September 5, 2023 • 18 mins
On this special episode, Chris Coleman and Adam Jansen are joined by Wallabies legend, Matt Giteau! Matt discusses his career, Australia's chances at the upcoming Rugby World Cup, Eddie Jones and much more.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Super Serious Sports Show with Chris Coleman and Adam Jansen.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Well, Adam Jansen, the word legend is bandied around far
too often and far too easily in the world of sport.
But if I was to say to you that on
the phone line right now, we have a man who
has played many, many Test matches for the Wallabies. He
has played at three Rugby World Cups. Do you think
we could use the word legend right now.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
One hundred and three Test matches for Australia. Yeah, I
think you're pretty safe. Okay, in that case, we welcome
rugby legend. Matt getto to the Super Serious Sports Show.
Gets welcome aboard and we've caught you just before your
head off to France for the Rugby World Cup.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Oh yeah you have. That was was a nice intro.
I actually don't think I've hit that legend status, but
it's good to be on.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I think you're the first official Super Serious Sports so legend.
So so just roll with it and we'll see if
we can make a catch on.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
We had Cia Soliola from the Raiders in the early days.
I think Sea is a legend. He's a big thing
around canber as well. He's still playing in the local
rugby league competition here.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Yeah, I agree the legend two, but that's rugby league too.
The Raider is ever, They're a heartbeat of canvas. I'll
take it anyway. I'll take it now.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Look, you've mentioned rugby league. There, let's go there first.
A question I've always wondered about you, because of course
you've got rugby league in your blood, you've got rugby
union in your blood. Was it a hard choice for
you when the day came to choose rugby union over
rugby league.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
No, not at all, because I wasn't getting selected in
rugby league. So when I started to push pose focus
on rugby union, so I went to a school, Saint
Edmund's College. Initially got sat Now I'll getting in a
bit of trouble at the public school. I went to
Queen in South and my parents wanted to give me
a bit more struture, so they sent me to Saint
Edmonds and at the school, if you played rugby league
(01:42):
outside of the school, you had to play rugby union
for the school. So for about five years I played
rugby union because I had to. I never really enjoyed it,
but I knew that if I get through the Saturday,
I played rugby union on the Sunday AG and have
some fun to play rugby league. As things went on
and the older I got, the more times you get
exposed to that first fifteen rugby to thema's college, did
(02:03):
you start to feel like, oh, maybe that's something I
want to have to go at and I'm falling out
of rugby league, saction, the ref sides and whatever else.
And the coach for the first ethen said, if you
want to play first Aten, you've got to give up
rugby leg So it was a pretty easy choice at
that stage. And then the end of that year I
made a schools and things progress pretty quickly after that.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
As an Eddie's old boy myself, I remember the decree
you could play any sport you liked outside of school
as long as you still played sport for the school.
You couldn't You couldn't play something outside of the school
unless you were in there. Do you have much to
do with the school and the rugby program these days?
Speaker 3 (02:41):
I went back. It could have been a few weeks
ago before there the semi final against marst I went back.
I know stuet locked him pretty well from he was
at East and he's obviously in Eddie's and his old
boy ran into him at the Blue and White ball,
the Eddie's Ball, and he asked me if i'd come
along first fifteen training, So you know, I come along.
Obviously you don't want to impose yourself so much, but
(03:02):
a time have to go back. I love to help
out because you know, the school indirectly gave me so much,
the opportunity to play rugby. If I didn't go to school,
I don't think I would have. You know, I got
a lot from rugby union, so I think I owe
ready to say a bit as well.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Now it's interesting we've mentioned this several times on the show.
Chris Coleman is a sint Edmunds boy. I went to
an equally prestigious school. I went to Kayleen High and
so at Kaylen High, we didn't have any of these rules.
You got to play whatever you want, and we didn't
actually have a rugby union team.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
We had a rugby league team.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
So you never would have come up against against Kaylen
High in year school footballing days. But I remember at
school it was around the same time that the Brumbies
were starting to really become a thing in Canberra. And
you mentioned earlier that the Raiders are the heartbeat of Canberra.
