Yesterday legendary rugby writer Spiro Zavos joined the “five into four” debate in respect to the future of Australian involvement in the Super Rugby competition.
I thought long and hard about the article’s premise – the title, the drifting into what is wrong with the rules, Steve Larkham’s coaching, before he concluded that the Brumbies no longer deserve a place at the Super Rugby table.
How to back up this claim? Cite Greg Growden and it appeared we were on a 1990s Sydney Fairfax crusade to make the NSW Waratahs great again.
While Zavos noted (as many have) the parlous administrative rumblings that are eroding rugby Down Under, the article missed one fundamental problem with the state of the game – rugby participation has collapsed in less than a generation.
Last week’s Roy Morgan release revealed how dramatically the figures have dropped, from 148,000 regular participants in 2001 to 55,000 in 2016.
All those squash courts and ten-pin bowling centres you see in the burbs closing as vestiges of a bygone era? Those sports still have more participants.
In those 15 years, we have also added two new provincial rugby teams to the Super Rugby mix.
Neither the Force or the Rebels has made the finals or ever looked like doing so.
They have sucked peripheral talent from the Waratahs, Reds, and Brumbies. We don’t have depth across the board.
But I am not going to randomly pick a side to give the flick for future formats of the competition.
In fact, my argument would be a three-state solution (but that is one for another day).
The first ‘team’ to go should be the administrators who have led us into this bumbling mess at ARU headquarters.
Club rugby has collapsed, the traditional GPS nurseries are losing out to AFL and soccer – and while that may not be surprising in the day and age of contact sports, what has been appalling is the lack of any sense of progress to combat these movements.
We butchered the money from Rugby World Cup 2003 into a disastrous NPC-style tournament, are losing thousands of juniors that support club rugby, and clearly have mollycoddled talented juniors into elite pathway programs where they simply seem to do semi-contact drills five times a week against each other. But hey, they are all winners.
Spiro’s answer? Get rid of the most successful Aussie team, so that when we are ready we can have a Polynesian-laden side in Western Sydney.
Penrith Emus and Parramatta Two-Blues are testament to the depth of western rugby in Sydney. The Two Blues last tasted success in fourth grade in 2000.
Such is the state of the game, rugby is now fighting in terms of participation levels with ballroom dancing, which also took a hit in the popularity stakes.
Unfortunately for rah rah, it cannot call upon Paul Mercurio to don the dancing shoes for Strictly Ballroom 2 and reboot another dying sport.
Michael gardiner
Guest
Jock , Rugby union in this country is dead , how to keep it alive is the most important goal now for the A RU . They have to stop talking nonsense like - RU. Is a world game and RL is not , let's face it AFL is only in this country and thrives . To keep the game ticking over without mountains of debt is to abandon all super rugby teams . Change the rules to make the game more attractive and far less boring and hope fans will come back, Michael
In Brief
Guest
The facts stating otherwise are in the recent article on The Roar and the ARU press release. You can go through all the registrations in the clubs competitions for the real numbers, rather than making a random phone calls. I think I know which form of fact checking I'd believe.
In Brief
Guest
The Roy Morgan stats are complete bunkum for one
Republican
Guest
.....that and because of migration that has influenced our diaspora and as such, code persuasion.
Bludger
Guest
Where are the facts stating otherwise? I am old enough to also recall squash and ten pin bowling being played in Australia. They have gone. Golf, although still has a lot of players of all ages, has slipped, like the Roy Morgan poll states. Ask any golf club member out there, the players have dropped off. Union playing numbers are plummeting. The problem is deeper than people want to admit. Because a lot of boys are brought up in female run homes, little Jonny simply aint allowed to get hurt playing union. The numbers have flocked to soccer, because of the perception of it being low risk to injury.
