Let The Roar of the crowd fix up Rugby
Roar Rookie
By Zac Zavos, 20 May 2007 Zac Zavos is a Roar Rookie
At the beginning of the 2004 season Australian rugby was loaded with cash, the Wallabies had almost won the Rugby World Cup, playing numbers, spectator and television viewing numbers were soaring, and the game looked likely to fulfill John O’Neill’s vision of becoming the second largest football code in the country.
Now in 2007, another World Cup year, rugby is at the nadir with falling crowds, poor performances by Australian teams, administrative inertia and grandstanding and the sense that something is wrong inside the Australian rugby commuinity.
There has been a strong discussion of what is going wrong in The Roar over the past few months. What we want to do now is concentrate this discussion. We want readers to tell us the three main problems facing rugby, and three solutions to the problems.
We will collate all the comments and present them to the ARU for a response, and action. Then we will monitor the ARU on how it attempts to get on top of the problems we’ve exposed.
Share this with a friend - and win a copy of Watching The Rugby World Cup.
In order to get the broadest possible view on this issue – we encourage you to send this article to your friends. A winner will be drawn on 1 June and will win a copy of Spiro Zavos’ Watching The Rugby World Cup.
To kick-off our campaign, here are our thoughts on what is wrong and what needs to be done:
PROBLEMS
1. Too many administrators are there for their own self-engrandisement. The interests of the stakeholders, especially supporters, are being neglected and ignored.
2. The presentation of the game is woeful.
3. At all levels of rugby, except the grassroots, there is no accountability and too much secrecy.
SOLUTIONS
1. Bring back John O’Neill. Under O’Neill’s administration rugby flourished at every level. He was forced out of the ARU by incompentents who have created rugby’s most serious crisis in the professional era.
2. Get more high level rugby on to free-to-air television. Also better officiating: better coaching: more skilful play from the professional players: and a quick implementation of the Stellenbosch Laws to simplify the laws and take much of the subjectivity out of refereeing.
3. Create an administrative practice at all levels of rugby that is inclusive, open and accountable.
Let the Roaring begin …
Enjoy sports? Enjoy a bargain? All Sports Online has your favourite sporting brands at up to 70% off. Online only, premium quality sporting goods and merchandise at discounted prices. Get a deal now.
Do you have what it takes to become a sports writer? Write for the roar
Rugby Union articles
- Will Super Rugby crowds continue their slide? (201)
- Will South African rugby force a Super 21 by 2018? (173)
- The real story of how John O’Neill turned Manchester City down (70)
- Dan Parks and the unsolved questions of expat rugby (65)
- Australian teams at Super disadvantage (58)
- Pocock set to be named new Force skipper (56)
- Can the ‘Tahs win the battle after losing the Waugh? (51)
- Wales show Southern Hemisphere how to play running rugby (29)
- What opening matches of Six Nations taught us (18)
- Will Super Rugby crowds continue their slide? (201)
- Clinical Chiefs cost rusty Rebels in Corio (9)
- Six Nations shows rugby is a parochial game at heart (5)
- Goose’s Super Rugby up-and-comer XV for 2012 (29)
- What does the future hold for the Six Nations (50)
- Explore:
Roger said | May 20th 2007 @ 6:50pm | Report comment
Hi Zac,
This could be a really good project.
SUGGESTION, :put a time frame on it , a week maybe ? .Dont print any response
untill all readers have submited ideas.
All ideas will then be ‘original ‘ and not influenced by others. .
When you send the results to ARU, it will be more legit if all ideas are isolated
and not an aamalgamation of everybodies second guesses.
DaniB said | May 20th 2007 @ 11:14pm | Report comment
Wow, this is some project… really appreciate being given the chance to present our thoughts and to see if the ARU will respond.
Hmmm, will have to sleep on it though…
Dave said | May 21st 2007 @ 12:57am | Report comment
Problems
1. ARU board is not representative enough and not accountable enough.
2. The marketing of the game is based on selling tickets to watch test matches.
3. The ‘pathway’ to professional rugby is a ‘closed shop’.
Solutions
1. Exapnd the board. Firstly each S14 province get 3 reps each (NSW to be represented by Premier Clubs, Subbies and NSW Schools * Qld by Qld Country, Premier Clubs and Brisbane Subbies * ACT by ACT clubs, Sthn NSW country clubs and Nthn NSW Country clubs [maybe look at merging ACT and NSW Country together] * WF by WA, Victoria and a rep for SA/NT/TAS); 4 independent directors representing the 4 main financial contributors; Players rep; Refs rep; Women’s rep; ALUMNi rep (representing former Wallaby players and coaches); CEO and president. All the S14 reps should be voted on by club committees (not presidents) – 1 club 1 vote for a term of 3 years (maybe stagnate them so each year only one of the rep positions is changed to enable fresh faces / new ideas to come onto the board). The presidency should be for 4 or 5 years and elected by the members of every rugby club in Australia (1 club 1 vote though). To avoid it becoming a political campaign the ARU can design a 1 small flyer and each candidates name, business and rugby background and their vision for the game can be put on it and distributed to each club.
