Yes Jez. And adding to that, the bulk of RA’s income is derived from the Wallabies. Winning Wallabies attract more support and more revenue for RA than losing Wallabies, which means more funds to invest in grassroots and development pathways, and the states and clubs.
Remind me where the majority of the back to back world Champ Boks play their rugby again?

Take the top choice 4 hookers, 7 props and 2 locks/6s out of any team and see how they go. Plus continual injury woes now in the midfield and now again for Jorgo.
As delighted as I am as any Queenslander to see a blues team in disarray, there’s no delight to be achieved from any team beating a sky blue 4th XV.
Any reasonable review of this Tah season has to take this ludicrous injury toll into consideration.

Rocky, the Roar really needs to add a thumbs down option for trolling trash like this that doesn’t deserve a response. We’ll done King for bothering.

Really interesting shout-out, Hika.
Why can’t we learn from football (“soccer”, for those who can’t grasp that a game played with a ball and the foot is called football). Create feeder relationships between our super clubs and the Japanese clubs, sign these talented youngsters up to the super clubs, and then loan them out to the Japanese clubs. Japan doesn’t have the nursery depth and we don’t have the development pathways to carry our talented kids at school and colts level onto provincial and test level. It could be a perfect fit. Might also stop the drain to league.
Of course, that would probably require blokes at RA to think outside the box a fraction (barely, since such processes are common practice in other other sports) and to communicate and engage beyond the narrow circle of blokes who they went to high school with.

Great balanced and informed post Jezdex.
Schmidtty has already commented about the importance of combinations, so it’s likely not just the role he’s requiring of the 8, but the other blokes who are selected. Valentini surely has to be selected, which may assist Cale, but presumably McReight is also a favourite at 7, and the Reds backrow as a unit has been exceptional, which helps Wilson perhaps.
Nice problem to have. But if we are all honest, the back row (or wing) are not the big Wallaby selection problems.

While the code soars in Ireland, SA, France, Japan…down here in ‘straya, mate, we’ve got seagulls fighting over soggy chips.

Hey Geoff
Great article thank you. I know that even though you’re a diehard Rebel fan, you’re a RUGBY man first and foremost and you always present a balanced, well articulated argument in the best interests of the broader game. I rarely disagree with much that you write and now is no exception.
But despite all the various discussions that your article may trigger, these are a bit distracting from the very core issue. The distilled, crucial and inarguable fact at the heart of the story is the Rebels are broke. And so is RA. So what is being done about that? How is a team or a sport funded if it is broke?
We can keep wagging our fingers at unnamed journos and current administrators, or even ex- coaches and chairmen, but for me that effort is a distraction for extracting the answer to how are we going to pay for the Rebels (and the Brumbys) to remain in the competition without the funding support that you describe the Reds, Tahs and Force enjoying?
To survive, perhaps the very first thing that the Rebels have to do is to dump their debt? Why would RA (or any other rescuers) want to pay over the odds, and/or waste precious investment paying down debt?
As you point out, RA can’t let the Rebels fail, and so it is in the Rebels and RAs mutual interests if the Rebels go into administration, that RA buy them out for nothing. Any money spent paying down bad debts is not being spent on rebuilding the future Rebels.
Herbert, Waugh and Harrison will all be very aware of that point.
Geoff, just maybe those unsavoury journalists and administrators have a broader horizon than you’re not recognising?
Or maybe after this past annus horribilis, I’m just desperate for unicorns and rainbows?….

Your point on Nance is very interesting Dusty. I too have been one of Nance’s torture victims and I doubt there have been too many more brutal a task master in any Aussie sports at any level. And maybe that is the key? Not the style or the tactics of the coach, or the talent or the mentality of the players: maybe the players simply aren’t in the right condition to implement what the coaches are requiring (a point that many have commented on on these pages previously)?
The average wallaby is about 20kg heavier than those Nance trained. But with the exception of the likes of Hoops (who is of course a mortal sized player) I bet there are few current Wallabies who would keep up if they were dropped into one of Nance’s training programmes.
Yes rugby has changed. Our players size has evolved to adjust but their fitness seems to have devolved.

Yep, I acknowledged that RTL. His loyalty to his mates is well known. But it’s pretty clear that all of the ex players on Stan all have a high regard for him. SBW was even himself the topic for the commentary team on occasion, when there were no shortage of other topics to be discussing. They dont all have to sound measured and clever like Nick and Morgs. It’s ok to have a bloke on the team who brings some honesty and colour IMO.

There is nothing fun about this sh1t show Ben

Ex-blower, SBW used to do my head in with with his choice bro say nothing idiotic commentary in his early days too. But look more closely. As an athlete the man has nothing to prove. He’s a serial champion in everything he’s attempted. And that’s consistent with who he is as a human. He stands for humility, loyalty, integrity, honesty and hard work. He stands for respect. Respect of his team mates, his opposition, the fans, and the game itself.
He’s the definition of a role model. He’s genuine anger at this Wallaby RWC debacle was impossible to disguise. Why should he care so much? He’s an All Black ffs! But he did. That’s why his opinion is so valued. Because he’s a serial winner who cares deeply about the damage inflicted on the game and the people in it who he loves.
I say welcome aboard Aussie Bill. You’re a credit to the game. And you spoke for us fans with the unrestrained passion that even the Wallabies either side of you failed to muster. Respect bro.

Gee Gaz I wish I lived in your parallel universe where sport and politics don’t mix! Sadly, in the one I live in they are deeply and inescapably intertwined. Pretending that sport can be isolated from politics is no less delusional than expecting a good outcome from intentionally going into a RWC without an experienced flyhalf.

Messiah complexes the both of them. The belief that they alone are the truth, the way and the light.

