And so yet another bunch of Australian sportsmen inhale too much grog and suffer the consequences. Once we all joked about the old amber nectar and the reliably droll, permanently refreshed 'cultural attache', Sir Les Patterson, but it is no longer a laughing matter. The wobbly Wallabies, 15 of whom have been disciplined for going on the lash in Dublin in the build-up to last Saturday's game against Ireland, are merely the latest to drag the good name of Australian sport across the saloon-bar floor.
The list is getting ridiculous. David Warner in the Walkabout bar in Birmingham, Kurtley Beale and James O'Connor, Andrew Symonds and umpteen rugby league players. What was once a couple of quiet tinnies in the dressing sheds – or 52 cans on a flight to London in the cricketer David Boon's case – has developed into a recurring problem.
What exactly is an “inappropriate” amount of alcohol for an Aussie sportsman as the Wallabies head coach Ewen McKenzie described the levels his players had drunk– a harbour full? Only the other day it was announced Australia’s section of the Olympic village in both Sochi and Rio would be alcohol-free to avoid a repetition of the partying which disrupted some of their team-mates at the London Games. A survey last month found that 70 per cent of Australians believe sport and alcohol are too closely related.
The old six o’clock swill, so called because of the mad post-work rush to get the beers in following the introduction of early closing in Australia and New Zealand a century ago, seems to be making a comeback.
It has to be acknowledged, of course, that this is not entirely an Antipodean issue. Bayonne recently opted to part company with Mike Phillips because of supposed drunken excesses. Gavin Henson has had his issues, as people like to euphemistically describe them. Queenstown will forever be associated with English rugby men behaving badly, although they still allege the Irish were equally as riotous a couple of weeks earlier during the 2011 World Cup.
All of which explains why McKenzie has cracked down so hard – and so publicly – on the players who blew the froth off too many cold ones in Dublin. At the 1991 World Cup you could scarcely move for Wallabies out on the town – Lillie’s Bordello was a favourite haunt – during the knockout phase. It did them no apparent harm and they duly won the tournament at the expense of England a fortnight later. McKenzie was a player for Australia during that tournament. But times have changed; professionalism demands constant hydration of a different type and this particular Australia team are not, at present, a team full of world-beaters.
In the end it depends on the culture of the team concerned. If you are trying to clean up a squad riddled with off-field scandal, as has been the case with the Wallabies, there are obvious benefits in making a stand, particularly prior to a Test they would expect to win against Scotland.
It has its risks – sponsors will need to be placated – but McKenzie has clearly decided a short, sharp shock is necessary if on-field targets are to be achieved. “This is not a simple process but it needs to happen so we can have a chance to be the best team we can be,” he explained. “Already this year we’ve spent a lot of time being crystal clear around behaviours to ensure we are in a position to take the step-up to the next level. The players need to be making the right decisions as professional athletes.”
It is interesting to compare and contrast his stance with that of the Kangaroos rugby league team manager, Gareth Holmes, in the wake of Billy Slater's recent altercation at 2.40am outside a Manchester nightclub. "The first thing to remember here is the player is the victim," said Holmes. Reports into the incident indicate that may be so, but Holmes was still appearing to suggest Slater was perfectly entitled to be out into the early hours during a World Cup. "The second thing is that this is an eight-week tour. There are times when the players will be given the opportunity to go out and they deserve to be able to do that."
“Deserve?” Only if you take the view they can be absolutely trusted to drink in moderation and be in bed before the milkman arrives. If not, you are fully entitled, as McKenzie has done, to block the well-trodden path to the bottle shop. It is a dull old rugby tour where no one is permitted a single pint of Guinness during a week-long stay in Dublin but too many Australian sportsmen seem to have a problem knowing when to stop. - Guardian Service
