THE parallels between the Wallabies and the Australian cricket team are striking.
Cricket Australia punted foreign national team coach Mickey Arthur and replaced him with rising Australian mentor Darren Lehmann after disappointing results were exacerbated by player behaviour issues – David Warner’s punch and the Homeworkgate affair – raising concerns about team culture.
As Australian Times went to press, Australian Rugby Union was set to announce its axing of New Zealander Robbie Deans and replacing him with well-credentialled local Ewen McKenzie in the wake of the blowout Lions series decider defeat after a tenure marked by off-field discipline problems involving Kurtley Beale, James O’Connor and outspoken Quade Cooper.
The cricket team bounced back with their first win in months and appeared a more unified camp following the well-received appointment of Lehmann just weeks before the Ashes series which commences on Wednesday.
Lehmann moved quickly to reassure a public disillusioned by rotation policy selection and to reassure star allrounder Shane Watson, who’d had his issues with Arthur after giving up the vice-captaincy in the wake of his Homeworkgate Test suspension.
McKenzie could expect widespread public support initially from fans who crave the attacking style he brought to the Queensland Reds and he would doubtless reinstall his mercurial Reds playmaker Cooper, who hasn’t played for the Wallabies since describing the team set up under Deans as toxic.
A Fairfax Media public opinion poll on who should coach the Wallabies was running overwhelmingly in his favour ahead of Deans and the Brumbies’ South African mentor Jake White on Monday.
Of course public opinion can soon change, foreign coach or not, and the proof lies ultimately in results.
Those are no given for either Lehmann, heading into back-to-back Ashes series, or McKenzie, who must overcome Deans’ nemesis the All Blacks and win the Bledisloe Cup for the first time in a decade. - AAP
[ Source: Australian Times ]