Category: Sports

“It’s a massive disappointment. We want to earn the respect of the country and you don’t do it with performances like that.

“We had a good enough side on the paddock tonight to do the job. We gave them a few soft points early on, clawed our way back into it. We’ve got to be better. While we know we’ll get a few guys back, whoever puts the jersey on has to front. We weren’t good enough today.”

The Wallabies were their own worst enemies, and mistakes, poor decision-making and ill-discipline gave the Pumas too many easy tries and plenty of attacking territory. Argentina scored three times through Australian handling errors, and easy runaway tries.

Australia had chances to get back into the match but were denied a try in each half, both to questionable refereeing calls. A James O’Connor effort in the first half, which would have taken Australia into the lead, was denied due to a clean out by James Slipper, and Jordan Petaia was denied in the second half despite footage appearing to show he’d scored.

The Pumas were undeniably the deserved victors, however. They were more aggressive and determined throughout. An unseasonably hot and sunny day, which saw the temperatures climb to 24 degrees, appeared to sap the Wallabies of energy early in the game.

Tries in the 77th and 81st minute to Argentina sent the crowd wild, and rubbed a mountain of salt in the Wallabies’ wounds.

The only upside for the Wallabies was they didn’t appear to lose any more players to injury ahead of a clash with the South Africans in Adelaide in two weeks.

The Wallabies trailed 26-10 after a disastrous first half where they conceded four tries through hair-pulling errors – and it could have been more.

Fans had barely taken their seats at Estadio Bicentennial when the Pumas raced in a first-minute try, gifted to Juan Imhoff when his grubber down the left sideline was collected by Jordy Petaia, but then knocked on by Tom Wright via a rushed Petaia offload. Imhoff caught the loose ball and scored.

Wright was again involved in the Pumas’ second try just four minutes later, when the hosts caught the fullback out of position and secured at 50-22. From the lineout and a few charging phases, prop Thomas Gallo bounced out of an ineffective Taniela Tupou tackle and scored under the sticks.

At 14-0 after five minutes, the locals were ecstatic but the Wallabies eventually got some possession and built pressure. Turning down points, they went to the lineout but didn’t maul, instead releasing Rob Valetini for a run at the tail. He was dragged down just short but James Slipper picked-and-drove and scored his second Test try.

O’Connor bagged a penalty and things began to settle, and when O’Connor crossed for a try, the Wallabies could have led. But it was disallowed by the referee for Slipper’s actions in cleaning out a Pumas forward at the previous ruck, when he was deemed to have taken him past the horizontal.

Poor discipline invited the Pumas into Australia’s half and though the Wallabies repelled a driving maul near their line, the close-channel defense was found wanting, and Jeromino de la Fuente scooted through a gap. He tore his hamstring on the way to the line but still scored.

Australia had a chance to score soon after following a Len Ikitau line break but a poorly judged pick from Fraser McReight saw him stopped just short and without support. The ball was turned over.

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Australia’s inability to secure high balls was a real problem and it bit them again when Argentina scored their fourth from a Pumas bomb, which was not caught by the Wallabies and again led to another runaway try to Juan Martin Gonzalez.

Remarkably, yet another high ball was botched soon after and Emiliano Boffelli raced to the line but Marika Koroibete saved the day with a desperate tackle, just managing to dislodge the ball as the Pumas winger reached the line.

Australia had the last chance to score after the halftime siren but having turned down three points, they then botched the lineout and got nothing.

The second half was a tighter affair, and Australia seemed to attempt on tightening up and bridging the 16-point gap.

Petaia appeared to cross after a Rob Valetini break but was denied soon after play resumed, and it would be the Wallabies’ best chance.

The Pumas’ defense was superb in denying the Wallabies backs any gains, and the pressure saw the visitors make bad judgment calls in open-play, and invite the hosts back into their half. The fatigued Wallabies clawed one back through Len Ikitau but then collapsed in the final stages, conceding three tries in the last 14 minutes.

Clarkson’s signature is no guarantee of premierships or grand finals. Messiah coaches frequently fail, sometimes because clubs aren’t sturdy enough to house their dominating ways. Or they don’t have the players. Or their use-by date has passed.

Luke Hodge has already cautioned about his old coach’s foibles, and North, even while in thrall to Clarkson, would be wise to heed Hodge’s warning that clubs can’t allow “the Clarko show” to hijack the joint. His dealings with North chief executive Ben Amarfio will be intriguing, given it is the president, not the CEO, who has driven the pursuit.

That said, the instant gains for North dwarf the negatives.

The bigger picture is that Clarkson’s return to North would show that even the most struggling Melbourne club can attract an alpha coach with the right pitch.

Conversely, for Clarkson to spurn the Giants, despite a stronger playing list, with superior senior players, would be a measure of the challenges that face the AFL in its evangelical mission to convert Sydney’s west.

If the Giants were based in Melbourne, where Clarkson resides, rather than on the (inner) edge of Sydney’s vast western sprawl, I have little doubt that Clarkson would have signed with them.

But as the second Sydney team, they are subject to structural disadvantages that Melbourne clubs seldom comprehend; as staffers who work for GWS and Gold Coast attest, they can’t operate on the same premise that underpins other teams.

They pay excessive contracts for top players in length and dollars. They find it harder to land assistant coaches for a reasonable price, although the Suns have a lifestyle pitch that players and coaches are warming to, so to speak. Draft picks have less value to them than salary cap space – the converse of North.

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North have found it tough to attract players, even when offering “overs.” But they’ve never had an issue losing them.

The Giants shed seasoned players in every single post-season, replacing them with draftees. For several years, they’ve had zero scope to fill specific holes with anyone on a sizeable contract, as Geelong routinely can.

GWS and North both under-performed in 2022. The Giants, however, have done so with a playing list that includes Josh Kelly, Toby Greene, Lachie Whitfield, Sam Taylor, Tom Green, Tim Taranto, Jacob Hopper, Callan Ward and Stephen Coniglio , plus youngsters from the draft’s top 20.

Their list has excessive investment in midfielders, compared with forwards, but they should be around the eighth, rather than 16th, as the past two games suggest. The likely loss of Taranto and Hopper should not hurt much.

North have few senior players of such quality and probably will need at least another two years of list renovation before they can compete for finals.

Clarkson, thus, has/had the chance to take over a GWS that, with some Collingwood-like pluck and luck, could make a rapid rise. They will have a better hand in the draft than North (who have pick one and daylight, barring a priority pick). Yet, the betting heavily favors Clarkson taking the team that is further back.

Personal and family considerations, obviously, are an important factor. Much of Clarkson’s time is spent on his farm on the Mornington Peninsula. His former manager Liam Pickering said he would have advised him to pick North because “I don’t see Alastair Clarkson in Sydney”.

In another time and place, the AFL hierarchy might have intervened in Clarkson’s choice, by increasing the dowry – in the guise of an AFL ambassadorship in NSW – to a level that would see Clarkson leave Victoria and join GWS.

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They made certain, for instance, that Tony Lockett would pick the Swans; they’ve handed the Suns extra picks and concessions, and they even helped deliver Chris Fagan (via Mark Evans, now Suns CEO) to Brisbane.

GWS reckon they need the AFL dowry to have a real chance of landing the Bachelor. But, if we take Gillon McLachlan at his word from him, no AFL ambassador payment can be considered until Clarkson strikes a deal, with whichever club.

So, if after all the careful courtship, Clarkson chooses North instead of traveling north, the AFL should contemplate what this tells us about the competition’s expansion.

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