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To be honest, as much as I am sad that the Wallabies are no longer competitive and participating in the Rugby World Cup, I feel it was necessary to hit rock bottom, the sports governing body needed to realise they needed a rest.
To be honest, I never watched a Wallabies game growing up, nor a Super Rugby game.
I grew up in Narrabri, where going down to watch or play sport was all there was to do.
My local heroes were the players who got recognition for their talent and played rep teams and got offered jobs and accommodation in Sydney.
There, I saw my way out of the country and, more importantly, a job opportunity in the early 90s when high unemployment had 40 of my classmates go for the only apprenticeship on offer. Things have changed.
My son started out playing a team sport because his mates were talking about it. In school, which sport? AFL
Why? Because the AFL put tonnes of money into school-based promotion of their game, they have a 10-week game program that cost $90 at the time and I was just happy he was enjoying a team sport.
Nothing to do with watching games on the TV!
He now plays rugby because his best mate convinced him to switch, and he loves it! His mate caught the bug from his dad Nick!
My daughter was a netball player, she would get penalised all the time for being too rough!
Thanks to a rugby lover by the name of Shan at Mt Alvernia, a rugby 7s program was established, and my daughter also caught the bug!
Again it is only in the last couple of years, she wants to watch a game with me.
My point is that the love of our game is not passed on by the Wallabies winning like the board of RA believes. It can be, but to focus all your attention that way has got us to rock bottom.
(Photo by Adam Pretty – World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images)
Give the assistance, tools and support to the passionate rugby lovers at the grassroots of our game to pass the bug on, and you will see our game flourish like it did in the 90s.
England spent 15.7 per cent of there total expenditure of the game on grassroots whereas Rugby Australia was 7.7 per cent up from 2.2 per cent 5 years ago. England are still competing in the Rugby World Cup and have the largest player registrations in the world.
Oh and don’t think matching England’s amount of money they spent on grassroots will do it.
They are competing against soccer and league just like we are. But they don’t have AFL!
Who am I and why would I know this is the right way forward.
Eight years ago I was a pissed-off rugby lover who had witnessed the decline in our game and decided to take action.
On top of coaching at both my kids schools, I created a Facebook page dedicated to helping grassroots clubs in Australia promote themselves.
I have witnessed that wherever there are people who have the rugby bug badly and they have been supported, our game has flourished.
Where volunteers have felt unsupported and they are exhausted, our game weakens.
Now is the time to be strong and let our professional game take a hit in the short term by diverting 25 per cent instead of 7.7 per cent into our grassroots game for the next two years.
What could happen? Wallabies keep losing, unfortunately, we are used to this now. So the worst-case scenario is the status quo remains?
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.