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At around the 60th minute of Sunday’s Waratahs versus Rebels match an announcement was made. The Waratahs players would be signing autographs near the players’ tunnel for young fans who stayed behind after the game.
In years gone by I wouldn’t care much about this, but now my son is old enough to come to the matches I thought it was great.
After the final siren my son and many eager young fans assembled as close as possible to the tunnel with their jerseys, footballs and flags, all keen for an autograph and a chat with a Waratah.
For most of the youngsters, any Waratah would do. They’d have a story to tell at school on Monday and it wouldn’t be about the Waratahs losing. It would be about meeting a player.
For a long time the players assembled for the usual after match huddle on the field. We all waited in the hope that, as promised, they would make their way over to the sideline and connect with their young fans.
After a good long while a young Waratah made his way over to someone he obviously knew in the crowd. After a decent amount of time, a man asked said player if he wouldn’t mind signing his son’s shirt. The player declined and said he would be back later.
I thought to myself that this was a curious response because the length of time it took to utter those words was probably the exact amount of time it would’ve taken to sign the shirt. I also felt he clearly had no intention of returning, and in the thirty or so minutes I waited after the match he did no such thing.
Shortly after that another fringe Waratah player walked past and was asked politely if he would sign his son’s football.
“I’ve got to get home,” the Waratah said as he begrudgingly signed one item before walking into the tunnel. Again I found this an unusual response. It is not as if this was an invasion of his personal time, where even professional athletes should not have to suffer the indignity of being pestered for autographs. This was a match day and frankly the players should be signing autographs for the kids, or so I thought.
Before I knew it another couple of Waratah players had also made their way over to the crowd to say hello to someone they recognised before quickly disappearing down the tunnel.
When this happened, I recalled a moment from a decade ago which I will never forget. To keep a long story short, a man who once kicked England to a World Cup victory was playing an away club match in London I attended with some friends. After the match, I noticed Jonny Wilkinson signing autographs and thought nothing more of it. My friends and I disappeared into the stadium bar where we enjoyed a couple of pints each.
As we left the ground I will never forget the wonderfully surprising sight of Wilkinson still signing autographs and having photos taken with masses of fans. It turns out, at least in the mind of Wilkinson, the fans truly mean something.
With that memory of Wilkinson in mind, I came to realise that no Waratah was willing to give himself over to promoting the game as I had once seen in London. Not one was keen to suck it up after a loss and make a kid’s day.
Before long every single Waratah player had disappeared.
My son argued to stay a bit longer in the hope that maybe they would come back out and start signing autographs. I struggled to find the words to explain why all the Waratahs had ignored so many young fans.
As a grown man, I couldn’t care less about getting another bloke’s autograph. But my son, an impressionable young boy, went away more disappointed with his treatment after the game than he had been with the Waratah’s loss. I believe this disappointment will stay with him long after he has forgotten the result.
I hope some Waratah players are listening to this. Young fans are worth investing in. They don’t really care if you win or lose. They don’t scorn you on social media because you dropped the ball too many times. They don’t question your obvious commitment to the cause.
The reason you lost on Sunday had nothing to do with the scoreboard, in my opinion. You lost because afterwards not one player had been gracious enough to spend some time connecting with their youngest fans.
Rugby in this country can’t afford this – the fans need you to pick up your game. And I don’t mean on the field.
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.