'We can’t sugarcoat this': Bring it in tight, Australian rugby

Thanks Jez. Sorry for belated reply got hung up with some other things. Your right about the coaching discussion as for Marks succesor thick skin and some decent nurries I guess ??? Cheers

The problem is actually very easy to identify and it's the lack of a 3rd tier domestic comp. If you aren't playing professional rugby you aren't developing - it's that simple. No development and we have no top line players. Given the political, financial and geographical constrains it's a very difficult issue to resolve, though. Frankly - I'd be bending over for Twiggy. Get him to fund an NRC somehow. Or, i suppose, sell a stake to a multi-national private equity firm (a la All Blacks). Emergency back-up, send our boys over to compete in the NPC.

Good plan but you miss the critically important first stage. A well supported schools competition based in each of the five States and including State schools playing more than six games for the year. Get rid of GPS comps and have multi divisions with promotion and relegation. Southeast QLD could have up to 24 teams for example and then we will be capturing and promoting the talent required to compete internationally as well as making our domestic product more marketable.

That forward pack needs quality second rowers with depth that's why we need to scrap Hitesh law and pick the best that are eligible.simple as that .

Thanks for the info jez. Didn’t realise this year got underway so late and after Easter. I do hope that RA can find one person to get a new coaching scheme underway. What’s a camel? A horse designed by a committee.

Are we trying to lift the game or just the Wallabies? If its just the Wallabies you can forget about all the professional coaching and National approach as all it will do is create jobs for former players and alone WILL NOT help the game from the continuous slide we see in Aus!! And why when rugby is thriving all over the world just not here because it has been neglected from public schools and grassroots level. If we are to be honest about how to get the interest back in Rugby we need to use the current cash we have to begin to rebuild the game from the base up, then take advantage of the cash that hosting the World Cup. Here is an idea RA, ask the very successful AFL how they do it, you dont see them just pouring their money into the elite player level at the expense of the grassroots. It might be hard to swallow but they do it with far better results than any other code and with Rugby being an international sport we have a far superior product to sell. Sell it to the kids!

Good suggestions BF. Moore also made the point after last weekend's grand final that no-one involved was paid a cent. There's too many people these days whose only vested interest is in keeping their snouts in the trough.

G’day jez, Back in the day, Brisbane club competition started in late April, after Easter, with GFs in September. It now starts in late Feb/early Mar with GFs last weekend. Interesting side note, Stephen Moore, former WB captain played for winning Uni side at 38 yea. Post match he said what I had heard Daniel Herbert say many years aga. Bleds and World Cups are great, but nothing is like winning a GF with your club mates. Having done so, for the first time, he then announced his retirement. This brings me to my point. Super AU, or NRC or what ever we have can not start until the end of the club comps. Those grassroots culminations must never be over-ridden by anything. That is the gloss that is our game. As for the National coaching scheme, I feel it began with Bob Templeton going to Wales to learn from and then bringing well respected Welsh coach, Ray Williams, to Aus, at his own expense I believe, to teach Aus coaches new approaches to coaching in the late 70s or early 80s. Then, one man, Dick Marks was charged with developing the system in the 80s. No doubt he had help, but one man, not a committee, running the show. If that’s not Johnson’s prime responsibility, what is he doing? If he can’t “write” it himself, he should get someone who can. I’d suggest that starting with the Dick Marks scheme would be a good introduction, and secondly cut the cost of courses and re-accreditation if you want people involved and continuing their involvement.

This is a big explainer why our teams especially backs lack nous. They simply do not have enough live games when young. Cheers KP

Because the competition could reach its potential. Which it simply cannot do while it is simply the set of trial matches it is now... Twiggy could afford to buy all 3 Barret brothers for example - if he thought he could get a return for it. We could for example, Finally have a global club challenge - to find out who really is the best club in the world. Another thing we can't have while it is an ARU puppet.

Pros and cons to both I guess, Jez. Couple other ideas I had were: - Rugby needs an Oz Kick program… and fast! I could have easily played rugby growing up, heck there was union team just over the border in Albury, but I played Aussie rules as a kid because Oz Kick was everywhere and that’s all my friends were doing. Rugby needs it’s own version of the Oz Kick program. I know each state has various youth programs but we desperately need a program that has the marketing and reach that Oz Kick does and is unified across the country. It's strength is it marketing and brand. - Rugby 7s in Public Schools To get rugby in public schools which has long been dominated by League in NSW and QLD, and AFL in Southern states, we need to create a program for Rugby 7s in public schools to drive interest in the code. Let’s face it, without adequate coaching it’s going to be hard to get the 15-a-side code within public schools, however, using 7s as a platform could be a great tool. It’s a short, sharp format and can be learnt without needing the infrastructure like 15s does (i.e. Scrum machines, tackle pads + suits, etc.). I know in Victoria they’ve already launched a 7s Gala Day for public schools and was taken out by Fountain Gate and Grange in the men's and women's respectively.

Your step one would be a great immediate improvement and I wont go into your other points as the Aussie set-up is so different from that of South Africa. I believe that at any given time, a country has only so many players that are gifted and experienced enough as to be called world class or close to it. They have been through a lot of rugby systems and know their way around the park. More likely than not, they acquired that last bit of excellence not in their country of birth where they played most of their rugby but overseas for twice or more their normal salary. A player knowing his worth has shot up has positive confidence gains and most players overseas game correspondingly improve. So not only has a country a larger player base to choose from because of it but even better, somebody else is paying to upskill them even more. Why on earth would a country not tap into that overseas resource begging to be used? Only two things have taken the Boks from no 7 to 1 - unlimited overseas players and exceptional coaching. Only when investor money has flowed long enough into South African rugby to the point that we can keep players here, might homegrown talent become a larger segment of the total Bok pool. Until then (if ever), overseas players are saving the Boks. I know Aussie rugby is different but the principle stays the same. Another issue is once a local player excels, he is offered more money overseas which has proven to be irresistible to players and off he goes just for the next young and inexperienced player to fill his position and continiously keep the median player pool experience and skills level low. There are only so many players that can win you a game and ways need to be found to get them on the park. All our naysayers in SA have gone deathly quiet and nobody here clamours anymore to have just locals play. Your first step is a great step.

What's wrong with the A-League jez?