Kyrgios obviously hasn’t been alerted to the fact that respect is a two-way street. If it’s okay for him to have a tantrum & disrespect the game, officials, opponents & fans, then why is he so surprised when most of the rest of the world disrespect him?

The guy is a first-class goose. Stop providing him with oxygen.

Steve50,

We could be but sadly we won’t. Could’ve, would’ve, should’ve doesn’t cut it. Oz rugby is going down the sinkhole because the administrators of our game don’t have a clear, united pathway.

Some want this & others want something else. And all the while none of them seem to understand with clarity the point of it all.

And they haven’t for a very long time. The modern demise probably started with O’Neill back in the mid-90s. He was so incredibly lucky to have a ‘golden generation’ win everything for him, making him look like the messiah of rugby.

But that golden generation was built on the sweat of many people who were in rugby long before he became CEO. There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence of proud x-Wallabies like Dick marks, Topo Rodriguez & mark Ella who were punted because they weren’t willing to be “yes” men.

O’Neill arrogantly believed that rugby prospered from the top down. But that only works if it’s being continually fed from beneath. The talent slowly ebbed away.

There’s really no point anymore talking about a domestic comp, something I loved doing for the past 5 decades. If we don’t fix the grassroots, then the game will die, or become marginalised at any rate.

Geoff,

At the prodding of Colvin Brown, I’ll bite here. Excellent article, BTW.

Firstly, let’s stop talking about both a domestic comp & super rugby. You have one or the other. NRC didn’t work because it often competed for the same resources as super rugby – some players, broadcast access, sponsorship, etc.

Having both may work in NZ & SA, but not in Oz. I’ve suggested ad nauseam in the past, you replace super rugby with a Champions Cup, where the top domestic teams (first 2 or 3) compete with same from NZ, SA, Argentina & maybe other SH countries.

Developing a sustainable domestic comp is useless until RA gets control of junior rugby, ie, grassroots, both primary & secondary. Until that happens, or while we’re waiting, the game will become a boutique sport like croquet or polo.

Until we develop more participation players, including more quality players, Australian rugby isn’t going anywhere. Golly gosh, I’m sure I said most of this back in 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, & 2019 before I started losing interest.

Get rid of GPS, CAS, CHS, etc. In Sydney, Brisbane, etc, have all rugby playing schools divided into zones. In Sydney the primary structure is already there. It is, or was, called the Waratah Shield.

RA has to take control of the game from the ground up. And if the snotty, self-important private schools resist, then the game deserves to die.

Colvin Brown,

I joined The Roar near its inception in 2007 as member #19. I then spent most of the next decade offering ideas & solutions. Now I’m done.

Anyone who could be bothered can trace back thru my profile. Plenty of articles & ideas in there.

PeterK,

Actually S6 in 1986, then S10 in 1992.

Australian rugby won’t ever be great again, or win another world cup in my time. I figure I have another 15-25 years on the planet, so it won’t matter what happens after that.
The satirical site Convict Creations suggested some 15 years ago, before Australian rugby even totally imploded, that there was one footy code too many in Oz, which is probably quite true.
And they actually pointed the finger at rugby union as the most likely to be under most pressure to crumble.
This was only about 3-4 years after magnificently hosting the world cup & pushing hot favs England to the last minute of extra-time of the final.
Can you believe Convict Creations shut down because some famous clubs, especially in the AFL, couldn’t see the funny side of being lampooned. CC were very fair in lampooning everyone in every sport equally.
There’s been little joy since a very good team, apart from the front row, ended the 2007 world cup in embarrassing ignominy. That’s a long time to be down, although in reality, Oz has had longer spans in the rugby wilderness.
Rugby has lost the Pacific. Once upon a time they were rugby mad, now they’re league mad. Pacifika heritage players are closing on 50% of the NRL. The figure is probably very similar for rugby.
But as with the whiteys, the better talent is attracted to league in Oz. Rugby is slowly but surely becoming irrelevant.
Then there’s the international governance, which is an embarrassment. I can’t think of another sport so hellbent on destroying itself with gross stupidity. Very much mimicking the US as a country hellbent on destroying itself with gross stupidity.
Anyway, I don’t watch rugby anymore, nor much league for that matter, & this has been a flying visit out of curiosity. Not much has changed here! But whatever rings your bell, I wish you all well.

