Is Australian rugby following in the footsteps of West Indian cricket?

absolutely I think you are correct, you have a board that is incompetent and rugby in Australia has suffered greatly since the advent of the professional era . The Players at the beginning were overpaid ( still are ) and believed and acted as if they were bigger than the game. This started with Gregan and his gang at Canberra when they had Nucifora sacked because they did not like him etc .

Well said sheek

Good comments

Really good analysis. Australia will always divide its best sportsman into various football codes . The wallabies and Socceroos play in much larger world competitions then the other codes . My son is currently going through the various sports and is reasonably talented but extremely physical. At 10 years old I think it’s time to let him see if he enjoys rugby , well that’s a given , but I’m hoping for good coaching for him to develop the skills .

Was union ever anything more than the preserve of the rich private schools and a bit of a cult sport outside of that? Union has itself to blame as it took 100 years to go pro. Too little too late.

Its a bit of a perfect storm at the moment, with bad coaching, abysmal management and a lack of pathways. Just look at the people in charge and who have been in charge and their absolute lack of any background in rugby administration. I mean none. Common sense would fix half the problems. Imagine if they'd used the money spent on Hooper and spent it on Ponga.

Firstly your characterisation of West Indies cricket is misleading. There are massive problems no doubt and first class cricket is all but dead but remember the West Indies are the current T20 champs and the only team to have won it twice. Along with India the West Indies are the only 2 countries to win the ODI world cup, T20 world cup and win outright the Champions Trophy. Your whole article is filled with your own biases and ideas. You obviously think test cricket is the only form of cricket that matters which is a very Australian/English attitude since test cricket is the only format you refer to in your article. http://pr.nba.com/nba-rosters-feature-108-international-players-from-42-countries-and-territories/ There are no West Indian born players in the NBA right now and I doubt there's many in Europe earning big money nor have any West Indian national teams had any success internationally. I've heard for literally decades that basketball is going to overtake cricket yet I see no proof of this in the almost 30 years I've been hearing this. As for football I have no idea how many West Indian born and raised players there are in Europe (Raheem Sterling doesn't count) but I doubt many and most top West Indian players play in MLS. West Indian national football teams didn't exactly setting the football on fire in 2018 qualifying Trinidad & Tobago finished 6th. Jamaica came last in 1st round group B behind countries like Haiti though Jamaica did finish runner-up in the 2017 Gold Cup and is currently ranked 54th in the world which is 4th in CONCACAF. But if you're West Indian unless you live in Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago your country has no chance of success internationally. The real issue here is the impact of T20. Its destroyed first class cricket and even 50 over ODI cricket for the West Indian national team but its given many West Indian players an opportunity to earn decent money there are a lot of West Indian players that are good at T20. Kids have seen playing like Chris Gayle make a fortune playing in T20 leagues and this has helped cricket stay relevant at the cost of the West Indian international side.

Thought provoking article Midfielder. A few thoughts I have to add is how far behind the AFL, NRL and A-League RA is when you look at: 1. Domestic League: The NRC would be battling at the same level as the VFL, NSW Cup and NPL (all the second tier leagues across the country) with regard to position, visibility and financial position. Other than hard core rusted on Union supporters does any one even know this competition exists or that it is supposed to be the bridge between Club and Super Rugby? 2. Coverage: Consumers can watch all of AFL, NRL and A-League on FTA, at favourable viewing times against known opposition, whilst also being able to watch every game of every round through phone or tablet apps for those competitions. How has Super Rugby not developed something in the last 10 years? How has RA not developed something at least for the AUS based teams to telecast their games with the Fox Sports Broadcast? 3. Grassroots - RA simply don't have the money to compete here. The A-League doesn't even need the money as their participation rates dwarf every other football code in this country combined. This country does not have the population to sustain four viable "football" leagues so RA needs to act to make sure they drop off the face of the earth while the Wallabies drop down the rankings.

