Australian rugby is going down the Shute

Robc Reiteration of usual rubbish. SportsEngland has reasonably accurate figures, which I gave you and you ignored them. There have been two Super League clubs in financial trouble. How many premiership Union clubs, in England, have gone to the wall. I'll give you a hint more than seven but less than nine. The financial troubles for sporting codes, in England, is widespread and it is due to the economy of the country. Tell the Canadians, Serbs, Cook Islanders, PNGians, and others that their Rugby League is not serious. By the way the RFL make a profit each year. Does the ARU?

I don’t know where you get this dwindling stuff from but the registration of people playing, i.e. engaged in a weekly competition, Rugby League in England has risen from around 200, 000 in 2004 to now over 300,000 in 2014. There are now teams throughout England and if the number of people playing Rugby League nines and Tag, in the England, was included the figure would be much higher. The questions that should be constantly asked in these forums are “Why the continual put down of Rugby League”, “Why promote old and seriously questionable attitudes to Rugby League” or to paraphrase the late NZ Prime Minister “Is the distain shown to Rugby League a remnant of the class and social divide that still occurs in the UK and is disappearing in Australia”

Yep sounds like the IRB, shove a stadium in Denerau 3 hours away from your main population base.

Bakkies, you said that Australian rugby couldn't compete because of the Euro and the Pound being stronger currencies. The rest of your points are fine, but that point is wrong. Currency has little to do with what's occurred over the past couple of years. And if anyone is benefiting from recent fluctuations in currency it's actually the ARU because the SANZAR broadcast deal is negotiated in US Dollars and the US Dollar has got stronger against basically every currency in the past year. And I agree with your 2nd paragraph. But the ARU are set to almost double their broadcasting income from 2016. And unlike in previous cycles, this time they won't be splitting that money among more teams. In the next deal expansion into Asia and South America will likely ramp up further and this will bring more money. The situation isn't as dire as you suggest.

RobC, what is say is absolutely true, but would say Soccer is the one that is snuffing out league in England - Rugby still doesn't have a big presence úp north', but Soccer has taken over - helped by immigration of course. League never really got out of its M62 corridor - when it tried with London it was a dismal failure - don't think Rugby had much of an influence. Train without a station makes a good point about NRL teams in the PI - I think league people like to overstate the league connection there, it's small compared to Rugby, although there is talk of a Rugby Stadium at Denarau in Fiji funded by the IRB.

There are infrastructure issues there as well. The Super League remains a tv sport yet has a pathetic salary cap around the £2 million mark. The AP's is around £5 million in comparison. Clubs have been hit with administration and constant restructuring.

Even now they haven't attracted bids from BeIN, ESPN and Eurosport the other networks that aren't part owned by Murdoch.

You're still spouting bollocks and clearly don't get it. Your argument is misguided. It clearly affects player wages in Australia and the money that is going out is going to the wrong players. You only have to look at the exodus of forwards in recent years. These players also have longer career spans yet Aus media, support and unions see that they are on their last contract in their late 20s. The Tahs are deluded about getting Douglas back given the peanuts he was on and Leinster aren't paying him a large whack for an overseas player. Props where there has been a significant exodus are highly valued in Europe even poor to average props like Dunning and Kepu can get contracts yet the Aus Rugby public wonder why the ARU struggles to keep promising props which sends them back to square one. They are clearly underpaid in Australia it's even more important with specialist props required on benches. Aus Rugby has to get better at valuing players and putting more commercial value on the loss maker that is Super Rugby to generate income that could lead to a salary cap increase which works in Europe and has allowed England and France to increase their salary caps. A €3.7 million salary cap with unbalanced pay towards certain positions is not enough. The dollar is getting weaker against the Euro and Pound which makes the ARU look even more paltry. They have also reduced the number of central contracts and the value of them.

And there you go again talking as if rugby was once at the level of rugby league and aussie rules. Rugby's a lot bigger in Australia than it was 20 years ago, in every measurement. Super Rugby isn't the reason it's not as popular as Rugby League and AFL.

Katipo, you have to consider commercial realities. You say Sanzar refuse to include a PI team in TRC or Super Rugby. But where is the $$$$$ to support these teams going to come from? The countries lack the commercial strength to support teams for this tournament. It would require all 3 Sanzar nations to take losses in order to include them. People can talk all they want about the PNG team in the QLD Cup, but how long will this last when the team is unable to financially sustain itself? There will never be NRL teams in the pacific islands because of the reason rugby has not included them.

You have to consider though, that the lack of alternative bidders merely consolidated Murdoch's bargaining position.

If the Shute Shield is such a hit and there's so many fans to treat with disdain then why are clubs going broke? How do you expect a competition which is unable to financially support itself to be sustainable? There is no interest in broadcasting it by any paying network and for years the ARU subsidized this. You live in an alternate universe.

Typical Shute Shield knucklehead that thinks Australian rugby revolves around 12 semi-pro teams in metropolitan Sydney, despite the fact this these clubs are such a small footprint in the participation landscape.

Bakkies, the miscomprehension is yours. I said in the general economy, not in rugby. The average wage in Australia is higher than the average wage in France. European rugby isn't stronger because of the Euro or Pound. Clearly the European salary caps are higher but as it stands the ARU can compete through top ups and the Wallaby jersey. No need to raise the white flag yet.

Squirrel The ABC has stopped coverage of the Shute Shield because it has sold all its outside broadcast vans nationwide as a result of budget cuts. It will no longer be telecasting any sports including state-based Australian Rules competitions or women's sport such as the W League Football or the WNBL basketball. So stop your weekly bleating about the ARU and be thankful that Fox is telecasting (at least this year) the second year of the NRC.

Hi There is trolling. But to be fair league is more popular in NZ now than it has ever been. It's also making in roads in the Pacific Islands partly due to Sanzar's failure to include any PI teams in TRC or Super Rugby. My perception is that Rugby Union administrators are asleep at the wheel. And they lack entrepreneurialism, innovation, vision and leadership. Rugby administrators ought to be very worried about the growth of league and soccer in Australasia. Rugby Union is losing the war of the football codes.