Club rugby is still showing us the way
Roar Pro By Grimmace, 2 Sep 2009 Grimmace is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- All Blacks, club rugby, Rugby Union, wallabies
Two weeks ago, I made the eight hour drive to Sydney to watch the Wallabies and All Blacks test. I am a whole-hearted rugby man. The only other sport I have any interest in is cricket.
I am the President of my club in a strong league town.
On the Saturday afternoon of the Test, a mate and I went up to North Sydney Oval to watch Warringah and Norths. Unfortunately, we had to leave before First Grade started, but we were thoroughly entertained by the two grades of Colts and the Reserve Grade game we were lucky enough to witness.
What made it so exciting was that each team had a go.
They weren’t afraid to send the ball wide or kick for touch, instead of having a shot at goal. Each team made some silly mistakes (nothing anywhere near as bad as the Wallabies in Perth), but they had a go.
We were very disappointed a few hours later in the way in which the Test was played out.
After parting with $130 each, we were subjected to a kick fest.
It took them 78 and a half minutes to have a go and then the Wallabies dropped the ball.
If it hadn’t have been full time, all that would have happened is an All Black scrum on their own 5m line.
What’s so bad about that?
Games like that, the supposed pinnacle of our sport, make it very hard for rugby people to sell our game to others. I don’t mind losing, it’s part of sport, but not having a go at the try line and losing gets to me.
I am at the point where I will no longer drive long distances and part with a lot of money to watch a professional team not able to do what a Colts Reserve grade team can do.
I bet the Colts had more fun, too.
I will watch it on a big TV at the pub where the beer is cheaper (and a five minute walk, not an eight hour drive each way)
It is unfortunate that the ELV’s have been, not assassinated, I prefer bludgeoned to death with a star picket by those who assume the game will live forever as it is.
Those same people who said that lifting in lineouts would be the end of competitive lineouts, who said something along the lines of “not much has happened” just after the ARU and NZRU announced that rugby was no longer amateur.
I don’t blame the players or the coaches for the endless kicking.
I see it as coaches exploiting the laws of the game to win. That’s what they are there for. I feel the incessant kicking can be blamed wholly on the British Unions and some very ordinary British hacks.
Hats off to those running Club Rugby in Sydney and around Australia. I think it would be good for the administrators of our game at the highest level to come down to club land and have a look at how we do it – as a reminder of what the game is about, as much as anything.
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- Explore:
- All Blacks, club rugby, Rugby Union, wallabies
September 2nd 2009 @ 9:39am
GB said | September 2nd 2009 @ 9:39am | Report comment
I whole heartedly agree. I am also heavily involved with a Club in Sydney, albeit in the Subbies comp and not Grade however the same still applies. Each weekend you can be guaranteed of some entertaining running Rugby. Clearly, the onset of professionalism has had quite an impact on the game at the highest level which does not quite filter down to the lower echelons of the game. The defensive qualities of International teams is probably the thing that stands out the most. It started with the poaching of ex Rugby League players etc to basically teach Rugby players how to tackle. Given that the laws allow players to not commit to the Ruck and Maul sometimes makes defensive lines in Rugby no different to RL. Players are sometimes faced with an impenetrable wall of defense. Back in 2003 the English reintroduced the rolling maul to devastating effect but that seems to have been lost again. The fitness too of professionals is also a factor. They can play for 80 minutes and continue to make tackle after tackle. Cracking this defensive style of game becomes a key concern. This is perhaps why SA have used the high ball to such good effect. Put oppositions under pressure with a wave of attacking players rushing through. Usually in the panic a penalty may ensue and three points is then on offer. This is perhaps my biggest beef with professional Rugby and I even see it at S14 level. Club Rugby is where its at. There have been some posts on the Roar lamenting the death of Rugby. I disagree. At the grass roots i still think it is a great game to be a part of and will hopefully continue to thrive.