But I do remember at the time there was a
time when the Brumbies were challenging the Raiders for popularity.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Oh massively. I mean year twelve, when I was at
Eddies before you had head out, you know, for party
or whatever else you'd all meet at Bruce. You go
all the way out to Bruce to watch the Brumbies
and have a few beers there. I mean, I remember
that vividly as well. And it's not to say that
the Brumbies aren't a heartbeat anymore, but I just think
the Raiders have been here for so long. But you know,
(04:17):
I think, you know, they obviously are the longest club
that we've got here, representative club. So if the Cookabaters
were still around, it might be different. But yeah, I
still remember the Brumbies. It used to be unbelievable Knights
even going out like that team at the time when
I'd had out there would be littered with Wolby players
like twelve to fifteen or eleven or the fifteen would
(04:37):
be starting Wolby's a World Cup champions like it was
a really special time for rugby. You know around then.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Now you've played in three Rugby World Cups, You've had
two stints at the Brumbies, you have a stint at
the Western Force, massive stints over in France as well.
Have you got a favorite period of your career or
a favorite highlight.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Yeah, that's tough, I think no. I think it kind
of all works pretty well for me. The way it
flowed like I came in for the young guys, surrounded
by Wallabies. That elevated my game massively and I didn't
have to do too much. Then the time that I
went to the Perth was a good experience. First time
actually living out home. So I was playing for the
Brumbies for I've been playing for I don't know how
(05:20):
many years. I'm still living at home, getting mom and
something dad to cook for me. So first LOOKOK for me,
just to get a little bit of independence and probably
take on more of a leadership role because I was
a younger squad. Then obviously coming back to the Brumbies
was really special to finish off my super rugby career here.
And then at that time, the end of my super
rugby career, I got dropped from the Wallaby, So I
(05:40):
kind of fell out of love with the game and
I felt old, even though I was twenty nine at
the time. But once I got to France, I told
the coach I remember at Vivily. He said how old
are you? And I told him and he was like, oh,
You're still like a baby, You're still young, and I
just felt refreshed a little bit and I started to
really find that love of rugby again. It's really hard
to pick one.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
A staff member here, a senior staff member formus and
Edmund's boy, massive rugby fan. He was only saying to
me in the hallway before I walked down to do
this interview, and we're talking about Robbie Deans, and he said,
I loved Robbie Deans as a coach. The only thing
he did that I didn't like was that he left
Matt Giddo out of the twenty eleven World Cup squad.
(06:21):
How did that feel at the time.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
It was tough because There'd been times throughout my super
rugby career where I've not played overly well, but based
off previous previous test seasons, I'd still get chosen for
the World Is. So this is kind of the first
time that I didn't really have a coach that would
back me as much. So I was always trying to
(06:43):
prove myself and it was the first time that i'd
been dropped. Yeah, I don't know, I'm a bit embarrassed. Yeah,
I suppose embarrassment was probably one of the biggest things,
because I got caught up to Sydney when they did
the World Cup announcement to only be told by the
coach that I'm not picked in the squad. So I
was asking, why would you bring me up here, and
(07:03):
he's like, well, out of respect, you know, we brought
you up here and tell you in person. But they
had me staying to night and that night the whole team,
like I was with another player that made the squad,
and that night they were going out to Cellbate, Like,
I'll going to a dinner all these boys with the
staff and I said, look, I need to fly out
of you. I've got to get hurted. So yeah, I
think the biggest thing can be was probably the embarrassment.
But then once I got home, I had a few
drinks from my brother. I remember going back to my
(07:24):
brother's house. I had a few drinks there with family
and I don't know. I just put things in perspective
and I suppose from then on I could really focus
on getting myself in good condition to head over to
France and yeah and make a real fist of that.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Let's move on to the Rugby World Cup for twenty
twenty three. It starts this weekend. I think it's safe
to say that Australia is taking its worst form in
terms of crude wins and losses into a major tournament ever.
Haven't won a game all year. Changed the coach a
few months ago. It adds something. I'm not sure what
it adds, but it certainly add something to the Australia
(08:00):
in Rugby World Cup charge for twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Had to be in any other coach for the Wallerbies,
you'd be riding them off and say they're no chance.
But it's just something about Eddie Jones and my history
with him that I just think he's got something upo sleeve.
Whether he's just been playing a pretty safe game plan.
I'm not showing too much, but I've definitely been doing that.
But like these, I mean the young guys that they've got,
(08:23):
he's got some talented he's got a really talented group,
but it's very young and history has shown that experience
is probably what you know. If you look at the
previous winners, they've always had a bit of seniority there.
