- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
I wasn’t going to write to The Roar about Raelene Castle stepping down, but upon reading the article by the nameless person called ‘The Crowd’ yesterday, I felt another point of view should be put forward.
There have been several articles recently, suggesting the discontent over the Rugby Australia Board various CEOs is only a new thing. I believe there has been serious disquiet about the direction of rugby and lack of support for the clubs and grassroots rugby for the past ten years or more.
The total abandonment of the AIS coaching program, the crazy of purchase of NRL players, the shrinking of the talent pool of serious rugby players has for years set the path for today’s chaos.
Many serious and well-informed people have attempted to discuss and change the Rugby Australia Board’s direction. In most cases, the Board doesn’t even acknowledge letters or requests for meetings.
The RA Board is a closed shop, not wanting to discuss matters with anyone. The Captain’s letter has simply brought the dysfunction and arrogance to a head. Last year, I was involved in a survey of about 600 clubs Australia wide.
Among the questions asked, was one about the level of satisfaction with Rugby Australia, 100 per cent of respondents said there were dissatisfied.
The Board has insulated itself by implementing a constitution which takes away any involvement of the rugby community, by this I mean, people can only become part of the Board if they are not affiliated with a rugby club. This seems to me to be the wrong criteria for running rugby.
The captain’s letter was not calling for Raelene Castle’s head, it asked for the RA Board to stand down and installation of an independent and knowledgeable committee to review the structure of rugby. Anyone afraid or not supportive of this approach must have an ulterior motive.
Rugby people should not be afraid of programs that work and support the captain’s initiative to implement an interim panel for a total review and restructure of rugby in Australia.
The experiment with bankers and professional board sitters has failed miserably, in Saturday’s SMH Malcolm Knox makes some ridiculous comments but he does say ‘full steam ahead to 1991’. The reason 1991 and the following ten years were successful is that they reaped the benefits of the AIS training program that John O’Neil disbanded at the beginning of his reign.
I suggest the interim panel in their research look to the past, such as the years leading up to 1991 to see what programs were involved, that lead to the success of the 1991 Rugby World Cup win and consequent years of successful rugby.
They were policies and programs instituted for rugby, by rugby people. Fancy that!
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.