Waratahs Wrecking Wallabies
Provocative enough heading? :P
Waratahs boss opens up on 'devastating' reality
Story by Sam Worthington
NSW Rugby chief executive Paul Doorn has floated the idea of a "think tank" and "scrum academy" in the wake of a front row injury crisis that has torpedoed another Waratahs season.
The Waratahs listed 16 players as unavailable for Saturday's Super Rugby Pacific clash with the Force in Perth, with 13 of those scrubbed out for the rest of the season.
Incredibly, all 10 of the club's contracted front rowers are injured, including Test players Angus Bell, Dave Porecki and Harry Johnson-Holmes.
NSW will fully investigate the injury crisis in its regular end of season review but Doorn already has a few ideas to help avoid a repeat.
The Waratahs are propping up the ladder with a 2-9 record and coach Darren Coleman is off contract at the end of the season.
"Players, coaching, management, staff - we're all disappointed because the results are not where we thought we were going to be," Doorn told Wide World of Sports.
"Some of that's just been bad luck with the injury toll at the back end of the year. One of the last things you want to see is people being injured playing sport. So that's a bit devastating really."
Doorn is keen on setting up a "think tank" on how to prepare young players for Super Rugby in a more "comprehensive" way.
"The academy kids, our job is to work with them, particularly in the summer, and then they go back to Shute Shield. But they're still a long way off playing in a high quality Super Rugby competition.
"So one of the things we need to figure out is there a scrum academy? Do you get an Andrew Blades or a Mike Cron involved?"
Doorn had noted Stephen Hoiles' criticism of the Waratahs on Stan Sport's Between Two Posts.
A star of NSW's only Super Rugby title in 2014, former Wallabies forward Hoiles is now a promising coach who led Randwick to a drought breaking Shute Shield title last year.
Hoiles described Australia's academy system as "flawed" while questioning NSW's player management.
"He's got some fair points but I actually think it's time to start to really look at the differentiation of positions within the game and how we might deal with that very differently," Doorn said.
"Because it's fairly clear that outside backs and certain positions might be able to be enhanced into Super Rugby early if they've got the talent. But there are some bodies, and I hear this every time I'm standing on the Shute Shield sidelines, there's a guy that's now 26, 27, he's been learning the dark arts for a period of time.
"We try to enhance the skills of players but there's a maturation that can't be rushed with these guys."
A miserable season got even worse for the Waratahs following confirmation that Ned Hanigan and Will Harrison will leave the club at the end of the season.
Versatile forward Hanigan has signed a two-year deal in France while five-eighth Harrison has inked a two-year contract in Japan.
Hanigan, 29, has 28 Test caps for the Wallabies and was playing some of his best rugby this season.
"The challenge we've got in a global market is you've often got players that if they don't get picked up by a Super Rugby club, then they're overseas," Doorn said.
"It's this never ending cycle of you need to go to the next person and the next person. They tend to get younger and younger.
"So, look, I don't know the answers just yet. I can't pinpoint exactly the one thing that's an issue. I think it'd be multifaceted.
"And I think we need to start to think about our programs a little bit differently going forward based on that but it's a complex problem, that's for sure."
WARATAHS CASUALTY WARD
Dave Porecki - Achilles (season)
Tom Lambert - Knee (season)
Archer Holz - Shoulder (season)
Mesu Kunavula Knee (season)
Ned Slack-Smith - Concussion (season)
Daniel Botha - Achilles (season)
Mahe Vailanu - Knee (season)
Angus Bell - Toe (season)
Theo Fourie - Foot (season)
Ned Hanigan - Neck (TBC)
Tom Ross - Knee (round 15+)
Julian Heaven - Shoulder (season)
Max Jorgensen - Hamstring (season)
Teddy Wilson Concussion (round 14+)
Hayden Thompson-Stringer - Knee (season)
Harry Johnson-Holmes - Achilles (season)
Waratahs boss opens up on 'devastating' reality
Story by Sam Worthington
NSW Rugby chief executive Paul Doorn has floated the idea of a "think tank" and "scrum academy" in the wake of a front row injury crisis that has torpedoed another Waratahs season.
The Waratahs listed 16 players as unavailable for Saturday's Super Rugby Pacific clash with the Force in Perth, with 13 of those scrubbed out for the rest of the season.
Incredibly, all 10 of the club's contracted front rowers are injured, including Test players Angus Bell, Dave Porecki and Harry Johnson-Holmes.
NSW will fully investigate the injury crisis in its regular end of season review but Doorn already has a few ideas to help avoid a repeat.
The Waratahs are propping up the ladder with a 2-9 record and coach Darren Coleman is off contract at the end of the season.
"Players, coaching, management, staff - we're all disappointed because the results are not where we thought we were going to be," Doorn told Wide World of Sports.
"Some of that's just been bad luck with the injury toll at the back end of the year. One of the last things you want to see is people being injured playing sport. So that's a bit devastating really."
Doorn is keen on setting up a "think tank" on how to prepare young players for Super Rugby in a more "comprehensive" way.
"The academy kids, our job is to work with them, particularly in the summer, and then they go back to Shute Shield. But they're still a long way off playing in a high quality Super Rugby competition.
"So one of the things we need to figure out is there a scrum academy? Do you get an Andrew Blades or a Mike Cron involved?"
Doorn had noted Stephen Hoiles' criticism of the Waratahs on Stan Sport's Between Two Posts.
A star of NSW's only Super Rugby title in 2014, former Wallabies forward Hoiles is now a promising coach who led Randwick to a drought breaking Shute Shield title last year.
Hoiles described Australia's academy system as "flawed" while questioning NSW's player management.
"He's got some fair points but I actually think it's time to start to really look at the differentiation of positions within the game and how we might deal with that very differently," Doorn said.
"Because it's fairly clear that outside backs and certain positions might be able to be enhanced into Super Rugby early if they've got the talent. But there are some bodies, and I hear this every time I'm standing on the Shute Shield sidelines, there's a guy that's now 26, 27, he's been learning the dark arts for a period of time.
"We try to enhance the skills of players but there's a maturation that can't be rushed with these guys."
A miserable season got even worse for the Waratahs following confirmation that Ned Hanigan and Will Harrison will leave the club at the end of the season.
Versatile forward Hanigan has signed a two-year deal in France while five-eighth Harrison has inked a two-year contract in Japan.
Hanigan, 29, has 28 Test caps for the Wallabies and was playing some of his best rugby this season.
"The challenge we've got in a global market is you've often got players that if they don't get picked up by a Super Rugby club, then they're overseas," Doorn said.
"It's this never ending cycle of you need to go to the next person and the next person. They tend to get younger and younger.
"So, look, I don't know the answers just yet. I can't pinpoint exactly the one thing that's an issue. I think it'd be multifaceted.
"And I think we need to start to think about our programs a little bit differently going forward based on that but it's a complex problem, that's for sure."
WARATAHS CASUALTY WARD
Dave Porecki - Achilles (season)
Tom Lambert - Knee (season)
Archer Holz - Shoulder (season)
Mesu Kunavula Knee (season)
Ned Slack-Smith - Concussion (season)
Daniel Botha - Achilles (season)
Mahe Vailanu - Knee (season)
Angus Bell - Toe (season)
Theo Fourie - Foot (season)
Ned Hanigan - Neck (TBC)
Tom Ross - Knee (round 15+)
Julian Heaven - Shoulder (season)
Max Jorgensen - Hamstring (season)
Teddy Wilson Concussion (round 14+)
Hayden Thompson-Stringer - Knee (season)
Harry Johnson-Holmes - Achilles (season)