Early reports out of Australia is that winger James O'Connor was refused entry on an Air Asia flight from Perth to Bali after being overly intoxicated, a matter which was dealt with by the Australian Federal Police. Following the test match last weekend against the Pumas in Perth, the Wallabies squad disassembled back to their home states with a break before heading off to Argentina and South Africa for the next leg of the Rugby Championship, with O'Connor taking the opportunity to fly to Bali with his girlfriend. This has raised issues in my mind as to why a Wallabies starting player was allowed to head off overseas on a holiday during a competition. I certainly wouldn't imagine that many professional sports players would take a week off to Bali in between test matches, certainly not from our All Blacks.
It seems that each time the Wallabies seem to be getting on the right track on the field, an off field incident threatens the work of the team, highlighting the current team environment and the team culture that could well explain why they are still struggling through a recent form slump.
As former Wallabies captain Nathan Sharpe pointed out "I think definitely there's disillusionment within the team, because aside from the fact they're in a hard period where the boys are trying their guts out, they're trying to get the wins on the board that everyone wants from them, it's causing distractions outside of what they're doing anyway."
"Sure, a one-off incident, everyone makes mistakes and has made mistakes, but he has had a lot of chances and at what point do you jeopardise the culture of the team moving forward, which is the most important thing in team sport."
As mentioned this is not the first time that James has found himself in trouble and it seems that perhaps the time has come to send him to the sin bin for an extended period of time. In 2010 he was involved in an altercation with fellow Brat Pack members, Quade Cooper and Kurtley Beale in Paris, followed by missing a RWC team announcement and photo call in 2011 and more recently being photographed at a fast food outlet at 4am in the lead up to the 2nd test match against the British and Irish Lions in Melbourne, which was subsequently 2 days after he and Beale missed the bus to a team training.
From all accounts, I believe the time as come to cut him loose. There is nothing worse than in a team environment having individuals who feel they are bigger than the team culture, that the rules don't apply to them and cause off field drama that is a distraction. Its this team culture that the All Blacks have become renowned for over the years, the high regard that players have for the black jersey is constantly at the forefront of there actions as a group and as individuals.
Perhaps the ARU needs to have a good look at themselves and that the problems within the Wallabies need fixing both on and off the field. Its these issues that Robbie Deans had to deal with during his tenure as Wallabies coach, and it looks like they are continuing under Ewen McKenzie.
Lets face it, the Wallabies certainly wouldn't lose anything by giving him the boot, his efforts on the wing against both the All Blacks and Springboks were woeful at best, resulting in at least 3 tries. Why not use this time to breed the next generation, try and create some form of depth otherwise they will continually be on the back foot of game's against the top teams in the world.
What do you think of this off field incident?
Should he go?
As former Wallabies captain Nathan Sharpe pointed out "I think definitely there's disillusionment within the team, because aside from the fact they're in a hard period where the boys are trying their guts out, they're trying to get the wins on the board that everyone wants from them, it's causing distractions outside of what they're doing anyway."
"Sure, a one-off incident, everyone makes mistakes and has made mistakes, but he has had a lot of chances and at what point do you jeopardise the culture of the team moving forward, which is the most important thing in team sport."
As mentioned this is not the first time that James has found himself in trouble and it seems that perhaps the time has come to send him to the sin bin for an extended period of time. In 2010 he was involved in an altercation with fellow Brat Pack members, Quade Cooper and Kurtley Beale in Paris, followed by missing a RWC team announcement and photo call in 2011 and more recently being photographed at a fast food outlet at 4am in the lead up to the 2nd test match against the British and Irish Lions in Melbourne, which was subsequently 2 days after he and Beale missed the bus to a team training.
From all accounts, I believe the time as come to cut him loose. There is nothing worse than in a team environment having individuals who feel they are bigger than the team culture, that the rules don't apply to them and cause off field drama that is a distraction. Its this team culture that the All Blacks have become renowned for over the years, the high regard that players have for the black jersey is constantly at the forefront of there actions as a group and as individuals.
Perhaps the ARU needs to have a good look at themselves and that the problems within the Wallabies need fixing both on and off the field. Its these issues that Robbie Deans had to deal with during his tenure as Wallabies coach, and it looks like they are continuing under Ewen McKenzie.
Lets face it, the Wallabies certainly wouldn't lose anything by giving him the boot, his efforts on the wing against both the All Blacks and Springboks were woeful at best, resulting in at least 3 tries. Why not use this time to breed the next generation, try and create some form of depth otherwise they will continually be on the back foot of game's against the top teams in the world.
What do you think of this off field incident?
Should he go?
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