Excellent article Geoff.
Bob Hudson also wrote an even better song about Newcastle called “Girls In Our Town”.
He was a really talented bloke who later gave up music and became a News Reader/Producer with the ABC in Sydney then years later took redundancy and last I heard was doing archaeology tours in Asia.
I worked in radio in Newcastle for six months in the seventies and loved it – great place, great girls and great surf.
Of course in those days I was young, fit and had no responsibilities whatsoever!
On a more serious note the journos who attended the after match presser failed to interrogate Hooper for setting yet another bench mark in brain dead Captaincy.
As so many previous posters have said he has been an utterly abysmal failure as Captain who simply never ever learns from his repeated mistakes – and he’s on a million dollars a year contract!
Dave Rennie is now really at the crossroads – I can understand if he keeps Hooper as Captain for the last Test of the year.
Hooper is then off to Japan for a “sabbatical” and that will provide the opportunity for Rennie to really start making tough decisions with this Wallaby team next year.
They are grossly overpaid, pampered and protected and living in some bizarre world where harsh reality just never seems to penetrate.
It’s such a pity Greg Growden died a week ago – he would have really nailed these Wallaby imposters to the wall after that display in Newcastle.

Geoff, I always enjoy your articles.
I am very happy with the STAN deal and the performance so far of Hamish McLennan as RA Chairman.
However you touched briefly on one aspect regarding a future Super Rugby deal which instantly produces red hot rage in me and other Australian rugby fans.
That’s the suggestion by McLennan that to clinch a Super Rugby deal with five Australian teams in 2022, that New Zealand will be allocated a pool of matches if Australia wins hosting rights for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
The federal government has already allocated almost ten million dollars of Australian taxpayers money for the bid and RA has no right under any circumstances, to be gifting World Cup matches to NZ.
I am astounded that so far the Australian media have not cross examined McLennan more closely on this imbecilic suggestion.
Rugby Australia needs to understand that taxpayers are paying for a 100% Australian bid – and absolutely nothing else.
McLennan needs to rule this “thought bubble” out now.

There’s no case whatsoever for a Wellington Phoenix team in the W-League.
Just as there’s no case for Phoenix to retain a place in the A-League.
Every year Phoenix has failed in Australia to attract crowds, television ratings or commercial interest – while at the same time receiving 3-point 6 million dollars of Australian money from the FFA contract with Fox.
At the same time Australia is denied a team in Wollongong, Canberra, Gold Coast, Townsville and a second team in Brisbane.

Consider this fact from July 19 2017.
The Federal Government has refused to release details about $30 million in sports broadcasting funding given to News Corporation’s Fox Sports.
This year’s federal budget includes a measure worth $30 million over four years to “support the broadcast of under-represented sports on subscription television, including women’s sports, niche sports, and sports with a high level of community involvement and participation”.

It’s crystal clear Fox want to walk away from the A-League telecast deal.
Good.
It can’t come soon enough.
Let the FFA go to the Federal Government and obtain another 30-million dollars and use that money to do a deal with SBS/ABC for free to air coverage on Saturdays and Sundays for an expanded A-League, 16-teams including Canberra and Tasmania (no NZ club), in WINTER with reduced player payments and only two foreign players.
At the same time the FFA can set up their own OTT streaming Netflix type service in conjunction with SBS.
In other words – a REAL A-League to develop Australian players, male and female.
Never again should Australian taxpayers have their money handed to a pay tv service which reaches only 20% of the total viewing audience.

Lots of excellent points in this article BUT number one must be stop the madness of the hot summer season.
All the endless drivel about “more media exposure” without competing against NRL and AFL, limited “access” to grounds, blah blah blah.
A winter season is absolutely imperative.
It aligns perfectly for the Asian Champions League and all other state and junior football competitions – and will produce a much better playing standard without the crippling heatwave conditions.
Prostituting your sport to a pay tv service which simply wants something to show in summer has really worked out well hasn’t it?
It’s been an utter catastrophe.
We have wasted all the money and research spent on the Crawford Report, handed over endless dollars to various NZ club teams who should never have been allowed into the competition, and failed miserably to actually develop and raise the standard of the Socceroos – which was the whole idea in the first place of actually having an A-League!
The FFA was totally bluffed into allowing the clubs to take control of the competition by the false claim that FIFA had a legal right to enforce promotion and relegation.
That spurious legal claim has been now totally destroyed by recent action in the United States justice system.
The FFA has been utterly brain dead with its administration over the last 15 years and James Johnson has to really get it right, in the future.
Take back complete control of the A-League, get rid of Wellington, get in Canberra, Wollongong, and Tasmania, cut back on foreign players, introduce a draft system for young Australian players so they have real opportunities to either succeed or fail – and forget stupid ideas of promotion and relegation – you will only end up with a competition comprising 99% clubs from Sydney and Melbourne and without a team in Perth, Brisbane or Adelaide.