So I'm just hoping that they start super well and
these young kids can get confidence and feel like they
belong not only in the Test arena but a World Cup.
(08:43):
And it can go one or two ways with young players.
They can lose the confidence and then they just totally
crash out. Well. They can do things that senior players
can't do because you don't ride the wins and losses
as much as a senior player. You kind of know
what it takes to get yourself right, but you're confidence
won't be as high as say a young player when
he's down super well. So I'm just hoping that they
(09:04):
start well and they're able to build throughout the World Cup.
But from a game plan, and I certainly know speaking
of the group for their fit, like Eddie's been flogging
them consistently throughout the whole Rugby Championship preparation and prior
to that warmup game against France, so maybe we're saying
a fatigue team, but he'll definitely taper off that, you know,
(09:26):
once they get into the World Cup, but we're going
to have a fit side.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
What is it about Eddie Jones that makes him different?
And I think he's probably unique in the world of coaching.
You can look at most coaches and there are similarities
across what they do, how they are portrayed publicly, what
they say outside the game, and even when you're watching
training sessions. There's a lot of similarity stuff. Is it
better say that Eddie Jones almost coaches rugby from another planet?
Speaker 3 (09:51):
I think he is from another planet, but he's a genius.
There's always something in It's even South Africa and Japan.
We're in the pool against South Afria in twenty fifteen
and two years prior, I think he thought about how
can I beat South Africa. You know, we're obviously not
going to beat him at set Peace, So what we're
(10:11):
going to do is play a quick game. And he
said the average international team it could be ninety passes
in eighty minutes. He said, our goal is should get
one hundred and twenty passes in a game. So he
altered the game plan to suit. You know, the Japanese
style of rugby got him super fit. Just move the
ball around, and you know they were able to create
(10:31):
I think one of the biggest upset in World Cup
history beating South Afria. So he just thinks very differently,
and I'm hoping he thought really left field with our
squad and found a way to make them be super
successful in this World Cup. But he just didn't want
to show it too early where teams have an opportunity
to kind of prepare for it. So that's why I
(10:54):
just I'm very reluctant to ever Obviously, I'm a very
proud wall of the and I'd love to see Ustralia
super well and win the World Cup, but I'm very
reluctant to ever write them off, especially when you've got
someone like Eddie Jones as a head coach.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Heading into the World Cup.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
France are the favorites on home soil, New Zealand, South
Africa and Ireland not far behind.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Australia fifth favorite with England.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Who's your gut feel if you were to pick a
winner right now for the World Cup?
Speaker 4 (11:22):
Who would you pick?
Speaker 3 (11:22):
And why right now? If we're not reading into that
New Zealand South Africa warm up game, I thought New
Zealand were flying with this Rugby Championship and the way
they toured last year. They had their end of season tour.
They kind of went under the radar because they lost
the series at home to Ireland and I think they're
still trying to find their feet and their combinations. After that,
(11:45):
they had a nice little training block. Candida Overseas two
would super well and then they come back. The Super
Rugby teams are obviously three of the four in the
semi finals where New Zealand teams. They won the Rugby
Championship pretty well, so they would be my favorite.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Australia find themselves in Pool C along with Fiji, Georgia,
Portugal and Wales. Is it reasonable to expect that the
wallaby should finish on top in that group?
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Yeah? Yeah, I think we should progress through, although Georgian's
obviously they're playing well. They're progressing each World Cup each year.
They're just getting more experience at the top level, so
you know they're going to be good and cig are
going to be I think our toughest match in that pool,
purely because the introduction of the drawer coming into Super Rugby,
(12:32):
they're not playing sevens all the time. They're now getting
exposed to this fifteen aside, and they've got the athlete.
What they probably lacked previously was the game control and
you know that eighty minute rugby that you need with
with test football they'd be more flamboyant. Well they've still
got that flamboyant style in them and now say understand
how to control the game, close it out, play field position.