Astro,

Read my comments to PNGEWC. My gawd, we’re surrounded by sensitive folk around here.

PNGEWC,

My last line was: “I also acknowledge the horse has already bolted.”

I’m not telling women what they should do, I’m just offering my opinion, which is not the sam thing.

Besides, I also wonder WTF privileged, old, white men in the US are doing telling women what they can & can’t do with their bodies.

Please don’t over-complicate my comments.

This is just my opinion, but I think women should not play either rugby league or rugby union, the hits are far too brutal on their bodies. Even when administered by other women.
By all means women should seek equality to men, especially equality of opportunity, but that doesn’t mean a need to mimic men in everything.
The female body should be celebrated for being different, not wanting to be similarly bashed by a brutal sport. Before femininity became militant, clever women knew how to exploit their femininity, their physical & emotional difference to men.
However, 7s rugby union & rugby league & touch footy are fine sports for women to be involved with. I also acknowledge the horse has already bolted.

Excellent article, well thought out & argued.

But football or soccer, is the most popular sport on the planet, so I would think cities like Barcelona, Milan, Munich or Rio de Janiero might be a more appropriate starting point.

Melbourne, with its depth & success across Australian football, world football, cricket, rugby league, basketball, netball, etc, & fan participation, would still rank very highly.

But I’ll let others argue which city is really the best.

Yep, Fittler stuffed up but so far everyone else from the players to the refs to climate change are responsible.

I think he will stuff up again.

Of course,

One thing we perhaps haven’t covered in depth was Ali’s courage, not only in the ring, but outside. You mention how Ali somehow got up from that Frazier knockdown in 1971.

Or the punishment his midsection suffered from Foreman before he tired.

But the courage to stand up to the establishment of the day & say, “I’m not going to fight them songs, they’ve done nothing wrong by me”, took unbelievable courage.

A lot of young, poor, black men fought & died for the US in Vietnam in a war orchestrated by old, rich, white men who were only grudgingly giving them equal rights at the time.

Look at the current golfing crisis being manipulated by Aussie Greg Norman. Where’s the guys with Ali integrity saying, “I’m not going to take the money from such a corrupt, dysfunctional, system”.

Tiger Woods knocked back the money, but then, it’s not like he needs anymore money right now. Ali really was a very rare bird.

Great article. If you gave your real name, I could congratulate you personally.

How great was Ali as a social icon? I was a young 15 year old year at a private East Sydney school in 1971 & the school decided to show the first Ali-Frazier fight live in the morning Sydney time (I think).

Can you believe that? No other boxer, or sportsman could have commanded that kind of adulation. Admittedly the school had a secondary agenda.

They had recently opened a new, very expensive audio-visual system linking most classrooms with TVs & it was a great opportunity to kill two birds with the one stone, so to speak.

Test their new system while watching the greatest boxer in history in his greatest comeback fight to date. The new AV system was a resounding success, but the result was the wrong one for many of us!

They say the greatest sportsmen are the ones that change their sport in some significant way. There had never been a showman like Ali before him, or a big man who moved with so much speed around the ring.

He truly was iconic. Unfortunately, sometimes he crossed the line with crass insensitivity. Frazier never forgave him for his insults, although for Ali he thought of it as just showboating.

Mushi,

Ha, ha! Yes, he was a good player, but not as high as he is sometimes rated.

For example, in an exercise for the best 30 players 1978-2008, RLW ranked Fittler 3rd behind Johns & Lewis, & ahead of Lockyer, Langer, Meninga, Sterling, Daley & Kenny.

IMHO, Fittler wasn’t better than Meninga, Daley or Kenny (from similar possies). But RLW lost me when they put Johns ahead of Lewis, clearly to appease the wider NSW readership.

Kurt,

I agree with your banner headline. What we saw last Wed night was Qld play smarter but not necessarily better. The game could easily have gone the other way.

The problem for Qld is that thy don’t hav a full squad of really good players. Which means they’re always going to need to plug some holes.

