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From the evolution of life itself to the survival of businesses, competition plays a crucial role in forcing adaptation.
When resources are limited, those who fail to adapt or whose change is too slow are soon trampled by groups able to quickly transform themselves.
Sport in Australia is an ultra competitive marketplace. Given our relatively paltry population, one has to wonder if all these competing forces will survive.
Rumours abound about the precarious financial position of the Australian Rugby Union, not to mention many of the state teams. If survival really is based on fitness, then rugby is beginning to look every bit the couch potato.
Of grave concern must be the widening gap between domestic player salaries and the money on offer overseas. How long before market forces really begin affecting our ability to retain key talent?
For a long time Test players have viewed places like France and Japan as short-term retirement homes; places one visits in the twilight of a career. I suspect this is about to change, if in fact it hasn’t already.
Ben Mowen repeatedly stated that his decision to relocate to France wasn’t about money. And while Benny has clearly weighed a number of factors, the financial security of a three-year contract in France must surely have been contrasted against the volatile financial position he found in Australian rugby.
Ben is 29, a current Wallaby captain, and hardly ‘past it’. And while he would have faced stiff competition to retain his Test spot, his departure may mark the beginning of a worrying trend for Australian rugby.
How long before a first choice Wallaby in their mid-twenties decides to double his salary and explore all that the south of France has to offer? The event horizon for the ARU to answer this question may well be the completion of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Representing one’s country still counts for a lot, and a great many players will forgo the extra money available overseas for a chance to experience Test rugby, especially in a World Cup year. But with the rugby calendar already at bursting point, I sense that players will find it increasingly difficult to ignore the lure of a well-paid overseas experience.
Ex-Rugby Union Players Association boss Anthony Dempsey has stated that domestic player payments should reduce to align with the financial difficulties the sport is experiencing. This is not a reasonable suggestion given the overseas options available to players. Any further reduction in salaries is likely to result in a mass exodus which may well cripple the game in Australia.
Put simply, Australian rugby needs to explore all options to increase it’s revenue. Private equity seems like a slippery slope, yet given its dire position the ARU must seriously consider this option.
Only immediate drastic action can rescue rugby from the cliff edge it’s poised on. While this may seem daunting, it’s also exciting.
Significant change is coming to Australian Rugby, and change is always married to opportunity. What the ARU makes of these opportunities will determine the condition of the sport in the next phase of it’s life cycle.