(12:53):
You know what you need to do field pressure in
test rugby. So yeah, I think they're going to be
They're going to be tough, but I spected Australia to
finish on top.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
It is a tough pool on the latest world rankings,
Fiji seven, Australia's nine, Wales' is teen, Georgia's eleven, and
Portugal sixteen. So there's no easy games in there. But
that's got to be a good thing for a wall
to be side, to know that you're going to go
in and you're going to.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Do it tough.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
But also you look at who we've got on outside
of the pool, outside of the draw. In the lead
up to the semi finals, so you talked about Argentina,
England in Australia. You know, I'm just trying to think
outside of who we've got plus obviously those teams that
are around our pool. But on the other side of
the draw you've got you spoke about the top four
teams Ireland, France, South Africa, New Zealand are all coming
(13:37):
through on that side of the pool, so they're going
to have a much tougher run throughout the quarterfinals and
the semis, you'd imagine. So we're fortunate that we've got
time hopefully to find our feat and find our rhythm.
And then once you hit the semi finals or finals,
you know you've won four, possibly five games consistently, so
you're going to have confidence and start to feel like, yeah,
(13:58):
you're on a bit of a roll. So I think
we're lucky that we're in that side of the pool.
And then once you get in the semi finals, you're
two games away from winning the World Cup. So yeah,
super exciting and I think we're very lucky with that
side that we're in.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Specifically, now, inside of the squad matte who should we
be looking out for in this Australian side, and as
well to be side who were a couple of the
players who we should really be looking out for who
are going to be either the excitement machine or the
match winner or the X factor name as many as
you like.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
I'm very much like you guys. I don't know a
great deal about the new players that have come through.
There are guys there with that's their first time ever
going to a World Cup. Lots of them there's first
time in the World Cup. So even this year it
was the first time that they've been capped as well
of you. So I think it's more just a wait
and see. You know, who's going to stand up and
(14:51):
what players really make their mark. But from the tool
last year, I really liked Mark and the one get
it as he's a winger from the Warrior TI, but
he's just a rugby player. He loves getting out there.
He's very raw, he's strong, physical, but he loves to
attack and you can just see that when he gets
out there that he is a rugby player. He's not
(15:11):
like you, the guy that will just stay on his
wing and wait for opportunities. He goes out there and
he makes things happen. I think off the back of that,
you know, he obviously can make a few mistakes, but
they're positive mistakes because he's out there trying to take
the game on. So here's one player that I'd say
will be our real aspect.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Now that one last question before we let you go.
I'm a massive Rugby League fan. I'm a Raiders boy
at heart. Joseph sua lity that plays for the Sydney Roosters,
is joining the Wallabies for season twenty twenty five at
this stage, potentially even earlier one point eight million dollars
(15:50):
a year rumored. How do you think he's going to
find the game once he makes the jump across? Obviously
you'd be a big football fan begin our rold fan
as well, so you'd be very familiar with his style
of play. Do you think the transition will be easy
for him? And do you think Rugby Australia I guess
has made the right decision by throwing that sort of
money at an NROL.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Player as far as the contracting and the cash goes,
I'm all for the players getting as much as you
can get. You know, you're only in it for a
short time, so the powers to be to make that decision. Obviously,
Rugby Australia is in a strong enough position that they
can throw that around, so you know, the money aside,
I think he will make the transition easy purely because
he's got history in rugby union and it wasn't that
(16:29):
long ago that he was playing top level schoolboy rugby union.
So it just I think depends on the position where
they're going to put him as far as that transition
how easy that will happen. But yeah, I think he's athletic.
You can see the way he moves his physical He's
great under a high ball. He goal kicks. I've seen
(16:50):
him recently kicking for the Roosters, goalkicking. So he's obviously
a very talented player. And the way he's used in
rugby league wouldn't be the same way that he'd be
used rugby. So I think you're only just seeing the
tip of the skill set that he's actually got. I
think he possesses a lot more. You know, I expect
him to be, you know, obviously as an outside back,
not someone that you can say, I's going to win
(17:13):
us the World Cup because you need to have a
smart game controllers that put him in the right positions
and a good game plan. But I think he's going
to be a massive plus for rugby as Matt.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Great to speak to you on the super serious sports
show today. Thank you for taking time out. I know
you're flat out because you're probably like me, throwing stuff
into suitcases left, right and center to go overseas for
a little while. Have a great time at the World
Cup in France. Enjoy catching all the games. It starts
this Friday, actually France versus New Zealand, and there's four
games on Saturday, and the Wallabies in one of those
Saturday games in pulse it's up against Georgia to start
(17:44):
things off. But Matt, you know, thank you again for
talking to us on the super serious sports show this week.
