As I understand, the current structure of rugby is, social park player, district park player attached to a district club, a district club, district rep teams, private schools, Shute Shield teams, NRC teams, Super Rugby teams and national teams.
I believe registered players are numbered somewhere between 75,000 and 85,000. So where will rugby be in 10 years?
Broadcasts are in place in NSW, ACT and Queensland. There was a weekly Shute Shield match broadcast on the ABC, the NRC has 10 games broadcast on Fox Sports, Super Rugby has 40 games in Australia and roughly the same in New Zealand broadcast, so with South Africa matches there are about 112 games broadcast by Fox.
Then there’s a delayed Super Rugby broadcast by Channel Ten, and national games broadcast by Fox Sports with some of them also broadcast on Channel Ten.
ABC will no longer broadcast the Shute matches, and rumours have been swirling around Fox and the NRC. Super Rugby matches will be reduced and games played in Australia will be somewhere between 30 and 35 matches, however Japanese and Argentinian teams will enter the competition.
Given the age of the ARU board my guess is most will be there over the next five years at least and some possibly 10 years.
Bill Pulver heads up a management team directed by the ARU board and he is young enough to be there over the next five to 10 years.
The revenue for the ARU is falling and is made up of the following – television rights of Super Rugby, Rugby Championship and other national matches sold to Fox Sports and Ten, income from ticket sales, sponsorships, district park players and merchandise sale of shirts etc.
Underlying assets, all of the above, plus the spirit and tradition in rugby. Additionally, the skill and planning in the management team. The stock exchange prices for most companies listed are well above their net asset value. The share price is largely determined by how investors view the direction the company is heading and how much growth can be achieved by the current management team.
Measuring sticks are always difficult, however the other football codes are in the same market place, meaning we should measure the ARU board and management team against other codes in Australia or against other national unions or maybe both.
Goal setting, creating KPIs to measure and compare performance is also important in the overall scheme of things.
If I may be so rude as to start the process of where I would expect the current board and management team to be in say 10 years. I will do this briefly and hopefully simply. My headings are exceed goals, achieve goals, fail goals and sackable performance.
In terms of registered players, an exceed goals score would mean 125,000 participants, while 100,000 would draw an achieve goals score. Under 90,000 would be a fail, while less than our current level would be a sackable performance.
I will stop here because I am unsure on what exactly I want SANZAR to look like in 10 years, and where, if at all, the NRC will be in 10 years.
If the NRC falls over should the ARU management team at least resign?
I also don’t understand the structure of development, and the relationship between private schools and district park teams, however to move that forward it should be a top priory.
What are your thoughts on the journey over the next 10 years, what are reasonable expectations of the ARU and what directions should Australian rugby take?
chis
Guest
I would loved to see one code of Rugby (alongside 7's). I wonder what things would look like now in Australia if Rugby had merged with Aussie(Victorian Football) in 1870s to be a proper national code ?
Michael
Guest
How desperate has rugby become using a teenager in the video above to claim that this young man has rejected Rugby League for Rugby. This is not the way to promote R U , it only plants in the minds of young people to consider the opportunities available in R L. It's another example of rugby's private school Australian arrogance .
sheek
Roar Guru
Thunderguts, I actually sent Brett McKay an email the other day. We were going to catchup at The Roar function, but now I can't make it. We were going to have a good old yarn about the NRC over a few cold beers & a nice steak. But when making may apologies to him, I suggested my focus has moved beyond trivial stuff like the NRC. I now just despair at the entire corporatisation of sport. I'm not a materialistically minded person. But I guess most of modern society must be, because they accept this, even welcome it. My overriding concern is that we humans are incapable of finding a middle path. We lurch from one extreme to another, eventually killing off anything we love or treasure. So much for sport being a pleasant weekend distraction from the drudgery of the working week. Big business will proceed to trash it like they eventually trash most things.
scrumpoacher
Guest
I'm saying they aren't from the eastern suburbs! Not that they didn't play there... Good gods people need to read
Westie
Guest
Yet the aru are headquartered in North Shore sydney, run by blokes from north Shore sydney and rugby in Sydney is virtually invisible outside there and the eastern suburbs.
Westie
Guest
Good on them. Doesn't mean more can't be done.
Charcoal
Guest
I hear what you're saying Midfielder, but somehow Eastwood has managed to survive, with 5 premierships in the last 15 years, including this year.
Charcoal
Guest
You're also on the money Thunderguts.
Charcoal
Guest
Hodgo also played for Eastwood for a few years, including one of their Grand Final wins in the early 2000's (not sure which one).
