- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
In one of The Roar’s comment threads the other day, I referred to the ‘main’ rugby states as being Queensland and New South Wales – and someone took offence.
How can we have a discussion about rugby in Australia if we don’t acknowledge that we have ‘main’ and ‘developing’ areas?
If our barometer of success is Australia as a top rugby nation, then in every conceivable way, the health of rugby in New South Wales and Queensland matter the most.
Without the players, supporters and financial clout of these states, Australia is a rugby backwater.
In the rest of the country there is a lot of potential – potential which must be developed.
But first and foremost, NSW and Queensland need premium provincial rugby that sells out stadiums. For this to happen, they need to be playing only a handful of games a year, with the best talent in Australia, against well-known opposition. A State of Origin concept could do well too.
If NSW and Queensland can fill stadiums and attract many sets of eyeballs to televisions, this would do much more than three, four or five mediocre Super Rugby teams spread around the country could possibly do for one key reason: money.
Money to spend on the next pillar: a fully professional National Rugby Championship.
Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images
Understand, I do not advocate abandoning rugby in Canberra, Melbourne and Perth. I advocate those areas fielding professional rugby teams that befit their stage of development. Call this ‘pruning to grow’ if you like, but I think of it as putting the plant in the right pot.
If Melbourne, Canberra and Perth could really get behind their NRC sides and create some interest, this could ignite interest in Sydney and Brisbane, with whatever model they adopt in those areas.
The structure I envisage is as follows:
First tier: club rugby in all major cities and regions.
Second tier: fully professional National Rugby Championship.
Third tier: premium and limited representative product in NSW and Queensland.
Fourth tier: the Wallabies.
It’s important to recognise that critical to this idea is a much more ambitious NRC. It would not be a feeder to where the real ‘professional development’ happens as now. It would be the heart of professional rugby in Australia.
The Brumbies were great as a group of well-coached renegades and rejects who beat the arrogant Waratahs and Reds. This was fun for a while. But the seeds of our current troubles were sowed the moment good players from the major states were contracted to play in Perth and Melbourne.
[latest_videos_strip category=”rugby” name=”Rugby”]
In hindsight, this was an over-ambitious development product. It assumed that the Waratahs and Reds would not be damaged. They have. It assumed a true professional national competition was too hard. This was short-sighted.
From those who love their Force, Rebels and Brumbies, I’ve heard many a reason that puts the blame at the feet of coaching and administration in NSW and Queensland.
And while inept coaching and administration has not helped, success is about momentum and building dynasties, and the removal of key players for seasons at a time has hurt dearly.
Would rugby league in any conceivable universe, water down the State of Origin cashcow by introducing a Victorian side that included players born in the original states? Not any time soon, because Queensland and NSW as brands are too valuable to be diluted.
Growth in Melbourne must happen in other ways. And it has, via the Storm.
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.