Peter Van Onselen puts an entry into the biggest leadership beatup contest

The learned professor must have tired of scrapping with Peta Credlin so desperately needed a new subject for that weekly column. Well, not a new subject really. Rather a variation on that mainstream media standard the leadership challenge. Give the sub enough to justify the catchy headline 

Speculate on how "even small indicators can have profound impacts on otherwise long term trends." Then gild the lily with the thought that the latest Newspoll may turn out to be such a moment in time before adding:

To be sure, the odds are that it won’t. More likely this government’s goose is cooked and the size of the defeat is the only contested point worth debating between now and the next election. But if Labor loses momentum it won’t take long for Bill Shorten to come under substantial pressure.

So for the sake of trying to make a comment column different to the mass of irrelevant others on the significance of Newspoll, let's forget about that size of the Coalition defeat debate. Let's borrow a tabloid journo's egg beater and imagine that the government edges even closer in the poll and may be even wins one. Then watch the Anthony Albanese forces go after Shorten.

The left, particularly outside of Victoria, questions Shorten’s capacity to lead. And the powerful NSW right — once the kingmakers inside Labor — have never liked him.
It wouldn’t take much to shift Shorten from success story to outsider, keeping in mind they rolled Rudd as PM when he failed in one poll and was actually back in front 52-48 at the moment of execution. Ironically at Shorten’s hand.
Of course as already noted the above is unlikely to transpire because the same political skills which got Shorten to where he is now should protect him from any major erosion in support.

 So, if the Owl can summarise, the Oz published many words about something that almost certainly will not happen. Par for the course really.