Omar Hassanein Interview: Learning from the ‘Gladiator’ Cheika
He was supposed to have conflicting feelings about tomorrow’s World Cup semi-final. Omar Hassanein isn’t just an Aussie, he’s a Randwick boy, which means Michael Cheika’s one of his boys too.
Just the week before last, the pair of them had breakfast together in a London hotel, reminiscing and chuckling about how Cheika, as first a grizzly vet and then as a coach, opened the eyes of the fledgling flanker to some of the darker as well as more technical arts of how to survive and thrive in this game.
But just as with Cheika, rugby would bring Hassanein, and thus his wife Bree, to Ireland. It’s where their son Oscar was born, and even at two, the little fella shouts in his Dublin accent ‘Go Ireland!’ any time there’s an oval ball on screen. It’s where Hassanein has worked for four years now as ceo of IRUPA. And as he explains, IRUPA aren’t just a representative body of the players; they ARE the players. Which means the Irish national team that we all expected to make it through to Twickenham tomorrow are his boys too.
Only, as we all know too well, Argentina wrecked that assumed Wallabies-Ireland showdown by having plans of their own. Tomorrow in the Hassanein household it’s all very straightforward, even for two-year-old Oscar: Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, all the way.
Yet as they urge fair Australia to advance to a fourth World Cup final, Hassanein will be highly mindful of the learnings here for the players that he represents and the country they represent. The geographical profile of the remaining four sides for him is not a freak.
When Niall Woods stepped down in 2011 as chief of IRUPA, they head-hunted Hassanein as his replacement because they considered the Australian players body as one they could model themselves on. This World Cup has reaffirmed just how much the northern hemisphere could learn from Down Under and the south in general, not least for how players and their representative bodies are viewed and valued.
“If you look at the stronger countries in world rugby, it’s no coincidence that they have the stronger players’ associations or the players’ associations are more aligned with the game in general.
“In any successful professional sporting environment, whether it’s southern hemisphere rugby or North American sports, it’s a given that the players are integral stakeholders.
“I think for too long in northern hemisphere rugby nations the players have been as a secondary thought: administrators make decisions and then the players have to live with those decisions.
“People think New Zealand rugby is strong because a lot of people play it there and it’s the national sport. Statistics will show far more people play the game in England.
“There’s just a lot more synergy in the way New Zealand run their game, between the national governing body, the provincial governing bodies, and very importantly, the players.
“In Australia when the sport went professional in ’95, a number of the senior players got together and immediately formed a collective bargaining agreement with the governing body. That set the precedent that players would be integral to a lot of the big decisions, anything from broadcast deals to shirt sponsorship deals to calendar scheduling.
“In subsequent years you could argue at times there has been almost too much player power in Australia and there have been some internal rows, but in general there’s a good framework there and a high respect for the players.
“But over here if you were to ask a lot of leading journalists and pundits why a players’ association exists, they’d turn around and say ‘To react to decisions the governing bodies make that affect players.’ “I disagree with that. We shouldn’t be reactionary. We should be part of the decision. That’s the difference. That’s where we’ve to get to.”
They’re edging that way. All the time the relationship between IRUPA and the IRFU is growing and Hassanein’s with Philip Browne is particularly convivial; it would be difficult for anyone not to warm to the affable Aussie and his heartily ‘mate’ salutations. And how the World Cup is reviewed is one way how the process and bond could be further accelerated.
It goes without saying Joe Schmidt’s squad and management will have its own internal report. But Hassanein believes that it would be a missed opportunity for the IRFU to think someone like Rob Kearney, IRUPA’s current chairman, should be constrained to only offering his views on what he thought of the team hotel or the support staff. Here’s a player that has come through the system since he was a kid. What did the World Cup teach him about his pathway, and what have been good and bad processes and systems along the way?
