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The Woodies are a club I know very well as I’ve lived a couple of punt kicks from TG Milner since 1982. During the last eighteen months, they almost went broke.
For the last three years, their Club (meaning place where they sell beer, meals etc) has been run by North Ryde RSL as it was running at a loss.
As I see it, the Woodies highlight all that is wrong with rugby’s administration.
I will keep this as brief as I can, but I will explain the trust estate of TG Milner and what it means, and then look at Eastwood from a local, state and international management perspective.
Eastwood used to play at Eastwood Oval, until they were left in a will seven acres of land at Eastwood, a club house and three fields.
No other sporting team in Australia has such an asset.
Under the trust deed TG Milner is governed under, if rugby union is not played at the ground, the assets revert back to the Milner family, with the land to be sold.
Essentially, the Woodies have a ground and a training academy in everything but name and a few extra facilities.
The local issues, the demographic of the surrendering areas, has changed from Anglo to Asian. And from where I sit, there have been few approaches to Asian community.
The State schools in and around Eastwood used to provide a ready source of players.
Epping Boys and Peter Brand (closed about seven years ago) supplied and trained players for the local park clubs. Hillview Rugby grounds are across from Epping Boys High Sschool and I guess about a good Ricky Stuart punch from TG Milner .
Once Epping Boys had three to four teams per year. Today, and for a number of years now, two teams. The primary schools were lost years ago.
TG Milner sits maybe three good punts from Macquarie University and the western end of the Ryde Industrial parks, otherwise known as the Southern Hemisphere Silicon Valley, employing almost 40,000 people and with a blue chip name on every door.
To the south, about 3kms from Eastwood and 5 to 6kms from TG Milner is the Silverwater industrial estate.
When I moved to Epping, rugby union was the big sport at Macquarie University. Today at Macquarie University, rugby union is losing all its assets to AFL, as well as a great deal of players.
Now the question that has plagued me for years: when rugby went professional, they signed Channel 7 as their national broadcaster, along with Fox.
Channel 7 had their major broadcasting facility in Epping.
Why did the national team train at Coffs Habour? Why not train at TG Milner and build for rugby union a working academy for the development of rugby.
It would have been cheaper to build a few assets at TG Milner than accommodate the national side to Coffs.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.