2. Market the game to grow the player numbers. Back in the early 90s there was the “I want to be a Wallaby” campaign which IMHO was successful. The only time you see an ad for Oz rugby now it is for a test or S14 to get people to go to the games. The game needs to be grown at the grassroots level first.
3. There seems to be no support whatsoever from the ARU or any other provincial rugby unioon (except maybe WA and Vic) to help individual clubs with administration and improving the coaching. Rather than paying out for league players they should start investing in coaching support structures in junior and grassroots rugby. My theory is if you improve the quality of the coaches you will improve the skill of the players. Each Sydney club (and Brisbane for that matter) shoulkd be linked to every Subbies club in its area and charged with helping to develop them and developing local junior club competitions, rather than relying on the tired GPS / CAS system (that system will still produce players). There should be more than one ‘pathway’ to the top. The Western Suburbs of Sydeny is rugby unions largest untapped resource we need to be developing a strong rugby presence there now, Penrith can’t be allowed to flounder any longer.
Peter Laytham said | May 21st 2007 @ 6:59am | Report comment
Great project – I agree with the first post – hold the comments for a week so you get a wide range of thoughts then present them.
For mine, the problems (and solutions) that I see are relatively simple;
Problem 1: ARU and NSRU Administrations too intent on administering, not intent enough on the game or the spectator.
Solution 1. Administrative Key Performance Indicators – place all administrators on KPI based contracts and measure them against them. Sample KPI’s would include things like spectator numbers at games, training sessions attended, team meetings attended. They should also be either trained in basic counseling or have same readily available so if they “don’t like” someone there is a vehicle to address it. In short, focus them on the game rather than their personal or emotional wonts.
Problem 2: Coaching. Since the heady days of 2000 neither the Brumbies nor the Wallabies have really shone, their lights constantly on the wane. Is this mere coincidence or is there a common element. Ah, yes, the coach, McQueen.
Solution 2: Use Rod McQueen to choose coaches, and coach them in coaching. Spend whatever it takes to get him to help with this for the next 4 years, concentrating on the S14 coaches and of course the Wallaby coach. If your can’t get Rod McQueen, throw some cash, houses and cars at Robbie Deans. In short, get hold a successful coach and get them to teach your coaches.
Problem 3: The price of loyalty, especially wrt League players.
Solution 3: Don’t use your funds luring League players to Union. If they WANT to come they won’t WANT the massive cash AND they will likely be more committed and a better return. Instead, use the CASH to develop rugby at grass roots through to A-grade levels – focus on clubs, early identification of promising players, staged introduction to major competition and really get the games foundations in order.
Allan Dodd said | May 21st 2007 @ 10:33am | Report comment
From the angle of the pathway
Some decisions have to be made around the code from under 13 upwards. Currently there is a mish mash of controllers from ARU, NSWRU, Subbies, Zones, Districts, clubs school bodies etc etc
There needs to be a single junior body responsible for the overall strategy. I suggest that this body should be the ARU. In this way clubs and schools, including private schools, are part of the rugby community with two aims in mind. One, deliver the best, most skilled players out of the system, into colts/academy. Two, look after the second tier of children that enjoy just playing the game. This second tier are the junior coaches and administrators of the future.
Currently in Sydney, as an example, certain schools control when the boys can play the game for their clubs. Even semi private schools are now jumping on this band wagon. What has happened is the club teams weaken and eventually fold losing many players from the game. In other words 2 to 3 elite players go on 15 or so others are lost. Again this is just one example of the conflict between the bodies.
If there was an overall strategy all interests could be encouraged and supported.
The ARU have numbers saying the participation of juniors is on the increase. This may well be true for the mini’s etc but I can tell you that from 13 up many clubs are experiencing a dramatic drop in teams and numbers. The recent news of Penrith Colts folding illustrates this issue.
stillmissit said | May 21st 2007 @ 12:16pm | Report comment
Great Idea Zac. The ARU appears to have returned to its roots as a political boys club.
Problem 1. There is a lack of business acumen in just about everything they touch from controlling and using funds, negotiating with players and their managers to marketing, general administration and control. There appears to be no plan or anyone who could drive a plan even if they had one.
