The saddest thing about Australian Rugby right now is that it hasn’t learnt its lesson.
In a month when Tom Brady was throwing darts to Reece Walsh in front of a packed media gallery in Brisbane, Rugby’s headlines revolve around administration, debt and survival.
Many of us don’t want to hear it, but most people in Australia have barely registered there’s a Super Rugby competition starting in 3 weeks – and few care.
Sure, there were 3000 diehards at Ballymore on Saturday for what was, to put it kindly, a mixed quality trial between the Force and Reds.
But there remains no singular strategy in Australian Rugby. No coming together to deliver a world class product. No recognition that the time must be now.
Instead, we have parochialism and rampant denial. If $1.7million a year is the answer for the states, it begs the response, what is the question?
At least 2 state unions have debts and liabilities reportedly exceeding $10million, and a third is in a perilous position as of today.
Even if we could travel back in time to 2019 and ensure the grant survived Covid and a poor broadcasting deal, the states involved would likely still be in the red today.
Stacey Ili of the Melbourne Rebels. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Those who resolve to break even, to exist in a vacuum of reality and to continue on as if it’s still 1991 are destined to fail. Just ask Blockbuster, Kodak and Blackberry.
When centralisation, commercial and strategic, was first pushed 15 years ago, the state unions resisted on the basis the wrong people were in charge.
Just 15 weeks ago we again heard the same justification and we heard there was no plan for anyone to consider or sign up to anyway.
Now, with Phil Waugh, Joe Schmidt, Peter Horne and David Nucifora in the fold, we probably won’t hear that the wrong people are in charge or that there is no plan again, this year at least. That would obviously be ridiculous.
We just won’t hear anything different from the state unions, or more importantly see any change.
Eddie Jones was a disaster but also served as a distraction at the worst possible time.
His removal became a cause célèbre that took up too much of Australian Rugby’s emotional, political and financial resources at a time when all three are in short supply.
Why? Because it’s easier to look for silver bullets to save the game we love rather than grapple with why Rugby in Australia has been underperforming, directionless and barely breaking even for a decade, maybe two.
Joe Schmidt is no messiah. As he’s said, we can’t expect miracles from him. He’s the right man for the job no doubt, but he won’t arrest the terminal decline of the game, let alone change 20 years of disastrous administration without systemic, structural change.
Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh speaks to the media. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
If there was evidence the game in this country remains in complete denial following the World Cup, that evidence has only multiplied since.
“If only Australian Rugby hadn’t stopped the $1.7million annual grants” is a common refrain.
The NSW Rugby Union was in such a disastrous financial state that it didn’t just hand back its keys, it ran to HQ to do it.
The Rebels have now entered voluntary administration owing debts to the taxman, never a good position. The Australian has reported those debts are in the region of $12million.
Debts owed by businesses associated with Rebels backer BRC Capital, are estimated to be more than $50 million.
The Brumbies reportedly are holding on for dear life. To survive, the Canberra based franchise are probably counting on private backers to come in and play benefactor, just as Andrew Forrest did in Western Australia.
New Wallabies Head Coach Joe Schmidt at a Rugby Australia press conference. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Brumbies Chairman Matt Nobbs has been vocal about his team’s position as well as their dealings with Rugby Australia.
Nobbs has previously all but admitted the Brumbies were in a hole at the time the annual grant was reduced, but fails to mention the national body was at risk of collapse when Covid struck and remains so.
More than that, he notes the grant was reduced after the latest broadcasting deal but omits to comment on why.
The deal fell short to put it mildly, because Rugby is now a second tier sport in Australia and no longer attracts a profitable or predictable audience let alone a competitive bidding war. That is the uncomfortable truth.
Super Rugby is no longer the world’s premier provincial competition. Its market is dwarfed by Europe and reduced greatly by the departure of South African franchises.
Private equity recognised all of this last year when it refused to value the game at anywhere near Rugby Australia’s estimate. When PE can place $200million in bonds and see 15% annual returns with no risk, why would it sit down with a national body and state unions who are calibrated to break even in the most competitive sporting market in the world?
Jack Debreczeni of the Brumbies. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
When Rugby partnered with Fox Sports in the 1990’s it was the second biggest sport in Australia. Come 2020 it was the 5th. Expectations of a $60million a year windfall plummeted to $35million at best.
Which brings me to Rugby Australia. The national newspaper’s sources have said “RA directors should be aware of fiduciary duty, that there is the potential that RA is not a going concern.”
In other words, Phil Waugh and the Rugby Australia board should be careful not to preside over a business that trades insolvent.
There is no money at Rugby Australia and the financial lifelines that do exist are borrowed at extraordinary interest rates against projected revenue from events taking place in 2025 and 2027.
Again, one has to ask the question: if $1.7 million is the answer each year, what is the question?
If the states continue to deny reality, continue to focus on just breaking even, on resisting the idea that they are better together, they’ll keep getting picked off by debt and delusion one by one.
And there may not be any national body to pick up the pieces afterwards.
