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Now don’t get me wrong, there is a lot wrong with Australian rugby at present, mainly in skill set and coaching. But according to the scribes, Australian rugby is on the verge of extinction.
Why do Australians see their team as failures for coming second or, worst case, top five in the world? Do you want world rights to self-flagellation, is this your rugby DNA?
Perhaps the fault is with New Zealand. What if you only played New Zealand one time per year and had no Bledisloe Cup. Would you then not feel so bad about your lot, losing only once per year to the All Blacks?
We can top that by dissolving Super Rugby and only having the NRC, then you only have local teams to lose to – none of those meaningless overseas teams.
If you don’t see them then you won’t know how good your rugby is compared to others, which would be a good thing, wouldn’t it?
Or maybe, just maybe, things are not that bad. Shouldn’t rugby be celebrated?
After all, Australia won the 2015 Rugby Championship, came second at the 2015 World Cup, and are the Olympic women’s world sevens champions.
Regionally, two Aussie teams made the 2016 Super Rugby semi-finals, and Perth – a team that had no rugby pedigree – won the 2016 NRC.
Doesn’t that point to growth?
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As for financial issues, I have looked at statements for 2014 and 2015 for four countries.
Australia’s total revenue and operating expenses are not the best, but not dismal.
Australia 2014 revenue was $AUD103 million, with operating expenses of $AUD105 million
Corporate expenses were $AUD21 million (20% of revenue)Australia 2015 revenue was $AUD85 million, with operating expenses of $AUD88 million
Corporate expenses were $AUD17 million (21% of revenue)Compare that to:
New Zealand corporate expenses at seven per cent of revenue ($AUD8 million)
Wales corporate expenses at 11 per cent of revenue ($AUD13 million)
Ireland corporate expenses at eight per cent of revenue ($AUD12 million)
The question which must be asked is, who’s taking the ARU to task on their corporate expenses, which are double other comparable unions? If brought into line, there are savings of $10 million to be made, which is the difference between loss and profit for the ARU.
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.