September 2nd 2009 @ 11:22am
BennO said | September 2nd 2009 @ 11:22am | Report comment
I agree with you 100% GB. I always enjoy getting to the club games in Brisbane. It’s free flowing and fast, free entry cheap drinks and great barbies available too. But I think it is definitely the modern defences of the professional teams that have lead to this and not the laws of the game. Watch old games and it’s amazing how bad the defences are, as someone said somewhere else here yesterday (in reference to the 84 grand slam), modern teams would put 100 points on those teams.
So in that light I think it’s up to the coaches and players to innovate in attack. Defences have evolved with the professional era but I’m not sure attacks have along with them. I say this in spite of the fact that, wihtout consulting any stats, we see roughly the same amount of tries per game now as we did in the 80s.
So in all I think we need to stop blaming the laws and get on the case of the players and coaches to improve their attacking play.
September 2nd 2009 @ 11:24am
Bay35Pablo said | September 2nd 2009 @ 11:24am | Report comment
Interesting to contrast this with league where to my mind games can be far higher scoring than 20 years ago or more.
Can you imagine a game in 1975 being 40-20 or similar? 10-6 and 18-14 seemed far more common.
September 2nd 2009 @ 11:35am
BennO said | September 2nd 2009 @ 11:35am | Report comment
Interestng point too.
I was just thinking that Rugby will become more like league in the sense of the homogenous body sizes and skills. I think that as soon as all our wingers and centres can clean out like forwards and our forwards can pass like backs then running the ball will become more of a safe option.
I like the idea that Rugby is a game for all body shapes but I don’t understand why that’s so great, aside from the fact that it’s a quaint notion.
September 2nd 2009 @ 11:05am
LeftArmSpinner said | September 2nd 2009 @ 11:05am | Report comment
club rugby is the sleeping giant of aust sports entertainment.
September 2nd 2009 @ 7:54pm
Junior said | September 2nd 2009 @ 7:54pm | Report comment
geez, if that’s really true it’s been asleep for an awfully long time. remind me to lay off the no-doz when it wakes up.
September 2nd 2009 @ 11:06am
LeftArmSpinner said | September 2nd 2009 @ 11:06am | Report comment
check out ruggermatrix and their podcast, especially with Vinnie Byrne.
September 2nd 2009 @ 11:25am
Bay35Pablo said | September 2nd 2009 @ 11:25am | Report comment
Clubrugby.com will be doing a live podcast of the Sydney club finals (all 4 grades) at the SFS on 27/9. How do I get my transistor radio to pick up the streamed podcast while I am there?!?!?!?
September 2nd 2009 @ 11:10am
Bay35Pablo said | September 2nd 2009 @ 11:10am | Report comment
Agreed, but the fact ELVs are still in effect in clubland may have an effect. It will be interesting to see how the game is played next year.
Further, we are dealing with Wallabies and ABs sides playing poorer rugby than they have for years. At times they have showed glimpses of running rugby, suggesting the issue may not be the laws but the teams.
Finally, the skills and fitness of club land will always ensure a looser game. When I played (lower Division & lower grade) subbies the kick was more of a risk (I wouldn’t have trusted our 5/8!!), so keeping the ball in hand was seen as safer. The contrary is true in pro rugby.
September 2nd 2009 @ 11:37am
Cracker said | September 2nd 2009 @ 11:37am | Report comment
GB I don’t know if old leaguies teaching rugby blokes how to tackle was the reasoning for rugby’s imcreased defensive focus. More that rugby went professional and each aspect of the game was scrutinised and improved like never before. This included some ex league players working as defensive coaches. However I believe that in general, high level rugby players were also capable in defense prior to professionalism.
September 2nd 2009 @ 12:30pm
GB said | September 2nd 2009 @ 12:30pm | Report comment
Cracker, that is a fair point as tackling was always a part of Rugby as well. You are dead right when you say that professional brought with it a scrutiny to all facets of the game.
September 2nd 2009 @ 2:03pm
sheek said | September 2nd 2009 @ 2:03pm | Report comment
It’s interesting how many Roarers on this thread & others, have indicated how much they enjoy club rugby, led by leftarmspinner.
However, I would offer the view it’s a bit like a guy hitting a hole-in-one on the golf course, but no-one else being there to witness it!
