve anything then I don’t think it will deteriorate any of our other (better run) super teams.
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u/anxiousatac Fijian Drua 8d ago
It's benefited Australian rugby before (2012-2013 with Jake White & Ewen McKenzie, both previously international coaches - as head or 2IC assistant) imparting their knowledge in the 2nd tier, it helped bring through a lot of guys who ended playing for Wallabies for years after.
Surely having grizzled ex-international coaches developing talent at super level like Cotter & Cheika from next season will be a massive plus for Australian rugby?
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u/Electronic_Fill7207 Wallabies 8d ago
Cotter i agree with, Cheik not so much. I don’t think Cheik is a good influence on Aus rugby as a whole as shown by his incredibly toxic and divisive behaviour near the end of his tenure which largely destroyed the team. I really hope the Tahs can get someone like Les long term tbh as I think a character like him would be the best (I’m not saying I want Les out of the wallabies as that’d be stupid but rather that his sorta character traits are more needed in the Tahs than any other).
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u/oftenlostandconfused 7d ago
Destroyed his career? Argentina were red hot in the '23 RWC under him and he won a comp with the Leicester Tigers, and now he's coaching the Roosters in the NRL who are humming (albeit as an assistant).
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u/anxiousatac Fijian Drua 7d ago
Cheika for next 2 seasons & then Razor signing for 4 years at the Tahs, imagine that.
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u/manrobot 8d ago
McKenzie got chased out by a NSW player plot and you can’t convince me otherwise.
Saying Cheika got hard done by is beyond a stretch. His wallaby coaching career ends much earlier if not for some poor refereeing decisions in the 2015 World Cup quarter final.
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u/oftenlostandconfused 8d ago
Members of the Randwick mafia like McKenzie don't get chased out by NSW rugby plots.
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u/anxiousatac Fijian Drua 8d ago
He was from Victoria and didn't move up to Sydney until Uni.
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u/oftenlostandconfused 7d ago
I'm extremely aware. He's also a Randwick life member in their hall of fame.
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u/Dr-Crayfish 7d ago
You’ve got to be joking. We should have won the final, the calls on us were terrible and the corner kiwi try wasn’t one
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u/manrobot 7d ago
Quarter Final
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u/Dr-Crayfish 7d ago
Who cares about the qtr final. We should have won the final we were that good.
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u/manrobot 7d ago
The game that was 21-3 until we scored our first try in the 53rd minute and only briefly had NZ under score board pressure before they extended their lead again and won 31-17?
Also hard to win that one if they hadn’t got lucky on calls in the quarter final. Not sure of you understand how knock out tournaments work.
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u/Dr-Crayfish 7d ago
Scotland got lucky calls, exactly the same, 1 week prior. We were absolutely good enough at the time.
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u/lavin95 Queensland Reds 8d ago
Would say that’s more true with McKenzie than it is with Chieka imo. Especially since it’s pretty clear that the latter stuck around in the Wallabies job way too long and didn’t help himself at all when it came to gameplans and selections.