Rugby in Australia is struggling. I think of rugby union as a family home.
In a home, the most important thing is a strong foundation. What would happen if you spent all the money on the roof, without a strong floor? The house would collapse. This is what is happening to rugby in Australia.
I am a 16-year-old schoolboy boarding at Newington College in Stanmore, Sydney. However, I have been very fortunate to be gifted this position, coming from a rural area of the Riverina playing club rugby to now playing GPS rugby at a prestigious independent school.
I have seen both ends of the spectrum of funding into grassroots rugby. I have had the opportunity to represent the ACT Junior Brumbies and captain the Southern Inland junior rugby union side and noted the difference between these two sides. Rugby Australia appears to have more emphasis on elitist rugby than growing their grassroots.
The difference in facilities between these two representative sides is dramatic. While one of them didn’t have enough jerseys for a full squad, the other extreme was a full kit presented to the ACT side. The level of coaching is also noted as the ACT Brumbies utilise the facilities of the senior club, which is of the highest standard.
(Alejandro Pagni/AFP/Getty Images)
Rugby Australia needs to reconsider how their money is distributed from the professional level down the chain to grassroots, especially in rural and remote areas. Your youth is when you start to love or hate what you do, in this case, the sport you play.
Rugby Australia needs to reassess how they develop and engage the grassroots of our great sport with much needed effort into the development of all areas involved. Something that would be greatly appreciated by the grassroots clubs would be grants from RA, providing struggling clubs with more funding to be able to upgrade facilities, plus the ability to access all-weather training facilities as seen in the AFL’s grassroots programs.
The problem I am outlining is that there is not enough funding filtering down into the grassroots. Instead, all the profits that are created by the clubs are going straight into the pockets of the administration and representative agendas instead of the junior clubs to boost their popularity within the community and investing in the future of the great game we call rugby union.
However, there is plenty of money at the under-16 age group and up. This is where rugby starts to identify the future of the game. This is the starting point for future athletes. This is where Rugby Australia is going wrong. Kids are not staying in the sport of rugby union as the support from their idols isn’t there like it is in other codes in Australia.
The promotion of rugby is an easy fix. RA only needs to put some effort into the matter. Regular visits of high-profile players to rural schools should be high on the agenda of the development officers. Upgrades in equipment for these struggling clubs is also essential to boost the sport from a young age.
More coaching accreditation courses for coaches are needed. This will enhance a team’s performance and once again encourage more kids to play. Finally, promoting referees from a young age to keep more people around the game will create a strong community. Refereeing courses will help to create this atmosphere around the game. All of these ideas listed above are in place in the power sports of Australia like rugby league, AFL and football.
Achieving all this will expand the popularity of the game immensely. Further enhancement of the sport could be shown through turning rugby into the family game, as similarly seen in cricket and the NRL, which are both advertised as the backyard game around a barbecue of a Sunday lunch – fun for the whole family.
Having said all this, I hope that Rugby Australia can consider some of the things I have outlined above, as I am an up-and-coming grassroots player that has experienced some of these problems first hand.
And yes, I know this is a tough time now, not only for rugby but for everyone. With the ending of this virus, hopefully soon, rugby in Australia can rebuild stronger and with more intent to nurture the young athletes and the future of the game because if we continue on the path we are heading, I wonder where we will be in ten or so years.
Cameron
Guest
The biggest problem with rugby in Australia is the average bloke who didnt go to a private school doesnt really care about it, and why on earth would they? Fair dinkum, you want people to get into rugby? How about putting the sport on a platform where they average punter can watch it? How about actually taking a super rugby game or test match to somewhere other than the capital city where the super rugby franchsies are based? I think the Qld Reds have done this once since 2000, I may be wrong but it couldnt be much more than 1 or 2 games. Sadly I think the horse has bolted for rugby in Australia, AFL and NRL have eaten its slice of the pie as the sport has stood still, and it now faces a multi-generational battle to win that back.
Micko
Roar Rookie
That's ridiculous you don't support the wallabies if you're Australian! :shocked:
Ex force fan
Guest
And that is the problem.... there is no connection with Perth club rugby and the Wallabies. We see them as often as the All Blacks
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Last year’s Bledisloe Cup?
piru
Roar Rookie
Ask a Perth kid the last time he saw a Wallaby at practice
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Why aren’t these NRL players that come from GPS schools soft? Almost like that’s got nothing to do with it...
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
No. I just don’t rate people spreading silly views. The problem is most players went to GPS schools. The wallabies would be better if they played for weaker public school teams against weaker opponents (because if you don’t concentrate the best players, each team is weaker)? That’s a ludicrous argument. And no. I went to a public school. I’m just able to recognise something I don’t have an attachment to may have do ok. As for being outmuscled. We always have. Difference is we once had the smarts to overcome this.
