In the first quarter of 2023, Rugby Australia is set to follow the lead of New Zealand Rugby and ink their own private equity deal.
While RA might yet decide to continue to borrow money, with the belief the game will get a second wind through the impending ‘Golden Decade’, a PE deal would bring between $100-$200 million through the front office.
With a further $100m expected to be generated from hosting the British and Irish Lions in 2025 and the men’s World Cup in 2027, RA has the opportunity to give the game a second chance.
There will be many mouths to feed, but the first thing RA should do is spend as much as $10m on 100 development officers.
RA must get the best rugby minds in the country – ranging from Dick Marks to Rod Kafer, Scott Wisemantel to Morgan Turinui – and set about the task of teaching the fundamentals of rugby to coaches and development officers across the country.
Rugby needs to expand, and RA must nourish the grassroots of the game and get it into public schools.
The Classic Wallabies program, which is being run by Turinui, has been running for years and does a phenomenal job in taking the game around the country.
(Photo by Ian Jacobs/MB Media/Getty Images)
RA must follow the lead of Auskick and get the game beyond the private schools and into all schools. Balls and hats go a long way in getting the game greater exposure.
RA chairman Hamish McLennan recognises this. It was one of the first things he said over coffee earlier in the year.
There are other action areas too. Competitions like the Waratah Shield must be resurrected. Women’s rugby should be a priority, but simply by exposing the game to more at children at school will do ample to lift the game’s presence.
While a third tier of rugby competition is necessary, RA, together with the five Super Rugby franchises, will be well served by tours.
The reintroduction of the Australia A program has been a huge boost for the game because the Wallabies’ fringe players have been exposed to another six matches.
The governing body does have a question to ask about which players they will target, but more exposure to mainstream media, including News Corp, is essential.
While rugby fans like to blame News Corp for the game’s failings, it is time for them to look in the mirror.
News Corp lost interest in the game for the poor administration of the game, which contributed to millions being wasted and young talent choosing other sports. They lost interest in the game because the wider public did.
They lost interest because the Wallabies, as well as their Super Rugby franchises, struggled for consistency and silverware.
It should be noted that News Corp and Fox Sports attempted to buy the rugby rights – and were furious when they missed out on them.
Nonetheless, rugby fans must stop feeling sorry for themselves and looking for others to blame.
Strong analysis, which adds to the debate should be encouraged, whatever platform it comes from.
Rugby must embrace the adage that any publicity is good publicity.
I’m excited about joining The Roar and hope to bring a strong news element to the coverage. I want to complement the fine work that Brett McKay, Harry Jones, Geoff Parkes and Nick Bishop – and many more besides – have done to make the website what it is today.
I also hope to bring readers closer to the players around Australia.
There is much to celebrate and be excited about in our game’s present and future.
Australia’s men’s and women’s sevens teams are the World Series champions while the Wallabies could still yet shock many at next year’s World Cup.
Australia will host the women’s World Cup in 2029 too, and the governing body got a strong kick-up the backside about what will be required for the Wallaroos to go deep in the competition.
Rugby remains a national game. The Wallabies brand is strong while Australia’s women’s sevens side has been the envy of women’s sport across the country and indeed the world.
While two decades of inconsistency and a failure to win the Bledisloe Cup have seen fans waver and question the direction of the game, international rugby is stronger than ever.
Australians will get a reminder of that, particularly when Lions fans, deprived last year because of COVID-19, travel Down Under.
Rugby has faced a bumpy ride over the past two decades in Australia. There remains hope that the game can head in a new prosperous direction.
I look forward to adding to the rugby debate.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
Well that’s RA’s problem, isn’t it ? They sold themselves
Waxhead
Roar Rookie
@Brett You still don't get what a corporate takeover is :laughing: RA were News Corp - past and present since around 2005. The present CEO and Board directors of RA are ex NC employees. Most of the previous Board (R Castle excepted) were then current NC employees. Raelene was not NC affiliated and that's why she was kicked out in a brutal coup...
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
Of course they did, why would you expect anything different ? They are a media business on it for profit. They didn’t do anything that RA didn’t implicitly allow. Rupert Murdoch hasn’t gotten as rich as he is by intentionally losing money. No, News Corp might’ve fired the gun, but RA loaded it for him.
Waxhead
Roar Rookie
@Rhys yes agree but he's not the 1st ex NC Roar editor - he's the 2nd. And there's several ex NC journos been working here for 1-2 years :laughing:
Waxhead
Roar Rookie
@Brett News Corp never saw it that way obviously. They did what they always do - conducted a corporate takeover of RA and ran it in their own best interests. They never knew, or cared, what was best for the code, players and fans overall. Why would a multi-national ever consider that? They lost out in end cos they were out bid by Stan in the market place and they lost the Aussie pay TV war to competitors. Ultimately, rugby in Australia was small beer for NC and their business as usual policy failed on this occasion. No biggy for NC cos most of the time this parasitic infection works a treat - for them. And everything else is just collateral damage of no concern to NC. They expand by swallowing up smaller entities, sucking them dry and then leaving a shell behind...
