This is my new plan to revive rugby union in Australia.
Cost
Rugby needs to reduce ticket costs. When I was growing up, junior rugby players got free entry into the outer at Super Rugby. We need young fans. Let them in for free. It will be a worthwhile investment.
Tries
Sport is a category of entertainment. We are competing for people to spend their hard-earned dollars to watch rugby entertainment. Fans want tries. To score more tries, defences need to be fatigued.
Just as Eddie Jones suggested last year, we need to limit the amount of interchanges to six. It’s too easy for big guys to catch their breath and re-form the defensive line. Bring the little man back into the game by rewarding endurance.
Scheduling
I cannot understand why rugby would schedule a game to clash with the AFL grand final. There’s only ever going to be one clear winner.
No late games. Young kids cannot attend matches that kick off after 8pm. We are shooting ourselves in the foot here. I understand with COVID we are doing double headers but I’d ask the broadcasters to use a little common sense and move things forward by at least 30 minutes.
(Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)
In cricket I always loved the Australia versus Australia A match. It was a fierce rivalry. Why not copy it for rugby. Have a televised match before the internationals start. Other options include Australia Pasifika versus the rest or a State of Origin-style match.
Community
Even in this professional era, players do not need to be training every day. It should be mandatory for Super Rugby teams to have a half day per week in the community.
Nothing is more inspiring for junior rugby players than meeting their heroes. It may sound naïve but community initiatives should trump sponsorship requirements.
Media responsibility
When I pick up the newspaper, is there any danger of seeing a positive rugby story celebrating three wins in a row rather than the latest rugby league player to get arrested for misbehaving?
When you view some sports websites, rugby is the last listed sport. It is even behind boxing and NFL!
Draft
Could we please introduce a Super Rugby NBA-style combine or draft? It would nicely complement Rugby Australia’s proposed television of schoolboy rugby.
You could have a week-long camp testing sports biometrics. It would generate community interest in the game at a grassroots level. It would also provide another broadcast opportunity for a mendicant union.
Parochial, protectionist unions will argue this disincentivises local academies, but you can weight the draft picks to favour local products.
(Photo by Richard Heathcote – World Rugby via Getty Images)
Adjudication
When it comes to gaps in play, the two rugby codes have gone in polar opposite directions. Rugby league has simplified things by essentially eliminating scrums and introducing the six-again rule. This has sped the game up and made it more exciting and easy to follow for casual fans.
Rugby union has gone the other way. Union has introduced more laws at the breakdown. More laws are subject to differing interpretations across the globe.
It has become so choked and convoluted that even rugby commentators often find it hard to understand some rulings. Referees should endeavour to avoid technical penalties like when players on the ground make a tackle.
I want to see referees facilitating the play rather than looking to penalise players. Rule confusion would have to be one of the main complaints from my friends when I try to lure them to a game.
Stoppages are a slow poison. The current verbose English referees in the Rugby Championship love a conference discussion with the TMO. I want these limited to 30 seconds. I felt the highly efficient TMO use during Super Rugby AU was a good example of the haste required.
Also, I don’t want referees having detailed chats with the players in the last 15 minutes of the game… just keep it moving. I want referees cracking down on players milking stoppages to do up shoe laces. I want a shot clock up for penalties, conversions and line drop-outs to speed things up. Ninety seconds would suffice.
I hate it when players milk penalties such as when scrum halves throw it at retreating players. After one warning, this could perhaps be a five-minute green card offence.
(Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)
Check your comms before play. It’s really annoying when at the first requirement for the referee to liaise with the TMO, the communication equipment fails.
Empower the referees to use a little common sense. Once a TMO check is referred for high contact, the first thing they do is put it in super slow-motion. Everything looks worse in super-slow motion. In every circumstance it ends up being a card until proven otherwise.
They will show replays ad nauseam to support a card decision. It reminds of when they replay catches in cricket to see if it has carried.
The replays often don’t help facilitate a verdict, rather they provide five minutes of dead space during the coverage. I would rather the TMOs intervene to eliminate a howling miss.
