One of many arguments for the ARC was/is that it would provide a direct path for aspiring players to the top. Similarly, the argument against the new Melbourne Super 15 team is that Australia apparently does not have player depth.
There is something which must be said, and that is it isn’t that there aren’t enough good players, or enough people playing it young, it’s simply retaining the best players within Australia.
For the NRL and AFL player retention is quite easy, as they are the top competitions in the world, with no competition for players from the likes of France, England, Ireland and Japan (the English Super League is somewhat similar but still does not have the same lure as the pro overseas Rugby comps have to the players). To be blunt, many Rugby Union schoolboys even go to the NRL with hopes of an easier career path.
So here is the argument loud and clear. Rugby in Australia has a fundamental flaw in the taking of potential stakeholders from other codes, and other competitions. And it needs to eventually be justified for popularity and success to occur for Australian rugby. There has been some retention thanks to super 14 participation being essential to representative sides, but still, too many are lost.
The so called lack of depth is just a myth, covered over by a harder ordeal. This ordeal is the retention of players til end of use, as is done in the NRL and AFL, and an issue which also plagues association football in Australia. The only way this can be rectified is through the development of a strong, and popular (meaning lots of or enough money) national domestic competition. The only problem is making it popular.
simonjzw
Roar Pro
I don't think you've looked at the issue deeply enough. As has been pointed out in other replies NZ and SA cope much better with the overseas drain than does Australia. It's hard to fathom the reasons for adding another team from Melbourne to the S comp when our Perth team is so uncompetitive. All we're doing is diluting the talent further. If we had access to all the current overseas players (excluding the likes of Gower, Gasnier and Sonny Bill) would we have enough quality players to filed another competitive teamright now? One certainly has to ask the question about whether the talent pool in Australia is deep enough to support another team?
johno
Guest
Bad retention is part of the problem, but not both sides of the coin. The biggest problem you have is the fact that their is nothing between club and super 14 level to fill in the rest of the year like SA and NZ has. NZ and SA loose maybe as many players as Union does in Aus do to League, etc if not more to Europe (well SA does at least). The oversees scouts have become so aggresive that they're actually targeting these blokes at the Craven week now before they're even finished with school. Last time I checked there were in the region of 300 SA rugby players playing professional rugby outside of SA. The SANZAR unions can't compete with Europe when it comes to cash unfortunately, so this trend will continue. From what I understand Union can't compete with League when it comes to finance, but League has a bigger base due to their bigger competition. Hopefully the way the Super 15 is structured from next season will start to broaden your base and get some local interest going since it is stuctured on a home and away basis. Traditionally SA had this type of structure with the six largest metropolitan areas each supporting a team amongst which the Currie Cup would be fought out, so 5 teams won't be to much, but then you would still need a second tier type comp to develope players that could be semi pro. I don't know how big your under 19 and under 20 comps are but you need meaningful comps at that level with at least 4 to 6 competitive teams in each age group. I don't know the exact extent of the set up in Aus but in SA we have the Vodacom Cup running over a single round with 14 teams at the same time as the Super 14 as well as the varsity cup. As soon as the Super 14 is over a Springbok squad is picked, while the rest of the players return to their home unions and the Currie Cup starts with 8 teams in the top flight and 6 in the second division which gets played over a double round . Then there's an under 19 and an under 20 comp as well running at the same time but only over a single round. This all happens whilest the Tri-Nations is being played, and the Currie Cup usually finishes in October/ November. I don't think players from Aus play a third of the matches that the SA or NZ players play at these type of levels. which is where the fundamental flaw lies. Not that I'm saying SA or NZ's comps / systems aren't without flaw. I think NZ's comps are structured the best.There are four unions (Bulls, Sharks, Lions, Stormers)out of 14(five if you include the Cheetahs which is also raided every second season by the the aforementioned four) with the financial resources to employ enough people to be succesful on an ongoing basis. SA players also play way to much Rugby. If you're an international player you start sometime in Jan/Feb and end in December. That's just impossible to maintain.
Dave
Guest
Lucky for the NRL they can go to places like NZ and sign up any rugby league kids. Imagine if rugby union in Australia was allowed to do that ?
rugbyfuture
Roar Guru
...people are listening
Karlos
Guest
They go to League because the structure is there and the appreciation is there and they want the chance to play against the best in the best Rugby comp on earth. Union remains an elitist code with elitist attitudes that only cares about those who have already made it. Hard to change that. That is why they spent more on Lote than they would foer a whole competition. Sorry guys, the ARU has really screwed up and it will take more than friends in high places to get you out of this. None of the Free to Air Tv stations want to touch the Wallabies. Even the last 2 Bloodyslow Cups (the absolute cream of RU games in this nations) were whooped by the All Stars RL game in the ratings.
rugbyfuture
Roar Guru
we need to somehow have a better acknowledgement of young players though. If not just appreciating them so much they feel guilty if they piss off to league.
Bay35Pablo
Roar Guru
Our money from TV is all being gobbled up just keeping the best players in the Super 14 and 3N, with the requirement you have to play here. We can't really compete with European money otherwise, as the population and revenues in the SH aren't enough to keep up. Yes we need a domestic comp, but where does the money come from. It isn't enough to do what we want now. Even if we set up a domestic comp with private equity a la A League, is that money we could have gotten for the sport otherwise (in which case why "waste" it) and you then get potential clashes between club & country like in Europe.
Justin
Guest
The ARU might need to look at Marquee Players for Aussie Test Stars. Gits, Barnes and more are off after the RWC next year. We cannot afford to lose the best players before they are 30.