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James MacSmith, AAP
November 8, 2012, 10:20 am
Coach Michael Cheika says the NSW Waratahs need to be compensated financially if the Australian Rugby Union want him to rest his international players during the Super Rugby season.
National team coach Robbie Deans suggested this week the game's elite players would have to be rotated during the Super Rugby season to avoid a repeat of the Wallabies' horror injury list this year.
Cheika said he was confident in the Waratahs' ability to manage their players' workloads successfully, but was happy to discuss the proposal.
However, he expressed surprise Deans had floated the idea in the media on the tour to Europe instead of at a meeting last week between the Australian Super Rugby franchises and the governing body.
"If that is the way the ARU decide to go, then they need to come up with some financial security and assurances," Cheika told AAP on Thursday.
"I am the coach of this province and I will do whatever it takes for this province to be successful.
"I understand that everyone is looking after their own kind but, at the end of the day, if this province is successful, that will help Australia be successful.
"The thing that surprises me a little bit is only the week before, we had a high performance meeting with all the states and all the provinces and this thing wasn't brought up at all and, the next week, it is in the papers.
"It's not the best way for me to find out about it."
If NSW's top players were rested by the ARU during the Super Rugby season, it could adversely affect on-field performance and ticket sales and, subsequently, the Waratahs' bottom line.
Cheika has had experience with a similar system of resting and rotating players while coaching Irish province Leinster.
He encouraged a system of increased communication and trust between all of Australia's Super Rugby sides and the governing body over player workloads.
"Anyone running a professional program is managing their players," Cheika said.
"I have already got a 12-month block set up for my players as to what they have been doing for the last 12 months and where they are going for the next 12 months and anyone not doing that is naive.
"There needs to be that trust between the provinces and the ARU.
"Participate or dictate, that is the choice they will take as a governing body.
"I'm a 'newbie' - maybe they don't trust me. I just have to get the runs on the board."
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/spo...layers-rested/
Are you sure there is nothing else the ARU can do to help you out Tahs![]()
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Can anyone translate this bit for me??
"I have already got a 12-month block set up for my players as to what they have been doing for the last 12 months and where they are going for the next 12 months and anyone not doing that is naive."
“Everyone knows whether it’s rugby, politics or whatever, front-rowers should rule the world, so to have a hooker at the helm makes sense,” Nathan Charles Western Force & Wallabies Hooker.
Regardless of the Tahs, the idea of resting the some of the Wallabies talent at times during the season makes sense as does increasing the size of the squads and EPS and increasing the funding to the teams to cover this...... oh wait a moment... this is what they used to have prior to JON ballsing it all up. As we say at home "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"
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another reason why they shouldn't be having mid super rugby year test matches
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If the wallabies were selected by their on-field performance in s15, then Chieka has nothing to worry about
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What is worrying is that he is the only one pointing out the glaring inconsistency between what the ARU says and what it does. I would like to think the rest are only keeping there mouth shut due to the ARUs propensity to fine, rather than that they are part of the machine and will just do what they are told with one eye on their future prospects...
I love it how cheks is already laying the foundation for if the tags go to shit again this year!
there are a couple of issues here. Lack of communication between ARU and S15, Cheika bleating about wanting compensation, lack of organized action plan, and whether resting players at S15 level actually achieves anything.
Most of the injuries have nothing to do with playing too much rugby. They are broken bones, wrenched shoulders, buckled knees, cirrhosis of the liver (Judas) etc ie impact injuries. Resting S15 makes zero difference. The funny thing is most of them go and play club rugby as soon as the S15 is over. Genia for example played non-stop through 2011, into 2012 S15 then RC, and it was a buckled knee that got him. If anything he should have been rested for the internationals in Blighty after the RWC to freshen up, and give a couple of "friendlies" to his reserve to get experience. Same with Horwill. Then Reds might not have been as flat for the first half of S15.
However, if they DO decide to implement this, its for the greater good and not what Tahs etc can get out of it. So frak off Cheika with compo talk. Don't forget ARU are paying half the wages of the Wallabies players. And it must be organised and implemented within a framework, not willy nilly.
I still thinks its stupid. Rest/Rotate the star players from non-important internationals such as Scotland and Wales games, thats a win win for everyone. But pick balanced teams with players in correct positions and in form.
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odd one out again .....
I think Cheika has a point, simply because Australian S15 teams do not have the strength in depth that can be found at most if not all S15 teams in New Zealand and South Africa.
As a result, superimposing a resting period for international players on top of a programme developed by a S15 franchise for it's players is and incumbrance. Ironically it's probably NSW and Qld that would have least to lose assuming that they have stronger squads in depth than, for example, the Rebels or the Force.
I would suggest that one step in a possible solution is to integrate the S15 player programme with international team preferences through consultation and compromise. The hard part will come when a squad is diminished through a lot of injuries (e.g. NSW last season - of which Cheika will be aware) or when there are some vital qualification matches scheduled in S15 towards the end of the season.