The current crop of Wallabies were winning less than 40 per cent of matches, even before Eddie Jones. No one is indispensable. But, that said...
Indispensability is a concept beloved by player agents to make weak administrators overpay for players, and judging by the balance sheets of most major unions they have been extremely successful in the past decade.
Australia is no different. As much as we are titillated by the thought of Rugby Australia heavies blowing the budget on vintage wines at fancy Parisian establishments last year, the players are the biggest cost. This isn’t a mad thesis – it’s there in black and white in the Rugby Australia annual accounts. In the 2022 year , the biggest single expenditure line was the $29.6m for “player payments, RUPA and team costs”.
There’s also another $24.2 million for “Super Rugby and High Performance”, so $53.8m out of total expenditure of $119m was spent on players, either directly or indirectly to support the expensive architecture around them.. This current player pool was winning at less than 40 per cent on the world stage even before Eddie arrived. No one is indispensable.
That said, there are players Australia should try not to lose. These are the 30 players – two in each position – that should get some form of prioritisation in contract talks in the coming months and years.There are some names missing that will raise some eyebrows, but like it or not Rugby Australia is now in the business of cutting the cloth to suit its purse.