The Wallabies ex-captains’ advance being checked last week by new board member Peter Wiggs shows how difficult it is to effect change in Australian rugby.
Firstly, because there is no mechanism that allows for a revolution, and secondly, because the reasons why frustration and self-interest push rugby people into silos rather than drawing them together are incredibly complex.
It seems remarkable that 157 years after the first rugby club was formed, and 25 years after the game turned professional, Australian rugby is unable to define and agree ‘what is our rugby?’ and ‘what do we want rugby to be?’
The Wallabies winning the World Cup? Healthy grassroots clubs? An attractive, popular, accessible TV sport? A safe, healthy sport for boys and girls to take up? A viable career option? All of the above?
Rugby in Australia does not operate in a vacuum. There are existing governing bodies, national and state, responsible for the administration of the game.
What are the rules of respectful engagement? It is nonsense to suggest that Rugby Australia and the state unions haven’t identified critical areas for improvement nor been implementing plans to that effect.
On the other hand, if thoughtful contributions from well-intentioned people have been batted away, how can all stakeholders be made to feel engaged? As the old saying goes, success has many fathers.
What is the environment that Australian rugby operates within? What factors can’t be changed or controlled and what can? For example, under an existing agreement, Australia remains committed to SANZAAR until 2025.
What is the process by which to identify and agree on the problems and a path forward?
There is already a raft of strategic plans and reviews on Australian rugby that have failed to be accepted, communicated or fully implemented. Some have been overtaken by time. Others lack context. But mostly, they haven’t been owned and embraced by the whole of the game.
There is no single idea, or new competition structure, that can fix Australian rugby. It is only through better understanding of the environment rugby exists in that appropriate structural and attitudinal change can occur.
The Environment/The Mechanism/The Detail
Under COVID-19 we are seeing nations turn inwards, and there is growing sentiment for Australian rugby to become more domestic-focused. However, for as long as rugby remains a global, professional sport, this must be done judiciously.
Let’s look at two diagrams outlining the basic structure of Australia’s leading football code, Australian rules football, let’s call this the circle of contentment, and rugby, the circle of discontent.
For the purposes of the discussion, women’s rugby can be considered to replicate men’s rugby for some but not all of the model.
What is immediately apparent is the stark contrast in simplicity. AFL is a wholly domestic game, played in a single, winter season, at four levels only. More so, while the junior and amateur levels are strong and healthy, the overwhelming majority of fan and commercial engagement occurs only at the professional, AFL level. The sport is not required to compete for talent, domestically or overseas.
The environment for rugby is significantly more complex, and is highly influenced by overseas factors. Being a global game is both a blessing (magnificent World Cups every four years), and a curse (a 12-month season and Australia’s domestic player market being influenced by overseas clubs).
Contained within the diagram are rugby’s two great conflicts: club versus country and north versus south. Rugby Australia is required to administer all of rugby, amateur and professional, domestic and global. It’s a massive and hugely complex task.
It is popular to tar rugby’s administrators, but there are any number of events and occurrences outside of Rugby Australia’s control that remain influential on the current state of Australian rugby and impede progress.
Try the failure of the national unions of England and France in 1995 to sign their players to professional contracts, which led to the rise of professional clubs, and the reason why some Australian players are offered huge sums of money to play in Australia.
Or the admission of Italy into the Six Nations in 2000 with full voting rights, gifting them power and status exceeding their contribution to rugby, and the ability to help scuttle the proposed Nations League. This was an initiative that would have provided Australia with a more substantial share of the global commercial pie.
The wash-up from the global pandemic will leave northern hemisphere unions and clubs severely damaged. But their game will remain relatively stronger than in Australia. Revenue disparities, being a function of market size, will still exist.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
There is hope that the pandemic will result in a more accommodating calendar. But unless there is a major re-set of the sport at global level, and there is nothing to suggest that the French clubs will come to the party, changes will be at the margins, if they do occur.
