Not so long ago, Wallabies assistant Berrick Barnes was the young player in rugby’s version of the urban legend, being ripped into by Eddie Jones.
Barnes remembers his Eddie moment well, a team meeting at which he’d finally had enough and went out on a limb on behalf of the team. It was the Reds in 2007. A pitiful season that culminated in a notorious 92-3 loss to the Bulls, which still stands as a Super Rugby record.
“I voiced the opinion of what I thought was the consensus, and no one backed me up, and then I got completely cut down,” Barnes recalls. “Eddie tore me to pieces. It’s funny, at the time you think it’s the worst thing in the world, but you look back and you can see it was a great learning experience.”
Reds teammates remember the pair butting heads but, as one told the Herald, “a lot of players butted heads with Eddie that year”. Jones was barely a year clear of his acrimonious “divorce” from the Wallabies. He’s said a few times since he shouldn’t have gone straight on to a job with Queensland, but he was angry and had a point to prove.
“I wish I had Eddie when I was older,” Barnes says. “When I knew what he was trying to get at, what he was trying to make me better at. Or if I had someone who could make me understand there’s a betterment aspect to you here. I’m driving you to get somewhere.”
Barnes was the Reds’ young five-eighth, vying with an even younger Quade Cooper and just a couple of years into his defection from rugby league, calling the shots for an equally inexperienced Queensland side.
Eddie Jones and Berrick Barnes at Wallabies training this week. Credit: Getty
Publicly, Jones sung the praises of his talented playmaker but behind the scenes it was tough going.
“I thought I knew way more than I did. I was young, immature, and I thought I knew it all. Not in an egotistical way, but I didn’t understand where he was coming from and we clashed,” Barnes says.
“He [Jones] operates on another level to other people. You’re constantly challenged, uncomfortable, trying to push for improvement. At the time you’re thinking you’re the one he’s targeting, and you’re doing it all wrong. But really he’s trying to find an edge in you to get you better, because he sees something in you. You feel like the whole world’s coming down but, really, he’s finding the buttons to push, to get you to make decisions here, or that there.”
Consider that the message Barnes will be imparting to Ben Donaldson and Carter Gordon — or Max Jorgensen and Ryan Lonergan — as their new kicking coach. The going will get rough but it should serve a purpose. Step outside yourself. Listen. Learn.
Jones (far right) with Wallabies leadership group (left to right) Jed Holloway, Michael Hooper, Andrew Kellaway, Allan Alaalatoa, James Slipper and Nic White.Credit: Getty
This new chapter wasn’t a reunion either party planned — Barnes was first in dialogue with former coach Dave Rennie about taking on a national skills role — but after a chat over coffee with Jones, the 36-year-old’s involvement proceeded.
Unlike most of the players who pitched up at Sanctuary Cove on Sunday and Monday, ahead of the first, express Wallabies camp of Jones’ tenure, Barnes did not lie awake the night before, wondering what he could do not to stuff up his first professional interaction with a coaching legend.
Barnes had a bit to do with Jones over a long stint with Panasonic in Japan’s Top League. Jones was the revered director of rugby at Suntory, the other powerhouse of the competition. When Jones coached England, Barnes kept abreast of the Australian’s exploits through good mate Scott Wisemantel, who was the England attack coach.
Crucially, Barnes doesn’t still carry the scars of that ugly season under Jones. Some do — it is no secret the former Randwick hooker has detractors after four decades in coaching — but Barnes isn’t one of them.
Former Wallabies coach John Connolly with a fresh-faced Berrick Barnes during a 2007 training session.Credit: Tim Clayton
“You like to read all the books about what great coaches like to do, but the best ones have that intuition on when to push buttons, when not to. They understand players and coaches. At the moment, I’d say he’s just doing what he feels the group needs,” Barnes says. “He didn’t walk into Japan or England or any of those environments and say ‘I’m Eddie Jones, this is how I do it’. He coaches to the people he’s dealing with.”
What the Wallabies need. In that light, this group needed reassurance this week. Some humour. Proof their new coach — who occupies near-mythical status as, at his best, a maker of champions but, at his worst, a breaker of spirits — is human.
“I hope the boys have seen that — they’ve definitely seen the humour. He’s a funny bugger,” Barnes says. “I recall that from my days [under Wayne Bennett at the Broncos] too, the Wayne you see in public and the Wayne you see in private are very different people.
“But at the end of the day, none of us learn unless we’re slightly uncomfortable. That’s the sweet spot, the dance. You get comfortable, everyone feels good, but you’re not pushing the envelope. You get totally uncomfortable, you’re stressed, you’re anxious, and it’s not helping anyone. That’s his challenge. When to push, when to pull back, and I just think he’ll be doing what he feels the group needs.”
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