This was reportedly the response when some Melburnians were asked how they felt when their city was awarded the latest Super rugby franchise. Not a great shock, it must be said.
The majority of “sports-lovers” in Melbourne can’t tell a scrum from a tackle. It’s only mildly surprising that they don’t stand during a lineout waiting for the national anthem to be piped in.
As much on-field success as Melbourne Storm has had in the NRL since it rose out of nothing, there is still no material grassroots support or decent junior league.
They are mostly supplanted Queenslanders who like playing and living in Melbourne because “it keeps them out of the spotlight”.
Granted rugby is played in the private schools in Melbourne from where a sprinkling of Wallabies have emerged (doubtless with ex-pat fathers), but will the new franchise be the success that John O’Neil keeps trumpeting?
Short answer is no.
Rugby in Australia is gasping for air. There are problems at all levels and the ARU believes the solution is to create another franchise to give the game a national reach.
It’s like having a child to rescue a flagging relationship. It ain’t gonna change nothin’.
The game is struggling to garner meaningful interest in its so-called home states. How many people would be devastated if all of a sudden the Waratahs and the Reds ceased to exist?
Not momentarily inconvenienced, but seriously devastated?
The dwindling rugby public in the eastern states would simply watch the NRL instead and perhaps secretly wonder why they didn’t think of this earlier.
As for the good burghers of Perth, if the Western Force vanished overnight it wouldn’t be long before they found something interesting to fill the time on a Saturday night.
Even in Perth.
The passion and loyalty demonstrated by NRL and AFL supporters is in stark contrast to this. We have seen the furore in the past when Super League threatened rugby league clubs’ survival. Souths were reinstated after an unprecedented groundswell of community support.
In the AFL, the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne, the two smallest Victorian clubs in the league, have each fought to the death for survival. Again on the back of a dedicated and passionate supporter base.
You can’t buy passion Mr O’Neil. Put simply, people have to care.
If rugby is to maintain its niche status in Australia, there are serious issues that need to be addressed before a new franchise is even contemplated.
The list is not short but the ARU would do well to start with intense lobbying to overhaul the laws of the game. Even the rugby scribes agree that these antiquated decrees are choking the game.
A final thought.
The image on the John Eales medal depicts one of Australia’s most formidable and respected Wallaby captains. He isn’t soaring to win a lineout or diving to score a try or crunching an opponent in a tackle.
No, he’s on one knee lining up a place kick.
The game needs a Melbourne franchise about as much as it needs a five-point penalty goal.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
Billo I cannot understand why certain sectors of Rugby fans want to see the Storm disappear from Melbourne. I couldn't care less. It's a waste of time and energy really. I'm more concerned about seeing the team being established and developing good young local talent.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
Danwighton The Force also have an excellent commitment to development and a kit program that has helped the growth of the back in the West. They even have a partnership with Central TAFE to train development officer's. Everyone who has proclaimed weakness in the Force have done so fron afar and haven't seen the organisation in action. In terms of RL development in WA the Reds could do alot worse than copying the Force's methods.
oikee
Guest
Roscoe, you seem new to the site, and glad you love your game, but please, when your sitting in a half empty stadium at the rebels games, and you can hear the roar of the crowd at storm games from home, try hard not to become a blogger on here complaining about the rules of union, ;) We have enough on here already. Cheers mate. Enjoy your rugger.
oikee
Guest
He just gave you the figures, their are 16 rugby league clubs that fork out 5 million under a cap, so thats 80 million dollars for rugby league players to spread around in OZ, now if you add up what they pay jumiors with talent, some wages are as high as 150 thouand for 16 year olds. Now work how much talent is in the under 20 teams and under 18's , 16's, etc, and you have a figure. As for union, you have 30 players being paid millions playing international rugby, and 5 teams, with very few highly paid stars, so your figure would be around 30 million for the 5 teams, if that. And then your grass roots are private schools, so they dont pay them much at all do they. ? Rugby league AFL and Soccer are the games that grow the nation, not rugby union, who only cater to top end. Thats why you always see guys in Suits in the front rows at rugby, not a pretty look for the commoners. I prefer to see roosters fans on tele, i am sure most people do, dressed in chook outfit and no teeth. :)
oikee
Guest
Flattery will get you know-where. :) Its 2 guys who looked like they have rolled in the mud, now if that ain't classic rugby, ? what is.
oikee
Guest
Unfortunately , life is to short to enjoy all codes, so most aussies just pick the best 1 or 2, and thats why half follow league, the other half AFL. :) But yes, nice try , getting all us enemies to come together as 1. Wont happen, you only have to read this blog.
oikee
Guest
You really dont know the power of Billy the Kid, even grand-mothers love him in melbourne, and why shouldn't they.? Who is this great union player who is going to completely take Melbourne by storm. ? Billy is down their opening up ME banks in Melbourne, and Gilette, one of the bigger world companies are supporters of rugby league. Union's days at the private sector are nearly over, other sponsers who follow rugby league have a better code to support, and they at least know where the future lies with T/V audience. :)
oikee
Guest
Does it take you more than 5 minutes to make these stories up Repub, tell you what, if melbourne storm crowds dont average 15 thousand next year, i will personal watch at least 1 union game next year. :) your on.
oikee
Guest
You will never get anywhere with trying to claim the word Rugby, well not now anyhow, because rugby calls their game in America "rugby super league". ??? And they really wonder why leaguies dont have time for the other code. Yes we are KKK, Mungos El-qaeda, call us what you want, wont change the fact we cant wear a bar of ya. And rugby Union will never be big in OZ, because the game is elite-ist. So it does not really involve all the public, same as Sth Africa, Same as France, same as England, etc, etc, etc. Wales, Argie, Etc, etc, etc. Dont mention facts, its very hurtful. ;)
TommyM
Guest
Umm... Beating all 3 other Aussie teams last season? Consistently finishing mid table after the first season in their infancy?