And what’s this rubbish about Fittler bing some kind of genius? Maybe he believes his own press but he & Alexander were outsmarted by a trio of legends in Slater, Thurston & Smith who all sit higher on the legends pedestal than the NSW pair.

All he’s done since losing the game is try & blame the loss on the ref & whoever else he can find. Maybe he should have stuck with JA-C & Jake Turbo from his winning combo last year.

No, what last Wed demonstrated is that Fittler is not the genius he thinks he is. And some of his NSW players, while champions at club level, might not be able to carry that talent to a higher level.

Plenty of guys have been found out in the past. This is nothing new. It’s called the ‘Peter Principal’, whereby you elevate people above their station until they fail.

EagleJack – yeah, I’m not a Fittler fan. I reckon he was overrated as a player, & he is definitely overrated as a coach. He might actually become a very good coach once he swallows a huge dollop of humility.

I really don’t have much time for Haas either as a player or person.
Firstly, big guys like him & Fifita aren’t value for many. The potential destruction they might cause in a game is what? About 10%. Meanwhile, guys like Munster & Cleary are creating or scoring points more consistently with their wizardry.
Yeah, we need strong, tough guys to soften the opposition. But not on 10, or at the max 20 minutes productivity. Bring back less interchange & get rid of these behemoths. They can try weightlifting, wrestling, or rugby even. That slow, dull game still caters for behemoths.
Secondly, then there’s Haas wanting more money. Don’t we all! Many of these Pacifika heritage players are under enormous pressure to provide an income to a posse of immediate & extended family.
But it’s not the role of any one club to pay for everyone else plus the player. They are only obliged to pay the wages of the player concerned. And some clubs do the extra mile helping players whose families fall on hard times. But they don’t have to.
Haas says he wants gambling & booze advertising removed from his jersey. I certainly agree with this. It’s a double standard of society & sport that we accept gambling & booze advertising, both of which are responsible for serious society issues.
But is Haas & all the other pro players willing to accept less money for principle? Of course not. It’s all very well to have ethics & values, as long as you’re not the one who has to suffer for your integrity.

One noun I would use to describe Brad Fittler is arrogant. Another noun is the constant smirk on his face, as if he’s too good for the rest of the world.

He got outplayed by rookie coach Billy Slater, but all he can find for the loss is excuses. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to hear the losers say: “the opposition were both smarter & better than us tonight”.

End of story.

Nat,

Thanks for the unnecessary lesson. I can respond with ‘no man is an island’ & no racing state operates in isolation of each other.

An individual chopstick can easily be broken in two. A bunch of them pretty impossible to do same. Strength in unity of numbers.

I stand by my assertions.

Why not ask some tougher questions?

Like, why is a NSWelsman who wants to represent Samoa, or a Qlder who wants to represent Tonga, allowed to play State of Origin, which is supposed to be a series of trial matches for Australian Kangaroos selection?

Go on, ask these much more serious questions!

State of Origin is like start-it-up-yourself religion, dysfunctional royalty & betting with corporate bookies. It sucks in everyone who can’t think for themselves. Which is most of humanity.

Tomorrow night you can watch true-blue NSWelsmen & true-maroon Qlders who dream of playing for, oh, wait for it, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, PNG, Cook Islands, NZ, England, Ireland, Lebanon, Italy, USA, etc, anyone but Australia.

I have no time for V’Landys. He is not a team player. He might be the self-halucinating saviour of NSW racing, inaugurating The Everest & The Golden Eagle, but at the detriment to other states.
There aren’t enough quality horses & jockeys to fill quality races in both Sydney & Melbourne but what does V’landys care. Imagine if Melbourne chose to disrupt the Sydney Autumn carnival in the same way he is disrupting the Melbourne Spring carnival.
But the Vics have too much class for that. The guy is a first-rate j*rk.
As if the Kangaroos need his arrogant, self-serving input.

AMD – Absolutely! And that includes The Roar.

AMD,

Okay, I accept that. So much untruthful crap is written on social media, I am adopting a scorched earth policy wherever I see it.

It’s a good thing I’m not Kevin Walters. I would have booted Haas out of the club immediately, barred for life from stepping onto Broncos territory.

You don’t want a guy who is selfish & lacks integrity, & thinks it’s all about him. Pathetic piece of work.