It doesn't matter to Australian rugby whether the Waratahs win this year's Super rugby title. The job of winning back fans in Australia's biggest city has already been accomplished. Some might argue winning is everything. It's not. Style and entertainment value for paying punters are far more important in an overcrowded sports market.
The Tahs won ugly for years under Phil Waugh yet nobody really cared because the victories were too gruesome on the eye; like watching root canal surgery on a rugby pitch. The Reds figured out the ‘style + personalities = fans’ equation a few years ago and are still reaping a membership windfall notwithstanding an appalling 2014 season. The Tahs, under second year coach Michael Cheika and thrill-a-minute players Israel Folau, Kurtley Beale, Bernard Foley, Will Skelton, buy of the season Jaques Potgieter and Michael Hooper to name just a few, have finally cracked the code in Sydney.
Cheika has always said his Tahs team - and make no mistake, it is his team - would play for the fans. "Let the cards fall where they may," he has often said of the Tahs' adventurous playing style. As the American writer Charles Bukowski famously said: "Style is the answer to everything. To do a dull thing with style is preferable to doing a dangerous thing without it. To do a dangerous thing with style is what I call art."
Creating rugby art is a lofty aspiration indeed. And the Tahs are not there yet by any stretch despite some individual strokes of genius by Folau, Foley and Beale. In fact, the Tahs are probably another season away from a becoming a true and enduring championship team in the mould of the great Crusaders sides under Robbie Deans. Player retention is crucial if the Tahs are to kick on. If Cheika can keep the core the 2014 side together for another year or two then a potential dynasty awaits. The Tahs may well win the title this year but one suspects 2015 and 2016 are more likely to be the championship years for this group.
To that end, keeping Beale ought not be a matter up for negotiation. And not just for NSW but for the Wallabies too. Beale, 25, is finally delivering on the enormous potential he first showed as a 16-year-old schoolboy prodigy at St Joseph's College. He has played his best season by some margin and has that satisfied look of a man whose effortless individual talents have finally caught up with his wildly creative ambitions in a team setting. It's the same look Carlos Spencer had when he tormented the Crusaders in that unforgettable match in 2004.
Quade Cooper also wore that same face briefly in 2011 for the Reds before the All Blacks psychologically maimed him in the World Cup. And now Beale has that aura about him. You can tell all the other players can sense it with Beale too; his confidence reeks like Spanish fly. Yes, it has taken more time than anticipated, including well-documented detours into drink and bad company, but the genius of Beale has finally arrived. It has been worth the wait. And it would be an absolute tragedy to see him leave now.
The Australian Rugby Union, however, is in the unenviable position of having world-class talent on its books like never before but not enough money to keep them all. Some players will inevitably have to go to keep the gems. In fact, many have already seen the writing on the wall and done just that - for example, Ben Mowen, Kane Douglas and arguably Nick Cummins too (he's leaving for more money than what the ARU could offer when all is said and done). Some players being paid more than others has also caused friction in the Wallabies’ dressing room. It was rumoured Mowen last year struggled to reconcile his modest pay packet as an incumbent Test skipper against Folau's comparatively lucrative salary as a first-year Wallaby.
Sadly, the wages disparity within the Wallabies squad is something that's here to stay. There simply isn't enough in the kitty for equal pay. As terrible as it may sound in the context of rugby's team first ethos, there has to be a policy of first among equals to keep the best players like Beale, Folau, Foley, Matt Toomua, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Henry Speight (when he becomes eligible in September), Hooper, Wycliff Palu, Skelton and others deemed essential to knocking off the All Blacks as the best rugby team in the world. Surely, there can be no other mission statement for Australian rugby.
The ARU has enough financial resources to keep its best players for such a mission. Whether it has the best possible contracting and negotiating processes remains to be seen. Serious questions will need answering if Beale or Folau quit for the NRL or European rugby. For example, has the ARU identified its top 20-30 players for retention? Or does it simply negotiate off the cuff as and when contracts are due to expire?
In comparison, the NZ Rugby Union quite often moves ahead of contract expiry timeframes to lock down the players it considers crucial to success. Players might come and go, but the Richie McCaws, Dan Carters, Kieran Reads, Aaron Crudens, Ben Smiths and Ma’a Nonus of this world are all locked down early in the piece. The ARU needs to adopt a similar approach in making early decisions on who it must keep at market rates and who to risk haggling with. Hard bargain with those you can afford to lose, ink deals with those you can't.
Talking Points
• The Brumbies looked impressive in dismantling the Force 47-25 on Saturday in what was a sudden-death encounter for a play-off spot. Toomua was in imperious form with a hat-trick of tries. It's clear he was stung by his omission as a Wallaby fly-half for the June internationals against France. While Toomua excelled at 12 for the Wallabies, his true position is fly-half; being overlooked for Foley would have hurt. But class player that he is, Toomua has responded on the pitch with the best fly-half all-conference performance of the final round. The Brumbies at home should be too strong for the Chiefs in this weekend's qualifying final. And if Toomua keeps his form he'll give Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie a genuine selection headache for the Rugby Championships. Indeed, Toomua has edged Foley in recent weeks. Two world-class fly-halves, four if you include Cooper and Beale. Australian rugby has never had it this good.
• Mercifully, the Reds and the Rebels' respective seasons are over. With 13th and 15th place finishes respectively, it has been a year to forget. The Reds paid a heavy price for not turning over their player list sufficiently. Players like Mike Harris, Anthony Fainga'a, Ed Quirk, Rod Davies, and Dominic Shipperley should have been moved on a year ago. And while there's a player exodus at the Reds at the moment, that's actually a good thing. The Reds have started from a low base before (2009) and will be better off having parted company with players past their use by date. The Queensland side still have plenty of quality in Cooper, Will Genia, James Horwill, Rob Simmons, James Slipper, Chris Feauai-Sautia, exciting Fijian centre Samu Kerevi and possibly James O'Connor to start another ascent to the top.
• The Rebels, meanwhile, are at a crossroads with fans and stakeholders in Victoria. The Rebels are hardly a bad side; they just play badly most of the time. Bear in mind this a side good enough to beat the Brumbies, and get losing bonus points against play-off sides the Chiefs, Crusaders and Sharks. And yet they finished the season with just four wins and the wooden spoon. They have underperformed with a playing list arguably better than the Western Force who finished eighth. The question now is how many more losses supporters will take before giving up on the Rebels completely in AFL-mad Melbourne?