In all these discussions very few fans are highlighting the number one issue with the A-League.
When a sport totally hands over control over its scheduling to a TV broadcaster, it means all decisions are never made for the long term future of the sport.
TV broadcasters pay money for the rights so they can then have a product to televise at a time that suits them and only them.
That’s why Super Rugby was always madness for Australian Rugby with games in South Africa telecast at 2-am or 3-am eastern Australian time.
How could such a competition survive long term or actually be any good for the sport in Australia?
It’s exactly the same with the A-League.
It’s insanity to play games in the heat of the Australian summer.
But FOX wanted something to telecast in summer to fill the endless hours of available broadcast time.
Football is a winter game and the claim of avoiding the excessive coverage of AFL and NRL is just drivel with endless garbage stories about aussie rules and rugby league saturating newspapers and television/radio bulletins every day.
Optus provides a real opportunity for the A-League to be transformed because they are all about selling mobile phones – not ratings points to attract advertisers.
Start the whole competition again – 16 teams including Wollongong, Canberra and Tasmania.
Cut back the number and ridiculous payments to overseas “stars” and concentrate on what the competition was supposed to be about in the first place – developing Australian players.
Season runs from first weekend of March to last weekend of October.
Top four playoffs with two leg home and away fixtures, then the Grand Final.
With a winter season our clubs will produce improved performances in the Asian Champions League, the FFA Cup will be synchronised much better and the NPL competitions will dovetail perfectly with the A-League, allowing young players to be transferred swiftly and easily when required.
The days of big money television contracts for Australian sport are rapidly coming to an end.
SEVEN is in big trouble having grossly overpaid for AFL and Cricket and are desperately looking to sell hard real estate assets.
What do you think the stock market chaos is going to do to advertising revenue?
FOX are not going to survive in the long term.
World wide streaming services are gearing up to saturate the globe with dirt cheap fees and both live and highlights features on all devices.
With just one click of the button even a near senile pensioner in a retirement village will be able to handle his streaming on the device of his choice.
Technology will continue to rapidly evolve.
Who predicted Uber or Airbnb or TikTok etc etc.

It’s a complete indictment of the FFA administrators, both past and present, that Wellington have not already been kicked out of the A-League.
Australian taxpayers forked out 12-million dollars for the Crawford Report.
The federal government has continued to pump astonishing amounts of Australian taxpayers dollars into the game.
The sole reason for the Crawford Report was to reform the structure of the game in Australia, to improve the standard of the game in Australia, to strengthen the qualification chances of Australia into the World Cup and all other World and Olympic competitions,, to create and promote the grassroots planning of the game in Australia, and to develop the junior coaching standard.
The A-League has nothing whatsoever to do with New Zealand.
It was paid for by Australian taxpayers as an Australian competition for Australian clubs.
Australian fans have shown over and over they are not interested in a New Zealand club and never will be.
Every single season Wellington has failed on every single yardstick of creating crowds, sponsors dollars, media interest etc in Australia.
The Oceania Confederation on a pure FIFA technicality, was able to blackmail the FFA into having an A-League club as a payoff to sign off on Australia’s move into the Asian Confederation.
That club has always been known by Australian fans as Wellington PARASITES.
They must be removed at the end of this season.

