I don’t agree. I think GPS schools are part of the problem – lets take Nudgee in Brisbane. Used to be a great rugby school then went to win at any cost. Boys in the A teams through to year 10 then get dropped to 2nds, 3rds or 4ths for years 11 & 12 to make way for scholarship boys doing 3 or 4 years of senior and playing rugby BEFORE heading back to league. A complete waste of limited and critical resources when they are contracted (in some way) to a league team and yet still manage to fill spots in Union rep teams. Nudgee have an agreement and collab going with the Dolphins. Limited resources wasted when there are lads that want to play rugby and only rugby. So yes, they do produce Wallabies but I believe you will find it on the decrease.

How? I still don’t see how I can participate in the governance of rugby in Australia. If it comes down to the state unions voting still, how does my vote and preference come into being? And with some level of self-interest admitted, the states that currently provide the most – revenue, players & resources – should have the greatest say in governing. Along with an annual review to adjust when the numbers reach certain thresholds.
Lastly, I don’t know many of the “players” involved in RA but when you say “the best people in Rugby”, this clearly doesn’t include say Dan Herbert, the current chair? is that just because he endorsed the previous decisions? I cannot comment on the rest but I have met, listened to and queried Dan at length, and overall I get the feeling that he is one of the good guys that should be around in RA.

Not at all like underarm bowling though is it…..

As an Anglo-Saxon male I have been on the receiving end of racism in China, Japan, South Africa and USA. None of it was pleasant. My thoughts are if this person is found guilty, ban him etc – whatever the appropriate punishments are. But to have someone come on into this forum and make a blanket statement that Australians are racist, racism very common among Australians, well, thats quite sad and simply untrue.

Totally agree re. Creighton. Seems like a good lad but not in the same league as Lynagh and HMP. And thank you, I hope he enjoys this chance as well.

It’s an interesting conundrum. Reds have Tom, HMP, Creighton and JOC. And the Reds do have a bit of a program to recommend fringe Dev squad players head OS. I know of one directly that has been recommended to play in Scotland, and try for the Scottish U20 side given his lineage. But I would question this program and say it could lose the WBs talent permanently. Has happened before and will happen again – Mack Hansen? My son is heading over on his own to play a season in Scotland as well but this is certainly where an NRC would make a huge difference.

True, him and Nobody. But which club are the Herberts involved in? Past and present?

I would argue that like SOO, the crowd for the Bledisloe is not purely Melburnians but a decent % of folk from other states like Qld, NSW and NZ 😂
And this is why states or cities pay a fee to host the games or rounds. It brings economic benefit to the state. They couldn’t give a rats about the sport itself, only the $$ it brings in. So, when the Bledisloe is held in Melbourne, those with the disposable income can afford to attend the game and spend it up big in the city hence all the sports coats with elbow patches and a token Wallabies scarf.

I think it unfair to compare 6 nations v Super Rugby Pacific. They are national teams and are played at the same stadiums for every match – Murrayfield, Twickenham, etc. I am pretty sure the Rugby Championship fills or goes close to filling the stands even in Melbourne. And don’t get me started on 3 tests in Sydney and 1 in Brisbane this year.

Agreed. What we need to do is first rate all the opinions so we get the best opinions out there – you know, the ones we all agree with….. ooh, it’s lunch time already.

I am quite sure you’ll find that there’s a large number of fans from Qld, NSW and WA heading to Melbourne for these games so to say that 81k are local, and born/bred Victorians is misleading. The Victorian Gov doesn’t put millions into bidding for these games for locals to attend.
I do have a bit of an issue with this happening as my family cannot afford to attend these games. On the other hand, it’s funding that RA desperately need, I get it.

Farming them off to Super teams seems to mean send the best to the Tahs to stagnate there for a while before moving OS. All jests aside though, there has to be a fairer system than the rubbish that goes on now though.

Not only that, TT is a marketable asset irrespective of his poor run with injuries and being worked over quite a bit at the Reds. Manage his workload, spend time and effort on keeping him fit and I think there’ll be a return on the investment.

And he’s NOT a Brumby.

Is there a salary cap for the super rugby squads? if so, how does it work? Is there some shenanigans involved with the RA top ups not being included? I just wonder how some clubs can keep taking on players of decent to good quality if there’s any semblance of a salary cap.

I too was at Stade de France for one of the semis and Tim Horan walked by. He did stop and we got a great photo as a group with him and a bit of chat. Different experience for us. We were on a package tour for the rugby and were lucky enough to have Daniel Herbert as our host. I must admit I went from not being a fan, to being a fan of Dan. He was a brilliant host for the tour at all times and I was able to have a few interesting conversations with him. I was surprised when he then turned up as the Grand Cheese at RA and I do wish him all the best in these trying times.