There’s not much point club rugby providing all the thrills & spills, if the money-end of the game, the Wallabies & S14 provinces, aren’t doing the same.
And I must say this – while premier club rugby has an absolutely vital role in the player development process, the premier rugby clubs will never achieve the same status as AFL or NRL clubs.
I know I should never say “never”, but I think this is the reality.
September 2nd 2009 @ 2:09pm
BennO said | September 2nd 2009 @ 2:09pm | Report comment
“And I must say this – while premier club rugby has an absolutely vital role in the player development process, the premier rugby clubs will never achieve the same status as AFL or NRL clubs.”
Agreed. But that’s what the S14 teams should achieve shouldn’t they? Especially with the “exciting” international focus of the tournament.
September 2nd 2009 @ 2:19pm
BennO said | September 2nd 2009 @ 2:19pm | Report comment
Although, sometimes when I’m at a club rugby game I think if this had Rabbits Warren bellowing every time there was a big hit or a line break, it would be pretty exciting to watch on TV. It’s not a bad product as they say, and I wonder if the ARU invested in decent coverage of it, whether that would increase its audience. You know, a bit of hype to get people interested.
But then maybe I just watch these games through rose coloured glasses.
September 2nd 2009 @ 2:12pm
Working Class Rugger said | September 2nd 2009 @ 2:12pm | Report comment
Living in the North West of WA I don’t get to many, well, any matches these days. The only game within ear shot is the Bloody Slow Cup match in Newman some 6 hours away. But since ABCHD has finally come online up here I have been watching the Shute Shield. And it has been a revelation. I used to watch it as often as I could back in Sydney but the level has jumped significantly. All thanks to the ELV’s (which in my opinion we should stuff the IRB and keep them for the Comp and all amateur Rugby in Aust.).
I have enjoyed each and every minute of every game so far this season. Highly entertaining, dare I say, more entertaining than any NRL game I have bothered watching this year. On display weekly is a fast, skillful and athletic sport, one that if anyone who may doubt Rugby had watched and still said it was boring would be a down right liar.
Whilst Club Rugby has greatly helped me keep the faith for much of this year it is also a source of frustration. Why? Because it is broadcast on ABC at an inconvient time with absolutely no promotion. As LAS has said Club Rugby could be a significant player in the sports entertainment industry in Australia. Simply because it is highly entertaining.
The ARU, NSWRU and QRU should be working hard to get these comps onto more mainstream media outlets in view of the demographics we must bring back or bring too the game. It will work.
September 2nd 2009 @ 4:09pm
cookie said | September 2nd 2009 @ 4:09pm | Report comment
Can’t agree more with Grimmace & Co.
I stopped going to the Tah’s games because for a while they didn’t actually have a go. I didn’t care if they won or lost but i expected them to put an effort in….. or at least give a shit if they got belted…..but nope they didn’t.
Bugger going to the wallabies, It’s a bloody rip off. Last one i went to was against the barbarians in Sydney and I’m bloody sure they knew Rocky wasn’t going to play all along…..yet they never said jack and kept promoting him as the games drawcard.
Now that i think about it…I actually find myself watching the whole game of club rugby on the abc and flickering back and forth between channels with the wallabies…..
September 2nd 2009 @ 5:02pm
AndyS said | September 2nd 2009 @ 5:02pm | Report comment
Just a thought then – if everyone would rather watch club rugby on TV than pay to watch the Wallabies, why not watch TV and send the money to the club. Funding is the fundamental lack, so do something about it!
September 2nd 2009 @ 6:30pm
Katipo said | September 2nd 2009 @ 6:30pm | Report comment
NZ is experiencing something similar with fans returning to support their provinces like they did in the amateur days. Partly because the rugby is more entertaining, partly because they are connected to their local teams and traditions.
Hmm, maybe a national club competition is the way forward for Australian rugby? Perhaps an end of year knockout tournament between top performing clubs from various districts? Or a challenge shield (like the Ranfurly Shield). Would there be any interest in something like that?