There’s been a lot of discussion about the role of Scott Johnson and his connection to Dave Rennie.
In 1999 I interviewed Scott Johnson when he was coaching Penrith.
He’d previously had connections with Eastwood and Parramatta as a player.
I remember clearly how he spoke at length and with great passion about the potential of Rugby in the western suburbs, the changing face of immigration and how it was changing the demographics of the player base.
In particular he also spoke about the lack of support and understanding of the west by the powerbrokers of club rugby in the eastern and beachside clubs and how golden opportunities to develop the game were being wasted.
The long established Sydney clubs and the NSW RU and ARU just didn’t want to know about Parramatta or Penrith or anywhere else west of North Ryde.
I thought when John O’Neill brought in the Western Force and the junior game began really growing strongly in WA, that a new era would sweep through every level of Australian rugby, including the endlessly debated “western Sydney development” push.
The absolute waste of rugby development in western Sydney is an indictment of rugby administration.
Scott Johnson has the inside knowledge – in short he knows “where the bodies are buried” when it comes to administrators over the last 25 years.
The Polynesian immigration factor is a golden lifeline for Australian rugby.
Just as the Italians, Greek, Serbians, Croatians, Maltese, etc etc etc have all made a fantastic contribution to Australian soccer at ALL levels.
And to all aspects of life in Australia.
Dave Rennie has a Polynesian background – that is a priceless asset for Australian Rugby.
He needs to be given a fair go and 100% backing so that he too can make a contribution towards modern Australian society and to enhancing the Wallaby brand.

Mike,
On the subject of coaches I have been astonished at the lack of coverage for the pathetic display by the Young Matildas at the AFC under-19 championship two weeks ago in Thailand.
This was the qualifying tournament for the 2020 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
The Young Matildas were THRASHED 9-1 by South Korea, 7-0 by Japan and 5-1 by North Korea.
How the head coach Leah Blayney and her staff, the players and the FFA have escaped accountability for this utterly abysmal display is absolutely astounding.

Mike Tuckerman – if you were really doing your job you would be investigating and highlighting the financial and player development damage that having a New Zealand club in the A-League is really costing Australia.
1. Go back to the cost of the Crawford Report – taxpayers forked out big money via the Australian government to set out the best way to build and develop a new national league to raise the standard of clubs and players in Australia.
2. Wellington Phoenix develops players for New Zealand national teams. It brings no benefit whatsoever to the A-League – no fans, no financial asset, no television ratings and no Australian player development.
It is a total parasite organisation which is now also trying to weasel its way into having a Women’s team play in the Australian W-League so they can develop their kiwi players and take even more money out of the A-League.
The NZ Football Association is also trying to weasel its way into a so-called “joint bid” for the 2023 Women’s World Cup with Australia, despite the fact we will have more than enough top quality stadiums for every match of a 32-team tournament.
3. Under the new arrangement whereby the A-League clubs get a big share of the financial return from the Fox deal with the FFA, it means Australians are subsiding the cost and development of New Zealand football because Wellington get money far in excess of the zero amount they bring to the competition.
4. Australia (the Olyroos) have not qualified for the Olympics in 12-years – Graham Arnold has highlighted the lack of players not getting game time in the A-League – I refer to this Nick Symonds post: https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/a-league/aleague-news-socceroos-graham-arnold-podcast-video-watch-youth-production-second-division-reserve-grade-structure/news-story/c65e8fd6d44c7a03613005459939ab87
5. The FFA still retains a special right over the administration of the club game in Australia.
Australian taxpayers and 99% of fans want the Wellington Phoenix gone at the end of this season.
We have over half a dozen NPL clubs in Australia desperate to obtain an A-League license in various cities and regions.
The FFA must step in at the end of this season and remove this parasite Kiwi club.
6. The FFA employs a gentleman called Ricardo Piccioni who has the title of “General Manager Media and Government Relations “.
His job in simple terms is to constantly get money out of the federal government (in other words from Australian taxpayers) to develop the game in Australia.
I repeat – Mike Tuckerman – if you were doing your job you would be inquiring as to why Australian clubs are being denied the chance to play in the A-League and thereby develop Australian players – instead of having Australian taxpayers subsidising a Kiwi club which does precisely nothing for the Australian game.
7. And the absolute number one question is: Why is the Federal Sports Minister Richard Colbeck allowing Australian taxpayers to continue subsidising this Kiwi club?

