“Leaguies know nothing about playing Union. Never have, never will.”
I was astounded to read the above post on an article following the Springbok’s mauling of the Wallabies.
It was seemingly in response to a suggestion by another Roarer that the Kangaroos may have done better in Pretoria had they donned the famous gold jerseys.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m sick of the pettiness.
Yes, we’ve heard it all before. We know that some of the best athletes in the country are playing Rugby League and AFL. We know that few make the transition to Rugby Union successfully. We also know that there isn’t a ‘Leaguie’ or ruck rover who is going to solve our scrummaging problems.
But to finish the conversation there is absurd, given the state the Wallabies find themselves in, and ignorant of history in equal measures.
Are the Wallabies really in a position to ignore the fact that our best fly-half is 35 years old and hasn’t played in a top level provincial rugby competition since 2019? That our first choice fullback managed just five games for Manly?
That seemingly the next best option we have at 12 after an aging Samu Kerevi is Reece Hodge?
No, Australia are not in that position.
Joseph Sua’ali’i. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
The rivalry between League and Union has been stoked by money men and administrators with marketing departments. But there is also a rich history of ‘cross pollination’. Not necessarily cooperation, but mutual benefit. Michael Cheika knows it, Eddie Jones knows it, even Andrew Johns does.
Look past some very obvious success stories in Sonny-Bill Williams, Lote Tuquiri and Israel Folau. If you must, even overlook World Cup winner, Jason Robinson.
A guy called Wally Lewis famously toured with the Australian Rugby Union School Boys alongside blokes called Michael O’Connor and Tony Melrose. That famous undefeated tour of 1977-78 also included the 3 Ella brothers.
Ricky Stuart played Union all through school, the same school George Gregan attended. Matt Giteau’s father (who sent him to the aforementioned school) was a ‘Leaguie’.
Mat Rogers, son of Cronulla legend Steve, attended The Southport School, went to Cronulla, played for the Wallabies then returned to the NRL.
How many of us played Union for our schools while playing League for clubs like the Nerang Roosters, just like Mathew Steve Rogers did?
Rugby Union has fostered some of League’s greatest sons and vice versa. League and Union boys have grown together, been schooled together for decades.
There is no valid argument that a choice must be made between building pathways for kids in Union and attracting the best talent available in the NRL. In fact, the two go hand in hand.
Right now, the Wallaby cattle just aren’t good enough in key positions across the spine of the team.
Can anybody seriously argue that Jordan Petaia or Tom Wright will turn out to be the next Gould, Burke, Latham or Folau?
Both players, our frontline options at fullback, are erratic and invariably poor at taking the right option. The few moments of brilliance we’ve seen have been outnumbered by brain explosions.
Joseph Sua’ali’i is the one talent available with both the background and skill set to address these problems. At least, he’s the best hope given the next best, Max Jorgensen is badly injured.
Cameron Murray. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Similarly, at inside centre, I don’t see the next Tim Horan or Matt Giteau playing Super Rugby right now. I don’t see him in the talented under age teams either. But there is an explosive, ball playing, hard tackling player who is an uncanny blend of the two. He is captaining the Rabbitohs.
Cameron Murray is the answer to what comes after an aging Samu Kerevi. He played huge quantities of school boy rugby and excelled. He could offer the perfect foil for young Carter Gordon. He is not a ‘Leaguie’ who knows nothing about playing Union.
The more astute amongst you will point to the fact that there aren’t many players who succeeded in league before playing as a Union forward.
Brad Thorn did. He’s a freak.
England will never know if Sam Burgess would have been more effective at 6 or 8 than at inside centre.
A player like Payne Haas might be an indomitable ball carrier capable of menacing the likes of Duane Vermuelen, who humiliated the Wallaby pack on the weekend.
Might be.
But too often, this discussion gets sidetracked by questions about a ‘Leaguies’ ball pilfering, scrummaging or lineout abilities. As if it’s the smartest rebuttal in town.
Australia is a proud sporting nation. League and Union share a difficult but rich history. Many of our kids grew up playing both.
Time to admit Leaguies know a fair bit about playing Union and vice versa. Always have and always will.
Dean
Roar Rookie
The Blinkers of Class and Fear that RA wear, need to be taken off and Western Sydney embraced. They will capture a lot of talent if they invest in that area, before they cement themselves in League. However, I doubt the elbow patches will allow that.
piru
Roar Rookie
How does that make it the same?
