sendit
Bob Loudon (25)
How does that work?
Bledisloe # 3 - Saturday 31st October, ANZ Stadium
- Thread starter KOB1987
- Start date
How does that work?
Dctarget
John Eales (66)
well like very roughly 3.3% (population in Aus) x 45 man squad = 1.5
Evidently the Wallabies is not statistically representative of Australia, so it's a bit of a useless fact on my behalf
sendit
Bob Loudon (25)
Mate
3.3 is all indigenous
Half it for gender at the very least
Then men between 18-34
Then indigenous that live in a rugby playing state
Then ones who actually play sport
The further you break it down it becomes a smaller and smaller sample size, disproportionately to the rest of society
TSR
Mark Ella (57)
I’m not sure of he correct stats - but surely the figure would hold roughly true as you break it down.
ie if 3.3% of the population is indigenous, surely a similiar percentage of males aged 17 - 34ish are also indigenous. After all there are no women of any age or 45 year old men, indigenous or not, making the Wallabies.
ie if 3.3% of the population is indigenous, surely a similiar percentage of males aged 17 - 34ish are also indigenous. After all there are no women of any age or 45 year old men, indigenous or not, making the Wallabies.
Up the Guts
Steve Williams (59)
Stuff the stats, AFL and League have real cultural connections to Indigenous communities which is why they have so many more Indigenous players. There are plenty of super talented Indigenous athletes from the northern rivers but they live and breathe NRL. Indigenous kids growing up in NT and WA all play AFL.
If we want more Indigenous athletes in the game then we need to work out how we can capture the talent from AFL and League. I wouldn’t want to be put in charge of that task though, bloody hard to change 100+ years of community involvement in a single sport.
If we want more Indigenous athletes in the game then we need to work out how we can capture the talent from AFL and League. I wouldn’t want to be put in charge of that task though, bloody hard to change 100+ years of community involvement in a single sport.
KOB1987
Rod McCall (65)
Swings and roundabouts. Of the 933 Wallabies 14 of them have been of indigenous descent. That’s about 120 years of data. That means that statistically for every 67 players, one will be indigenous. Although Kurtley would struggle to make the Wallabies this year, he would probably still make a squad of 67 if he was still here. There were two main periods of overrepresentation in those figures - the period encompassing the Ella’s and Lloyd Walker, and we are very recently out of the other, the period encompassing Beale, the Fainga'a twins, and Hodgson.
Anyways, we’d all love it if there were more. And this is the Bled 3 thread anyway!
Anyways, we’d all love it if there were more. And this is the Bled 3 thread anyway!
TSR
Mark Ella (57)
I do think the lack of indigenous athletes in rugby is a sad reflection - not necessarily on the intent of anyone - but on the lack of strategy. However I have seen first hand that there have been significant efforts made to improve that. Not all of the efforts, IMO, have been perfectly executed, but I do think there has been a very clear intent and some of the people involved are very passionate from what I’ve seen. Hopefully the current problems don’t set the efforts back too far. It would be great to see indigenous participation grow across the board (along with participation generally).
Edit: sorry, of track from the thread.
Edit: sorry, of track from the thread.
ACT Crusader
Jim Lenehan (48)
I’d be interested in what people are noticing at club level with participation. Don’t spend too much time these days around the club scene in Melbourne, but back in the day there was the odd indigenous player at Moorabbin or Box Hill but pretty rare in 1st grade.
I don’t think rugby can compete with league or AFL when it comes to grassroots participation and the way current and former indigenous players are used to promote the their games. Rugby might be better served in being involved with other sports to grow participation in sports more generally. And use current Wallabies players to promote the game (and themselves) that way.
Positive exposure is still a major hurdle for OZ rugby.
ACT Crusader
Jim Lenehan (48)
If you’re interested, a breakdown of last census data that shows indigenous population by age and sex compared to non-indigenous is at
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/profile-of-indigenous-australians
Derpus
George Gregan (70)
Any move would have to be a very well calculated slow burn. Getting the game onto 9 would be a decent start.
Wonder what Fox's sign up rate is among the indigenous population. Not high I imagine.
wamberal
Phil Kearns (64)
My feelings about the issue of indigenous representation are conditioned by my lived experiences, I suppose that is the same for all of us. I grew up in an Australia which was still part of the British Empire, we were taught virtually nothing at school about our indigenous population and their history. The only indigenous people that I was aware of growing up were either boxers or rugby league players.