Roscoe
Guest
Are you guys aware that Victoria- home of the Rebels- have FOUR players in the Aussie schools team about to tour the UK? WA and ACT have one each. We have a strong junior development program here. Ioane, Llealefano, Horua, Palavi, Tala Gray are all learnt their rugby in Victoria. And don't forget McKenzie, Heath and Fitter from not so long ago. The game will only get stronger. The Storm already cost the NRL millions each year- see today's Australian. Union is played at club and schools- forget this "private school" rubbish. Anyone see the Vic 16s in Sydney recently. Maybe 5 or 6 privtae school boys, the rest are club boys- including my son.
Dan
Guest
The two rugby codes are cosmetically similar, but extremely different in substance. It's a bit like saying Gaelic Football and AFL may as well just be one sport. These two federations have managed to come up with a compromise game, and it is still highly contentious as to how fair the rules are. League and Union are now so different that a compromise game is so difficult that, despite several attempts, it has been impossible to formulate a set of rules to set up a potentially lucrative "compromise code match" between the likes of the Kangaroos and Wallabies.
Dan
Guest
In support of Mygen and Mitzter, might I also point out that etymologically "football" has nothing to do with the contact of the ball with a players feet during play. It is in reality derived from the fact that all yard team games played ON your feet were considered "football" and the games of the lower classes. This distinguished it from the games of the nobles like polo, which were played on horseback (they didn't like to get their boots dirty). So association rather emphatically has absolutely NO right to claim sole use of the word "football". Especially when one considers that Australian Rules Football was technically codified before it.
Dan
Guest
There are plenty of League supporters who hate union Macavity. In fact I'd go so far as to say it's the died in the wool league fans that are the more vitriolic of the two (ever hear Mark Guyer talk about Rugby? It's far from flattering). I personally love both games almost equally. I generally feel that a great game of union is about as good as it gets, being even better than a great league match, but that it is evened out by the fact that a bad game of league is never as bad as a bad union match... just my opinion.
Justin
Guest
"On a national level, RU cant compete with RL player payments with the medium-tier standard of player " Got any figures on this one please?
MarkH
Guest
As a Victorian, I will be down to watch our new S15s side. I hope to be able to watch the Blues at Princes Park and then Vic play Rugby on the same day/night. The Storm has done well over the years but I think that with all the Kiwis / UK / SA / Euros in town these days, their might be a bit more comp for them. Much more for the S15 side to attract. Getting back to the question about two Rugby sides in Melb, I for one have been a Union fan for years. I have watched League with intrest but I prefer the confontation of Union. The fact that South African and NZ sides will be playing in Melb regularly is fantastic. Back that up with more international games...cant wait.
PJ
Guest
absolute tripe. it takes a generation for juniors to come through, storm have been around 11 years, so juniors are oon the way baby. btw how many sydney juniors do the swans have after 25 years?
Dan Wighton
Roar Guru
The Force seem to be doing well everywhere - except on the field, but that will come. I know there were some promising RL Perth Reds juniors coming through before the team's demise, so there has always been potential for non-AFL development in Perth. Rugby in WA is also helped along by its high percentage of English and South Africans.
Dan Wighton
Roar Guru
Half of the storm's SG ball (under 18s) squad are born and bred Victorians (17/30), and they have a couple of young guys that have represented Victoria in AFL but have chosen League and are now part of the Storm development squad (they also received offers from Sydney NRL clubs). In 2009 both the Storm under 20s and under 18s made the grand finals, with the storm winning the u-20s. The Storm are building, and shouldnt be threatened by the rebels. Also, Digby was a Victorian RL rep as well as RU before he chose Union. I think, especially with the use of the new stadium, both can help each other to promote the Rugbies in Vic. [I had a conversation with a Victorian friend of mine in 2006 who thought State of Origin was Rugby Union v Rugby League - so clearly more needs to be done! - not only to build reputations but differentiate]. On a national level, RU cant compete with RL player payments with the medium-tier standard of player - the success of the Toyota cup and the fact there is 16 NRL teams and only 5 RU teams allow medium quality players and developing players to receive more money and support. The better players is where the concern lies - RU blows league out of the water with the money available overseas for the better players.
Gary
Guest
"The dwindling rugby public in the eastern states would simply watch the NRL instead and perhaps secretly wonder why they didn’t think of this earlier. " The problem is in the Eastern States. Poor administration by the (Eastern) Australian Rugby Union and the NSW and Qld Rugby Unions resting on their laurels as the supposed "home states" and a major competitor in League. Meanwhile in the boom state Rugby is exploding. The clubs are struggling to find places for the number of new recruits. There has always been Rugby in Western Australia, it is just that it has been ignored by the ARU. There would be a lot of devastated people if the Western Force vanished. Now the decision about Melbourne has been made how about you stop knocking and support the Vics to get established like we in the West are doing. After all there is nothing better than beating the Vics at anything.