Solution 1. Bring in strong business people who have no allegiances to the current politics. Let them focus on driving the business of the ARU in a professional manner and to deal with all the interested parties in a non partisan way. This assumes that John O’Neil will not get a start.
Problem 2. The ARU are not developing enough player, coach or referee talent out of the user base.
Solution 2. Fund a developing players group within the ARU and support it for at least 5 years with annual reviews of performance linked to thier income and measured in terms of ‘talent’ making the APC, S14 and Wallabies.
Problem 3. The ARU seem out of touch with the clubs and schools rugby, where the foundations of their income comes from.
Solution 3. All ARU senior staff including the CEO must meet with all club managers, and coaches and also seperateley meet with all schools at a state level to hear what the ‘customers’ want out of the ARU and hear how they are performing.
FOOTNOTE:
It is interesting that the 2 most successful people in the ARU in the last 20 years were both ‘outsiders’ Rod McQueen, an unpopular choice, according to his memoirs, with the ARU for Australian coach. John O’Neil was also an outsider who treated rugby as a business and got shafted by the small political people. I believe that both these men gave more to Australian rugby than any political insider who could ‘work the numbers’ to get elected.
Zac Zavos said | May 21st 2007 @ 1:29pm | Report comment
Some strong arguments coming out already – good to see.
We’ll run this for 10 days – until 31st May 07. We’ll then collate the responses and try to put them into a meaningful argument (anyone interested in helping out, please contact us). From there, we’ll post back onto The Roar, and then liaise with the ARU to ensure our message is heard.
Cheers,
Zac
PB said | May 21st 2007 @ 2:58pm | Report comment
Three problems:
1. The laws are unnecessarily complex
2. Competitions don’t bring in bums on seats week in week out except at the elite level.
3. The pot is not equally shared.
Solutions – Law changes:
1. Adopt the so-called Stellenbosch variations and in addition:
a) No kicking out on the full inside the 22 at all – only from behind the goal line.
b) Offside lines 5m behind last foot for all ruck, maul etc.
c) Change definition of ‘tackler’ to anyone who makes a legal tackle, without the requirement to ‘go to ground’.
d) Change the scrum engagement call at all levels to: Crouch – Touch and hold – Engage (this may happen anyway)
e) Make the Australian U19 law variations compulsary for all countries in U19 games.
f) Lineout ends when ruck or maul forms, not when it crosses the line of touch.
Competitions:
1. Run the S14 no later than the end of May.
2. Leave the Shute Shield as is.
3. Reduce the number of tests per season and the length of the test season to release the test players and make them available to pay for their clubs. Test matches have been totally devalued by the frequency of them.
4. Run the Sydney Premier Rugby and Brisbane competitions from July until end of October WITH ALL THE TEST PLAYERS and with night games. People WILL come and see club rugby with the elite players.
5. Get rid of the proposed new national competition altogether. Sorry ARU, you should have learned from Superleague that you can’t buy loyalty from fans for franchises created without traditional secular loyalties.
Share the wealth
The ARU should take more responsibility for funding the lower levels of the game. A national program to provide all games at all levels with QUALIFIED touch judges would be a start.
Stu said | May 21st 2007 @ 4:39pm | Report comment
Challenge 1. Boring – The game has too many rules that favour the defender – the only exciting tries are scored on the counter attack when the defense is not set. A defensive bias mean the increase of penalty goal – If i wanted to watch soccer i’d watch it
Challenge 2. Skills – the lack of – I went to watch the waratahs vs stormers match and was treated to the most pathetic hamfisted display – The waratahs were absolutley appalling – simple pass and catch – It’s U8s stuff
Challenge 3,. Responsibility and the blame game. I’m so tired and cynical of coaches casting themselves as the victim, this culture started under the jones and has continued to flourish under the current incumbent. BTW i’m also sick of hearing coaches talk up non existent positives.
Solution 1. The rules need to change to favour the attacking team – Maybe make killing the ball in the 22 always a mandatory yellow card offense, maybe remove the rule regarding marks – Take away the rule regarding kicking out on the full in the 22 (i.e. make out on the full always result in a lineout from where the ball was kicked)
Solution 2 is to get the simple things right player need to do less weights and have more skills/sprint training – The public is sick of seeing 225 pound cyborgs with limited hand-eye coordination and no awareness
Solution 3 – I’m not sure what we can do here – O’Neil and MacQueen were part of our golden era – we need more of these sort of characters in team management and administration
PB said | May 21st 2007 @ 4:48pm | Report comment
PS. Totally agree with the Spiro comment to make more free-to-air coverage.