The house of Australian rugby is built on sand

Because they are prevented from doing so by the Collective Bargaining Agreement with RUPA. You know this.

“our best approach is through the club system” Wrong….the best approach is to get rugby into the state schools……whatever it takes. The defence rests' You will have to do better than this Wannabe! Like to cross examine you on a number of issues confronting rugby in the state school system. 85% of school teachers in primary school are female....nothing wrong with that but just cant see female teachers in prinmary schools promoting rugby or coaching teams...the state school system in NSW wont allow dads to be in charge of school teams....Doyley and his crew at Moore Park are doing a great job at holding gala days and camps for kids in state school system but this does not translate into playing rugby on a regular basis, at best its only a one off exercise to try and get more kids interested in playing the game...where do you think the state schools are going to get grounds with goal posts let alone have the resources to kit out teams, buy balls, and even if they are lucky enough to have access to grounds buy essentials like goal post covers, tackle shields etc as Yikes and others have said before rugby is not a $300M business, there is no funding or resources available. Moving on to the state high school system, the problem is exacerbated even further. There is no infrastructure available....there are very few regular competitions that exist between schools that run for more than 6 consequetive weeks...even the knockout comp of Waratah shield has more forfeits than games played.. The game of rugby in NSW only exists because it is run by volunteers...those that take time out to become level 1 coaches..those that do their smart rugby course and keep it up to date...those that attend training days to teach the kids how to pass a ball, how to tackle, how to pack a scrum, how to ruck etc...those that become refs so that the kids can have a game...those that fundraise to buy jumpers for the kids... those that deal with councils and get access to grounds...those that run the bbq, dress fields, help out with training, those that put in a lot of time and effort to get people together in their local communities to form and run a local club, those that help out and administer competitions, put together draws, those that put together the IT systems so game results and other competition management activities can be realised.... If we want to grow the game in NSW our best option is through the club system!

"our best approach is through the club system" Wrong....the best approach is to get rugby into the state schools......whatever it takes. AFL and NRL are miles in front by doing this. It's too late once the kids are able to choose for themselves, they've already been indoctrinated into the other codes. I should know, I was one of those kids who only discovered rugby at Uni because they didn't play anything else. Now I only follow rugby. The defence rests.

I do have a problem with what is occuring and do not support this headhunting approach..just pointing out the reality of what is occuring...it is not just happening with St.Augustines but with other private schools as well...ie Scots, Newington, Kings to name a few...they go along to junior club carnivals and headhunt kids..in turn those schools then place restrictions on kids continuing their connection and participation in the club system...you also can not blame the kids or their parents as they are being offered an opportunity that they could never have acquired. As for the merit of the kids from St.Augustines being in the squad, I saw them play at the trials and each of them earnt their position in the NSW teams through what they displayed on the paddock. In my view, the only way we are going to avoid this in the future is for the code to broaden its base beyond the private school system. The problems confronting the code is that body contact sport in the public schools system is a major issue...and will not be solved our lifetime..there are public schools that are the exception but these are in the minority.. our best approach is through the club system...it requires considerable strategic and financial support....something that the ARU has no appetitie for or intention to pursue...whatever scarce funding is available it is all being poured into the top end of the game.

Are you for real? It's cronyism, nepotism and/or some other ism all rolled into one. And you obviously don't have a problem with that, so there's no point arguing with you. There are none so blind as those who cannot see!!!! All your doing is justifying their actions - an old and well worn trick. Even you must agree it would be better to spread selections across the state to encourage rugby at the grassroots. And yes, that would involve getting off your butt instead of taking the easy way out.

Why 12 out of 60 were picked?...think it has something to do with St>augustines enticing boys with talent to go to their school through sporting scholarships..think it has something to do with their headmaster being a rugby nut and wanting to carve out a name for his school as the premier rugby school...think it has something to do with employing a rugby coach who is relentless to achieve high standards...think it has something to do with NSW Schools wanting a rugby maniac with an uncompromising approach as a coach to deliever the goods at the astralian schoolboy championships.....thats why they have 12 out of the 60 boys and thats why their school coach is NSW 1 head coach.

I'm a bit mystified as to why GPS and other similar competitions did not move to a home and away format with the advent of 4 school terms. In the days of 3 terms they used the current format to allow some trial games before the true competition started and to fit it all into the middle/winter term. Now, with 2 terms with some winter time, why not home and away? More games, more experience. In addition, some schools play some trials with teams outside of the Sydney area. For example, Joeys play Marist Canberra yearly and also play St Edmunds Canberra and TAS in Armidale occasionally, but why not play other nurseries such as Nudgee? Would this not further develop the talent evolving in these schools' programs.

AND SILENCE WAS THE STERN REPLY.....no wonder the grassroots is stuffed!

Yikes, trying to find info from ARU or NSWRU on development is like getting blood from a stone. if they have a plan, they aren't telling!!! Great advertising!!! I have spoken to a number of schools coaches over the years and the constant complaint is when they approach any union body for support, in the form of equipment, coaching or visits, the response is litle if anything. I recall the split whisper coming for a while. I always though it was a silly idea, like cutting the titanic in half and hoping that would help it float, so when they finally did it it was a bit of an anticlimax ....

All I really want to know was why 12 out of 60 boys from St Augustines were picked in the NSW school boys team (and if it's true). And is it a coincidence that the St Augustines coach is the NSW schoolboys coach? And some people think there's nothing wrong with grass roots rugby? In the immortal words of Sylvester the Cat......DETH-PIC-ABLE!!!

I think they should! Keep in mind that none of the Melbourne players are home-grown. So he has to attach them to a local club by force. All of the Tahs players are already part of a club.

Rickety, are you saying the Central Coast development officer has never visited a school in your region, and doesn't visit numerous schools on a regular basis. That looks like what you are saying: "no different here on the Central Coast". Seriously?

The CHS team didn't have the same involvement because they didn't need it!! CHS had staff running their teams while GPS had none since it wasn't an official GPS side. I explained that earlier.

You people are off your rocker. Do you seriously think that if rugby could have more state schools playing the game we wouldn't want it? That the rugby administrators wouldn't be doing cartwheels? Honestly, you lot are so twisted with envy at the other codes you can't see "the awful truth" when it is staring you in the face. League has 10 professional teams to service the same area that rugby has just 1. AFL has a virtual army of development officers out there in the schools - not because they care and we don't, but because we are the 4th most popular football code in a country of 22million people and AFL is a $300 million business and NSWRU is a $20 million business. Rugby IS offered to state schools. At all the gala days you will be hard-pressed to find a single private school. At a the U14 and U16s gala day that I helped out with a couple of weeks ago, the entire entry list was: Westfields SHS Merrylands HS Colo HS Hills SHS Granville Boys Penrith Anglican College Endeavour SHS St Columba's College Mitchell HS Prairiewood HS Sule College Seven Hills HS Oooooh look at all the north shore private schools!! All the so-called supporters do on this site is trash the game, trash the teams, trash the administration, trash the sport. Noone goes to the games (too expensive! too boring!), they watch the Unions go slowly bankrupt, and then they turn around and say why isn't there development!! Like the husband who beats his wife, and then wonders why she hasn't cooked him dinner.

It continually amazes me how people want to "grow the game" and want to start the process by cutting the number of Premiership grades!