Dwyer's View

YOU NEED GOOD PLAYERS BUT YOU NEED THEM PLAYING “GOOD”

I’ve been reading various reports on last week’s Wallabies v Springboks game in various news outlets and I’d like to say something more myself, actually in response to a lot of I’ve been reading.

The reports are full of comments like, “communications mix up”, “we created more problems for ourselves”, “errors accumulate”, “stay committed”.

Subsequently there have been wholesale changes to the side with the selectors obviously believing that other players are now better bets to produce the performances they are looking for. I strongly believe that we are way off track with these types of comments and actions even though I have thought for some weeks that the best Wallaby XV had not been chosen. All of the players who have appeared for the Wallabies are good players. Of this there is no doubt. The selectors chose them after many games at Super 14 level and even some earlier less demanding Internationals. A good player brings with him many qualities, some innate, some developed. These could be all or most of the following: big, strong, fast, fit, tough, agile, visionary, skillful. The selectors have seen them display these qualities against quality opposition and have come to the conclusion that they could form a winning combination against our intended opponents.

So we assemble the squad – all good players.

But this is not enough, this is the start point. You need good players, but you need good players playing “good”. (excuse grammar). Technical competence in all game situations must be honed to perfection.

In my vast experience, I rarely see a player coming in at test level with perfect technique in all aspects of the game appropriate to his position - although some players will seek to camouflage it. Take Luke Burgess. He came into the squad, a breath of fresh air. Enthusiastic, enterprising, athletic, an eye for the break. “the next Nick Farr-Jones”. What was also present but needed refinement were the following defects. Inconsistent in his speed of chase of the ball, too high in his approach to the back of the breakdown contest, too narrow a base during the critical stage of ball delivery, follow through inconsistent in accuracy and length. These necessary but missing competences are not difficult to correct but require knowledgeable, critical, determined coaching application.

For competent execution of play at the tackle contest and tidy and timely re-cycle of the ball, we need enthusiasm, strength, speed, aggression, toughness and ball skill. We’ve got all that. We showed signs of it in the second half. What you also need and is frequently absent from the commencement of squad assembly are the following:

Low body position and line of entry into the tackle contest, upper body strength to stay on your feet and powerful leg drive. Tight arm grips to form a formidable pack, continued drive past the ball on the ground. There is also opportunity for the early arrival to form a “hammer” on the ball carrier, keep him off the ground and continue forward drive. Subsequently we have the options of immediate continued breakaway, mini maul, driving maul. All of these are relatively simple technical competencies to add to our selected “good players” . This is the role of coaching.

Matt Giteau and Adam Ashley-Cooper are both very good tacklers. They come to the squad with that quality. They have shown in the past that they are also good defenders. The errors that occurred when on two separate occasions, “an extra man attacker” ran inside Ashley-Cooper – on one occasion past his turned back were totally the result of a non- adherence to the “drift’ defence pattern.

The defensive coaches’ role during the week proceeding the test was to hammer home the key factors demanded. Non- compliance with any of the key factors provides an open-door opportunity for the attacker. “This was no communication mix up”. This is a lack of technical competence in the execution of drift defence.

Coaching is about teaching perfect technique and applying that perfect technique to game scenarios. If we do this diligently and critically all of the time, we will have our good players playing good all of the time. If a good player joins the squad and is subsequently dropped the first question I ask is of the coach.

A few years back there was a situation which involved David Nucifora and the Brumbies. The Brumbies won the super 12 that year after having been runners-up the previous year. But before the season’s end, Nucifora was informed by the Brumbies administration that they would not be reviewing his contract. Winners and runners-up in consecutive years in the world’s toughest provincial competition and the coach gets the flick. We were all surprised. The next week I was in the company of a couple of the Brumbies senior players, so I asked the question,. “What brought this on?”

The response centred around a meeting that these same senior Brumbies players had called with their administration to question their (the players’) view of  Nucifora’s role. They wanted, they said, a coach who could help them become better players. Nucifora and the players and the administration discussed the players’ stated needs of their coach. But despite assurances nothing changed next season. The Brumbies administration therefore felt they had no alternative.

Food for thought.

Bob Dwyer