Mickey Mouse? No drama
Coaches play down exchange
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has finally broken his silence on Steve Hansen’s infamous ‘‘Mickey Mouse’’ jibe.
The All Blacks coach mocked his Wallabies counterpart back in February when he referred to him as ‘‘Mickey Mouse’’.
Ahead of tomorrow’s Bledisloe Cup test in Perth, Cheika has been asked to respond to Hansen’s comments has the traditional Bledisloe Cup mind games between the pair heat up.
‘‘Oh mate, is that even a question? No drama for me,’’ Cheika said as he named his team to take on the All Blacks in Perth tomorrow.
The Wallabies coach was seemingly happy to brush the question and Hansen’s comments away with little care.
‘‘There is certain things in footy that you . . . respect is an important thing in footy.
‘‘It’s the nature of the game, you rip into each other and then you socialise after,’’ Cheika said.
Hansen made the jibe at a Circa Theatre fundraiser in Wellington, where he was interviewed by former television presenter Ian Fraser. Fraser brought up a quote from former Wallabies player Mark Ella, who said ‘‘Mickey Mouse could coach the All Blacks to victory’’ because of the quality of the players at Hansen’s disposal.
‘‘They’ve got Mickey Mouse coaching Aussie,’’ Hansen fired back at the time.
But in Perth yesterday, Hansen denied directly labelling Cheika as the Disney character.
‘‘I never said he was Mickey Mouse. What I said was in a throwaway line, or something said in jest after an interviewer said to me Mark Ella thinks Mickey Mouse could coach the All Blacks because they have got so much talent.
‘‘And I just said ‘well he can’t because he’s in Australia, coaching Australia.
‘‘So you can make a big thing
out of it if you want, or you can take it for what it was. Something in jest,’’ Hansen said.
‘‘I have got plenty of respect for what Michael has done. End of story, really.’’
Hansen has previously admitted that he plays mind games with rival coaches in an attempt to get under their skin.