TWAS, I have to agree and its been a trigger for me over the years. The article states that the private school rugby system is going well but I would flatly disagree. I can only comment on the Brisbane scene but I do assume Sydney etc would be the same to a large extent.
The Brisbane GPS comp is a joke – not quality-wise but more in what it provides rugby. It’s a win at all cost scenario where the wealthy schools provide scholarships to signed up (and for all intents and purposes contracted) league players. These scholarships displace the lads that have trained, played and added value to the school up to say Year 11. They are then moved from the A team to the 2nds, 3rds and 4ths to make way for league players in the 1st XV. We then lose many of these from rugby. The second issue aside from losing rugby oriented lads is the waste of resources by these schools on league players. Yes, rugby got Max J and some others but I know they have lost a lot of talent. For the Junior Colts and U16 age groups clubs suffer as the schools do not allow any school players to also play club. For the 1st XV I can understand it and really don’t care but the lower teams should allow their players to also choose club play rather than school.
As evidence of the league incursion, the famous rugby breeding ground at Nudgee has an agreement signed with the NRL Dolphins. Is this because the Super rugby franchises have not or cannot, or just missed the boat again? Nudgee also has far more soccer player than rugby players and have also a deal done with Tottenham.

Being on a board is pretty much the same as being on the rugby board in RA, NSW or Qld – its very much an old boys club with who you know counting more than what you know. Board membership is the ultimate in junketing as typically there’s one or 2 that carry the rest of the rusted on trough snouts. However, finally in corporate Oz there’s some movement around this sort of crap and maybe someday soon, rugby will follow suit.

The first article I’ve read that I have not disagreed with a single point. Good read. The challenge is getting the right people with limited self interest and having rugby at heart. Tough one – but other unions have it, so can RA.

100% agree. Sign with a league academy and play seconds. We need to expend limited resources on the young men and women that WANT to play Rugby. If it’s because they might decide to play Rugby, it’s not good enough. We are wasting resources AND losing talent that wants to be part of Rugby.

“The schools in Sydney and Queensland do a good job of this to a certain degree already”. No they do not and they are a good part of the start of the pathways problem. These GPS schools have little interest in Rugby and are solely focussed on themselves with a win at any cost theme. If they were invested in Rugby then they would nurture the talent they have from years 5 through 12 rather than using the lads years 5 through 10 then importing a bunch of league players who have ZERO intention of playing Rugby. Then lets talk about keeping players in year 12 for 3 years….
Until the parochial self centred crap that goes on year after year is removed or re-aligned, there will be no improvement or success. I can give so many examples of self interest that goes on at junior level and means that talented kids that WANT to play Rugby leave the game.

All well and good to have bench for genuine injuries only until a well known water boy runs on either with his degree from the University of Kandahar Online, or a fake blood pill to help it along a little. And we all know that this gamesmanship would be off and running in these days of big money and PE.

I have zero issue with the innovative Bok bench split – it’s a risk that they are willing to take in order to win. As an opposition coach, I would make a game plan around absolutely concentrating on 2 backs, pushing the edge of righteousness in hammering them into (and off) the park. Surely the opposition coaches would be planning tactics like this? To be clear, I am not suggesting intentionally injuring a player but it’s a contact sport and the more contact, the greater the chance of wear and tear.

A head coaches role is not coaching, it should be the same as a Premier League Manager – its about getting the best from the players and understanding them well enough to know what each individual player’s buttons are, and when to push the different buttons for a consistent 100% performance. It’s not about set piece or scrums or backline moves although the final decision on these lies with the head coach, and it’s certainly not about catching and passing.
My son’s coach this year in a colts comp is the epitome of a poor head coach and it shows in the results they have this year. He has flogged them with fitness for losing, has definitely lost the change room and has no idea about what buttons each of the individuals needs pushed to perform. So the head coach is all about people management – players, wider squad, assistants, high performance trainers, all the support staff around the team. If you cannot manage people, you cannot be a head coach and if your concern is the height of the front row in a scrum, then you should remain as scrum coach.

So the college system would mean that Sydney Uni and UQ would gain ALL the talent, play in the local club comp as they do now and ruin it. It’s bad enough as it is with UQ, who then have the gall to complain some clubs cannot support more than 2 colts teams. They then take Prem grade club players under the guise of “the Reds have advised it for the players benefit”. Can’t see that changing in Bne with Mick at the Reds after so many years at Uni. This is just more of vested interests at every level leading to destruction of the grass roots club scene. This applies even more so to the GPS school system who are solely concerned with winning at any cost hence the scholarships to league players in years 11 and 12 (and for some 13&14), dumping the rugby focussed lads that made up the 10As, 9As etc and losing them to rugby by this lack of interest in developing them.