Withdraw from Super Rugby and/or SANZAAR? What then becomes the pathway for Australia’s elite players? If it is the overseas leagues, thus replicating Australian football, is having Australia’s best players playing overseas something the Australian rugby public will genuinely accept? Note that the Socceroos have only once qualified for a World Cup knock-out stage and are currently ranked 41 in the world.
If SANZAAR folds or regresses to Rugby Championships only, how does Australia – a net beneficiary from New Zealand and South Africa’s contribution – replace the revenue?
Start a professional competition with New Zealand? By necessity, COVID-19-related travel restrictions could force this option upon both national unions. Does NZ Rugby have its heart in this?
The Pacific Islands? Asia? Japan? All long-term, desirable objectives, but for now – without money and planes, and Japan still to determine its own post-World Cup professional structure – what precisely are we talking about?
A new domestic competition built around existing clubs in Sydney and Brisbane, thus capturing an existing tribal supporter base? Or a hybrid NRC/club model that satisfies both national development and the Sydney clubs? Or neither, if the professional teams stay at home?
Which clubs would be winners and which ones would be losers? How big are their supporter bases? Do these clubs contain people with the experience and commercial acumen to operate a professional sports organisation? Or should all club rugby be strictly amateur?
Is the commercial market for domestic rugby in Australia – the number of people prepared to pay to watch rugby live or on TV – large enough to generate enough revenue to keep the best players and coaches in Australia?
That’s a rhetorical question, it isn’t. And if any competition was semi-professional, how would players and coaches remain competitive with those in professional programs overseas? They wouldn’t.
Players will soon discover the unfairness of the temporary salary reduction they signed up for becoming permanent, and deeper. That’s the harsh reality of the two main determinants of salaries being the open global market, and the ability of their employer to pay. It will also make it more difficult to keep league scouts from poaching young talent.
If more funding is to be directed into grassroots rugby, where does that money come from, if it isn’t from player salaries? To what extent is lack of money the problem? Are affiliation fees and insurances a real or perceived obstacle? Would more money provide more coaching expertise? Is there sufficient drive from the state bodies?
(AAP Image/Joel Carrett)
What the diagram demonstrates is that far too much is asked of rugby people. There is too much rugby, at too many different levels, for people to meaningfully engage with.
As a result, support for the game has become fragmented. There is a lack of common focus from which to generate fellowship and funds. It is the fundamental reason the divide has developed between the professional and amateur parts of the game.
Add to this societal and economic changes that impact on all communities – particularly in the country – and lead to diminishing participation and volunteerism, and loss of traditional values, thus making life difficult for clubs.
Add also the ability of AFL, rugby league and cricket behemoths to command the commercial sponsorship market and to suck oxygen out of the media, leaving rugby little free media space, other than to air its dirty laundry.
These are inherent pressures on the game that manifest themselves socially, financially and in performance.
None of this is anybody’s fault. It is how rugby is. How, then, can outcomes be improved?
The Environment/The Mechanism/The Detail
The trouble with a people’s revolution is that the people might agree broadly on what is wrong, but they will never agree on what is right.
In the short term, events will play out with respect to determining the full extent of the damage from COVID-19, a playing schedule for the rest of the year will be determined, and a revised financial model will be adopted.
The leadership vacuum will be filled by the appointment of an interim CEO – someone like Rob Clarke, who can step straight in, with no time for familiarisation. After that, a new chairman will replace the retiring Paul McLean.
Looking further ahead, a new CEO will be found, broadcasting rights and the future of SANZAAR will be determined, along with a new professional competition structure and – whatever the quantum – the budget forecast extended out further and an operating model set in place.
Governance is at the heart of the current discontent. The point of this exercise is not to argue if the Rugby Australia board is undemocratic and unaccountable to rugby’s stakeholders or not, but to ask if the constitution is not working for all of rugby in Australia, then can and should it be changed again to deliver an optimal governance structure?