Yes AC, mind-blowing stuff. And do you reckon that centralising power in NSW could possibly lead to disproportionate reward and representation for NSW?… nah! As if that could ever happen! Hey you selfish Qld dinosaurs! Stop blocking the way forward for NSW Aussie rugby and hand over that brand new stadium for the Waratah Greater good!

Who receive all their income from the gambling industry cesspit.

Indeed TWAS. And for the rest of the passionate Aussie rugby community not based in Eastern and Northern Sydney, it just further fuels perceptions of a nepotistic divide: Of course the NSWRU are on board with this centralised model. They are broke and from outside are really indistinguishable from RA anyway- governance of RA has long been dominated by NSW interests. Why on earth would WA trust RA after the way it was treated by RA, even with all the vast resources that Twiggy offered to bring to the table? (20% more than the loan The Ham is currently trying to raise. Mental decision making!) Why would a profitable Qld with a new, fit for purpose stadium and a strong club scene hand over power to its eternal arch rival NSW? Why should the bench mark of high performance and local pathway development of Australian rugby in the ACT, hand over control to the bench mark of under performance and dysfunction?… It’s all well and good to assert that the Aussie rugby model is broken and that the provincial unions need to get on board with the Holy Grail of centralisation as the way forward, but just as teams on the field have to get the basics right and do the hard work up front before they earn the right to go wide, so too does RA have to do precisely the same. They need to get their own house in order and prove that they’ve earned the right to lead and be followed. RA are not trusted by the provincial unions. Do they actually understand why? What have they done to address these concerns? The Ham is a marketing man and so he oversimplisticly sees everything through this lens. He just sees that he and Waugh simply have to do a good sales and PR job and the regions will fall into place. Nick McArdle’s interview on Stan is well worth checking out. The Hamster handled himself pretty well, but some excellent but obvious questioning often seemed not so obvious to him. He and Eddie both see themselves as Messiahs. They don’t get that many outside of the tent (and even those of high influence, such as Knuckles Connolly) just see snake oil salesmen. I get that Aussie rugby needs to align its disjointed pathways and high performance coordination. But Australia is a vastly different scale and geography to Ireland and NZ. “Centralisation” is more than just an academic concept that I don’t think is truly understood by blokes who have always and only ever sat at the “centre” anyway. They need to understand the regions, not merely demand that they all assimilate. Hamish and Phil have not yet earned the right to go wide.

Kev, no one is disputing Rassie’s abilities. And of course, the world knows Saffas don’t give a fick who they offend, let alone offer apologies and ask forgiveness. However, your comments on the standards of Berry’s referring is irrelevant and it is not the place of a self-serving head coach to appoint himself as judge and executioner of international referrees. Rassie’s response to Berry and other referees who have not adjudicated to his satisfaction has been disgraceful and there is no justification for it at any level. The nationalities and preferred styles of the referees, teams, or even fans involved are also irrelevant. The core concept of respect for the officials- and indeed respect full stop- is what separates rugby from other codes.
This Spring Bok side are the best in the world. They deserve their crown. Their squad and their coaches earned their wins and their ranking. The players have earned respect. Their captain in particular is a sensational example of integrity and leadership who stands well in good company with a fine lineage of great Bok captains.
But all Saffas should stop arguing the end justifies the means. Rassie’s behaviour towards referees has been utterly unacceptable. Would you really want to live in a rugby universe where SA win every world cup every 4 years because the referees are bullied into blowing the game the way your head coach wants them to?

Hear hear Noodles. But that’s all irrelevant now.
What’s the rebuild look like?
1. Get rid of the Hamster.
Then what?
What is the correct governance framework so that the chairman doesn’t run the show like a third world dictator?
Why is no one questioning the role of the rest of the board? And who the hell are they anyway and why are any of them there?
Where is the money going to come from?
When will we accept that we have to follow SA and select our players from wherever they play? (We’re just not rich enough or good enough to do otherwise.)
How do we fix super rugby?
What are the development pathways and how do we broaden the nurseries significantly beyond Sydney and Brisbane private schools?
I agree with you. But DR is gone and won’t be back. So is Eddie. Let’s get on with it.

FORA, the SMH are gunning for the Ham too and as their broadcast partner that would therefore seem a forgone conclusion. They want a return on their investment and I should imagine this RWC debacle has cost them a fortune in ad revenue. That’s got to have consequences. As a TV man and professional bullshitter the Ham must surely know this.

Bingo Noodles….or is Alan Joyce the Hamish of the airline sector?… peas in a pod. A pair of narcissists who utterly violated all of the stakeholders they were entrusted to serve, and trashed two of our country’s most iconic brands in the process.

A fish rots from the head, W.E.
THE single biggest problem in Australian Rugby is Hamish. He has to go. There can be no successful rebuild while he remains. No one gives a fig about whether he sees himself as a quitter. He’s not fit to run rugby in Australia. So until we have the right person in place to pick Eddie’s replacement, talking about Eddie’s replacement is moot.

Guess, good point. But I think that’s a slightly false argumentI. I think you’re right that many didn’t like that DR often gave no comment at all, leaving fans and journos frustrated at the info vacuum. But that does not mean that fans therefore longed for embarrassing, distracting side shows and offensive public optics and/or soundbites. (No doubt DR was probably the journos least preferred coach from a headline creation perspective!)

Yep perfect Skippy. If he wants a payout for delivering devastation and chaos, force him to take court action where all the truths and untruths (from him, his management, the JRU, RA, and the Hamster) will all be publicly laid bare for all to see…

Aces, one suspects our girls are breathing a huge sigh of relief that Eddie is prioritising the Baa-baas over them…

Fast Eddie threw out his predecessors’ “serial losers” so that he could create his very own extra special version of embarassing disgrace.