“In my opinion we’ve established some things that are very positive in Irish rugby. We’ve got a very good coach and he’s brought in a very good culture within the team. But I would say that the culture goes well beyond that. It’s driven by the administration and how the game is run. I listen to pundits talking about why England were unsuccessful at the World Cup. I predicted two years ago they wouldn’t make it out of their group. English rugby is almost a victim of being too big. Too many parties are driving different agendas; Premiership rugby has a completely different agenda to the RFU and so on. Yet pundits will focus more on who should have been picked at number 10 and there should have been a different 13. I think they’re missing the point. The issues are more deep-rooted than that. What they’re talking about is about how to shuffle around the deckchairs on the Titanic. The culture is wrong. It’s not aligned.
“Irish rugby is further along the desired curve that way. They’re continuously making reasonable strides towards improving that culture, by starting to put more emphasis into performance rather than just making decisions that are financially driven. I think decisions have to always be financially considered but performance driven.
“For instance to develop the game, we all need to ensure the players are happy at Academy level and that they’re remunerated decently so that they’re more productive and we’re getting the greatest catchment of talent at that age group. I know (new performance director) David Nucifora is working on this and I commend him for it and trying to get the right systems and type of coaching into the U15, 16 and 18 levels. We can’t continue to hide from the fact that we’re getting absolutely trounced at junior level. We need to fast-track some of these blokes and their skills and align the schools and club systems which I know David is looking to do.
“And our (senior international) players can have an input into this (policy planning) process. Because there’s no better people to tell you what works and doesn’t work, whether it’s development systems, coaching systems, medical systems, the way contracting systems work. All that stuff needs to interlink with each other. A contract needs to support a medical protocol so that it doesn’t put pressure on a player to rush back for financial reasons, otherwise the player will manipulate the medical protocol to rush back.
“We’re starting to have more influence in development programmes which is positive, but I think we can make up even more ground.”
assanein has come some way himself. The 39-year-old grew up in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, the son of an Egyptian father. There in Coogee you’d play rugby on the streets and on the beach and in his case later for the famed Randwick club.
There probably isn’t a single rugby club in the world that has produced such players and coaches of the calibre that Randwick has. It’s where Eddie Jones started out, Bob Dwyer too, and a string of coaches that would ply the trade in Ireland, such as Alan Gaffney, Gary Ella and Michael Cheika.
Then there were the players. Hassanein would play on the same team as David Campese as the great back’s career was winding down and with George Gregan as the fly-half’s career was just starting out. In the forwards pack with him were the likes of Ewen McKenzie, Phil Cairns, Owen Finnegan, the Cheika brothers. Internationals. Men.
Michael Cheika, especially, would give him an education on the virtues of dedication to your cause and craft. Hassanein recalls a tour game in Uruguay of all places. If you thought some games there featuring their national soccer side were violent, this was something else.
“It was like something from Gladiator,” says Hassanein, “just 30 guys brawling for 80 minutes.” Except not all 30 were allowed on the field to brawl for that long. The two Cheikas were among the three sent off that day. To get put off in as lawless a game as that was quite the achievement.
“I learned a lot from the likes of Michael and his brother Paul, like how to have that hardened edge. They were sometimes in judiciary hearings more than they probably should but I think it typified their approach to the game.”
One time an old Randwick team-mate transferred to a rival Sydney club. When the sides met Cheika went after him for the entire game and in the 80th minute finally got your man good, smashing the life out of him in a tackle. “There was a well-circulated photograph at the time in which you can see Cheika lying on the ground with a broken finger for his troubles.” For Cheika the broken finger was worth it.
Hassanein would also see what Cheika would not just do to you, but for you, in the name of loyalty. Even back then he had shown his flair for entrepreneurship and fashion. Whenever he’d have a new range of jeans out, he’d make sure to tip off his teammates about the 80% discount going. Hassanein always knew Cheika would make a top coach.
“People see that fiery quality in Michael and don’t understand just how technically sound he is. He is definitely the most organised coach that I’d ever worked under. I hear the reports from the guys about how much time Joe (Schmidt) puts in but Michael puts an incredible amount of time into every small facet of the game.
“He’s all about accountability. He won’t bark at you on how you should move in a lineout. He’d sit down and discuss the movement and the line-out and get your views. It’s always more of a discussion.”