This report from The Daily Telegraph in April 2012, which cites board member retired General Peter Cosgrove, is telling. The article announced a constitutional review to be conducted by Mark Arbib.
“We want to be the best rugby nation in the world, but as a community game, we can’t circle the wagons,” Cosgrove said.
“We have to be as creative and as energetic as we expect our players to be. This is not a time for old men in blazers to say not on my watch. Quite the reverse.”
Australian rugby has hit lean financial times in recent years, with a deficit of $7.5 million for 2011 announced yesterday. It was put down to the hugely reduced revenues due to the World Cup, but sponsorship was also down and the ARU’s belt-tightening at all levels of the game has left many at club, subbies and junior levels feeling disenfranchised.
Sound familiar?
(Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images)
As well intentioned and necessary as constitutional change was, hindsight has underscored fundamental flaws.
• Voting rights are held by state unions, Super Rugby franchises and RUPA, all of whom are dependent on Rugby Australia for their funding.
• It doesn’t reflect today’s actual structure, the different and conflicting demands of four states with professional sides, one with a professional side in a different competition, four states without professional sides, plus RUPA.
• A board made up of members who are independent rather than state delegates reflects tension between a national body looking enviously at New Zealand’s centralised model, states protecting a federalised model, and participants feeling removed from the people running the game.
• Lack of accountability between Rugby Australia and state unions leads to misalignment and outcomes like the costly NRC not being universally supported, or Rugby Australia having to bail out financial commitments made for televising of the Shute Shield.
• The nominations process for new board members is widely viewed as a closed shop.
Ideally, all states should have the same structure, with the Victorian model – where community rugby (junior and club), and professional rugby (Rising and the Rebels) and the Victorian Rugby Union operate under a single umbrella – appealing as best practice.
It would be difficult to achieve the same alignment in New South Wales, which contains clubs with longer histories and high ambitions. But without solving this piece – satisfying the needs of juniors, schools, subbies, Shute Shield clubs, the Waratahs and the NSW Rugby Union in a coherent way that aligns to the national objectives – lasting, harmonious and effective change in Australian rugby is probably impossible.
One suggestion is to carve out the professional franchises to an independent commission. Perhaps, but the professional franchises are not independent clubs like in the AFL and NRL. They are effectively owned or underwritten by Rugby Australia.
And apart from Andrew Forrest, where are there private investors keen to take on an Australian rugby franchise in the current environment? And how would that deliver an improved outcome for grassroots rugby?
(Photo by Daniel Carson/Getty Images)
Board competency and balance is also an issue. If it’s too corporate, criticisms emerge about people running the game who don’t know the game. If there’s too many old boys, and rugby in Australia finds itself back in 1984, and too Sydney-centric.
McLean is right to say that board transformation and renewal is already well underway. He is the only board member whose tenure predates 2017. In that sense, calls to spill the board and start again are aimed at who exactly?
Also key is the emergence of an individual to lead change and unite the game.
After years in the doldrums, South African rugby found their binding force in coach/director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus.
New Zealand’s change post their 2007 World Cup exit was not driven by an individual, but a consensus that parochial self-interest needed to be set aside. With little in recent history to suggest that approach will work here, an influential leader must emerge.
Wiggs has been touted as chairman, and clearly has sharp business acumen and passion for rugby. But he was also described last week in The Australian as showing “reluctance for the spotlight”.
If he is not to be the charismatic, public face of the game, then a different chairman – perhaps Hamish McLennan or Brett Godfrey – should be appointed. If not, then the new CEO must be that person.
The Environment/The Mechanism/The Detail
Governance/Structure
1. There would seem to be little option other than to conduct another constitutional review, by two eminently qualified people in both a legal and rugby sense, one from Sydney rugby and one from another state, who would consult widely with the rugby community.
2. Continue to improve community, grassroots outcomes through streamlined state structures that provide for effective implementation of national strategies, where the states are truly accountable for delivery.