And enjoy France.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Thanks Matt, thank you, and thanks for having me
Speaker 4 (18:00):
Amplify CBR.
The Super Serious Sports Show with Chris Coleman and Adam Jansen.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Well, Adam Jansen, the word legend is bandied around far
too often and far too easily in the world of sport.
But if I was to say to you that on
the phone line right now, we have a man who
has played many, many Test matches for the Wallabies. He
has played at three Rugby World Cups. Do you think
we could use the word legend right now.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
One hundred and three Test matches for Australia. Yeah, I
think you're pretty safe. Okay, in that case, we welcome
rugby legend. Matt getto to the Super Serious Sports Show.
Gets welcome aboard and we've caught you just before your
head off to France for the Rugby World Cup.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Oh yeah you have. That was was a nice intro.
I actually don't think I've hit that legend status, but
it's good to be on.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I think you're the first official Super Serious Sports so legend.
So so just roll with it and we'll see if
we can make a catch on.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
We had Cia Soliola from the Raiders in the early days.
I think Sea is a legend. He's a big thing
around canber as well. He's still playing in the local
rugby league competition here.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Yeah, I agree the legend two, but that's rugby league too.
The Raider is ever, They're a heartbeat of canvas. I'll
take it anyway. I'll take it now.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Look, you've mentioned rugby league. There, let's go there first.
A question I've always wondered about you, because of course
you've got rugby league in your blood, you've got rugby
union in your blood. Was it a hard choice for
you when the day came to choose rugby union over
rugby league.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
No, not at all, because I wasn't getting selected in
rugby league. So when I started to push pose focus
on rugby union, so I went to a school, Saint
Edmund's College. Initially got sat Now I'll getting in a
bit of trouble at the public school. I went to
Queen in South and my parents wanted to give me
a bit more struture, so they sent me to Saint
Edmonds and at the school, if you played rugby league
(01:42):
outside of the school, you had to play rugby union
for the school. So for about five years I played
rugby union because I had to. I never really enjoyed it,
but I knew that if I get through the Saturday,
I played rugby union on the Sunday AG and have
some fun to play rugby league. As things went on
and the older I got, the more times you get
exposed to that first fifteen rugby to thema's college, did
(02:03):
you start to feel like, oh, maybe that's something I
want to have to go at and I'm falling out
of rugby league, saction, the ref sides and whatever else.
And the coach for the first ethen said, if you
want to play first Aten, you've got to give up
rugby leg So it was a pretty easy choice at
that stage. And then the end of that year I
made a schools and things progress pretty quickly after that.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
As an Eddie's old boy myself, I remember the decree
you could play any sport you liked outside of school
as long as you still played sport for the school.
You couldn't You couldn't play something outside of the school
unless you were in there. Do you have much to
do with the school and the rugby program these days?
Speaker 3 (02:41):
I went back. It could have been a few weeks
ago before there the semi final against marst I went back.
I know stuet locked him pretty well from he was
at East and he's obviously in Eddie's and his old
boy ran into him at the Blue and White ball,
the Eddie's Ball, and he asked me if i'd come
along first fifteen training, So you know, I come along.
Obviously you don't want to impose yourself so much, but
(03:02):
a time have to go back. I love to help
out because you know, the school indirectly gave me so much,
the opportunity to play rugby. If I didn't go to school,
I don't think I would have. You know, I got
a lot from rugby union, so I think I owe
ready to say a bit as well.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Now it's interesting we've mentioned this several times on the show.
Chris Coleman is a sint Edmunds boy. I went to
an equally prestigious school. I went to Kayleen High and
so at Kaylen High, we didn't have any of these rules.
You got to play whatever you want, and we didn't
actually have a rugby union team.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
We had a rugby league team.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
So you never would have come up against against Kaylen
High in year school footballing days. But I remember at
school it was around the same time that the Brumbies
were starting to really become a thing in Canberra. And
you mentioned earlier that the Raiders are the heartbeat of Canberra.