Excellent overall summary Sheek on the historical background involving both games.
Like you I have read Tony Collins and Sean Fagan.
I have travelled extensively overseas over many years and the complete insignificance of AFL and Rugby League always strikes me.
Hilariously, even in the southern states of Australia a huge section of the population doesn’t understand there is a difference between League and Union – to them it’s all “rugby”.
Ultimately I believe the only possible solution is for rules changes for both rugby codes to arrive at just one game.
Retain line-outs and real scrums but sort out the complexity of the breakdown – that is the biggest mess holding back Union.
It’s interesting how American football changed that turnover problem by introducing the “down”.
The problem is of course they butchered prolonged attacking play in doing so.
Which brings up back to ensuring the magnificent attacking play that can still emerge in Union.
I have been a devoted fan of the two “world games” Union and Soccer all my life.
It’s an absolute tragedy that Australia has been inflicted with four codes of football.
It’s like having a nation with permanent leprosy.

Wingman,
I always enjoy your columns because they are such a welcome contrast to the usually predictable stuff on this and so many other rugby sites.
I am interested always in the overall development and improvement of the game, not just in Australia but worldwide.
World Rugby has done many good things for the development of the game but the dilemma of really solving the pacific island problem seems to have been put in the too hard basket.
That’s despite the fact World Rugby is absolutely rolling in cash and will have many buckets more, after the incredible flood of money rolling in from the Japan World Cup.
With the continuing growth of Major League Rugby, I am sure World Rugby will be determined to slot in the 2027 World Cup to the USA – and that decision would have every chance of producing another blockbuster tournament to match Japan 2019.
Why not make that one of your next articles?
And here’s another one!
Namibia really offers very little for World Rugby at the Cup and that’s never going to change.
I have always been puzzled why World Rugby has not put money into the club London Nigeria with the aim of driving the development of the game back in Africa, with ultimate qualification for the World Cup as a target.
London Nigeria play in London 2 – north west and a decade ago gained eight league promotions in ten years.
They have struggled over the last few years but their potential links back in Africa are huge.
Remember Chris Ottey and Victor Obugu both played for England with great success.
With a population of 190-million, Nigeria has incredible raw material – but they need money and coaching – and of course some political stability!
With assistance, Nigeria could be as big in rugby as the Springboks.
Incidentally they already have a great nickname like the Boks – the Black Stallions!

Minor premiers should be just that.
Minor Premiers.
Everyone understands that instantly.
Then there should be four team semi-finals consisting of two legged play-offs, just like the champions league.
Highest placed team to get benefit of home leg played last.
Then a two leg Grand Final, home and away.
Again with highest placed team on the ladder always having home leg last.
This would keep the Australian angle of “minor premiers” while the two legged play-offs would
go a long way towards ensuring the best team is ultimately crowned “champions”.
The number of matches for the two legged play-offs would guarantee huge interest and huge dollars.

There are a number of mistakes, myths and fantasies in this article and the accompanying comments.
HERE ARE THE FACTS.
1. Wellington Phoenix are only in the A-League because of a FIFA technicality.
When Frank Lowy transferred Australia out of the Oceania Confederation into the Asia Confederation, he could only do so with the agreement of Oceania.
They demanded a place in the A-League for a NZ club as the price of that agreement.
Lowy knew it was essential for Australia to move into Asia so very reluctantly he had to agree but he ensured there would be a set of performance conditions on the NZ club’s long term entry.

2. Phoenix have NEVER met those conditions and would have been automatically removed at the end of this season, had not the independent body been set up to administer the A-League.

3. The owner’s of the Wellington Phoenix have since been lobbying endlessly to obtain a permanent agreement to remain in the A-League.
This would be a continuing disaster for the competition with NO BENEFIT whatsoever for the Australian game.

4. FOX SPORT ratings figures overwhelmingly show that Australian fans will NOT watch the Phoenix.
When they play in Australia the figures nose dive and they bring nothing in terms of marketing or financial promotion for the game, in this country.
NO ONE IN AUSTRALIA IS INTERESTED IN THEM AND NEVER WILL BE.
In addition they are holding a place which should be held by a club PLAYING AND DEVELOPING AUSTRALIAN PLAYERS.