3. Truly align rugby in New South Wales with the national body. The issue is not one of power, but to eliminate situations where separate governing bodies can work at cross-purposes.
4. Determine, once and for all, the true place of club rugby. Either it is truly amateur, or it becomes the only semi-professional domestic level. One or the other.
5. In any healthy sport or organisation there must always be a place for robust debate and mechanisms for change. However, once policy is determined, governance structures must be respected.
Media
6. Rugby Australia must strive to find a balance between reliance on revenue from broadcasting and independent operation. Media partners are crucially important, but too often their commercial interests override the interests of the sport.
7. Technology readiness and the financial tipping point will determine the timing, but with the current subscription TV model on its last legs, Rugby Australia should seek ways to retain ownership of content, potentially enabling pieces to be carved out in a way that maximises reach and revenue.
(William West/AFP/Getty Images)
8. The AFL is relentless in the way it influences the amount and tenor of its coverage. Australian rugby, meanwhile, subjects itself to weekly tearing down of the sport in Australia’s only national newspaper by one of its own. Put extra resources into lobbying mainstream media providers to ensure greater visibility and control of the media narrative.
Marketing
9. Rugby Australia and its partners (SANZAAR and/or New Zealand) must market the game in a way that honours and connects with traditional supporters of rugby (many of them dormant) but that also engages new generation audiences. Rugby has to get much better at hero-making and connecting young fans with rugby’s star players.
10. Super Rugby (or its replacement) must be promoted as an exciting offering in its own right, not rolled into Rugby Australia’s general marketing effort. It is criminal that star players like Beauden Barrett, Ardie Savea, Cheslin Kolbe, Siya Kolisi, Pablo Matera and others pass through our rugby cities virtually unnoticed.
11. Reconsider the role of the rugby.com.au website. The site is professional and performs a valuable function, but it is passive, serving already rusted-ons. Use this for in-house promotion of the Wallabies, Wallaroos, Sevens and community rugby, but don’t believe that it serves as an effective external marketing tool.
Rugby operations
12. Elevate the director of rugby’s presence to enable the CEO to fully focus on the non-rugby elements of the game.
13. Coaching development has lagged behind for years in Australia. Rugby Australia should more readily communicate where progress is being made, and where gaps remain by region and level to ensure that standards continue to be raised.
14. With the Western Force to come back into this year’s domestic competition, and Global Rapid Rugby still to come to fruition as a proper competition, there is an opportunity to examine the benefits of full reconciliation.
15. A new competition must deliver more scheduling predictability for franchises and fans. More regular home games – more of them on weekend afternoons perhaps – are essential. One of the successes of Super Rugby is that fans are conditioned to a 5.35pm (changed this season to 5.05pm) match on a Friday night from New Zealand that always delivers.
16. A ten-team franchise competition using Australia and New Zealand’s existing sides has undeniable merit in terms of readiness and tribalism. Japan could be added, still keeping the competition within the same time zone and providing for a regular home game schedule. The competition could be improved further by equalisation from allowing a player draft across countries, effectively mirroring the NRL. New Zealand has long resisted this. Lobby them hard under the banner of bad times and a broken model require bold initiative. But if they refuse, accept it as their right and move on.
17. Nobody wants a return to a top-heavy approach, but there can be no argument that when the Wallabies are winning, many problems disappear. Everything possible – resources, alignment through franchise coaches, fan support – should be geared to the success of Dave Rennie and his coaching team.
(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
The game
18. The time taken to set scrums and the frequency of re-sets remains a problem, but the pandemic allowing for a scroll through old tapes shows how rugby today is not as unattractive as many make out. Rugby remains hugely popular around the world, and we all saw the enthusiasm for the game in Japan last year. By all means continue to experiment in appropriate leagues, with World Rugby’s oversight, and lobby hard for law changes where there are obvious improvements to be had. For what it’s worth, I enjoy the nine-point Super Try, a 40-20 or 50-20 rule is worth exploring further, and shortening the game to 70 minutes makes no sense at all. But it is wrong to think that Australia alone can fix rugby’s laws, and even if it could, that it would solve anything.
