Cheika takes a leaf out of Bucks’ title books
WALLABIES boss Michael Cheika has likened his coaching predicament to that of Collingwood’s Nathan Buckley last year, when critics howled for his head before the march unfolded to Saturday’s AFL grand final.
Holding his nerve as a coach under siege was the attitude Cheika yesterday distilled as vital because he never wanted to make a soft call just to please detractors and buy time.
Another of the big decisions in his Wallabies’ plan is in his lap right now because he must decide whether to persevere with his Kurtley Beale-Matt Toomua midfield for Saturday’s crunch Test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth.
Cheika openly said Bernard Foley was still his top fiveeighth, even in the act of dropping him, so it will be fascinating to judge whether Beale-Toomua is truly just an experiment or a longer-term change of direction for the backline.
Either way, this rocky run of just two wins from nine Tests must be ended by something special to stem the public perception the Wallabies are on the nose.
Beating the Springboks in South Africa for the first time since 2011 would be an accomplishment but beating the laststart conquerors of the All Blacks has a far more powerful ring to it if it can be pulled off.
“They wanted to cut Nathan Buckley’s head off last year, didn’t they, and he’s in a grand final this week,” Cheika said of Buckley masterminding Collingwood’s rise from 13th in the AFL last year.
“It’s about who holds their nerve.”