In my twenties I shared a flat with Mick Bryant, a schoolteacher of indigenous descent, who played first grade with Manly Warringah Seagulls. I met a few of his mates too, of course, one of them went on to become very influential in indigenous affairs and politics. I learnt a lot about the similarities between us, but also the differences. My respect for indigenous culture rose the more I learnt.
The question of apartheid in sport was to the fore around then, and rugby was, of course, a prime focus. What sort of image did we have amongst our indigenous population because of that? And there must have been discrimination in our sport here, there was discrimination just about everywhere you looked back then.
I worked with a Queenslander who played one Test, and represented the state a number of times, overlapping a bit with Lloyd McDermott. He told me that McDermott's indigenous heritage was not recognised, and if it had been, in my friend's opinion he would never have been selected for the state team in the first place.
When the Ellas burst onto the scene it was like glorious rain falling after a long drought. The doors were open. But, not all that surprisingly, not too many indigenous kids came running into our game. Partly because of our historical indifference or active discrimination, partly because league and AFL are games that are obviously more appealing and less "technical" to play at junior levels, partly because there are more opportunities, partly because there is more money on offer.
We in Australia have very little, virtually nothing, to celebrate as a code in terms of our indigenous base. I would like to see us making some sacrifices as a code to "close the gap". Now is probably not the right time, given the circumstances, but we should lay out a proper plan.
I would prefer to see our national team running out in a plain golden jersey embossed with a sprig of wattle, green shorts and with a black armband. Sponsors should be invited to make a donation to a fighting fund.
In my twenties I shared a flat with Mick Bryant, a schoolteacher of indigenous descent, who played first grade with Manly Warringah Seagulls. I met a few of his mates too, of course, one of them went on to become very influential in indigenous affairs and politics. I learnt a lot about the similarities between us, but also the differences. My respect for indigenous culture rose the more I learnt.
The question of apartheid in sport was to the fore around then, and rugby was, of course, a prime focus. What sort of image did we have amongst our indigenous population because of that? And there must have been discrimination in our sport here, there was discrimination just about everywhere you looked back then.
I worked with a Queenslander who played one Test, and represented the state a number of times, overlapping a bit with Lloyd McDermott. He told me that McDermott's indigenous heritage was not recognised, and if it had been, in my friend's opinion he would never have been selected for the state team in the first place.
When the Ellas burst onto the scene it was like glorious rain falling after a long drought. The doors were open. But, not all that surprisingly, not too many indigenous kids came running into our game. Partly because of our historical indifference or active discrimination, partly because league and AFL are games that are obviously more appealing and less "technical" to play at junior levels, partly because there are more opportunities, partly because there is more money on offer.
We in Australia have very little, virtually nothing, to celebrate as a code in terms of our indigenous base. I would like to see us making some sacrifices as a code to "close the gap". Now is probably not the right time, given the circumstances, but we should lay out a proper plan.
I would prefer to see our national team running out in a plain golden jersey embossed with a sprig of wattle, green shorts and with a black armband. Sponsors should be invited to make a donation to a fighting fund.
Simone doesn't play like a "big physical man" he is a ball player
Derpus
George Gregan (70)
He is solid defensively though
I just listened to the rugby ruckus podcast, Mr Tirinui highlighted that most of the defensive errors were about structure and trust in the units next to you and knowing what they will do
I standby my point that for the moment we need more cohesion so pick players as units wherever possible - Petaia and Koro are the only 2 special backs we have, the rest ........... are no better than their replacements
Up the Guts
Steve Williams (59)
What was Morgs assessment of the entire game? Wallabies errors cost them or NZ just too good?
Derpus
George Gregan (70)
So White-Lolesio-Simone-Petaia it is.
Joe Blow
Peter Sullivan (51)
More likely that JOC (James O'Connor) will start at 10 if fit and Lolesio will come it at some point in the second stanza. Simone is a good choice being a specialist 12 and a decent sized lad.
ACT Crusader
Jim Lenehan (48)
The lack of combinations was noticeable for the ABs defence as well. Goodhue and Clarke defending down the left side were a little exposed at times and not because they aren’t good tacklers or robust in defence, but because they don’t have experience together to know reactions, patterns etc.