Mitchell's siege mentality will prove his undoing

WHEN the All Blacks were dumped out of the World Cup semi-final in 1999 by France, the New Zealand stockmarket slumped for a few months, the Prime Minister was hauled out in front of parliament to give an explanation for the team’s demise and one university offered its students grief counselling.

Worse still, when the team returned they found that the baggage handlers at Auckland airport had scrawled "losers" in white chalk across all their bags.

Four years on and the sense of déjà vu is frightening. Somehow, the world’s most talented rugby side have once again self-combusted at the penultimate hurdle.

The big difference is that in 2003, the reaction to yet another loss to decidedly mediocre opposition has been less vitriolic, even measured and balanced. In 1999, the public and media vented their frustration almost entirely on the coach, John Hart, and their campaign was so poisonous and hate-filled that they secured Hart’s resignation on the Thursday night after the third/fourth place play-off game.

But current coach John Mitchell has no intention of walking the plank. Immediately after the 22-10 defeat to the Wallabies last Saturday, Mitchell was asked about his future. "I have no hint of handing in my resignation or anything like that. That’s up to my employers going forward. I’ll leave it to them," was his reply.

And his employers have left him clinging, seemingly without much hope of survival. The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) have announced that Mitchell is welcome along with any other candidates to re-apply for his post.

With that decision made, Mitchell may as well not bother submitting an application as history shows the incumbent never holds on once the job is advertised. But it’s not just the weight of history working against Mitchell. He has done a fair old job at cutting his own throat.

There is no doubt that in terms of results - the All Blacks have played 28 games since he took over in 2001, winning 23, losing four and drawing one - his record stands comparison with any All Blacks coach of any era.

And while the All Blacks failed to win the World Cup, they secured the Bledisloe Cup for the first time in five years, they won the Tri-Nations and scored 50 points against South Africa and Australia in consecutive weekends away from home this year.

At times they have played seriously good rugby, with Mitchell’s faith in relatively unknown players such as Joe Rokocoko, Mils Muliaina, Dan Carter and Keven Mealamu paying off. However, modern All Blacks coaches have to do more than just produce results on the pitch.

The All Blacks are no longer a rugby team, they are a brand. The suits and bean counters at the NZRU are painfully aware that, with a comparatively tiny economy, New Zealand could, and seemingly is, being left behind by the likes of England, Australia and France. Their current broadcast deal with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation expires at the end of 2005, and the Australian magnate has already made it clear that he will not match the figure he originally paid to secure the rights to the Super 12 and Tri-Nations in 1995.

The money from News Corporation accounts for almost half of the NZRU’s revenue. If that income is significantly reduced, New Zealand is going to have even greater difficulty holding on to its top players. At this World Cup there were 39 New Zealand-born and bred players not representing the All Blacks.

The NZRU is desperate, then, to attract more corporate sponsors, and the World Cup was the ideal platform to showcase the All Blacks.

Unfortunately, from day one in the job, Mitchell has paid no heed to his or the team’s public image. It is an attitude that put him immediately offside with the NZRU’s top brass, and insiders say the knives have been out for some time.

Mitchell’s constant refusal to be interviewed by any New Zealand media outlet and the way he has gone about building a "them and us" mentality within the All Blacks camp, has prevented the New Zealand public from building any affinity with him or the players.

Things came to a head at the World Cup when he point-blank refused to reveal any details about the nature of vice-captain Tana Umaga’s knee injury incurred in the opening game.

Clearly embarrassed that Mitchell had incensed the assembled international media and was alienating his own supporters, someone within the NZRU forced team manager Tony Thorpe to front the next day and shed some light on the situation.

Mitchell, however, remained stone-faced, surly and monosyllabic whenever pushed under the media spotlight. It obviously rubbed off on the players. Carlos Spencer failed to front at a media conference before the semi-final, even though a number of international journalists had flown to Melbourne to specifically interview him. There was no explanation or apology.

There has even been criticism that the team, almost to a man, remained mute while the Maori version of the national anthem was sung at the World Cup. Adidas and Steinlager, two of the team’s main sponsors, have both played heavily on the All Blacks’ Maori heritage in their respective advertising and marketing campaigns.

No doubt the NZRU was disappointed, too, that the opportunity was missed to promote the game in Victoria, the state where the All Blacks camped for the duration of the tournament. Pictures of some of the non-playing reserves taking coaching sessions in some Melbourne schools would have done wonders at restoring the public image of Mitchell’s side.

These opportunities have all been missed, however, and the over-riding impression the world has of the All Blacks is that they are aloof, arrogant and totally self-absorbed. It’s not the sort of image with which multi-million pound corporations want to be associated, especially when the All Blacks were only third.

Maybe Mitchell can survive if a new team manager is introduced to be the acceptable front-man of the organisation, paid to keep the media, sponsors and fans happy.

But those in the know believe there is a new story waiting to unfold and cloud proceedings. Mitchell’s PA, Bridgett Hickman, was sent home from Australia before the pool match against Wales. She was supposed to remain with Mitchell until the team flew home but the NZRU is refusing to give any reasons for her premature departure.

If Mitchell is given the boot, former Wales and Lions coach Graham Henry is likely to be one of the front runners as is his successor with Wales, Steve Hansen.

And what a turnaround that would represent -- the mighty All Blacks forced into hiring Wales’ cast-offs to show them the way.