Revolutionary Has Plenty Of Allies

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday November 10, 2007

Roy Masters

Demand for radical change is propelling Alan Jones towards the top job, writes Roy Masters.

SUPPORT for Alan Jones to be recalled as Wallabies coach is gathering momentum as former internationals, World Cup players and leading commentators agree a revolution is required in the stagnant sport and concede the outspoken broadcaster could drive it.

The Jones push comes as ARU chief executive John O'Neill, also resurrected to save the ailing code, has been in hospital for three weeks leading to surgery on his neck midweek.

O'Neill, who appointed himself to replace former World Cup-winning coach Rod Macqueen as head of the selection committee to find a new Wallabies coach, was forced to withdraw from the selection process.

Queensland's Rod McCall has been nominated chairman, sitting with former Wallabies Michael Hawker, Mark Connors, Brett Robinson and Pat Howard, who is also the ARU's high performance manager. McCall and Hawker were both members of Jones's 1984 grand slam-winning tour. The selection process began yesterday and may now be completed without O'Neill's involvement.

Should Jones be anointed by McCall's committee and the recommendation ratified by the ARU board, he may relinquish for a year his No.1 rating breakfast show on 2GB. Macquarie Radio part owner John Singleton would not stand in Jones's way, saying he always puts "green and gold above profits", but concedes his board may argue it is impossible for the 66-year-old to honour commitments to the network and the ARU.

Jones's rivals for the job will argue he has been "too long out of the game and too old" to hold the position, but a senior player in the Wallabies' recent dismal campaign in France argued age should not be a barrier, pointing to Alex Ferguson's results with Manchester United and the flurry of excitement Bart Cummings, nudging 80, caused with his success on the eve of the Melbourne Cup.

Arguments Jones has been "out of the game too long" ignore the revolution expected when the new Stellenbosch laws, successfully trialled in the recently completed ARC competition, are transferred to the Super 14 competition early next year. Players argue a coach not mired to the existing IRB laws - which have produced an average of one try in each World Cup final - would be an asset.

Jones's reported claim he would not employ an army of assistant coaches is his only negative in the eyes of some Wallabies. While senior Wallabies know of no other regime, Jones would be expected to trim his lieutenants, with rivals for the senior post, such as John Connolly assistant John Muggleton, possibly discarded. The Wallabies' assistant coaches have helped promote the notion that rugby tactics are as complex as splitting the atom.

They prepared for the quarter-final in Marseille expecting to exploit the so-called defensive frailty of inside-centre Andy Farrell. It reeked of arrogance and ignorance. Because Farrell had come from league and played mainly in the forwards, it was assumed he couldn't comprehend complex back-line strategies.

As it transpired, Farrell withdrew with a calf injury and Australia never exploited back-line weaknesses that existed independent of Farrell.

If we want to talk tactics in the two codes, Jones found it harder to achieve success with Balmain and South Sydney league teams than with Manly rugby club and the Wallabies. The bottom line with the Wallabies is the Stirling Mortlock intercept in the 2003 World Cup semi-final delayed the reform process by four years. OK, the Wallabies played credibly in the 2003 final against England but these two games deluded the ARU into believing it had a top-ranked team capable of winning overseas.

The biggest challenge for any coach out of the game 20 years is interchange, requiring an ability to monitor fatigue levels and determine whether a replacement meets tactical needs relevant at the time.

However, rugby has the least demanding interchange decisions, with seven substitutes allowed and all but the front row not permitted to return once replaced. Many rugby union coaches make a flurry of replacements with 20 minutes remaining, with most substitutions being ad hoc.

Critics of greybeard coaches point to the workload of today's mentors, who pride themselves on being first to the training centre and last to leave. Club directors speak proudly of the workloads of men such as the Dragons' Nathan Brown and the Panthers' Matt Elliott, as if they should have a bed at the stadium. Many NRL coaches look as sleep-deprived as new parents, the dual airbags under their eyes making them appear as if they have sergeant's stripes for sleeplessness.

Perhaps they believe the less they sleep, the more they'll win. As someone said, if these whiteboard scribblers have reduced the alphabet to Xs and Os, there isn't much space for Zs. But if the "you snooze, you lose" mantra applies to coaches, why look past Jones, who sleeps three hours a night? Jones quotes Shakespeare but not his words on sleep - "sore labour's bath, balm of hurt minds, great Nature's second course". If Rip van Winkle slept for 20 years, Jones hasn't slept since he won the Bledisloe Cup in 1986.

There's something addictive about coaching. It's matching wits against a rival. It's watching the marginal player execute the difficult move. It's taking conflicting parts and integrating them into a symphonic whole.

Jones can't get coaching out of his system and his age shouldn't be a barrier, particularly for a job where tough decisions must be made and the ego battle with O'Neill is likely to end in tears. As Bette Davis said: "Old age ain't no place for sissies."

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

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