19. A reason why the game is so popular in Japan is that they play – under the same laws – an instantly recognisable style of physical, dynamic, fast, attacking rugby. Unlike South Africa and New Zealand, Australia lacks an identifiable style of play that is inherently understood by juniors and carried right through the game. If Australian rugby truly committed to defining and developing its own brand of distinctive attacking rugby – yes, it is a long-term objective – would this better capture the imagination of fans? Absolutely.
Engagement
20. Thirty-five thousand Wallabies fans attended last year’s World Cup in Japan and enjoyed a wonderful experience. How about everybody in the game accepting some responsibility for its well being? Go to a game, any game. Put a few dollars over a club bar. Be part of the solution.
Over the next few weeks I will publish articles on the Cauliflower Club and the newly formed Over-35s Rugby Alliance, a group co-ordinating various masters teams and competitions across Australia and New Zealand.
These are but two examples of rugby people getting on with enjoying the fellowship that this great game offers, without the need to concern themselves with politics. The game is still there to be enjoyed.
JAMES G HASLAM
Guest
The core problem Australian rugby faces is that is is the # 4 football code in Australia (and falling further behind #3) and is competing in a global market where Rugby is at worst, the #2 football code. So across the board, the numbers don't stack up. And Raelene Castle is not to blame.
Sterling
Guest
Geoff, Great read. So many aspects very well laid out. As far as I can tell, a lot of the problems Aust Rugby has seem to revolve around what you've described in the past as it's Federated Affiliation Structure, i.e the state based set up. How much they vary in resources (population, playing numbers/strengths) would have a lot to do with it. So could I ask, do we need these state unions? What is it that they provide that the national body couldn't? Can't the rugby communities (district/zones etc) that govern local club comps act as our rugby provinces? The only benefit I can see from having so many layers (9); -Schools/Junior -Sub-district -District/Zone -Country sub unions (QLD) -Country/City -NRC -State -SR -National is to provide player pathways and progression. But I think it's also driving the game into irrelevance. It's all far too disjointed and isolated. Imagine how much easier the amateur game would be to follow if it looked like this (4); -Schools/Junior -Club (premier clubs would open themselves up to relegation and join sub-district club comps, but that's a whole other article) -Province (What we now refer to as districts & zones, but including ACT, NT, SA, TAS, WA, Victoria Country & Melbourne) -National Body. Where the pro game sits amongst it is also another article on it's own, but surely the amateur game is what breeds life long fans. Being part of a rugby community instils that much more than watching the best players on tv ever could. I tried my best to read as many comments as I could in search for an answer, but there's simply too much to get through late at night.
Monorchid
Roar Rookie
Geoff, I agree with others who have commented that this is a magnificent article. I know that it is a couple of days old, but I've been thinking about it quite a bit. While everything you've written provides a wonderful explanation about where rugby is now and perhaps what it could or should be, it's those diagrams of yours which have drawn me back. I'm an older chap now, but it all used to be so simple, at least in my decaying grey cells. A boy left school, joined a club, and graduated to the club's First XV. Then maybe the player was selected in the State squad, and later perhaps ended up in an Australian jersey. This isn't too different to your AFL diagram. It's the rugby diagram which shows just how complicated and entwined that Australian and international rugby has become. It looks like an animal which has been made up of unrelated other animals. A rugby version of Ornithorhynchus if you will. How can anyone manage such a business model even without the complications of trying to finance the model? I think you raised the issue of sponsorship. The Australian sponsorship dollar seems to me to be stretched to breaking point, and yet, like Oliver Twist, everyone wants some more. This can't last, and the current crisis shows that it hasn't lasted. You also touch on the game itself and how the game today isn't as unattractive to watch as some try to make out. I'd partly agree with you, but the game does need to overcome having so much time taken up with scrum resets and stoppages based on rules and decisions that even aficionados can't agree on. Ironically, it was always the technical nature of the game we all love that attracted me, but it's gone too far in this direction. I'm sure that the upper level administration of the game needs attention, but the higher levels of rugby need to have much more exposure than they get. For example, I can watch quite a lot of RL on free to air TV, but I've got to pay for rugby. RL gets a lot of good exposure this way. Sure, I can watch test matches for free, and Channel 10 does replay some SR games. But I'm a retiree with limited income and I can't afford pay TV, even Kayo's base package. What this did a few years ago was direct my attention to local club games where I can watch games for free; meet new people; and lie unashamedly about my deplorable rugby career to people who can't prove any different. Finally, I've wondered for quite a while if younger people are as interested in football as much as they used too in numbers which can generate the income that professional codes need. Keep up the good work and I'm sorry for warbling on so much. You'll need to forgive an old bloke.
