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By the numbers, rugby looks strong. Australia are ranked second in the world, with 297,389 players. However, in terms of territory, rugby in Australia is running without legs.
Rugby is without a heartland.
This means there is no area in Australia where rugby is the number one sport. Not like the AFL with Melbourne or the NRL with western Sydney, where those games have a cultural affinity with the people of the area.
Many nations have the benefit of a heartland. The All Blacks have the whole of New Zealand to call their heartland, England has the West Country, and France has the south. These nations have wide areas where rugby is the winner.
Okay, so how does rugby fare in Australia? Australia is arguably the most sports saturated and infatuated country in the world. Let’s see, oh we have the North Shore of Sydney!
We are reduced not to an entire city but to a specific area of a city and a minor one at that. I think it would be a fair call to suggest the North Shore is hanging onto its rugby popularity due to a high concentration of private schools in the area.
At times it feels like rugby’s heartland is not an area, but more a base of players produced by GPS and CAS schooling associations of Queensland and New South Wales.
Without it who knows what the rugby landscape in this country would like.
I’m not hinting for a moment that Australia needs a large geographical heartland if we want to keep being competitive. We’re moving along okay with rugby generally being the third or fourth popular team sport in most areas, but surely if we had a rugby mad heartland in this country producing more talent devoted to the game it might have propelled us further.
Perhaps we could have been where the All Blacks are now, or at least very close.
Sadly this is more of a “what if” scenario. Heartlands take generations to develop and this is especially difficult in Australia’s competitive sports market.
We often find ourselves disappointed in Australian rugby and the Wallabies. It can be frustrating, we want them to do well and we expect them to be number one.
But considering how well we go on the international stage, and that we do it without a real heartland, we are doing pretty damn well, considering the competition we face.
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.