Wallabies Poaching From League Double Edged Sword

The Australian rugby landscape is in need of an injection, with the game needing the type of front page media attention that brings fans to the games and youth joining the age-grade sides.

The Wallabies are also missing the two abundant qualities that make up a team able to stand up and dominate the world stage.  One cannot be brought, but the other can.

One is a healthy spread of veteran players.  Men who will not back down and will inspire and lead, when the chips are either up or down.   Illustrations of this are best seen in the last two sides to hold aloft the ultimate symbol of world supremacy, the 2003 England team, and the 2007 South African team.

Martin Johnson’s England was a team of veterans with experience littered throughout the side.  John Smit’s Springboks were of similar ilk.  Much of the reason for South Africa’s built momentum since defeating England in Paris has come from these battle-scarred warhorses remaining within the national setup.

For Australia, a team that is building and beset with youth, there are too few examples of such men.

The other qualities are X factor players. 

Such a quality is more often than not indicative of two special talents, either the ability to change a game with a single play, or the ability to command media or even tabloid attention which by and large benefits the game. 

In 2001 and 2002 the ARU launched a three prong attack on one of their great sporting rivals, the NRL—the league competition in Australia—and poached three of their biggest stars, Wendell Sailor, Lote Tuqiri and Matt Rogers.

At the time, the Wallabies were within arguably their greatest era of dominance.  Two time World Cup winners, Tri Nation’s champions, Lions victors and Bledisloe Cup holders.  It was a team blessed with experience and X factor players.  But while their superstar qualities were evident on the park, they were not so much off the park.

Along with captain John Eales, one of the great statesmen of the modern game, the Wallabies were the initial breed of Australia’s high paid players, realistically the last great code to go professional in the country.

These men were all consummate gentlemen, the George Gregans, Tim Horans, Daniel Herberts and the Matthew Burkes.  Men who may have captured the attention of the sporting press, but were sufficiently clean cut to keep the image of rugby squeaky clean. 

This was ultimately governed by Rod McQueen, the Wallabies coach who ran the national team with the heady precision of military general and high level corporate genius.

And while the game was in solid health, it did not thrive with the media attention that other codes such as league may have attracted.  While no sporting administrator wants negative news from their players garnering attention—there can sometimes be no denying that all press is good press.

One assumes that this was one of many reasons why the holy trinity were brought across from league.  Not only were the Wallabies buttressing themselves with marquee attacking weapons (at a time when Australian rugby was already sturdy) but giving the game of rugby in Australia high level media exposure.

And it certainly did this.

While Sailor, Rogers and Tuqiri were not bad boys by any stretch of the imagination, they attracted widespread attention, if not for off-field focus, for the curiosity that was piqued from having three Australian league and State of Origin representatives cutting their teeth in another code.

Sailor would make the first official transition, announcing his move on February 7^th, 2001.  He would go on to represent the Wallabies 37 times.  He would make the transition to codes less easily than Roger or Tuqiri, but would be the most flamboyant of the three.

A man made for the spotlight, as many would describe big Dell.

Rogers would follow suit in 2002, debuting with Sailor in the same match against France becoming the 41^st and 42^nd dual code internationals.  Rogers would earn 40 caps for his country in union. 

Tuqiri would debut against Ireland in 2003, and many would believe that the big Fijian would have the best transition of the three.  He would earn 67 test caps, and as we all know too well, his departure was the most recent of the three.

Lote Daulako’s exodus may have been the biggest wound of all too Australian rugby.  Not only did they lose a veteran and an X factor player, but they lost a magnet that not only captured the imaginations of the media, but of the youth that every sport needs for participation and the future health of the code.

And now the Wallabies—not through directly related consequences—are in a spot of trouble.

Australian rugby certainly doesn’t need any more negative press, with the countries Super 14 performances, the Wallabies Tri Nations wooden spoon, a saga with their Super 15 bid, and of course the “Tuqiri” gate scandal creating a mixed view of the game with their local fans and media. 

The game needs a large scale event.  Not just a media extravaganza, but also the required X factor that their team is missing.

No disrespect to any current Wallabies, but none appears to have the je ne sais quoi that is enabling them to capture attention and consistently compete with the powers of the game.

The league world has such individuals, and maybe such an acquisition is required yet again.