But I do remember at the time there was a
time when the Brumbies were challenging the Raiders for popularity.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Oh massively. I mean year twelve, when I was at
Eddies before you had head out, you know, for party
or whatever else you'd all meet at Bruce. You go
all the way out to Bruce to watch the Brumbies
and have a few beers there. I mean, I remember
that vividly as well. And it's not to say that
the Brumbies aren't a heartbeat anymore, but I just think
the Raiders have been here for so long. But you know,
(04:17):
I think, you know, they obviously are the longest club
that we've got here, representative club. So if the Cookabaters
were still around, it might be different. But yeah, I
still remember the Brumbies. It used to be unbelievable Knights
even going out like that team at the time when
I'd had out there would be littered with Wolby players
like twelve to fifteen or eleven or the fifteen would
(04:37):
be starting Wolby's a World Cup champions like it was
a really special time for rugby. You know around then.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Now you've played in three Rugby World Cups, You've had
two stints at the Brumbies, you have a stint at
the Western Force, massive stints over in France as well.
Have you got a favorite period of your career or
a favorite highlight.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
Yeah, that's tough, I think no. I think it kind
of all works pretty well for me. The way it
flowed like I came in for the young guys, surrounded
by Wallabies. That elevated my game massively and I didn't
have to do too much. Then the time that I
went to the Perth was a good experience. First time
actually living out home. So I was playing for the
Brumbies for I've been playing for I don't know how
(05:20):
many years. I'm still living at home, getting mom and
something dad to cook for me. So first LOOKOK for me,
just to get a little bit of independence and probably
take on more of a leadership role because I was
a younger squad. Then obviously coming back to the Brumbies
was really special to finish off my super rugby career here.
And then at that time, the end of my super
rugby career, I got dropped from the Wallaby, So I
(05:40):
kind of fell out of love with the game and
I felt old, even though I was twenty nine at
the time. But once I got to France, I told
the coach I remember at Vivily. He said how old
are you? And I told him and he was like, oh,
You're still like a baby, You're still young, and I
just felt refreshed a little bit and I started to
really find that love of rugby again. It's really hard
to pick one.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
A staff member here, a senior staff member formus and
Edmund's boy, massive rugby fan. He was only saying to
me in the hallway before I walked down to do
this interview, and we're talking about Robbie Deans, and he said,
I loved Robbie Deans as a coach. The only thing
he did that I didn't like was that he left
Matt Giddo out of the twenty eleven World Cup squad.
(06:21):
How did that feel at the time.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
It was tough because There'd been times throughout my super
rugby career where I've not played overly well, but based
off previous previous test seasons, I'd still get chosen for
the World Is. So this is kind of the first
time that I didn't really have a coach that would
back me as much. So I was always trying to
(06:43):
prove myself and it was the first time that i'd
been dropped. Yeah, I don't know, I'm a bit embarrassed. Yeah,
I suppose embarrassment was probably one of the biggest things,
because I got caught up to Sydney when they did
the World Cup announcement to only be told by the
coach that I'm not picked in the squad. So I
was asking, why would you bring me up here, and
(07:03):
he's like, well, out of respect, you know, we brought
you up here and tell you in person. But they
had me staying to night and that night the whole team,
like I was with another player that made the squad,
and that night they were going out to Cellbate, Like,
I'll going to a dinner all these boys with the
staff and I said, look, I need to fly out
of you. I've got to get hurted. So yeah, I
think the biggest thing can be was probably the embarrassment.
But then once I got home, I had a few
drinks from my brother. I remember going back to my
(07:24):
brother's house. I had a few drinks there with family
and I don't know. I just put things in perspective
and I suppose from then on I could really focus
on getting myself in good condition to head over to
France and yeah and make a real fist of that.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Let's move on to the Rugby World Cup for twenty
twenty three. It starts this weekend. I think it's safe
to say that Australia is taking its worst form in
terms of crude wins and losses into a major tournament ever.
Haven't won a game all year. Changed the coach a
few months ago. It adds something. I'm not sure what
it adds, but it certainly add something to the Australia
(08:00):
in Rugby World Cup charge for twenty twenty three.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
Had to be in any other coach for the Wallerbies,
you'd be riding them off and say they're no chance.
But it's just something about Eddie Jones and my history
with him that I just think he's got something upo sleeve.
Whether he's just been playing a pretty safe game plan.
I'm not showing too much, but I've definitely been doing that.
But like these, I mean the young guys that they've got,
(08:23):
he's got some talented he's got a really talented group,
but it's very young and history has shown that experience
is probably what you know. If you look at the
previous winners, they've always had a bit of seniority there.
So I'm just hoping that they start super well and
these young kids can get confidence and feel like they
belong not only in the Test arena but a World Cup.
