Matt S is correct about Roach’s son.And is correct about parents being able to afford to send sons.However my experience and i know of many examples including my situation,where both parents battlers worked to send their kids to these schools.1) For the academic/prestige/discipline aspect.RU in most cases well down the pecking order as to why.

You also Matt reaffirmed my point on the Old Boy aspect.If you have ever attended the OBs reunion,you would know what i mean.Yet Siva thinks it doesn’t exist LOL LOL.

In fact, I remeber Marist Ashgrove in Brisbane played 1 year in the Broncos development cup a few years back and had 65 studetns trial for 1 team! With pressure from the school’s Old Boys Association, this was stopped.

In all clubs (bars and such, not Rugby League clubs) alcohol/gambling comes first, that’s what makes money. Really? Alcohol/gambling leads to problems? So Leagues clubs should get rid of alcohol and pokies, gee, they’ll stay alive for about… a week. Last I looked kids weren’t allowed in the bar/gambling sections of clubs.

Mate i’ve seen what happens to some kids when they’ve been exposed to a bad lifestyle. One of my old team mates is now in jail. There were some bad people at my old club, but there aren’t many at my new club. This stuff ain’t exclusive to Rugby League. Get it through your head.

I do blame Union for League’s banning during the War and for stunting its growth afterwards, but I can’t say that French League almost died out in the 80s because of Union. I think the fact that League was constantly changing from the late 60s to the present day was the reason for the decline in French League and indeed International League. The French teams of the 50s actually lost many of their tour games against sides like Newcastle and North Queensland but were able to beat Australia largely on the back of Puig Aubert. The 55 team actually had not won a tour match before facing the test side.

The 54 WC had large crowds of 10-30,000, while the 68 (or 72, can’t remember which) had small crowds for most games and even the French games struggled to pull 10,000. League and Union were a lot more similar in the 50s and I think the introduction of limited tackles and the 5-10 metre rule gave an advantage to Australia and a disadvantage to the game in smaller countries like France. Even now growth in countries is being stunted by the game’s similarity to Union. In a 2006 WC qualifier Georgia RU team played the Netherlands in a RL match in front of 10,000 people. the RLIF found this out and Georgia were banned from International competition and the game is no longer played there.

And finally with Union going pro there was less incentive for players to play League, with more money being offered by Union. Only now is French RL starting to rebuild.

on the name i really shouldnt comment because i have strong feelings about the name of rugby, i wrote an article on here which was pulled after two hours about how RL didnt really qulify for the name of rugby as because of the origins of the term rugby came from a private school and the fact that originally Rugby was pretty mucha giant scrum and the fact that RL was always the exception being called Rugby, not RU

as for RU not in GPS or CAS or ISA or AS schools you’ll find that RU actually still serves in many rich northern suburbs and north shore and northern beaches public schools, as it was the catholics who developed the game, but i do see and understand your point, but as i said above, there is no possibility that they were all simply echoes from 10, 20 and 30 years earlier. there was an obvious effect from the Vichy and SOME of the RU fraternity, but this could not have had as great an effect as many people have put out, especially since it has had plenty of time, albeit as the game of thirteen, to redevelop

What’s “structures” got to do with it? If you’re any good you get into a Super 14 team and then the Wallabies. That’s THE structure! It works fine!

The problem is the lack of quality and number of players, not the pathway.

I been reading some of your comments here & on some other articles. I just wonder if you are the full quid.

I said there are 14 full-time professional teams in the southern hemisphere. The NPC & Japan’s RU competition aren’t full-time professional competitions. They may have some players who are full-time but the competitions aren’t.

Those 238 TV channels that the RUWC had exposure to were mainly if not exclusively Pay TV outlets. Outside of the UK France & Australia & probably NZ this is how the event was viewed.

Japan’s Pay TV penetration is about 1% according to Eddie Jones & I have seen reports that the Pay TV audience in the whole of China is less than 100,000.

The BBC reported the Argentine audience for the 2003 RUWC final was a paltry 19,000.

RU is nothing more than a tiny blip on the world sporting landscape. Look at where it is played seriously. The northern hemisphere at most 35 full time professional sides & the southern hemisphere has 14. Even RL has over 30 teams world-wide in this category.

Your assertion that RU is a normal sport played by & followed by many countries outside Australia is bollocks.

I wont even bother to discuss the private school issue.You can’t handle the fact your code continues to discriminate in Sydey schools.
Your last comment was plain dopey,trying to compare the nZ rl situation with a banning and severe restrictions imposed by govt decreee of rl in France.A desperate attempt to make a point,which proved pointless.
I am not particularly concerned that you and some of your mates are suspicious of the situation in France.Dirty washing is not a pleasant sight.
More so when you are the same gent that delights in the fact the 2000RLWC operated at a loss,and then stated the 2008 would do likewise,if it was in fact played.That it was played and made a profit,sent you scurrying for cover.