Headlines....Mooney keeps his options open--in more ways then one

27/04/09 - From Jim Morton of FoxSports.com.au - With young guns Kurtley Beale, Quade Cooper and Cristian Lealiifano spluttering along in the first-receiver role at Super 14 level, the question of who is the Wallabies' second-choice No.10 behind Giteau has concerned pundits all year …. Queensland coach Phil Mooney has kept his playmaking options open for the rest of the season but Barnes is expected to continue pulling the strings at first-receiver against the Brumbies on Saturday night, even if he again wears the No.12 jersey.

Great five-eights are like great fastball/changeup pitchers, and pace bowlers. They do a few things very well and they do it consistently.

The same way a pace bowler and a pitcher rely on their ability to maintain the same motion and relative arm speed when delivering a fast ball or a slow ball in order to fool the hitter, a five-eight relies on his ability to consistently attack the line with the same speed and conviction to fool the defense.

Larkam wasn’t the greatest athlete in the world but he was one of the most consistent. His ability to dominate a game came from his consistent, heavily structured style of play. He did two things better then everyone else: He always hit the ball running, and he ran straight at the line to freeze the defense.

Simply, he did the fundamentals better then anyone else and that’s why he succeeded. It’s the same reason McDonalds has turned flipping burgers into a MNC—they do the fundamentals of business (provide product and service) better and more efficiently then anyone else.

Barnes is in the same mould. He isn’t as athletically gifted as the aforementioned young guns, but he attacks the line and he provides structure when he plays first receiver. He refined this skill while he was in the Broncos farm system.

Groomed with Bennet’s comb as Lockyer’s replacement, Barnes learned the art of attacking the line, freezing sliding defenses, and making a quick decision between hitting the decoy runner or a sweeping 2nd man. He is a pure five/eight.

He doesn’t fit at twelve because he doesn’t have the athletic ability to beat his man with speed or footwork, but he works at ten because he throws a great dummy, he makes defender make a decision, and he maintains the same motion when throwing a short pass or a long pass. He facilitates the strengths of everyone around him and, in turn, makes those players and the team better.

The aforementioned young guns don’t do that. At least not to the same degree. Lealiifano and Beale have their moments but they aren’t patient enough and they don’t build pressure through sustained attack. Lealiifano should develop into the best of the three; he has good size, makes good decisions, has a good sense of his role in the team, and never seems to push the play. He is a classic Brumbies kind of player.

Cooper is a good athlete and great effort guy but he isn’t a super rugby five-eight. He doesn’t attack the line nearly enough, he isn’t deceptive, his decision making is too slow, and he is a worse defender then The Black Knight from Monty Python. He has nice footwork and a good attitude but even Rove has to duck to get under his ceiling.

Athletically he could play twelve but every time someone ran at him, every Reds fan would have the same look on their face that Michael Cera had in Juno when he found out Ellen Page was pregnant. It would be a collective fuck you to the Reds fan base, and therefore right in line with their corporate philosophy of the last ten years.

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So why are rugby people only realizing or remembering this now?


I realise the ARU have a secret agreement with Giteau, promising him the Wallaby ten jersey in return for him not chasing a mega-contract in Europe, but how has Barnes not been playing ten for the Reds?

Barnes could have been playing at ten all season! But now I’m supposed to be impressed by the fact that Mooney is keeping his playmaking options OPEN?

To continue the fast food theme; It’s like a McDonalds employee announcing he isn’t going to spit in people’s burgers any more, being congratulated for it, and then announcing that it isn’t definite—he is keeping his burger spitting options open.

There never should have been any spiting (the playing of Cooper) in the burger (the season). It never should have happened in the first place.

So why would he even consider keeping his playmaking options open? What more evidence does he need?

Did Mooney not see any of the film from the 2007 World Cup? Does Barnes not want to play ten? Is Cooper blowing everyone away in the warm-up touch games the Reds play at practice? Was Barnes rating not high enough in Rugby 08?

Whatever it is, the situation needs to be fixed quick.

I wrote in a November 2008 column that one of the ARU’s biggest disgraces was crushing the confidence and career of Lachlan MacKay. He was brilliant playing at ten for the Waratahs in 2005, and at the time he looked like the logical replacement for a fading Steven Larkam.

Of course, despite leading the Waratahs to their first Super Rugby final while playing ten, he never got real consideration or time at the Wallaby ten spot. Upon moving to the Western Force he was quickly relegated to twelve and eventually the bench after a slew of injuries. Now he drinks wine and eats fromage somewhere in France.

Do we really want to repeat that with Barnes? I beg the ARU to give Barnes the wallaby reigns and time.


Brisbane Sports Fan