Promotion
I know the Bledisloe is our big rivalry. However don’t blow all your promotion budget on this game as we usually don’t win.
It’s really deflating for new fans when they switch on to the Bledisloe only to see the Wallabies cop another flogging. When we attract fans to the game, we need a win. Save some of the budget for more likely wins against other teams.
I loved the Rupert McCall clip on the Golden Thread. I also love the Matt Nable promotional videos although I suspect with his acting success, these may be getting a little expensive.
It wasn’t that long ago that rugby almost bankrupted itself out of existence. For whatever reason it was trapped in this recurring nightmare, unable to progress towards recovery.
For so long Australian rugby was paralysed by bureaucracy and in-fighting. Australian rugby teams forgot how to win. The trophy cabinets were bare and the coffers were skint.
A willing team has now inherited this game and taken up the fight. A pulse has returned the domestic game but there is no silver bullet cure. Rather there are stages of recovery.
There are many things that we can do to assist the healing process.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
The thing is that even a sellout at suncorp ( 50k ) can be a home game or it can be shared by 4. It may even its self out if they did away with the double headers but a double header efectively halves the profits. But if you split the games you are asking fans of 1 country to support 4 teams rather than 1. EG a Arg v NZ game in Newcastle wont get the same as if the game was in NZ or in Arg.
Stin
Roar Rookie
Yes I know the cash setup is important. But if you get a 5 or 6 year head of steam up maybe the $$ balance out. That requires cohesive code administration though….
Cam the kiwi
Guest
Honestly the easiest way to close the gap between AU and NZL is to merge our comps. Kiwis eligible for All Blacks while playing for AU teams and visa versa. Tate playing under Smith or TJ for the Reds, or even Noah and Richie for the crusaders Kerevi under a coach like Razor would take him to the next level and stop the silly penalties he us vulnerable to! Once this happens the level of rugby will rise with NZ v AU and the Bled may even cross the ditch more often than 20 years! Well I hope not still am a kiwi......
JB
Roar Rookie
I can only speak for my area but my two cents on: Cost: Brumbies and Tahs are both cheaper than their competition in NRL and AFL for Daily Tickets (and most memberships as well). Brumbies, Tahs, Reds and Rebels all offer free ticket to junior rugby players to every home game. Community: All the clubs spend significant amounts of time EVERY week in the community, perhaps they just need to get better at promoting those activities.
Andrew
Guest
Agree. Been to every Wallabies game in Sydney since 97 (born 89) and multiple year Waratahs member. Feel I have some skin in the game if not meeting AAs definition for insanity by sticking with it. They never got over themselves after the 2003 World Cup and success just before. Ticket prices in excess of $200/250 for the All Blacks are ridiculous let alone it being at Homebush. I’ve watched the crowds drop and drop and drop it’s an emotional killer every year going to see more bays empty. The cost is absurd and never got over the fact it isn’t all private school eastern suburbs Audi drivers. I begged for years with the Waratahs to come out to where I work in a western Sydney school. I had them out for drill and skills days with our well-being days. Had a super dedicated staff member who was keen to see it happen. We had agreed to develop an inter school comp potentially starting with 7s with the five main schools in the area. Massive talent pool. This bloke left and nobody else at the NSWRU wanted to talk to me and said they couldn’t fit in my school ever again. Family of a famous Wallaby attend my school and they still wouldn’t do it. They’ve done free tickets at tahs games but they almost became patronising with their game day experience it turned people off. Return to the gold is a good step. Let’s fill some stadiums next year, simple but effective marketing and game day. They need to just build the base again before making it complicated
James
Guest
You do realise every register U16 player in NSW gets free entry into each Waratahs home game. They have for about 4 years.
TJ-Go Force!