The decline in the Carribean is to do with the beach obsessed foreigners, who are taking over all the coastal regions in the Americas , and thats resulting in selling land off for development, as Holding said the sporting fields where he grew playing in are shrinking rapidly. If locals can no longer afford to live near the beach then there goes the unofficial sports ground. Then there is the most invasive and land gobbling sport of all golf which wreaks havoc on islands all around the world. Baseball is the big sport in the Carribean under American influence, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puero Rico and non existent in British areas. Basketball there is a hardly a court in the British Carribean. Rugby the issues are totally different here, here most parents are not wanting their kids to play the sport as its seen as rough and dangerous, and thats the same with rugby league. So you have two sports with a declining playing base, and rugby league has the most money to take the players. Both sports are relying on the communities still willing to play these sports for most of their players which is mainly the Pacific island communities. A sport can still be popular even if the majority will never want their kids involved in it, look at boxing in the USA, Fiji it has always been the case that the Indian community dont want their kids playing rugby.

Hello, interesting stuff, but it's Dwight Yorke not Dwight York

The article makes an important point that seems perennially overlooked by the powers that be. Public support is heavily influenced by how many eyeballs are watching. As the author points out, when eyeballs in the West Indies shifted elsewhere, so did the talent.. When BBL arrived, it was on free to air. You get home from work. Faced with various options, at least in my household, BBL was our default choice every night. Any surprise BBL gained traction straight away? Nobody really cares about the NRC. The Wallabies don’t play enough games to garner a regular tribal following. Super Rugby is the sweet spot that should be stuck on free to air every week across the entire country. Instead it’s on an overpriced service that about 80% of the population don’t have. This might translate to more immediate revenue, but at what expense to the health of the game. Aussie Rugby is on life support. We need a new doctor.

What was the tv ratings like? Next to nothing it was often delayed for post game AFL wrap on 7Mate. I think u would find Twiggy is covering the broadcast costs.

I think the parallel with the West Indies is spot on. But to compare Folau with the great Brian Lara is just ridiculous

Soccer/football has always been huge in the former British colonies of the Caribbean, and how many players from these parts get to be global superstars (Dwight Yorke was one) a lot of blokes with heritage from this area have starred for England and in the Premier League, but they are products of the English system and I consider them English. You could argue that athletics is probably the main threat to cricket, imagine a bowling attack of Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt and these are genuine global stars. In any event, West Indian cricket has always had a much higher profile there than rugby union has ever had in Australia, so is it a valid comparison?

I actually think you have missed the most important comparison, the West Indies is not a country and is a team made up of individual nations to produce a team. The Wallabies, while representing Australia are still a bunch of individual unions trying to control the bigger team and will infight to be the dominant union, no matter the result for the national team. Australia needs to be a united force, not divided in the board room. and by the way, Israel Folau is not comparable to Lara, Lara could do it all and had all of the skills required for his position. If you had to pick a current player Pocock would be the only one close but without the records.

And yet the 4 North American codes thrive, as does Japanese Baseball, NRL, AFL, Gaelic Football, Hurling and indeed Rugby in almost every other country it's played - most of which are football dominated. It's ignoring the purely Australian problems that Rugby has if you are to blame Football for its woes. I think elitism, crap management, lack of desire to grow the sport, lack of ability to engage youths, a rubbish artificial premier competition, nameless faceless seemingly passionless players and an idiot coach might be more at the pointy end of the problems

Pepe, NRL was in WA 20 years ago. They also made a big mistake axing the Western Reds. Good luck to them if they stay the course this time.

The poignant parallel between the 'good ol' days' of both Wallaby and West Indian memories ,is that it was at the end of the amateur era. Today, in the professional era, most talented West Indian cricketers have to ply their trade in other countries just to put bread on the table, and Australian rugby players can earn a relative fortune strutting their stuff in Europe. Can you imagine a Wallaby player from years back learning that a current player is on a $6M contract despite not being good enough to feature in the first two or three best hypothetical Wallaby teams of all time. Or Mitchell Starc, last year buying a beach front property on one of Sydneys Northern beaches for about $5m. There's no inferred envy in the numbers, just perspective.