(08:43):
And it can go one or two ways with young players.
They can lose the confidence and then they just totally
crash out. Well. They can do things that senior players
can't do because you don't ride the wins and losses
as much as a senior player. You kind of know
what it takes to get yourself right, but you're confidence
won't be as high as say a young player when
he's down super well. So I'm just hoping that they
(09:04):
start well and they're able to build throughout the World Cup.
But from a game plan, and I certainly know speaking
of the group for their fit, like Eddie's been flogging
them consistently throughout the whole Rugby Championship preparation and prior
to that warmup game against France, so maybe we're saying
a fatigue team, but he'll definitely taper off that, you know,
(09:26):
once they get into the World Cup, but we're going
to have a fit side.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
What is it about Eddie Jones that makes him different?
And I think he's probably unique in the world of coaching.
You can look at most coaches and there are similarities
across what they do, how they are portrayed publicly, what
they say outside the game, and even when you're watching
training sessions. There's a lot of similarity stuff. Is it
better say that Eddie Jones almost coaches rugby from another planet?
Speaker 3 (09:51):
I think he is from another planet, but he's a genius.
There's always something in It's even South Africa and Japan.
We're in the pool against South Afria in twenty fifteen
and two years prior, I think he thought about how
can I beat South Africa. You know, we're obviously not
going to beat him at set Peace, So what we're
(10:11):
going to do is play a quick game. And he
said the average international team it could be ninety passes
in eighty minutes. He said, our goal is should get
one hundred and twenty passes in a game. So he
altered the game plan to suit. You know, the Japanese
style of rugby got him super fit. Just move the
ball around, and you know they were able to create
(10:31):
I think one of the biggest upset in World Cup
history beating South Afria. So he just thinks very differently,
and I'm hoping he thought really left field with our
squad and found a way to make them be super
successful in this World Cup. But he just didn't want
to show it too early where teams have an opportunity
to kind of prepare for it. So that's why I
(10:54):
just I'm very reluctant to ever Obviously, I'm a very
proud wall of the and I'd love to see Ustralia
super well and win the World Cup, but I'm very
reluctant to ever write them off, especially when you've got
someone like Eddie Jones as a head coach.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
Heading into the World Cup.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
France are the favorites on home soil, New Zealand, South
Africa and Ireland not far behind.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Australia fifth favorite with England.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Who's your gut feel if you were to pick a
winner right now for the World Cup?
Speaker 4 (11:22):
Who would you pick?
Speaker 3 (11:22):
And why right now? If we're not reading into that
New Zealand South Africa warm up game, I thought New
Zealand were flying with this Rugby Championship and the way
they toured last year. They had their end of season tour.
They kind of went under the radar because they lost
the series at home to Ireland and I think they're
still trying to find their feet and their combinations. After that,
(11:45):
they had a nice little training block. Candida Overseas two
would super well and then they come back. The Super
Rugby teams are obviously three of the four in the
semi finals where New Zealand teams. They won the Rugby
Championship pretty well, so they would be my favorite.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Australia find themselves in Pool C along with Fiji, Georgia,
Portugal and Wales. Is it reasonable to expect that the
wallaby should finish on top in that group?
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Yeah? Yeah, I think we should progress through, although Georgian's
obviously they're playing well. They're progressing each World Cup each year.
They're just getting more experience at the top level, so
you know they're going to be good and cig are
going to be I think our toughest match in that pool,
purely because the introduction of the drawer coming into Super Rugby,
(12:32):
they're not playing sevens all the time. They're now getting
exposed to this fifteen aside, and they've got the athlete.
What they probably lacked previously was the game control and
you know that eighty minute rugby that you need with
with test football they'd be more flamboyant. Well they've still
got that flamboyant style in them and now say understand
how to control the game, close it out, play field position.
(12:53):
You know what you need to do field pressure in
test rugby. So yeah, I think they're going to be
They're going to be tough, but I spected Australia to
finish on top.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
It is a tough pool on the latest world rankings,
Fiji seven, Australia's nine, Wales' is teen, Georgia's eleven, and
Portugal sixteen. So there's no easy games in there. But
that's got to be a good thing for a wall
to be side, to know that you're going to go
in and you're going to.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
Do it tough.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
But also you look at who we've got on outside
of the pool, outside of the draw. In the lead
up to the semi finals, so you talked about Argentina,
England in Australia. You know, I'm just trying to think
outside of who we've got plus obviously those teams that
are around our pool. But on the other side of
the draw you've got you spoke about the top four
teams Ireland, France, South Africa, New Zealand are all coming
(13:37):
through on that side of the pool, so they're going
to have a much tougher run throughout the quarterfinals and
the semis, you'd imagine. So we're fortunate that we've got
time hopefully to find our feat and find our rhythm.
