Deans dead man walking before Lions

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Ewen McKenzie and ARU CEO Bill Pulver chat after the former was named Wallabies coach. Source: Patrick Hamilton / Getty Images

ROBBIE Deans was a dead man walking because the decision to dump him for a more risk-tasking Wallabies coach was made even before the blockbuster series against the Lions.

Re-energising the Wallabies style dictated coach Ewen McKenzie would be swept into power on Tuesday, even if Deans had produced a series triumph last Saturday in Sydney rather than a 41-16 calamity.

Quade Cooper's return from Test exile and a strict new Wallabies disciplinary code that will boot James O'Connor and Kurtley Beale off Test teams for incidents like their recent misbehaviour, is rugby's new future.

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It was on Tuesday uncovered the time bomb ticking under the Deans reign which was kept secret from the 74-Test coach.

"Robbie achieved a great deal in his five years but it was probably a month ago that I cleared up in my mind that the Wallabies were ready for a change," Australian Rugby Union boss Bill Pulver said

"No, I didn't tell him (until Monday)...we did not want to mess with his head leading into the series.

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Pulver made it plain that McKenzie's track record for innovative attack was a major factor in his selection while also saying a new coach meant a tough new line in the sand on team discipline.

"It's more than just the coach (Deans) accountable for the 58 per cent success rate of the Wallabies. He coached through a period where the All Blacks were outstanding and inherited some (disciplinary) procedures," Pulver added.

"Arguably the most important variable of all is that Ewen has the capability of coaching the way the Australian public want to see the game played...smart, creative running rugby."

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The "Dingo cull" on Tuesday put an Aussie drawl to the Wallabies bark for the first time since 2007.

"We have the players. Get the head space and the tactics right and we can put a lot of pressure on the All Blacks, not once but twice (next month) because we want the Bledisloe Cup back," McKenzie said.

It all points to Cooper playing five-eighth against the All Blacks on August 17 in Sydney although McKenzie was more diplomatic with his words than the Reds tie he wore to Tuesday's announcement.

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"Quade is ready to play Test rugby again. I know it will have hurt him watching the Lions series when he would have backed himself to make a difference," McKenzie said.

"When you miss out, absence focuses the mind. Quade is in a good space but it's not a matter of one player. I haven't made any calls yet and I don't have a closed mind."

Jumping on the self-centred ill-discipline of O'Connor, who slept in and missed a team bus to training last Thursday in Sydney a week after his blaise apology for a 4am Hungry Jacks visit, must be a priority.

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McKenzie will have a face-to-face with the wayward Wallabies back, a limited five-eighth experiment against the British and Irish Lions.

"I've only spoken to James O'Connor twice. I'm not going to pre-judge," McKenzie said.

"We should be talking wow factor in rugby not discipline. If you can't change behaviours, you change the people."

McKenzie banned Digby Ioane for a game at the Reds this season for tarnishing the team image even before police had fully investigated a minor assault charge. His disciplinary stance is hardline.

"I want players to step up and be very proud. To me, it's a week to week contract as a Wallaby. You make the most of it because if you're not doing the right thing that contract might not be there," McKenzie said.

"If you are crystal clear (on a disciplinary code) you don't have to be too tolerant."

McKenzie was Beale's first senior coach at NSW in 2007 so he has a history there to try to get another enigmatic talent back on the rails consistently.

Reds tighthead prop James Slipper is one player whose Test stocks will rise because he fits McKenzie's high workrate ideas for his pack. McKenzie's adaptable game plans and giving senior playmakers like Cooper and Will Genia more buy-in to tactics will be differences to the Deans method.

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