In recent weeks it feels as though Rugby Australia chair Hamish McLennan has been itching for a fight and lapping up the publicity such a stoush brings, whether it’s publicly airing his wish list of NRL superstars that rugby is aiming to entice or calling out NZ Rugby for not sharing their broadcast riches.
McLennan and his administration seem determined to fight hard and fight publicly for a bigger piece in the ever-crowded Australasian sporting market.
However, it would be a far better use of McLennan’s time to drive west this week and check out the excitement or possible hysteria that has engulfed everywhere west of Homebush Bay Drive in Sydney town.
Driving around Parramatta on Saturday morning after the Eels’ courageous preliminary final victory over the North Queensland Cowboys really was a sight to behold. Flags adorned cars and buildings, every second person seemed to sport the blue and gold in some manner and every shop that sold Eels apparel was brimming with happy excited customers, some with long lines that snaked around the block.
It is no secret that the Eels have one of the longest premiership droughts in Australian sport, so the fact that they have so many dedicated fans left is something of a miracle, yet the level of passion and fandom in Parramatta this week has so far been best demonstrated by the almost 5000 fans who came to watch the team in an open training session on Monday.
By any metric the Parramatta Eels have had a successful 2022 season. They have 35,000 members and an average home crowd of 20,015, and Friday night’s preliminary final will reach nearly two million viewers after streaming numbers and regional viewers are counted.
Penrith, who have enjoyed their own parochial scenes in the town centre recently, are an even better benchmark for sporting success. They’ve got teams in the grand final in the under-18s, under-21s NSW Cup and of course the NRL. This sort of success is unmatched by almost any other franchise in Australian sport and points to the riches of talent in the Nepean area and beyond.
The Panthers do recruit heavily out of the central west, but names like Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai and Brian To’o are all homegrown talents. Their network of development officers and junior talent identification is a thing to behold, and the fact that the NRL team is about to contest its third premiership with a large portion of local juniors in what is regarded as the toughest league competition in the world is evidence of the fruit that this area produces.
(Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)
All that begs the question: why has Rugby Australia been so reluctant to have even a meagre presence in this talent and resource rich area?
If you look at the growth and success of the two clubs contesting this weekend’s grand final, it points to a huge failure on the part of rugby union. In recent times many have pointed to the fact that the demographic is just too far from the target market of traditional rugby union audiences. With an average weekly income of sometimes $500 less than the lower North Shore and the eastern suburbs of Sydney, the residents of Greater Western Sydney just do not seem appealing to a sport that attracts the most luxury brands in Australia as corporate partners.
Yet Penrith and Parramatta partnering with recognised international companies such as Hertz and McDonalds proves that the fans of these teams are willing to spend their money to support their teams, and their sheer number makes their clubs appealing to corporate partners. So while it appears that rugby union has little to gain by targeting a non-traditional audience in a more working-class and diverse area, the reality is it could be costing them greatly.
To its great shame Rugby Australia has let one of Australia’s fastest growing areas slip further and further out of its grasp. Last year when the Shute Shield cut the Penrith Emus from its competition, Rugby Australia stood by and let it happen with absolutely no offer to help the struggling team in a talent-rich area.
The Wallabies played no games at Stadium Australia or Western Sydney Stadium this year, two world-class arenas in Western Sydney. The Waratahs have also given up on Parramatta as a second venue, choosing instead to play home games at the new Sydney Football Stadium in the city’s east even though their membership in that area has been decimated by the Sydney Swans AFL club.
But the biggest failing is the lack of any sort of development programs or junior academies in Western Sydney when the rosters of both the Eels and especially the Panthers boast multiple players who would walk into the current struggling Wallabies team.
Rugby Australia blame the inaction in the west on a lack of funds, yet Hamish McLennan is more than prepared to pay seven figures a year to lure established league players across to the Wallabies, blind to the fact that with a little more investment he could have a team of superstars in the west.
The recent Rugby Championship proved that there is still an appetite for union in Australia, with the series experiencing strong crowds and ratings, yet the team underperformed, and when the sport went up against the NRL finals in the prime-time Saturday night slot, it was decimated in the ratings.