Dida
Roar Rookie
It’s not really. Coaches and management are free to risk big bucks that’s their job.
LuckyPhil
Roar Rookie
Good article. I agree that some league players could make good union players, but IMO this misses the point about why many of these players jump into the NRL pathway. It all comes down to opportunity. Union has 5 franchises around the country. Each of these franchises has an academy team, but they don't play many games. A few short competitions, but mostly training. The NRL has 17 clubs. Nearly all of these clubs have a feeder team in the NSW or Qld Cup. Then there is the Jersey Flegg teams (I am sure there is a Qld equivalent). If you are talented junior, you are nearly always going to gravitate to the sport that has 500 places available over the one with 50. Until Union create a pathway for up and comers we will always rely on the scraps and have to pay overs to lure NRL players across.
LuckyPhil
Roar Rookie
I also read somewhere that Sua’ali’i was turned down because of the request made by his manager. It wasn't just the money, it was the expectation/demand that a 17 year old schoolboy was going to be allowed to tour with the Wallabies on a Northern tour.
Rugbynutter
Roar Rookie
Sadly I think that mindset exists in nrl ie why not poach union best players but not as much in union despite the minor sport and less talent
MattTheContrarian
Roar Rookie
Plato's cave in 2023: If you only take your kids to McDonalds, and tell them thats the restaurant, they'll associate McD's with restaurant.. which it is not. Same with league.
soapit
Roar Guru
I'm sure there's things they could do. I've only come along this season so might hold off suggesting to them how to do things. I'm sure there are things they could do but they do so quite a bit already for the club on top of their day jobs. Besides for all i know they've tried and kids just aren't interested. My son and i have definitely been trying to get people we know along but they mainly humour the conversation To be fair , now i think about it there is another club within the league clubs catchment and i think they do better for numbers.
John Hanrahan
Roar Rookie
Your Rugby community clearly needs to promote the game not only in the town but around local districts. Have your rugby committee and top players approached Rebel and asked if they're interested in expanding/new business opportunities? Organise a local promotion day and talk to local media with a story and some good angles about the day and what's on offer.
matth
Roar Guru
Coming towards the middle/end of their professional career is not the way to do it
Grobu
Roar Rookie
League is virtually non existent in the NH
piru
Roar Rookie
It’s quite different, unless that teacher decides to risk millions of dollars on a hunch that he might do alright at sport b
John Hanrahan
Roar Rookie
And that's what needs to change - Rugby came first, has been around the longest, is about 40 times the size of League on a global basis. Reporters, commentators and sports fans alike should call references to the Wallabies, Waratahs, other rugby competitions, players or issues, "rugby". Someone League can continue to be referred to as "league".
piru
Roar Rookie
Agreed. Rugby is rugby. Rugby "Union" is only used to differentiate when talking about both codes
John Hanrahan
Roar Rookie
Not so trivial! It goes to maintaining and building the profile of Rugby across the nation. I'm not interested or concerned about other codes. Rugby, for many reasons, has an uphill battle in Australia to get strong recognition. It diminishes the game in the eyes of supporters and wider public to have it constantly referred to as "union"! What is that? An industrial organisation, some kind of agreement, arrangement?? It's not what the rest of the rugby world recognises as the correct title. The game is Rugby and deserves the recognition, respect and common usage.
Haha very true!
Dida
Roar Rookie
Well said. Couldn't agree more. It's no different to a teacher or coach in school approaching a student who plays 'sport A' but thinks they'd be great at 'sport B' and gets the kid to make the move. It's just sport.
Kai Levuka
Roar Rookie
I rest my case :)
Tim J
Roar Rookie
It is called Rugby Union as league is called Rugby League, in some countries football which is the correct terminology is called soccer, so your argument is invalid in due respect. Some also refer to Union and League as football, fuse ball is German for football and people refer to it as both. So to tell the author to refer the sport as Rugby only is only your view point, even predictive messaging refers Rugby as both codes. So does Google and so on, writers take their time to share their thoughts and opinions which should be appreciated without a trivial matter being brought up.
Clippers
Roar Rookie
Moving from NRL to the All Blacks, is different from moving from NRL to the Wallabies. Let’s be honest.