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It is an age of turmoil for Australian rugby.
Results are dire. Australian Super Rugby teams were 0-26 against Kiwi opponents in 2017, the Wallabies crashed to a 0-3 series loss to England last year, lost to Scotland in Australia this year and have only a single win in the 2017 Rugby Championship going into the second Springbok Test in Bloemfontein.
It breaks my heart but I fear the sport I truly love might be on the verge of terminal decline in the country that I love.
Sure, I could switch to supporting Ireland if the sport was to collapse in Australia, but it is not the same and it never would be. At the end of the day I am Australian and Australia is the only team I can truly support and love.
For far too long Australian rugby has been a free for all in which factional interests attempt to improve their lot, even if it means undermining the sport as a whole. This issue is a problem at state level, in which the state unions and Super Rugby teams put their own interests before the Wallabies and Australia’s when it comes to sharing players and information across teams.
It is obvious within states in which proponents of various competitions would prefer that their city-based club competition should take precedence over national competitions such as the National Rugby Championship.
The Australian rugby union has no ability to determine in which positions players are selected at for Super Rugby. The result is that Wallabies can be played in completely different positions
The ARU has no ability to determine which team a player plays at. The result is often a log-jam of talent in certain positions at certain clubs, and a lack of those players at other clubs.
The Wallabies are desperately in need of a big number 8, and for the past couple of years Lopeti Timani has been seen as the best prospect at 8. However, as a result of Japanese international Mafi playing at the Rebels, Timani has been shifted to number 6 (or even to lock).
Playing at blindside flanker does not help Timani develop as an international number 8, and he is not fast enough to play blindside flanker for the Wallabies. Thus, we have a situation where Australia’s preferred number 8 prospect has been forced to play out of position to accommodate a foreign international.
Meanwhile, the Brumbies and Waratahs both lacked number 8s in 2017.
The problem will only worsen in 2018, whereupon the Rebels will definitely have Mafi, Timani and Colby Fainga’a to choose from, and if rumours are to be believed will also have Ross Haylett-Petty and Richard Hardwick, Adam Coleman and Matt Phillip as well.
Thus, it is highly foreseeable that Timani will be played at lock all season, or may even spend most of the season on the bench. Ross Haylett-Petty-Fainga’a/Hardwick-Mafi seems the most likely back-row combination.
(AAP Image/Tony McDonough)
This is a disaster.
Compare this system with New Zealand, in which everything is centralised.
There is no log jam of talent: Beauden Barrett played for the Hurricanes, Richie Mounga played for the Crusaders, Lima Sopoaga played for the Highlanders and Aaron Cruden played for the Chiefs. Therefore, the four best New Zealand fly-halfs played for different teams, allowing all of them to get maximum game time and practice in their position.
The ARU has no ability to determine in what position foreign marquee players can be signed in.
This resulted in a horrendous situation in 2017, whereupon the Brumbies, Western Force and Melbourne Rebels were all playing fly-halfs who were in-eligible for Wallabies selection. Wharenui Hawera at the Brumbies, Peter Grant at the Western Force and Jackson Garden-Bachop at the Rebels. The result is that Australia has nowhere near enough depth in the fly-half position in 2017.
Compare this with the system in Ireland in which the IRFU forced the release of South African Ruan Pienaar from Ulster citing the fact that more Irish depth in the half-back position had to be cultivated.
If Australian rugby is to recover then we simply have to move towards systems like we see in Ireland and New Zealand. Therefore, I propose the following three measures that I beg the state unions to agree to:
We need central contracting, so that the ARU can send players to where they are needed in order to built strength at both Super Rugby and Wallabies level.
The ARU needs some say in the position in which players are played in at Super Rugby level.
The ARU needs the ability to veto signing of foreign players in a position where there is a perceived lack of Australian depth.
These measures alone will hardly get Australian rugby back to a strong position. I do believe, however, that they are necessary steps to make us once again a potent force on the world stage.
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.