Busted Fullback
Roar Rookie
Perhaps it should have been made last month. :laughing:
Busted Fullback
Roar Rookie
G’day Brett. I’d suggest it wasn’t big money that they spent. True, some loss through rugby, but consider the benefits from NRL rights and part ownership of clubs like the Broncos. Sure, a “big” noise when they lost the TV rights to rugby, BUT, they’ve still got the NRL, Broncos etc, and no loss of money through rugby and I’d say that News Corp aren’t that sad about the situation. Then there is the limited rugby coverage that they give, and as negative as possible and you can only come to the conclusion that News Corp is no friend of rugby.
James584
Roar Rookie
Exactly right.
James584
Roar Rookie
What’s your point? You think you have to work in a gov school to know what the situation is? I have been directly involved as a proponent of rugby and have seen that there is no capacity or interest. Gov school sport in general is not a priority for schools. Clubs have the knowledge and capacity. It’s what they do. $ should be invested there. Gov schools is like flushing it down the drain.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Yeah, Christy may be the best thing to happen to The Roar but kicking off by telling me that it has been my fault that rugby is struggling in Australia and that News Corp are good guys isn’t going to win me over. I sincerely hope we didn’t just get a News Corp apologist to run the rugby section here as I won’t be happy to read this stuff on a regular basis
Mark Baptist
Guest
3 and 5 are a winner, and the others would work only if Australia remains in Super Rugby - otherwise, 2 and 4 are not happening, and 6 would work only as an end of season challenge match, Aus v NZ club challenge match (possibly with substantial prizemoney). If Australia exit Super Rugby, I would have a ten-team domestic competition with three teams in NSW (Sydney, Western Sydney and country NSW), three in Queensland (two in Brisbane and one in North Queensland), and one each in Melbourne, Perth, Canberra and Adelaide: the five Australian Super Rugby/Super W teams are joined by five startup teams. I would call this competition the Australian XV Premiership, and have the men and women play 19 rounds (double-round robin with one bye) and a final five – I believe that will work wonders. If we add Australia A to this, I would have 12 teams in two divisions of six (on a promotion/relegation basis) with the addition of a team in the Northern Territory (a gamble with a lucrative payoff involved): this gives the AXV Premiership, with the Super Rugby/Super W teams and the sixth team to be determined by Rugby Australia, and the AXV Championship, with the men and women playing 16 games (triple-round robin with one bye) and a final four in each.
tuohyred
Roar Rookie
Amen!! Our Anthem must be Graeme Connors: https://youtu.be/3SKyjHaLYaU
Meggsy
Guest
Lost me at "Dick Marks". That's a bloke who torched any credibility he had when he opposed the redevelopment of Ballymore.
The Hen
Roar Rookie
3 more internal franchises, use private investment, national comp, mirror with super w. Play NZ at the end Of that. Nothing else will bring tribalism and interest to grow the game.
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
There is no appetite in public schools for another sport, no appetite for further extra curricula activities, no appetite for teachers putting in more hours. There may be the exception where a teacher passionate about a personal interest can generate some interest in something but that disappears when they move on. It's definitely not a criticism of the system, the schools or the teachers, it's just the way it is. What I experienced in sport at school is no more, just reality.
FlyingDrua
Guest
1. Bring back a Tier 3 competition similar to ARC/NRC/NPC preferably as below (same as NRC previously) with help of Twiggy who started GRR a) Brisbane City & Qld Country b) Sydney & NSW Country c) ACT team d) VIC team e) Perth team f) Fiji team g) Asia Pacific Dragon h) South China Tigers i) Kanaloa Hawaii/Manuma Samoa 2. NRC/ARC Champ v NPC Champ as Super Rugby Opener 3. Annual Test against 1 Pacific Nation (Samoa,Tonga,Fiji) 4. Super Rugby Champ v Japan RL Champ 5. Australia A to play in PNC 6. Combine Super W with Super Rugby Aupiki
Broken Shoulder
Roar Rookie
I’m thinking maybe Paris. Next year. Around October…
Crusher_13
Roar Rookie
So never worked in a school?
savant
Roar Rookie
#that should be glad not dead! Big fingers and predictive text could in the wrong hands (sic) end civilization! I hope Putins fingers are small!
savant
Roar Rookie
Welcome to the Darkside Christy. In your defence of your former employer News Corp you say that they lost interest in the game because the wider public did. You don’t mention that the terms of the deal with rugby Australia and it’s predecessors included the locking out of free to air television from super rugby for decades. This was a huge factor in the erosion of public support for the game. It should also be noted that it was the followers of rugby that were very important in the financial viability of Foxtel in its establishment years. So many would argue that Foxtel owed the game and to offer a pittance for the exclusive rights showed little respect. And then to deny it’s readers more than scant coverage of the game in retaliation deepened the insult. So I’m dead you’ve crossed the rubicon! Welcome and I look forward to your insights and provocations.