Eddie Jones has always had an infatuation with rugby league, which explains his tendency to have someone with a deep understanding of the 13-player game in his coaching set-ups.
Will the returning Wallabies coach, a lifelong Rabbitohs supporter, bring in coaches with a rugby league background to assist the men in gold ahead of the Rugby World Cup?
Those close to the 63-year-old say when Jones was in the UK during his stint as England coach he was always difficult to contact whenever an NRL match was on as he always had one eye on the other code.
Before Anthony Seibold landed back in the NRL at Manly, he was appointed defence coach of the England rugby team with Jones at the helm.
Employing a rugby league coach into an international rugby side is nothing new, particularly in the northern hemisphere.
“He knows rugby league is a tough game,” Seibold said. “He feels having someone from outside rugby helps. I loved it. I had two years working with Eddie and it was brilliant. I learned heaps.”
Eddie Jones appeared at Matraville Sports High School on Tuesday. Credit:Brook Mitchell
As Seibold points out, there is a rugby league presence in two thirds of teams competing in the upcoming Six Nations.
Firstly there’s Andy Farrell, the former England international who is now coaching Ireland. Add to the list fellow rugby league identities Shaun Edwards (France), Kevin Sinfield (England) and Mike Forshaw (Wales).
“Over in Europe, it’s very common,” said Seibold of the crossover between rugby and league coaches. “Scotland and Italy are the only ones in the Six Nations who don’t [have a coach with a league background].”
When Jones was in charge of England, the likes of Seibold, Jason Ryles, Brett Hodgson, Martin Gleeson and John Clarke were in the set-up.
Jones has also had Scott Wisemantel, the former Parramatta Eels first-grader, by his side for extended periods of his career, including England’s run to the 2019 World Cup final.
“Defence was my primary responsibility,” Seibold said. “My secondary response was also coaching the outside backs. Each of us had different areas. The biggest thing to learn going across to rugby was the defensive formations from lineout and scrums. In international rugby, you don’t get a lot of time to improve the technical side of things. You have a two-week preparation before the first Test.
“There are similarities to league; things like protecting your inside shoulder, line speed, filling the space when the ball goes past you, the edge defence. We use similar checklists in league and union. The back three in both games are similar. There’s a lower target zone in rugby because you want to make it a contest [at the ruck]. It’s the same mentality of trying to slow the ruck down. In rugby, you want two-man tackles. In league you want three.
“The difference is that in league, it’s very structured with a left edge and a right edge. In rugby, there’s quite a bit of chaos.”
Jones met incumbent Wallabies assistants on Thursday to discuss their future. While the make-up of his coaching set-up is not expected to be clear for a few weeks, there is an expectation he will bring in a coach from outside the rugby community.
Anthony Seibold spent two years with the England rugby team. Credit:Getty Images
Names like Michael Maguire, Hodgson and Ryles have been tossed around. An ‘Eddie Wishlist’ exists, and sources close to Jones say that while no formal approach has been made to Maguire, it is believed the Canberra Raiders assistant’s name is on the list.
Maguire and Jones have been close for more than a decade. When Maguire was coaching Souths, he would go and watch training.
Jones has a deeper rugby league contact book than people might think. He is close with Matthew Johns and Wendell Sailor.
“I don’t know what Eddie’s plans are with the Wallabies,” Seibold said. “I’m a massive advocate for Eddie as a coach. I think it’s good for Rugby Australia. One thing Eddie does … is he’s got charisma in front of the media. He’s got an extremely good coaching history. What he’s done with a couple of different nations in World Cup years has been significant. What Eddie does is cut through into rugby league and also AFL.”
Five coaches who could work under Jones
Andrew Johns
If Johns, a rugby league immortal, was appointed to Jones’ Wallabies coaching staff, it would send the rugby league world into a spin. It’s understood Jones hasn’t approached Johns but it’s not the craziest concept. Jones came close to bringing Johns over to rugby during his playing days. During the 2016 three-Test series between the Wallabies and England, Jones had Johns helping England during a training session at Coogee Oval.
Michael Maguire
The rumour mill has been overdrive this week about Maguire coming on board with the Wallabies. While there has been no formal approach, the Herald has been told that Jones is interested in speaking to Maguire.
Brett Hodgson
Jones hired Hodgson late last year to work as England’s defence coach. Within weeks, Jones had been sacked, and the RFU didn’t take long to move on Hodgson. The former Hull FC coach, who played 224 NRL games, plus State of Origin matches for NSW, could be someone on Jones’s list.
Jason Ryles
Ryles worked with Jones at England but the 44-year-old is an assistant coach at the Sydney Roosters. No doubt with head coaching ambitions, it would take some serious convincing from Jones to get Ryles to jump ship back to the 15-man game.
Matt Giteau
Although not from a rugby league background, Giteau is a Jones favourite. Jones plucked Giteau from relative obscurity to debut for the Wallabies in 2002 without a Super Rugby match to his name. Giteau announced his retirement from all forms of rugby on Friday. His former Wallabies teammate, Drew Mitchell, sent out a cryptic tweet shortly after. “Perfectly timed for Eddie to name you as the Wallabies attack coach?” Mitchell wrote. It is unlikely, at this stage, but it wouldn’t be a big surprise if Giteau had some role with the Wallabies in the coming years.
Even when Jones last coached the Wallabies in the early 2000s, rugby league was infiltrating the 15-player game.
English rugby league great Phil Larder was recruited by Clive Woodward for the 2003 World Cup on Australian soil. He’d also done the 2001 British and Irish Lions series on these shores under head coach Graham Henry.
As Larder explained to the Guardian this week, even then, European teams wanted more of a league presence.
“My phone never stopped,” Larder said. “I’d have the Welsh, Scottish, Irish, French, phoning me to recommend a rugby league guy who could coach defence.”
Prior to Larder, former Parramatta star John Muggleton was bought in by Wallabies coach Rod Macqueen in 1998 to help with defence and is credited with playing a major role in Australia’s victorious 1999 World Cup campaign.
No matter who Jones selects to work alongside him, they will be extremely busy.
Throughout his first week in Australia, Jones has been reserved. He is listening and asking questions to get an understanding of the landscape he is dealing with.
Jones told a Waratahs women’s rugby fundraising lunch on Friday that he is still getting up at 4am every day.
“He’s got a mad work ethic,” Seibold said. “He’ll keep everyone on their toes.”