Muglair
Roar Rookie
LOL I know what mutually exclusive is, I just could not read it into my comment. I think local support is a must though, if they are not watching their own team they will never get to appreciate the other players. The rugby fanatic who will watch any game any time is only a problem when the local team is so bad, and so disconnected that he/she refuses to watch.
numpty
Roar Rookie
mutually exclusive means you can't have both, its one or the other (you can't turn left and right simultaneously, but you can turn left while eating a burrito). In this instance, I think both (strong local support, and better marketing/appreciation of SA/NZ players) can be achieved.
Muglair
Roar Rookie
I agree with you Numpty even though I could not figure out what was mutually exclusive. Probably my rambling communication style, sadly I tend to keep thinking while I right. Yes, I know, multi tasking does not work but cannot persuade the other side of the brain.
numpty
Roar Rookie
The two aren't mutually exclusive, you can have both. Its the tahs job to connect to the local community and has nothing to do with how SR/RA markets the comp as a package. If anything, creating a respect/admiration/knowledge of SA/NZ teams would make it more likely tahs fans turn up to watch them play rather than the local derbies only.
Muglair
Roar Rookie
Club rugby is the least broken and most of the problems are imposed by SR and NRC. Tidy up club rugby and have the NRC team only drawing from that city's competition. NRC should be run at some point during the season so players start and finish the season wholly involved in club footy. You won't need a program, half the attendees at any premier division game on Saturday will know when and where the NRC are playing tomorrow. Supporters following school and subbies rugby will not necessarily have a direct connection to NRC players but may be inclined to adopt the city's NRC side.
Muglair
Roar Rookie
Yes they are in the way. The accountability is in the financials. Poor administration of the game leads to losses. Unfortunately RA has to bail them out because they have contractual responsibilities to provide 4 (formerly 5) SR sides. RA is responsible too but it is a bit like being an Optus customer on a Telstra line. Poor performance, nothing gets fixed, you keep paying and can never get to the bottom of whose fault it is.
Muglair
Roar Rookie
Going way back I used to hate SA commentators, they made Kearnsy and Marto look like the most impartial of Supreme Court judges. In more recent times what comes through is the depth of knowledge and passion for the game. There was even a game where they just toasted the locals early (might have been test or SR) and the commentators were wetting themselves with the magic of some of the Aussie play. Must be a few years ago I guess :crying: Maybe we should always have the home commentators, lowers costs and/or we escape the sheer excitement of Australians commentating from the studio. A mate of mine has been working in Hamilton and they know a lot of the players and support staff by name. I do not think Waratahs have done much to connect locals to SR but could not comment on the others, but crowds tell a similar story. If you are not connected to the local side then you are not going top be connected to anyone else either. Probably not watching the Waratahs either!