5. With the coming Division 2 – promotion-relegation model rapidly taking shop, it is utterly unacceptable that Australian clubs, many with many decades of tradition and history, should be denied a place in the A-League because of the presence of a FOREIGN club.

6. The A-League was set up (after massive Australian federal government funding for the Crawford Report) to develop, grow, improve and promote AUSTRALIAN football.
It has NOTHING to do with New Zealand in any way, shape or form.

Wellington Phoenix MUST BE REMOVED at the end of this season and clubs from Canberra, Brisbane, Wollongong etc brought in, to take their rightful position in AN AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION.

The brutal reality is that FOX pays money to get viewers – and then forces the scheduling of matches only for that purpose.
NOT for the good of the sport, the development of the sport, or the long term future of the sport etc etc.
That’s why the A-League development is a mess – exactly the same as the toxic stupidity of Super Rugby.
Viewing times for children are not part of the FOX equation and never will be.
But ultimately, a sport without children watching and attending regularly will NEVER grow.
The other great tragedy though is the fact football is played as a SUMMER SPORT in Australia.
We should be playing the A-League and the NPL and all football as it really is – a winter game.
FOX of course would never allow that because they are obsessed with AFL and NRL and push them both relentlessly.
Johnny Warren was the man who convinced Soccer Australia (as it was in those days) to make the switch with the NSL to summer.
Johnny’s argument was that summer heat would slow play and therefore CREATE SKILL on the ball, just like the South Americans.
He also passionately believed that it would allow football to escape from having to compete all the time with AFL and NRL for media coverage.
I knew Johnny Warren very well – he was a great bloke and a true icon of the game in Australia.
BUT I argued with him at the time – and I still will argue with anyone to this day – that switching to summer was a tragic MISTAKE.
We need to take on AFL and NRL and primarily play when the kids and the NPL are playing – IN WINTER.
Summer is too hot and will only get hotter.
The FOX contract will eventually come to an end – and that’s the time for the FFA to find a broadcaster who will actually CARE about growing the game, invest time and money in the game and help – really help – to make it as big as it should be, in this country.

The state federations must ensure that Wellington Phoenix are BOOTED out of the A-League at the end of this season.
This is an AUSTRALIAN competition and not one dollar should ever be handed over to a foreign club.
Every season Wellington Phoenix have the WORST ratings figures on FOX for any team.
EVERY YEAR!!!
FOX don’t want them, Australian fans don’t want them and with relegation and promotion coming, no state federation club should allow them to play any part in an AUSTRALIAN competition.
Wellington Phoenix were only granted entry to the A-League when it was set up, because of a FIFA technicality whereby the Oceania federation had to sign off on Australia’s switch to the Asian confederation.
Frank Lowy at the time had no choice but to agree.
Now is the time to correct that blackmail which has saddled the A-League with a PARASITE FOREIGN club.

I have previously posted my thoughts whenever this subject comes up.
At the risk of just repeating myself, I do so again.
It’s astounding the administrators and board members at Rugby Australia continue in their positions.
This article and all the comments it has attracted highlights what every single person who loves Australian rugby has known for many years.
The current system is simply POISONOUS AND UNSUSTAINABLE.
FACT—Every successful sporting competition in Australia is CLUB BASED!!! —–NRL, AFL, NETBALL, A-LEAGUE, NBL.
CLUBS AND SCHOOLS are what rugby is all about.
Imagine the ARU marketing genius who originally signed off on the Super Rugby model for Australian fans.
A. Games will be played at 1-am or 2-am—BRILLIANT!!!!
B. Teams will have names that no one will easily be able to tell where exactly they come from – Lions/Blues/Reds/Bulls/Stormers/Cheetahs/Wankers–BRILLIANT!!!!
C. IT WILL BE ON FOX SPORT SO ONLY 20% OF THE POPULATION WILL EVER SEE IT —BRILLIANT!!!!!!
D. Teams will have endless overseas travel with fans not seeing their side play at home for up to three or four weeks—BRILLIANT!!!!!

