Rugby in Australia - not quite dead, but close

D

damo


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That is a big concern. Rugby in the Southern Hemisphere needs a strong Australia.

Perhaps Rugby Australia could set up a streaming service and sell it's product direct to the public for $5 or $10 a month?
 
TigerCraig

TigerCraig


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Hopefully Twiggy Forest comes in and takes the whole thing over
 
L'irlandais

L'irlandais

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Not sure that’s going to happen any more.
Forrest was upbeat despite the call, saying he always knew organising 60 games of rugby in eight international territories in just 15 weeks was going to be a tough ask.
Click to expand...

:sarc: “Run, Forrest. Run!”
 
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TigerCraig

TigerCraig


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L'irlandais said:
Not sure that’s going to happen any more.


:sarc: “Run, Forrest. Run!”
Click to expand...

That story is about last years season, which ended up having some great games

In any case GRR is just a stepping stone to what he wants - like Packer with World Series Cricket

Hopefully Twiggy signs up all the players RA can no longer afford
 
Ian_Cook

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RA spent millions on short term fixes buying RL players (Sailor, Rogers, Tuquiri, Folau et al) many of whom were overpriced well past their use-by date, instead of spending those millions on developing the game to nurture talent at the grass roots.

They failed to learn the lessons from the last time we bailed them out in the 1970s, that to have a strong game at international level, you usually need a strong game at domestic level.

Well, they are now, finally paying the price for their short sightedness, a price that has been exacerbated by the fact that one of those players turned out to be a homophobic, religious nutcase.
 
TigerCraig

TigerCraig


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Ian_Cook said:
RA spent millions on short term fixes buying RL players (Sailor, Rogers, Tuquiri, Folau et al) many of whom were overpriced well past their use-by date, instead of spending those millions on developing the game to nurture talent at the grass roots.

They failed to learn the lessons from the last time we bailed them out in the 1970s, that to have a strong game at international level, you usually need a strong game at domestic level.

Well, they are now, finally paying the price for their short sightedness, a price that has been exacerbated by the fact that one of those players turned out to be a homophobic, religious nutcase.
Click to expand...

There are a number of issues - lack of FTA TV is one; the disconnect with Super Rugby is another, including the time zone issue and the "franchise" naming (noone in the street knows where Stormers, Bulls, Highlanders etc are from - I note ABC Radio are now saying "Otago", "Waikato" etc in their sports reports); the gap between amateur club rugby and Super Rugby - NRC hasnt caught the imagination; and back to your point of wasted money - the complete lack of development officers and public school penetration. AFL and NRL have development officers everywhere, provide free jerseys and balls to schools etc. Union do nothing.
 
Not Kurt Weaver

Not Kurt Weaver


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TigerCraig said:
There are a number of issues - lack of FTA TV is one; the disconnect with Super Rugby is another, including the time zone issue and the "franchise" naming (noone in the street knows where Stormers, Bulls, Highlanders etc are from - I note ABC Radio are now saying "Otago", "Waikato" etc in their sports reports); the gap between amateur club rugby and Super Rugby - NRC hasnt caught the imagination; and back to your point of wasted money - the complete lack of development officers and public school penetration. AFL and NRL have development officers everywhere, provide free jerseys and balls to schools etc. Union do nothing.
Click to expand...

Sorry Tiger,

Some things are meant to be. All things come to an end. Que Sera Sera.

Life goes on without me.

Your friend,

Bubbles
 
Ian_Cook

Ian_Cook


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TigerCraig said:
There are a number of issues - lack of FTA TV is one; the disconnect with Super Rugby is another, including the time zone issue and the "franchise" naming (noone in the street knows where Stormers, Bulls, Highlanders etc are from - I note ABC Radio are now saying "Otago", "Waikato" etc in their sports reports); the gap between amateur club rugby and Super Rugby - NRC hasnt caught the imagination; and back to your point of wasted money - the complete lack of development officers and public school penetration. AFL and NRL have development officers everywhere, provide free jerseys and balls to schools etc. Union do nothing.
Click to expand...

Engineers of their own misfortune then. THAT is where the Union needed to be spending their money... not on some half arsed quick fix buying has-been RL players.

Rugby Union has been thoroughly mismanaged in Australia, and that began long before the current administration. It started with the end of Possum Head's reign as CEO post 2003 RWC. The ARU was in a very good financial position at that point, then Flowers started making a mess of things, so in 2007 they called Possum Head back. One of his first acts was to can the ARC... big mistake! Sure it was losing cash but that does not matter... every aspect of what a sporting body does, does not have to pay for itself - a good example is recruitment programmes. NBL, NHL, and NFL teams spend millions on recruitment programmes - they cost big money and they make zero financial return, but those teams would not be without them; they stay the course, because they understand that the payoff is not in cash, and does not come until years down the line.

RA should have subsidised the ARC. Our NPC doesn't pay for itself, it costs the NZRU bucket loads of cash every year, but they understand that this is the price they have to pay to have what is arguably the best rugby talent conveyor belt in the world. Rugby pundits the world over are continually astonished at the frequency with which new talent appears on the scene in NZ. The NPC is the reason for that, and it costs money - the payoff comes in the future.

RA has failed to play the long game!
 
TigerCraig

TigerCraig


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Ian_Cook said:
Engineers of their own misfortune then. THAT is where the Union needed to be spending their money... not on some half arsed quick fix buying has-been RL players.

...

RA has failed to play the long game!
Click to expand...

100% agree.

When my son started playing U10's in 2009 we had 3 ARU (or NSWRU?) dev officers looking after northern Sydney. You wanted one to come to a training or coach-the-coach session or on a school visit give them a call and out they came. You wanted the Waratah's "Tah man" mascot at a juniors day or a school fete - make a call and there he was. The Dev officers also ran coaching, referee and "Smart Rugby" safety courses.

Now, nothing.

There is a grassroots interest in the game and plenty of talent but its not nurtured or funded.
 
Ian_Cook

Ian_Cook


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TigerCraig said:
100% agree.

When my son started playing U10's in 2009 we had 3 ARU (or NSWRU?) dev officers looking after northern Sydney. You wanted one to come to a training or coach-the-coach session or on a school visit give them a call and out they came. You wanted the Waratah's "Tah man" mascot at a juniors day or a school fete - make a call and there he was. The Dev officers also ran coaching, referee and "Smart Rugby" safety courses.

Now, nothing.

There is a grassroots interest in the game and plenty of talent but its not nurtured or funded.
Click to expand...

... and as a result, many end up playing the 13 man code, or going to Europe.

I promise you, the vultures from the NRL, and from French and UK Union clubs will be circling.
 
TigerCraig

TigerCraig


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Ian_Cook said:
... and as a result, many end up playing the 13 man code, or going to Europe.

I promise you, the vultures from the NRL, and from French and UK Union clubs will be circling.
Click to expand...

And AFL as well - now being played in Sydney schools that were staunch breeding grounds for rugby

We have junior AFL playing on Sunday in Sydney, the traditional junior rugby day, and being seen as mum friendly (less contact than league and union) and dad friendly (more contact than soccer) as well as having huge resources and clear pathways
 
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timmad

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I have enjoyed watching and playing RL and soccer and watching AFL but the reason my main interest is in RU is that it is more multi-faceted that those other games and it will be such a shame if Aussie youngsters lose the opportunity to give it a fair go.
 
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