Waxhead
Roar Rookie
geez TWAS you're very easily upset :shocked: And am I right in thinking you're an ex private school boy yourself? Actually almost all of the current aussie pro players went to private schools. K Beale went to St Josephs or some such. Genia went to a top Brissie private school etc etc. And yes mostly our aussie players are soft, lacking mongrel and determination and imo a major reason is the private school culture of privileged entitlement. They are generally no match for hardened athletes whose only road out of poverty is a pro career in the toughest body contact sport in the world. The proof of this is in most WB performances over the past 10 yrs. They are mostly out muscled, and out enthused, by tougher, stronger, more determined national teams. Our guys are mostly wimps by comparison. If Aust wants to compete with them they should be making postive efforts to harden up players and coaches in schools of hard knocks :laughing:
Waxhead
Roar Rookie
you didn't even bother to read my reply :laughing:
Micko
Roar Rookie
Fair enough Chris. That's TWAS, not me! Live and let live I say.
chris
Guest
I just think if you break down the number of hours related to training and game day over a season, $350 is a very small amount. It's probably less that $2 an hour!
chris
Guest
Micko who's bitter? I actually like league and go regularly. I get tired of people putting provincial sports on some pedestal and then knocking our global games (football and basketball) as some backwater leagues played by sub standard players.
Micko
Roar Rookie
That's just silly chris. People like league and AFL...because they like it. The fact whether it has global popularity or not is irrelevant. Why are people so bitter about Rugby League and Australian Football being the two biggest football codes in Australia? :shocked:
Micko
Roar Rookie
Rugby union in Australia is has always been a private school sport though, mainly concentrated in Sydney & Brisbane. That's just the way the culture is. NZ is different in that the whole country bought in to it, and it became the #1 sport there. It lost that battle in Australia well over a century ago. The problem is that RA ignores the private school systems here in WA, Victoria etc, that could be producing potential top players.
B
Guest
You would think with those fees (pretty much the same nationally) that they could balance the books.
B
Guest
As a keen fan of rugby in WA, I couldn’t have been any happier when the Wester Force came into being (yes despite the team colours which didn’t represent the state and a weird nickname). I also cheered on the Wallaby’s when they played SA at Subiaco Oval. That was a decade ago.... Now, I, like many other Western Australians support the Boks, England, Wales or any other team, even when this is against the Wallaby’s (actually especially when it is against them). WA, like everyone else (bar NSW) got screwed (kind of sad given that rugby was actually the first football code played in WA). To hear that the ARU are posting the kind of loss that would terrify any sensible commercial enterprise and fired someone like Larkham just shows how bad it has got. It just shows that the Melbourne Rebels debacle was no fluke (they were insolvent). It will take them a decade at least to fix this disaster at best - assuming that it even happens or the intention is there. Sad but true.
BeastieBoy
Roar Rookie
Lachie, well said. Enjoyed your article. Good Luck with your rugby.
Hollywood
Guest
Great article Lachie. You’re on the mark. This is one of the key issues impeding the development of the game in Oz. The lopsided engagement of the public school sector in rugby is definitely influenced by the lopsided funding model in place by the Federal Govt. It’s impacting our outcomes as a nation in many ways, not only in sport/rugby. Like you, I’ve spent time in Southern Inland (as a player & ref). I’m a product of both the public & private school systems and attended the same secondary school you’re attending. I referee in club, GPS and club competitions in metro now and have done quite a bit overseas (including schools, club & international). I’ve worked in both public and private schools. The resourcing is definitely impacting. Public schools just don’t have the staff resourcing or the equipment to engage more of their kids in the game. The main thing is staff time, equipment to a lesser degree. The more staff time to put to sport, the more kids that can get involved. This can lead to more players, more competition for rep positions and better quality rugby. We need to invest in player coaching and match official development as well as these impact player (& spectator) enjoyment of the game, and importantly, the quality of the game that is played. The approach taken by RA has been that we need to ensure the best players are remunerated adequately to keep them in the game and not move to RL or other countries (eg France) to play. It also gives kids “idols” to follow. But that poured millions into elite level and has seen grassroots wither. If we take the alternate approach (invest in grassroots, schools & junior development) we will build a strong player base. RA needs to direct the resourcing there & ensure we have good guidance in player coaching & officiating. This means good people (personal qualities as well as game knowledge) and creating a broader base of expertise than is currently the case. Many have shared this thinking before I’ve expressed it here, but RA haven’t respected this thinking to keep it as a long term priority. We need people on the board who understand ‘development’. Maybe a school principal or teacher or two being added to the Board would help. They’re accustomed to one-quarter one-eighth the reported pay scale of our current chief. That money could go to development of the game at the school (& junior level). We still need some business people in the Board too though.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Nah I just can’t see how I’d do any better actually. Because every time I think about things, I see a problem like those I say. I don’t think it can be fixed
Bearrr
Roar Rookie
You have answers to every criticism offered , maybe you should be either running AR or writing a better article on HOW we can fix our game.