CPM
Roar Rookie
It’s called conference. Back in 2009 O’Neill was waxing lyrically about it trying to force the Rebels into SR to have his conference that would double as his domestic competition. Only SARU stood up against this mad idea as they were insistent on a 15 team single round robin competition featuring a 6th SA team. But what happened that traitor Tew sided with O’Neill. Eventually it was a corrupt kiwi arbitrator that ruled in favour of conference. So in 2011 Super Rugby died; and in 2012 the Reds despite not finishing in the top 8 were gifted a conference home playoff match.
woodart
Roar Rookie
"we dont need reforms, we need to tear up the constitution and start again" umm, isnt that the same thing?
woodart
Roar Rookie
whether or not foriegn rugby unions and clubs are also having financial problems is completely irrelevant . its not a competition .about the only thing to be learnt is that they are all living beyond their means. dont forget, only two yrs ago , league clubs were looking at going under .covid was a splash of cold water on many pro athletes and sports. its all a house of cards being propped upon tv money, or gambling money. one is uncertain and the other immoral. as a business,many pro sports are standing on two banana skins. Many pro sports organisations are only financially in the black column because of property owned. english rugby owns twickenham, and twickenham props up english rugby. I suspect this is queenslands ace. But this can be a double edged sword, as some english clubs found, when the bank raises the mortgage interest. it probably all comes back to the fact that many pro athletes are way overpayed, and are running their sports broke.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
This isn't just a crisis, it's absolutely deliberate fixing of the rules by four countries and no one should make changes to their game to accomodate it. Instead the rules should be forced back to what they were.
piru
Roar Rookie
Every crisis brings an opportunity – there are options there. If not faster forwards, backs who are better versed at the breakdown, more offloads and tackle ball recycling – accurate and well judged kicking (as opposed to box kick bombs) combined with committed chasers. With contact heights being consistently lowered by law, the teams that can stand in the tackle and offload to support at pace are going to have an advantage over those that don’t bother.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
If they were all Usain Bolt possibly. But even then it's so designed for the turnover to be easy that it wouldn't work.
piru
Roar Rookie
Well, the solution seems simple to me - faster forwards?
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
It mostly revolves around the turnover. Basically, the northern hemisphere (in terms of rules in effect UK/Ireland) have pushed for as much competition as possible at the ruck. Some competition is fine, but if it’s too easy to turn the ball over, you quickly get a stoppage as a penalty is given. This penalty not only destroys the flow of play, but leads to the ball being kicked out. The other effects of this are disastrous. It basically becomes too dangerous to run the ball out wide because without an army of forwards there’s too much danger of being turned over. So teams stop running the ball wide and hit it up when they’re running with forwards or centres, but mostly just kick it down the field, hoping the other team make a mistake and drop the kick or kick it back on the full. It’s one of these cases where a small change can drastically transform how the game is played.
piru
Roar Rookie
Ummm .. no … rugby has never been the second biggest sport in Australia. It certainly used to be said that it was after the rwc in 99 and the home rwc in 03. Whether that was accurate or not who knows
piru
Roar Rookie
You're not talking about the running then, but the quick recycle and multiphase play, which no other sport can match - yes I agree with that. I don't think the laws stop it, which tweaks make it too dangerous?
piru
Roar Rookie
Why is there something wrong with that? Possession is measured in time - if you score more points per minute of possession (or whatever) you deserve to win. Conversely if you're hanging on to it for ages and not scoring, how is that more exciting? Lies, dammed less etc
Adrian
Roar Rookie
An excellent thought out and reasoned analysis Evans. The best such analysis I’ve seen
Paul
Roar Rookie
You're right, I overlooked that.
W Evans
Roar Rookie
Balance Piru, balance… Something is pretty wrong when 6/7 finals at the RWC were won by the team with lesser possession. Game has changed fundamentally since 2015.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
I respectfully disagree. Running rugby union is vastly more complex, continuous and intriguing that league running and without the maddening stop-start quality. The late 90s Super Rugby was some of the best ever played and would have drawn many fans from league, but the rule interpretations were then tweaked to make it too risky to run.
piru
Roar Rookie
Look that's great for Clive, but he doesn't have the NRL delivering better running rugby week in week out on free to air. We'll never compete with league on this - their game is literally our game but focused on that bit
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
No one does. Even in England three clubs collapsed and have a look at what Clive Woodward said the other week. 'kicking/catching/rucking/mauling' are fine in proportion, but not as the majority of the match. The divine thing that is running rugby is the priority, and that isn't the same as league. Indeed when there is running these days, which isn't that common, it actually is like the first phases of play in league, with forward hit up after forward hit up after forward....with sometimes a couple of centre hit ups. That is not the expansive, elusive, ever-shifting miracle that it expansive running.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Yes but they control the money and TV and everyone else dances to their tune! If all the other votes were unified against them possibly, but that would never happen.
piru
Roar Rookie
Then maybe we need to stop trying to convert league fans and look at people who find kicking/catching/rucking/mauling entertaining
Intotouch
Roar Rookie
If both the union and the super rugby franchises are losing money and can’t find more sponsorship/ to money/ sugar daddy’s to save them then maybe they need to all follow the Barcelona football club model and sell these entities to the fans. Let the fans then vote on decisions around the clubs too.