Stan’s new documentary series about the Wallabies’ miserable 2023 season and disastrous World Cup in France is cursed in so many ways that it’s almost a black comedy.
A team that failed due to poor coding, a polarizing protagonist who ultimately betrayed his own camp, a sad group of sacked interviewees who were injured or fell, and an ugly history – the first team in a World Cup group The Australian team was eliminated at the stage – making the Wallabies a scarred watch.
But great storytelling doesn’t need good news, amazing characters, and a happy ending to be enjoyable. Australians, more than most, enjoy underdog stories and glorious failure.
The problem here is that the filmmakers have hitched their wagon to a soulless team.
The Wallabies were once Australia’s team. The AFL and NRL have more fans and a better television profile, but the gold jersey is where the country once united. Alas, that was 20 years ago. Australian rugby is on the ropes, the Wallabies are in dire straits and the Matildas have won our hearts.
Of course, giving Coach Eddie Jones a major role was a bit of a casting call for Hospital Pass. Former coach Dave Rainey initially turned down the documentary makers. He’s struggling on his injured side, but he’s building a culture that requires intense focus and not outside distractions.
But when Rugby Australia sacked Rainey and appointed Jones nine months out from the World Cup, the documentary was given the go-ahead. “Fast Eddie”, who has just been sacked by the England rugby team, is a talkative and very conceited man. RA needed a coach but hired a foreman; the circus was inevitable.
The first episode begins 145 days after France, and Jones goes all out from the start, telling his wide-eyed players: “We’re going to change Australian rugby”; “We’re going to fight hard and win the World Cup”; “We’re going to be Australia’s greatest ever team.” This rant is meant to be inspiring, but we know it’s empty rhetoric, so it’s sure to piss off fans.
Executive producer Andrew Farrell hopes to reach an audience beyond the hardcore. “We want the audience to get to know the players and watch the game through their eyes,” he said. “But there’s a level of masochism in watching the show, given the story, given what they’ve been through last year and 20 years on, Wallabies fans may have reached their threshold.”
So do some players. The personal adventures behind the team’s story often enrich these documentaries, but the core cast lacks insight and luck. Veteran Michael Hooper was cruelly dropped from the team, with former rowers Allan Alaalatoa, James Slipper and Taniela Tupou Taniela Tupou) were injured. Centre-back Nic White was honest, funny but ultimately troubled, but mostly when his team fell 5-0 down and his head was filled with complaints and then saw their World Cup journey unraveled. Avoided going off track.
Given that this team is the youngest ever, a lineup made up of the next generation of media-savvy players would seem obvious, but Jones and RA prohibit this because they don’t want their new faces to be a “distraction.” Even Will Skelton, the unlikely campaign captain, is strangely missing. Instead, we see wunderkind Carter Gordon playing golf with his girlfriend and trimming his mullet, while charismatic young guns Mark Navakanitawas, Fraser McCreight, Tom Hooper and Tate McDermott were gagged.
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It hurts doco because the team behind it is so bland. Jones’ management is a motley crew, mostly from the NRL, AFL and European rugby circles, who are intimidated by their boss and refuse to challenge his increasingly tenuous grip on power. Dr. Sharron Flahive breathed in dry data, while psychologist Dr. Corinne Read was marginalized in a rare moment of sanity amidst the chaos.
There’s some lovely photography amidst the asceticism of training, travel and match days, and some poignant moments – a freshly injured Tupou washing his muddy boots in a dingy shed – and some Uplifting moment – Jones decried the lack of “hardness” in Australia’s game. “The nuances of glorious victory and crushing defeat also came into focus. “The bounce of the ball, the pass to the left instead of the right, the Wallabies won, everything changed,” Farrell said.
But among the wealth of exciting behind-the-scenes sporting events – Drive to Survive (Formula 1), Break Point (tennis), Full Swing (golf), Beckham (football) and Six Nations ( Rugby)), the Kangaroos are like the team profile, flawed. “RA knew it couldn’t be a PR exercise,” Farrell admits, “but they cut a few things to protect the players. Eddie also got his crazier swearing cluster bomb cuts.”
Hopefully the filmmakers are playing the long game: getting ready before portraying the up-and-comers who have been baptized by fire in France before they compete in the next World Cup on Australian soil. With luck, a 2023 heartbreaker could become a 2027 Wallabies hero. It’s a comeback story for the ages, and a failure story that all Australians can get behind.