It really is time to bite the bullet.
1. Stop maintaining the fantasy that we can pay ridiculous amounts of money to players to prevent them going overseas.
2. If players want to go, let them.
3. Since rugby went professional, we have squandered millions of dollars on players and administrators.
4. Select the Wallabies from the best players here and overseas – exactly as applies to the Socceroos.
5. Only club rugby provides any real strength and growth to the game – that’s an undisputed fact so that must always provide the core development model to receive funds.
6. No more NRC or Super Rugby teams and competitions – as Brett Papworth famously said “NO ONE CARES”.
7. Have an elite club competition exactly like the AFL and NRL and A-League.
8. That competition would consist of 6-Sydney clubs, five Brisbane clubs plus the Brumbies (accessing all Canberra clubs, Rebels (accessing all Melbourne clubs) and Western Force (accessing all Perth clubs) supplemented with a draft and providing a season of 26 games, then into semi’s and final.
9. In the national draft the Brumbies, Rebels and Force would get first choice.
10. A Free to air game on Friday night, Sat arvo & Sat night. All other games on Kayo. If FOX don’t want it, then the ARU should BUY the advertising time and produce and sell the game EXACTLY like the company telecasting CLUB RUGBY ON SEVEN MATE do – better still get that company to do it!.
11. Forget all the endless crap about Currie Cup and ITM Cup – South Africa and NZ don’t have AFL or Rugby League – we cannot have a model like them nor do we want one – have a look at the evidence in front of you – we have great historic clubs – build on that model – there is a severe limit on HOW MUCH TIME A NORMAL PERSON can follow any sport – club rugby and Test match rugby interest is paramount –but no one has any extra time for made up competitions or teams – like NRC rubbish or Super Rugby with games at 1-am, 2-am or 3-am- and on Pay TV – how could any marketing genius ever think that model is sustainable in Australia.
12. In addition the finances of SA or NZ are chicken feed compared to Australia which is moving rapidly into the top ten economies in the world – and will only continue to grow. Get administrators who can actually plan and operate a national competition like AFL, NRL, A-League, Netball, Big Bash etc. No foreign teams. That’s what TEST MATCHES are for – COUNTRY v COUNTRY.
13. If the current administrators are too incompetent to do this, then get people WHO CAN.

This article and all the comments it has attracted highlights what every single person who loves Australian rugby has been wrestling with for many years.
The current system is simply poison.
It really is time to bite the bullet.
1. Stop maintaining the fantasy that we can pay ridiculous amounts of money to players to prevent them going overseas.
2. If players want to go, let them. No local players should receive any more than 250,000 a year.
3. Since rugby went professional, we have squandered millions of dollars on players and administrators.
4. Select the Wallabies from the best players here and overseas – exactly as applies to the Socceroos.
5. Only club rugby provides any real strength and growth to the game – that’s an undisputed fact so that must be always the core development model to receive funds.
6. No more NRC or Super Rugby teams and competitions – as Brett Papworth famously said “no one cares”.
7. Have an elite club competition exactly like the AFL and NRL and A-League.
8. 8. That competition would consist of 6-Sydney clubs, five Brisbane clubs plus the Brumbies (accessing all Canberra clubs, Rebels (accessing all Melbourne clubs) and Western Force (accessing all Perth clubs) supplemented with a draft and providing a season of 26 games.
9. In the national draft the Brumbies, Rebels and Force would get first choice.
10. A Free to air game on Friday night, Sat arvo & Sat night. All other games on Kayo.
Forget all the endless crap about Currie Cup and ITM Cup – South Africa and NZ don’t have AFL or Rugby League – we cannot have a model like them nor do we want one – have a look at the evidence in front of you – we have great historic clubs – build on that model.
In addition the finances of SA or NZ are chicken feed compared to Australia which is moving rapidly into the top ten economies in the world – and will only continue to grow, especially if we keep that cretin Shorten and the rest of his Union thugs out of government.

Yes – all good and necessary points PLUS the season should go back to winter !!!
From March to late October – virtually same as the state leagues.
Stop letting AFL and NRL have free domination throughout the winter months.
And GET RID OF Wellington Phoenix – the A-League is an an Australian competition
and nothing to do with NZ.
We have teams being knocked back for expansion and young Australian players being denied a chance to play.
Phoenix were only given a license because the Oceania federation demanded it, in return for agreeing for Australia to switch to the Asian confederation.