BeastieBoy
Guest
We need to base our resurgence behind the Sydney Rugby Union and Brisbane Rugby Union with both having strong leaders. We need to find money to bolster the grade rugby competition and not make it subservient to the super rugby timetable. Underpinning that is strong leadership of the juniors to provide viable comps. Play them at times and on nights that don't class with school sports. Look at weight for age so kids of all sizes can stay involved. Private School rugby has been stuffed with the cheque book warfare filling the A side with scholarship boys to the exclusion of home grown talent. So they have voted with their feet. Is there anyone with the gravitas to get these school principles into line? Lets bring back and encourage the CHS program and its competition. Government may financially support that. Provide a summer schools program of regular small sevens tournaments that are played each Saturday. Its a lot. It will take a good few years.
Republican
Guest
.....no it isn't because it can't. Rugby never looked to the sky in this country because it is only a niche code and only ever will be......
Jock Cornet
Guest
Pulver pillaging of grassroots funds like his predecessor O'Neil. Instead of building the rugby nurseries of Sydney and Brisbsne, they set up exclusive academies where they do a few weights and managers feed their ego, rather than play week in week out rugby. They then send the players away to wa or Melbourne without any experience. The players and clubs have faulted. Half the players are in super squads not playing but sitting on the pine. Rugby is now dead not due to afl or nrl but ARU NEGLECT and deliberate failure to help the clubs and grass roots. Spiro and co have failed to address this just focusing in the wallabies neglecting the grass roots
Jacko
Guest
Go and read the article PROVING the Roy Morgan poll to be RUBBISH. Union still going great guns...well not really but certainly not any where near as bad as the TOTALLY INCORRECT morgan poll
Jimbo81
Guest
the morgan poll is fake news - the sky is not falling in
Republican
Guest
......I believe its lower than 4th but yes, I agree. The niche Rugby community in Australia suffer from delusions of grandeur which is due in part, to our proximity and ties with NZ. Perhaps less contact with NZ Rugby would be a good start in raising the morale of the game here? It is also important to understand that we are culturally distinctive and our sporting preferences reflect this evolution. Rugby is vulnerable to this evolution, moreso than it is prepared to accept. It is futile to be comparing ourselves with NZ or any other nation in terms of Rugby's popularity because while we may live in a global world we are also influenced from within. It is also important to note that while NZ maintain a high pedigree internationally in the code, the popularity of Rugby there is also waning.
Rocko
Roar Guru
Fair few Jeff - care to elaborate?
Jeff dustby
Guest
Not a lot of facts in this article
RedandBlack
Guest
Why does Oz rugby persist in trying to be something that its not? Ok so you're the 4th ranked code - so what - build on your strengths and consolidate the support of the many dedicated people you do have - weather the storm and the good times will come again. Instead they seem to persist in trying to compete (esp with league) in all the rah rah nonsense both on field and off that league does so well. I couldn't believe my eyes when a TV reporter ran onto the field for a comment during play. I can only imagine what a Nigel Owens would have said to that. Anyway - you won't get to the level of league using gimmicks - esp not gimmicks that they are better at. Try being a solid team and admin that your supporters can be proud of - add a few wins and you'll make progress. Being the biggest is not always the best thing - ask Chrysler, Toyota and VW.
Hello Everybody.
Guest
It must be every other sports admins fault that they are losing ground to AFL. Why isnt snooker bigger than the AFL? Must be bad admin in that sport. They shouldnt cut Australias most successful team! Those silly sausages at the ARU should make a decision on the future of the sport based on wins and losses, not what makes sense for the benifit of rugby as a whole in Aus. Geez theyre silly. If I was running the ARU I wouldnt need to see or learn about the implications of actions and the compexity of the situation or debate and make informed decisions based on info I have no access to at the mo because I know it all and the ARU are bad mmmmkay. Sure the ARU have a huge responsibility to grow the game and theyre up against massive challenges in and outside of Aus and sure, Super Rugby isnt all about Aus and they have a responsibility to 4 other nations but honestly...do wins and losses not dictate all decisions? If they dont, they should. And Cheika better select the players I like and drop the players I dont like or hes a bad coach.