Magic Sponge
Guest
Hodgo = East Rugby Cummins = Randwick Both learnt their rugby from the eastern suburbs
Owen
Guest
I would hope that in 5 year time the NRC is further integrated with the Shute Shield. This may be hard to imagine in the near term but in a few years time, given continued success of the NRC, the Shute shield could see the NRC as a place where it's teams should be aiming for. I can see some of the existing team combinations maybe splitting up to go it alone, and other teams that were left out wanting to join. Maybe a 15 or 18 team NRC in 2020 is possible. That is what Australia needs to drive forward interest and quality in the local game. Ideally, I'd like to see the number of teams expanded to include more Sydney teams and a compromise from Sydney teams would be for the NRC to start earlier, say in late May. An expanded NRC including already extablished Shute Shield clubs could then adcmit clubs from adelaide and other regions and by starting earlier provide the content broadcasters and local fans require. If the six-mnth competition was split into two periods, then Super players could join into teams in the second period August-October while the non Super players would fright it out during the May-June rounds.
conor
Guest
Midfielder We know rugby is going backwards in Sydney and I acknowledged that in my post. But it is not going backwards in NSW Country, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia. Rugby is no longer a GPS Sydney-centric game. And that's all for the better. And that's from someone who went to Joeys but much preferred his rugby experiences in Newcastle and Canberra (not to mention Paris, Noumea and Geneva). You dismiss the latest RU statistics prepared by an independent organisation for comparison with other codes in 2013 but prefer to rely on outdated figures for 2011.You wouldn't use football's figures for 2011 though would you. It would have to be the most up to date as at 1 Dec 2014 to showcase the unstoppable train. You do seem to have a problem with figures though. You predicted that 5 million people would watch the Socceroos v Japan on ABC FTA several weeks ago. You were just a little over 4.5 million short. Maybe there's an article in there for you to write.
Thunderguts
Guest
Sheek Unlike your experience I have been blessed to have enjoyed more than 60 years of Rugby through the outstanding efforts of the World winningest team -- the AB ---combined with having lived in "the Worlds Best Country" as announced to the media this morning. When I read the comments here and elsewhere if I was a Wallaby supporter I would be shaking my head in despair -- it has certainly been a long time between drinks and one can understand why Rugby is being deserted and will be left with a pack of squabbling old farts.Lets hope that we see the start of a resurgence in 2015 so that again the AB vs Wallaby games become the highlight of the Rugby year for both sets of supporters
Midfielder
Guest
Interesting observations Sheek... it effects all sports .. tennis games kept going because of broadcast schedules to 3:00 in the morning... the new RL format being discussed... Beyond this is a start player can get away with almost anything ... The world has changed ...
sheek
Roar Guru
Thunderguts, My emotional investment in rugby is being rapidly expunged, as with sport in general, precisely for the reasons you state - commercialization & professionalism. I don't have to accept this status quo & I won't. mI can amuse myself in other ways. I doubt the interests of players & the sport is high on the agenda. These are merely the by-products. It's all about maximising programming content for broadcasters & advertising opportunities for sponsors. Reverence! Revenue! Revenue! I don't care for this at all...
Bakkies
Guest
Queensland union shutting down due to the war and amateurism didn't help either. Amateurism led to players leaving to league, no money in the game to grow and the game run by committee. These committee men are still trying hold on to their vice grip. Will Carling's jibe about the old farts stands out to be true. That's what has held back Aus Rugby.
Bakkies
Guest
yep and a lot of areas outside the so called heartlands don't have high paying salaries to cover the exorbitant fees inflicted by the north shore Sydney centric ARU.
Bakkies
Guest
scrumpoacher exactly and there are only so many spots at the Tarts and Reds to play professionally. A lot of expats in Perth and Melbourne that have the potential cover areas in the ranks where depth is low and not enough aggressiveness.
Bakkies
Guest
Exactly it's common sense and that's why the game has grown here. Kids can find time to play other sports. There are still some sad sack GAA clubs in parts of the country that still make it difficult for kids to play Rugby. Others are panicking because kids are preferring to play Rugby and thus are making the wrong decision in making their GAA season longer. GAA Football has become a non contact sport in certain aspects and the culture of baiting the ref is starting to bite. Rugby provides the opposite. At senior adult level GAA due to the sheer length of the season clubs are starting to struggle field teams due to players willing to combine it with Rugby. The Rugby season is much more defined in terms of when it starts and finishes which helps families and players. GAA families that weren't brought up on the game are now keen Rugby followers. Their kids are the first in their families to play the game. Connemara in Connacht had a new club start up a few years back to get kids something to play in Winter and 40 kids turned up on the first day. Rugby probably wasn't even permitted in the dark old days and the area has had a senior club up until recently. Rugby also provides regular fixtures during the season whereas the GAA Championship at intercounty level which gets the big crowds and tv coverage is spread out so you don't get to see your team every week even in a domestic only comp. Plus if your team is knocked out early you have nothing to support for months. Australia has far too many sub unions which creates divisiveness and people working against each other which prevents progress. Each state should just have the one single union and a schools branch.
scrumpoacher
Guest
Cummins a QLDer and Hodgo from Central Coast-only played in eastern suburbs. Plenty of talent coming through in Perth. Next...