The damage Michael Cheika has inflicted upon Australian rugby is incalculable.</strong>
Crash Ball2 – you have summed up this utterly delusional clown perfectly.
This interview on FOX was quite bluntly VOMIT INDUCING !!!
After his repeated boasting in the last week that he HAD NOT BOTHERED TO WATCH THE WALES-IRELAND SIX NATIONS DECIDER, Rugby Australia should have already SACKED this clown.
He should never be allowed to have any connection whatsoever with Australian Rugby.

White is a colour that should NEVER appear on any Australian sporting uniform in any sport.

White belongs to England, France, Russia, Czech Rep, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia etc etc etc.

The claim that white socks should be worn because the 1974 Socceroos wore them is utterly infantile.

The reason the 1974 Socceroos wore white socks is because they were CHEAP and the whole team and administration were BROKE !!!

Personally I would have preferred an ABORIGINAL patterned gold with green strip but since the team members appear happy with it, I am happy for them.

But a memo to all other Australian sport federations – NO WHITE EVER!

Brilliant post – it summarises so much that is wrong in both Rugby and Soccer administration in this country.

The truth is both sports are riddled with administrators with HUGE EGOS and avaricious SNOUTS IN THE TROUGH!

The real “good” of the game is bottom of their list of considerations.

It is utterly beyond comprehension how a country like Australia could not have a thriving nationwide club competition in both Soccer and Rugby Union, developing and supporting players who have the ability to make the national teams of both codes among the very best in the world.

Mike – all the very best to you and your wife for a magic honeymoon!

I have always enjoyed your columns because they remind me of my younger days when one of my weekly delights was buying a copy of the late great Andrew Dettre’s green paper SOCCER WORLD.

You have consistently shown the same passion for the game as Andrew Dettre. Martin Royal, Tony Horstead, David Jack, Les Murray, Lou Gautier, Tommy Anderson and many other pioneering writers.

Long may you continue.

I’ve always considered myself incredibly lucky that I have such a love for the TWO WORLD GAME codes.

Soccer and Rugby Union !!!

Mike – all the best to you and your wife for a fabulous honeymoon!

As a youngster one of my great weekly delights was buying a copy of Andrew Dettre’s green paper SOCCER WORLD.

I’ve always enjoyed your articles on theroar website because you have shown the same passion and love of the game that Andrew Dettre and his fellow writers demonstrated all those many years ago.

I have always loved the

I’ve always considered myself incredibly lucky.

First I was born an Australian which means I was automatically handed a winning ticket in the lottery of life.

Of course what you then do with that winning ticket, is up to you.

As I sit on my balcony enjoying a quiet cup of tea and cake and pounding on my lap top, I can see Sydney harbour.

So you might say I have made full use of my winning lottery of life ticket.

Secondly I have always been a passionate RUGBY UNION and SOCCER fan.

I absolutely love them BOTH.

They are without any doubt whatsoever the TWO leading football codes in the world.

I have been to six Rugby World Cups and seen both Australian wins in 1991 and 1999.

I will be in Japan in 2019 and still believe if Cheika picks the right players, we will be a huge chance.

I have also been to two Soccer World Cups – France 98 and Germany 2006 and firmly believe we have a real chance of progressing from the group stage.

I have always felt incredibly sorry for people who only display passion for one sport.

What a staggeringly dull life to live.

Rugby Union, Soccer, Tennis, Cricket, Basketball, Golf, Athletics, Swimming – love them all.

But I do have one confession.

I absolutely loathe AFL and everything about it – an utterly brainless pursuit which nobody in the world plays or will EVER play.

Kochie’s constant propaganda about “China embracing our great game” provides me with a daily belly laugh.

I still vividly remember AFL’s Kevin Sheedy from 20 years ago and his regular exhortations about how the move into South Africa, New Zealand, India etc etc was definttely going to have those countries embracing “our great game”.

Thirdly – I DO NOT BELIEVE IN RELIGION or any GOD, or any unlucky numbers, or feng shui or any superstitions etc etc.

Which means I have never wasted one single second of my day worrying, debating, analysing the lunatic jabberings of PRIESTS, IMANS or brainwashed individuals like Israel Folau.