And then once you hit the semi finals or finals,
you know you've won four, possibly five games consistently, so
you're going to have confidence and start to feel like, yeah,
(13:58):
you're on a bit of a roll. So I think
we're lucky that we're in that side of the pool.
And then once you get in the semi finals, you're
two games away from winning the World Cup. So yeah,
super exciting and I think we're very lucky with that
side that we're in.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Specifically, now, inside of the squad matte who should we
be looking out for in this Australian side, and as
well to be side who were a couple of the
players who we should really be looking out for who
are going to be either the excitement machine or the
match winner or the X factor name as many as
you like.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
I'm very much like you guys. I don't know a
great deal about the new players that have come through.
There are guys there with that's their first time ever
going to a World Cup. Lots of them there's first
time in the World Cup. So even this year it
was the first time that they've been capped as well
of you. So I think it's more just a wait
and see. You know, who's going to stand up and
(14:51):
what players really make their mark. But from the tool
last year, I really liked Mark and the one get
it as he's a winger from the Warrior TI, but
he's just a rugby player. He loves getting out there.
He's very raw, he's strong, physical, but he loves to
attack and you can just see that when he gets
out there that he is a rugby player. He's not
(15:11):
like you, the guy that will just stay on his
wing and wait for opportunities. He goes out there and
he makes things happen. I think off the back of that,
you know, he obviously can make a few mistakes, but
they're positive mistakes because he's out there trying to take
the game on. So here's one player that I'd say
will be our real aspect.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Now that one last question before we let you go.
I'm a massive Rugby League fan. I'm a Raiders boy
at heart. Joseph sua lity that plays for the Sydney Roosters,
is joining the Wallabies for season twenty twenty five at
this stage, potentially even earlier one point eight million dollars
(15:50):
a year rumored. How do you think he's going to
find the game once he makes the jump across? Obviously
you'd be a big football fan begin our rold fan
as well, so you'd be very familiar with his style
of play. Do you think the transition will be easy
for him? And do you think Rugby Australia I guess
has made the right decision by throwing that sort of
money at an NROL.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
Player as far as the contracting and the cash goes,
I'm all for the players getting as much as you
can get. You know, you're only in it for a
short time, so the powers to be to make that decision. Obviously,
Rugby Australia is in a strong enough position that they
can throw that around, so you know, the money aside,
I think he will make the transition easy purely because
he's got history in rugby union and it wasn't that
(16:29):
long ago that he was playing top level schoolboy rugby union.
So it just I think depends on the position where
they're going to put him as far as that transition
how easy that will happen. But yeah, I think he's athletic.
You can see the way he moves his physical He's
great under a high ball. He goal kicks. I've seen
(16:50):
him recently kicking for the Roosters, goalkicking. So he's obviously
a very talented player. And the way he's used in
rugby league wouldn't be the same way that he'd be
used rugby. So I think you're only just seeing the
tip of the skill set that he's actually got. I
think he possesses a lot more. You know, I expect
him to be, you know, obviously as an outside back,
not someone that you can say, I's going to win
(17:13):
us the World Cup because you need to have a
smart game controllers that put him in the right positions
and a good game plan. But I think he's going
to be a massive plus for rugby as Matt.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Great to speak to you on the super serious sports
show today. Thank you for taking time out. I know
you're flat out because you're probably like me, throwing stuff
into suitcases left, right and center to go overseas for
a little while. Have a great time at the World
Cup in France. Enjoy catching all the games. It starts
this Friday, actually France versus New Zealand, and there's four
games on Saturday, and the Wallabies in one of those
Saturday games in pulse it's up against Georgia to start
(17:44):
things off. But Matt, you know, thank you again for
talking to us on the super serious sports show this week.
And enjoy France.
Speaker 3 (17:49):
Thanks Matt, thank you, and thanks for having me
Speaker 4 (18:00):
Amplify CBR.
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