Yet the greater tragedy lies in the athletes and fans that rugby refuses to sign and interact with – athletes are supremely talented and fans who are immensely passionate who despite their upbringing in rival territory. You only have to do one lap around either Penrith or Parramatta this week to be convinced that any investment is worth it for rugby union.
Stuart White
Roar Rookie
They are ignoring 70% of Sydney - west and south west.
Stuart White
Roar Rookie
Great article terry. Oh boy where do you start with this one. Firstly, Rugby Australia leadership over the past 20 years should hold their heads in shame failing to capitalise on what I refer to as the glory days or "Eales" era of rugby success in Australia. Seriously how can you fail to capitalise on the popularity and profile from those days - literally they dropped the ball BIG TIME!! Secondly and related to the above comment - they have failed to put a grass roots development of the game in place in the fastest growing area of Sydney (Rugby's heartland) the western and south western suburbs. I think the cause here is the lack of diversity in leadership of Rugby Australia - not male female diversity but diversity in geographic background. How many folks in decision making position at Rugby Australia live west of the Gladesville bridge. I bet most of North Shore and Eastern Suburbs - head in the sand regarding whats going on out west and the opportunity they have missed, completely sidestepped by AFL, Soccer and the NRL.
Pete
Guest
So Westlake what would you suggest funny guy...
Two Cents
Guest
If what you say is true, the NSW government is probably only spending money to assist NRL in its activities as some kind of political stunt to get re-elected. They don't generally care about sports other than as an indirect source of revenue or as a way to appeal to a particular constituency. Why would they want to assist a sport generally perceived as elitist as rugby is which would make them unpopular, appearing out of touch with the average Western Sydney voter?
Jack Ghost
Roar Rookie
He has to back it up now, he will look like a huge failure if he doesn't sign any NRL Players. Just like he failed in Western Sydney.
Jake Tafau
Roar Rookie
The thing is the talent is out here to take on the big kiwi sides Rugby just aren't developing it. A western Sydney team in some sort of NRC would work but it would need a connection to this area, they should let the Panthers run it.
Toa Joe
Roar Rookie
The Panthers will never let them do it Jake, they have the pick of all the players now and they won't give it up. The championship winning Flegg side has 6 notable ex Rugby juniors in it, all great young players who now live and breathe the Panthers. If the Tahs move in they will have competition for those players.
jeznez
Roar Guru
Jake, no doubt Panthers are doing it right. My commute from Hong Kong would make it a bit tough to make that visit though. I think the Waratahs should be held to a similar number of games as the Blues do with Origin in league. New teams, domestic professional competition. If Oz has teams in all the locations (including the west of Sydney) that need them then we aren't strong enough to face the Kiwi Super sides - that's ok though, we'll have a competition that helps develop the code and provides opportunity for players.
Jake Tafau
Roar Rookie
As someone who made the trek east from Blacktown to play in the SS for many years I am telling you that the pool of players doing that is shrinking. It is a real honour now to play for the Panthers that it just wasn’t in the past for Samoan kids. Seriously, go to Panthers juniors training (promise you won’t get bashed) and look at the sheer number of talented players, everyone is fighting hard for a tracksuit so they can study around Westpoint and My Druitt Westfields like they are the man. Rugby went broke trying to build the East and it got them nowhere, the Waratahs need to come to Penrith and train here every day, do a deal with Fletcher to rent the Panthers COE, become visible and the players and fans will return.
Terry Polious
Roar Rookie
They need to stop being shy of recruiting in public schools, at present some of our most talented athletes are from the lowest socio economic areas of Sydney. Yet the Rugby clubs refuse to sign them.
Terry Polious
Roar Rookie
No my article is about how popular and passionate the NRL is in these two vibrant and growing areas of Sydney and how much of a shame it is of Rugby Union, NSW and RA that they have little or no presence out here. The playing talent is immense, the government investment strong and the fans passionate. Rugby Australia has chosen to ignore it at their great shame.
Malo
Guest
Yeah it is about pathways. Having a couple of Super teams fails to give young school leavers an opportunity to develop and see a path. However a vibrant domestic comp that is semi professional would. I go to school games and the talent is great though we do have to develop and include public schools
Brian Westlake
Roar Rookie
Aren't you the dirk that works at nrl HO? Thanks dirk
Brian Westlake
Roar Rookie
Will they get it Mick?