Only 10 days ago with Hassanein in London, the pair of them had another chat. About the old days and family and the difficulties of touring. Cheika had only seen his family once in the past two months. He found that tough, but then it’s a tough game. Hassanein would know all about it. A lot of his playing career was spent playing overseas, far from family and friends. He’d play in Japan for two years, then Italy, then France. For the most part he relished and embraced the experiences, like learning Japanese if he was to communicate with anyone over there, or popping into Venice for a day trip as it was only 20 miles away from Padova where’d he play. But he won’t lie. It could be a tough, anxious existence at times too. Although he’d represent Australia A and make a good living in the game, he was something of a journeyman.
“There was often that uncertainty of living from contract to contract. Sometimes you’d get strung along and promises wouldn’t eventuate. There were times I’d have a partner and be thinking, in a few months’ time we could be living in any one of eight countries in the world. And while a part of that could be exciting, there was something daunting about it too.” That’s one of the reasons why he’s ideally suited to his job and so passionate about the programmes IRUPA provides its members. He knows how this game can physically beat you up; he has a 40cm titanium rod through his tibia and had his shoulder reconstructed. He knows the importance of education; while he played professionally he managed to find time to study a primary degree in marketing and international business and post-grads in finance and sports law. And yet even with those qualifications, he knows full well just how difficult it can be to gain employment and cope with the transition of being a former player.
“When I finished playing in Italy I was unemployed for eight months. I was detached from the Australian business community and couldn’t find work. I was also struggling with identity loss.”
Then he found himself and his perfect niche. He got some work with the Australian players association.
Within a few years he was their stand-in CEO. When the permanent position went to his old friend and mentor Greg Harris, he was both open and approached to moving to Ireland where a similar position had opened up.
He and Bree won’t be here forever, they eventually want to bring Oscar up in her native town, but since arriving here four years ago they’ve embraced everything about living here. He often thinks people here can lose sight of how good they have it here. The heritage, scenery, sport, people. One of his blessings here was to strike up with Monkstown FC. Hassanein had hung up his boots at 30. At 35 he’d dust them down again to play for the D4 club. It reminded him of why he started out in this sport; not for a pay cheque but for the love of the game and the camaraderie it offered, off the field as much as on it.
“When you’re a pro the game can sometimes become a grind. With Monkstown, being out with the boys, I’ve developed great friendships. I remember one time playing down in Tullow in sub-zero temperatures and the sideways rain and asking why was I doing this, but I think it brought me back to what rugby is all about.” It’s why he has a firm appreciation of what the IRFU do. Rugby can’t be all about the pros and high performance; it’s also about the grassroots and higher participation. “Sometimes players need to remove themselves from the professional bubble and understand that the game is broader. Players have a duty to be seen around the clubs, to be promoting the amateur game and understanding how it complements the professional game.” It all stems from empathy, relationships, connectedness. Both parties need each other.
“What we’re doing is trying to shift the culture and change the way administrators view the player- administrator relationship. And it starts with something as simple and soft as going for dinner together. I remember bringing Brian (O’Driscoll) and Johnny (Sexton) out for dinner with Philip Browne, Tom Grace and Finbarr Crowley shortly after I arrived over here. Something like that had never been done before. It just took someone to step in and say, ‘Look, this might seem a bit fluffy but we’ve actually got to understand each other’s viewpoints. And I say that from both perspectives, because I do believe sometimes the players misunderstand the administrators and the complexities that with every decision.”
It helps that he and Browne can work together. Only 10 days ago he was in the IRFU chief’s office and he’ll be over there again in the coming days. It also helps that they know that sometimes they have to battle another.
“The nature of a good relationship is that we can tear shreds off each other but the very next day we can jump straight back into the mode of working together on advancing the game. The nature of what we (IRUPA) do is that we represent the players. Sometimes that complements and aligns with what the IRFU are trying to do. Sometimes it opposes what their objectives are. But ultimately we’ve got to understand what each other’s roles are and never take it personally. I might be opposing what Philip is doing on a certain day but we shouldn’t lose sight of what we need to be doing together the next.” Like the World Cup has shown, you’ve to be partners and sometimes rivals to catch up with your counterparts south of the equator.
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