High-flying Wallabies keeping low-profile in Melbourne camp

Mon, Aug 12, 2019, 3:55 AM
Iain Payten
by Iain Payten
Wallabies lock Rory Arnold insists the Wallabies haven't achieved anything yet despite their win over New Zealand last weekend. The side will head to Auckland later in the week with an opportunity to bring home the Bledisloe Cup.

Wins over New Zealand tend to rocket the Wallabies back into the spotlight but there is not much risk of the team getting carried away reading their own press this week.

They'd have to find some of their own press first.

Michael Cheika’s team has elected to delay their journey to Auckland for game two and will instead spend four days in camp in Melbourne.

In the Sherrin-mad city where local papers are chock-a-block with AFL, there’s usually not a lot of media coverage for the Wallabies to read about themselves.

And that was no different on Monday, even after their record-breaking victory over the All Blacks.

To be fair, the Wallabies did not make it widely known they would even be in Melbourne this week, and even skipper Michael Hooper mysteriously referenced “wherever we are going next week” in the post-match press conference.

"Usually we go over pretty early, straight away, but why not mix things up?” Wallabies lock Rory Arnold explained on Monday. 

"We’ll stay here until Thursday and head over and we’ll prepare just like last week, take it day by day and focus on us. Looking forward to this one – it’s going to be a good one.”

Reece Hodge in the gym. Photo: Stu Walmsley/RUGBY.com.au

Changing up travel plans can’t hurt given Australia haven’t won in Auckland since 1986. 

Cheika tried it last year unsuccessfully when the Wallabies spent the week on Waiheke Island and past coaches have tried to shift around their arrival dates and hotels.

Whether by design or accident, the Melbourne stop-off - and a level of anonymity they’d not have in New Zealand, Sydney or Brisbane - will at least help Cheika guard against his team basking too much in the praise for their Perth victory. It would 

"Obviously the papers are half of it is AFL so it's good to be here and I'm looking forward to the week here,” Arnold said.

"Obviously we are doing things a bit different. In the past we've gone straight over and cracked on with the week but  we are hanging around here to get some training done and some review done."

The Wallabies have attempted to change up a few of their routines this year, courtesy of the shortened Rugby Championship.

Cheika ran a week-long camp in South Africa prior to their Rugby Championship opener in Johannesburg, and in an echo of their camp at Notre Dame University ahead of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, the Wallabies will train in New Caledonia after the second Bledisloe Cup game.

"We’re working hard for each other and training hard and for us it’s about getting that confidence and belief,” Arnold said

“Hopefully we can get the momentum going because there’s a big tournament on at the end of the year and we just want to keep putting on good results forward and see what happens.”

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