Phil
Guest
Akitas,I think you have made a good point and I also don't see the need for the comment from Waxhead.I am a rugby supporter but would question his comment that it is the 2nd most popular team sport in the world,but even if it is,that's probably a long way behind the most popular. Rugby at test match,world cup level is certainly very strong but,in Australia at least,it has always struggled for support in the tiers below that.You can even look at rugby mad countries like NZ and SA,they struggle to attract crowds to Super rugby.This will make it incredibly difficult to obtain a lucrative broadcast deal. Great article from Geoff,though.RA CEO candidate??
AndyS
Guest
Absolutely. No club or even Premier competition should in itself be even semi-pro; it inherently diverts attention and funding away from the things those clubs should be all about. I have no problem with the state/representative level acting as a HPU and paying players for the increased commitment that requires, but no club should be paying players. It may be a little idealistic in the real world, but as far as is possible that should be enshrined within the structure of the sport.
Muglair
Roar Rookie
Agree that there is no one magic bullet. Has to be a significant review to decide how rugby should be governed. As you have previously mentioned the current structure is about 100 years old and there is not one all controlling body. After determining what the needs of the players at every level, then we can determine where there needs to be a layer of governance. One thing you cannot do is introduce any pro, semi-pro concept into the bottom layer of amateur club rugby. There will always be an arms race, insolvency practitioners can be the only winners. It destroys clubs and lifelong friendships.
Double Agent
Guest
Ah yeah...'course.
Muglair
Roar Rookie
Sorry, obviously ambiguous. Back in the amateur days one of the offsets against going to the NRL was the alleged career opportunities post rugby. There are still lots of examples of prominent players going into the business world with the luxury of a head start. I just do not get the impression there is so much emphasis on that nowadays. In part, the pay they are getting probably downplays the need for a career in the players mind but also prospective employers assume it is not required. I also agree on your point. I did not get the concept of the NSW Waratahs being a club. Players talk about it because they live it as you describe. The administrators failed because they made no effort to make supporters part of the club.
Muglair
Roar Rookie
Change in leaders, change in KPIs, change in philosophy. Money invested on NRL.com did not go to the clubs. I am inclined to think that divesting to 9 with increase in broadcast rights income while saving significantly the HO expense of maintaining it will be very attractive to the clubs and buy V'landys a lot of loyalty. That does show how valuable owning the content and means to distribute it is. Even cashing in today will pay back many times over.
Geoff Parkes
Expert
Hi Andrew It's an interesting one, about how democratic (or undemocratic) the process is. In the purest sense, anybody can run for RA board, although because there is no open vote, you would need to demonstrate particular experience, skill set and support base to have any hope. Should it be different? RA is a complex, $120m business, so I think we're well past the days of amateur delegates 'getting their turn'. The idea that a 'people's candidate' could have a run at one spot has merit, but at the end of the day I suspect that this might only make people feel better, without it actually achieving anything. The current board has Hayden Rorke from club rugby, I think that's probably a good compromise - to ensure that at least one suitably qualified board member comes from club rugby.
Geoff Parkes
Expert
Cheers, and thanks for your contributions.
Geoff Parkes
Expert
"However I am not sure how much effort goes into that at higher levels, given the waves of cash washing through for players." I think this one is a bit of a misconception. Just because players are paid doesn't mean that when they're sweating out together at training, and travelling to and from games they aren't bonding like amateur players. They are. In fact, potentially more so because they're together for longer, and have a lot more team building stuff organised for them.
Geoff Parkes
Expert
It's very interesting that the NRL would go to all that trouble (and risk) Muglair, to set it up, to a point where it's profitable, and then look to change strategy. I guess it comes down to confidence in your product and assessing that you can make more sticking with a broadcast partner, but rugby's situation is more complex because there are 3 immediate partners in SANZAAR, plus a global sales market. Being a lot more fragmented, that would suggest that there's more to be gained by owning the content and selling it off piecemeal. Beyond the financial reasons, I agree with Ben Alexander, that this latest episode and shown how important it is for RA to retain its independence where it can. It's been creamed by a broadcast partner looking after its own interests, not the interests of the game.