In a week when the Wallabies’ longest-serving captain announced his retirement from Australian rugby it appears that the era of a lone talisman as the team’s figurehead might be nearing the end.
Michael Hooper holds the record of Australian caps as a captain with 69. To reach that mark he passed two other legendary Alpha males of the national team – World Cup winners John Eales (55) and George Gregan (59) – and showed incredible resilience along the journey.
Hooper missed just six Tests, two of which he was an unused replacement, in his first six seasons of Test footy and made his 50th appearance for his country in the 2015 Rugby World Cup semifinal. Only a year of Covid disruptions to the calendar prevented him from becoming the youngest Wallaby to reach 100 caps.
Hooper’s lead from the front mentality will go down in folklore, and in an era of expanding coaching teams and leadership units, his is a record that might well stand forever.
On Thursday, new coach Joe Schmidt will announce his 23 players to face Wales in the first Test next Saturday and (barring any leaks) that will be the first sign of who will be his first skipper.
Whoever it is would do well to not feel too comfortable. It’s understood that Schmidt has little interest in being caught up in the cult of a talisman. He won’t be picking a skipper and fitting him into a team, but will be choosing the on field captain from the 23 – as it really should be.
Head coach Joe Schmidt during a Wallabies training session at Ballymore Stadium on June 25, 2024 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
After Dave Rennie stuck firm with Hooper, who was only replaced by James Slipper when he excused himself from a two-match tour in Argentina, Eddie Jones brought him back briefly as a co-captain with Slipper.
Like most things, the captaincy situation was a shambles under Eddie Jones. He gave Tate McDermott a go before casting him aside, and had the quiet Will Skelton lead the team to the World Cup even though the giant lock had serious reservations about his own suitability.
The team exited the tournament under the leadership of Dave Porecki, but even that was botched. Jones robbed Porecki of a lifetime moment by playing silly buggers with the media over Skelton’s fitness in a pointless attempt to hoodwink Fiji coach Simon Raiwalui.
Perhaps if Allan Alaalatoa had not been injured in the pre World Cup Tests he might have worn the responsibility in France. And he must be odds on to be named in the 23 and as Schmidt’s skipper on Thursday and it would be richly deserved.
Fraser McReight, who has eased into Hooper’s No.7 jersey, might be another option. He, like Rob Valetini, seems a nailed on starter and has experience and respect within the group and the rugby public.
Valetini is Australia’s best player in the eyes of his teammates – the John Eales Medal suggests so anyway – and could be ready to step up.
Rob Valetini, John Eales Medalist winner poses for a photo during the 2023 Rugby Australia Awards at Doltone House on February 07, 2024 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images for Getty Images)
So who else? Nic White was considered too feisty to be a Rennie leader but could come into the equation. Andrew Kellaway is arguably the team’s best speaker. He’s mature and balanced and some sections of the media (well, this one at least) would appreciate his hot takes at a time when Schmidt seems happy to shut down any interesting avenues of conversation.
“Probably there’ll be a little bit of movement in the side. I’m pretty sure that we’ll use more than just 15 of the same starters, so there could be a different captain for one or two of the Tests,” Schmidt said when he named his team last week.
“And that will also allow us to just experiment a little bit. But you can’t experiment too much when you’ve got a team like Wales coming.”
On Monday, McReight was asked if becoming a Wallabies captain was a dream of his.
“I don’t think it’s something you want to dream about. I think it’s something that happens and it’s a progression,” McReight said.
“It would be an honour to do that sort of stuff, but I’ve got a long way until that happens for sure.”
Schmidt might be the undisputed boss, but he’s also big on collaboration, both in leadership on field and his off-field “Dad’s Army” of experienced coaches – including Mike Cron and Laurie Fisher.
“I really like the coaching team we have pulled together,” Schmidt told reporters this week. “Yes, it is Dad’s Army. Eoin Toolan, our skills coach and head of analysis, said to me, ‘It’s great to be a part of Dad’s Army here’.
“Cron is late 60s, mid-60s for Laurie and I am a spring chicken at 58. Geoff Parling (40) is younger. I said to him, ‘You must be Private Pike’. But it kind of went over his head. He knew the phrase, but he hadn’t actually watched the show.”
In the trenches, “there’s a few groups leadership wise,” said McReight.
“It’s a core group of players, older boys that got pulled into that. I think it’s a lot of figuring out how Joe operates and Joe figuring out how we had operated in the past and trying to find that balance.”
The Queensland Reds flanker suggested he prefered this approach.
“It’s definitely more important to have a key group that can help drive messages. Obviously when someone’s speaking all the time it’s a bit of white noise in one ear and out the other,” said McReight.
“Having core members across the group in each different position being able to deliver that same message I think is very, very strong to have. But in terms of that [one captain], that’s going to develop and progress as the year continues.
“I’m sure there are some very, very strong candidates there and that’s just going to continue to grow.”