Brian Westlake
Roar Rookie
So what suggestions do you have? I reckon any option won't be laughed at
Toa Joe
Roar Rookie
Good job belittling and insulting the whole of Western Sydney.
JC
Roar Rookie
It’s true that McLennan has referred to poaching league players but he’s just winding up NRL folk. He’d need board approval for big-money recruitment and, given RA’s financial position, it’s hard to see them shelling out for unproven code-hoppers right now. I think big money is more likely to go towards repatriating Kerevi.
Two Cents
Guest
The tyranny of distance? Perhaps you've heard of it? But it is a fair point and interestingly enough the NRL has equally failed to notice or take any steps to make a move to the west coast. It is definitely one of many markets in Australia that is dramatically underserved by sports representation and since rugby does in fact already have a toe in door thanks to the state premiership, perhaps that's where they should be trying to build. It'd be a first for RA, to pip the NRL by engaging a market that they have as yet no presence in.
Two Cents
Guest
Western Sydney, as you might know, has long been populated by the working classes and immigrants from overseas and from other parts of the country for whom rugby is almost entirely alien. The fact that the biggest sports once you head west of Burwood are league and soccer is a testament to this truth. It is no rugby heartland nor is it in fact any sort of playground for fans of the game they play in heaven. AFL has only become supported there because of the ability of a much wealthier sports administration from down south to invest big cash in building grass roots programs for their code there. The only rugby played in the west is by the small community of private schools who are members of either the GPS or APS sporting unions. Rugby Australia has nowhere near the revenue to be able to spend as speculatively nor as deeply and it would be a waste of its limited resources to invest in a market that is already well-serviced by cashed-up rival codes. While I don't like the uneven investment model that RA currently employs where the only big spending is in the most lucrative markets rather than around the fringes of those markets in attempt to expand the game, they are somewhat constrained by how bold they can be with their money. The support for any sport arises out of many basic human needs, chiefly identity and belonging, and it taps into a fundamental tribalism that is still after tens of thousands of years of evolution hardwired into our DNA. For people to care about a sport and therefore to invest their precious time into following, it has to resonate with them on some level. There is a resounding din when you mention union west of Homebush Drive and people give you funny looks when you mention "rucks" and "mauls" and "line outs". These sections of the sporting audience will never find a game like rugby appealing because they can't understand the game and they have no appreciation for its finer details such as the continuous play and endless evolution of playing strategies, even throughout a single game. They need a format and a product that is easy to consume like league or soccer because their rules are far more simple, far more obvious and referring decisions are black and white, not open to interpretation. I don't mean to belittle the incredibly small and dedicated following of rugby in Western Sydney. Rugby has over 100 years of history in the west and that is as proud a tradition as any sporting code can claim anywhere in the country. But it is not a market that possesses much room for growth within the current framework and until that dramatically changes i.e. by RA investing in the establishment of a genuine national premier level rugby competition between the club level and Super Rugby, this fact wont change. The idea that somehow the answers to rugby's woes can somehow be found by poaching the stocks of the NRL is simply not facing facts. This strategy has been tried for 20 years and it has not made a difference. If your rationale is that by getting stars and rising talent from the league will somehow translate their fanbases across to the union, you will be very disappointed to learn that that isn't how sport works. The fans of these players will simply feel that their team and their code has lost a valuable talent rather than develop any interest in the code that they have moved to.
Micko
Roar Rookie
But geographically speaking, it doesn't matter what part of Sydney or Australia a western Sydney product is plying their professional trade. All it matters is that those opportunities are available. If a top rugby league player in western Sydney couldn't quite make a Parramatta or Penrith team/squad they just don't give up. They'd entertain offers from Manly, Sydney Roosters, Newcastle, GC Titans etc etc. There's LOTS of options available to them in other areas of Sydney, and obviously other areas of Australia. I'd also add that a talented North Sydney product won't just sit idly by and give up just because the Bears are no longer in the NRL. They'll know there's lucrative professional opportunities to be had outside their specific geographical region. :thumbup: