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While sitting in my wheelchair waiting for hip replacement surgery, I was wondering, how do the head honchos of the NSW and Australian rugby unions really feel about rugby promotion within the western suburbs of Sydney?
Or do they just put the efforts into promoting rugby from the eastern suburbs, private schools, the Shute Shield clubs or Super Rugby franchises? Who knows, it just definitely is not existent in the west.
Don’t get me wrong, I love ‘the game they play in heaven’, but I’m bewildered why more efforts are not put into rugby within the western areas of Sydney.
Take the rugby Test on Saturday night. A ground record was set, which is great, but did you see where 70 per cent of the crowd came from? The inner and outer western suburbs of Sydney. Traffic streamed back to the western suburbs for more than two hours that night alone.
It’s the same when any rugby is played at the Olympic Stadium, the stream of traffic jams coming from the west to the game can result in a two-hour journey to make kick-off. And yet there is still not much help for the west, which does not make sense.
I was recently involved with some rugby old boys trying to reintroduce a western suburbs club back into the Sydney rugby scene. But when we were advised of the fees required to restart a new club from scratch there was a shocking jolt to the system.
We were told the costs would be as follows:
• Club fees
• Insurance fees
• Team registration fees
• ARU affiliation fees
• Ground fees
• Equipment fees
The big thing is that when we asked about the breakup of fees and what they are for, we were told they help the union promote the sport within Australia.
To help promote the sport within Australia… what does that even mean?
Perhaps, it’s conducting recruitment drives to help all western suburb rugby clubs promote rugby against the rival codes such as league, soccer and AFL?
A big fat no.
Maybe it’s introducing incentives to the public school systems in the west to try and play rugby again, like it’s done in the private system?
A big fat no.
I know, maybe it’s offering some discounts to assist struggling new rugby enthusiasts in the west to help start up clubs that would help cater for the growing population in the west.
A big fat no.
Again, I don’t know what to think anymore. It is hard enough fighting tooth and nail to recruit players to play the great game of rugby. But to also face exorbitant affiliation fees for start-up costs just shows those in power don’t give a damn about the survival of rugby in Sydney’s western suburbs. That has to change.
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.