Roar Rookie
It’s come a heck of a long way. I take my hat off to RugbyWA.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
If not double headers, lmiting the tournament to one (or two) locations each year, takes jet lag out of the equation for players. NZ -OZ one year SA-ArG next year.
sheek
Roar Guru
T Bradley, My first preference would be a National Provincial Championship just like in NZ & SA. South Australia (capital Adelaide), Eastern Australia (NNSW, capital Newcastle) & North Queensland (capital Townsville) should be fast-tracked to join NSW, Queensland, ACT (+SNSW), Victoria & WA. Tasmania could be added at a later date. It's instructive that the provincial/state system has worked very well for cricket for over 130 years despite its historical summer popularity. Rugby, like cricket, & unlike rugby league, football & soccer, has a finite appeal, no matter how popular it becomes. So the provincial concept works well in that regard. Also, the provinces sit comfortably atop the metropolitan district premier rugby comps, which is an important consideration in the structural hierarchy. Alternately, you could have an immediate 12 team national club comp comprising say Sydney, North Harbour, East Sydney, West Sydney, Brisbane, South Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Newcastle & North Queensland. But a national club comp would immediately create friction with the metropolitan district premier rugby clubs in Sydney & Brisbane. Is this an unnecessary war we need to have? We can go with either, but for heaven's sake, go with one of them!
sheek
Roar Guru
Waarkool, Well the NZ & SA (until recent times) systems are the domestic systems to follow. But again, there is/will be enormous resistance. In NZ & SA, all secondary schools compete against each other - both private & public. We should do exactly the same here, but wait for all the wailing from the private schools having to mix with the uncouth, lowbrow public schools. Premier rugby is no longer the final finishing school for Wallabies like it might have been in the amateur era. We need our own national comp, just like NRL, AFL & A-League. Although I am historically pre-disposed to a national provincial comp (NSW, Qld, ACT, WA, Vic, etc), I accept a national club comp is more likely a better fit for Oz, ie, Sydney (several teams), Brisbane (a couple of teams), Canberra, Perth, Melbourne, etc. Again, wait for the wailing from those who will put their own interests before the greater good. A super rugby component in the form of a Champion's Cup is a good idea, encompassing the the top two domestic teams from each of Australia, NZ, SA & Argentina. The Rugby Championship has been a great addition to the annual program, while decisions need to be made re the inclusion of Japan, Fiji, Samoa & Tonga. There are other issues surrounding the latter four countries named, but they are not primary to this discussion. Certainly Australia can move forward with a very desirable domestic structure of pathways to the Wallabies. But at present, too many people are hanging onto their agenda, refusing to compromise.
carnivean
Roar Rookie
Rugby in AU has a money problem and your first two points directly affect that but in the wrong direction. Ticket sales and tv deals are the 2 biggest income streams and you want to cut prices on the tickets and change timeslots to make it less attractive to the tv audiences, driving down the broadcast deal's value. You might be able to make changes to ticketing, such as children under 12 free with a limit of 2 or 3, but only where it isn't competing with other paying customers. I'm also unsure how you think that Rugby AU can control the media? I like the spirit of your proposal but some of the detail doesn't stack up.
T Bradley
Roar Rookie
guess you could say it's "infeesible"
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
I just don't see it workable if ever challenged. It would be the same as what football transfer fees once were, until it was legally challenged.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
it loses a lot of money this way tho Stin. You get 4 teams dividing the crowd money at every double header. I cant see other nations agreeing to that.
Tim J
Roar Rookie
Exactly! Maybe SA should look at young AFL talent, it would help Rugby in OZ at the same time :silly:
Jacko
Roar Rookie
In different locations anyway so I cant see the Townsville crowd being effected by the AFL GF in Perth. Yep it may have reduced the viewing numbers a little but so does having the RC in one country. It is what it is for 2021
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Bob Bob I 100% agree with those 8pm starts. Its crazy and it stops kids from attending with dad. 7pm would be far better.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
BOKs kicks?
Tim J
Roar Rookie
And kick too much also
T Bradley
Roar Rookie
Thx Stin, I like your idea but unsure how favourable the SA Timezone will be for us