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Australian Rugby / RA

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
Again it is you that are missing the point. Do the PLAYERS in the rival code pay anything? No they do NOT!


I'm still not sure what your point is. The reality is that neither the ARU, the state unions or the clubs the kids play for can afford to fund their participation.

The alternative to the families covering the cost of their participation is that there is no Junior Gold Cup.

Again, junior representative sportspeople getting their way fully paid is the exception rather than the rule.

It would be great if the ARU could afford to pay for this but they quite clearly can't. The significant development by the ARU in the last couple of years has been spending on these competitions so they exist in the first place.
 

Ozee316

Ward Prentice (10)
JGC teams should be at the very least heavily subsidised. Clubs and teams should do raffles. There is pokies money around. Sponsors through club contacts. Sport already costs families a lot through transport, equipment, medical care, local club fees, events....
 

Ozee316

Ward Prentice (10)
I did door to door raffle ticket sales and helped sell raffles in my local rugby club to raise money often. In return clubs stick their neck out and fund juniors.
 

Blackers13

Syd Malcolm (24)
I know many won't agree with this comment, but here goes...

6 months ago tomorrow, the Wallabies defeated England at Twickenham in the RWC. That and the subsequent performance of the Wallabies to reach the final, should have been the platform to re boot Rugby in Australia. Instead, what have we got?
  • The Western Force ownership in disarray
  • The Brumbies board on the point of collapse
  • The Rebels being propped up by the ARU
  • The Reds sacked their newly reappointed coach
  • The Waratahs new CEO will have a huge job reuniting with NSWRU and building a working relationship with the ARU
  • The Sydney clubs in open revolt over lack of development resourcing
  • A decline in junior club participation in Western Sydney and other parts including traditional rugby schools
  • A general feeling in the grass roots that the game is teetering on the edge of irrelevance to the non rugby public

If ever there was a time to blow up the Australian governance model and start again it is now. The ARU should be gutted and re structured to be the governing body of the whole game, with a CEO who reports on behalf of the game in Australia to an independent board. State General Managers, reporting to the CEO, should be responsible for the performance of everything from grass roots juniors to the Super franchises and corporate structures put in place to ensure the game is supported and growing in their state.
Rugby in Australia needs to reinvent itself in terms of structure and responsibilities. Old fiefdoms and structures must be changed now if the game is to survive as a tier one sport in this country.
 

Dave Beat

Paul McLean (56)
I know many won't agree with this comment, but here goes.

6 months ago tomorrow, the Wallabies defeated England at Twickenham in the RWC. That and the subsequent performance of the Wallabies to reach the final, should have been the platform to re boot Rugby in Australia. Instead, what have we got?
  • The Western Force ownership in disarray
  • The Brumbies board on the point of collapse
  • The Rebels being propped up by the ARU
  • The Reds sacked their newly reappointed coach
  • The Waratahs new CEO will have a huge job reuniting with NSWRU and building a working relationship with the ARU
  • The Sydney clubs in open revolt over lack of development resourcing
  • A decline in junior club participation in Western Sydney and other parts including traditional rugby schools
  • A general feeling in the grass roots that the game is teetering on the edge of irrelevance to the non rugby public
If ever there was a time to blow up the Australian governance model and start again it is now. The ARU should be gutted and re structured to be the governing body of the whole game, with a CEO who reports on behalf of the game in Australia to an independent board. State General Managers, reporting to the CEO, should be responsible for the performance of everything from grass roots juniors to the Super franchises and corporate structures put in place to ensure the game is supported and growing in their state.
Rugby in Australia needs to reinvent itself in terms of structure and responsibilities. Old fiefdoms and structures must be changed now if the game is to survive as a tier one sport in this country.


I agree with most, I also thought comparable when I started the thread. I love Australian Rugby, and still on the fence with the ARU - some good, some frustrating, some bad. BUT in business it is impossible to please every one.
 

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
Rugby in Australia needs to reinvent itself in terms of structure and responsibilities. Old fiefdoms and structures must be changed now if the game is to survive as a tier one sport in this country.


Whilst I don't necessarily disagree, you will never rid the game of the 'fiefdoms' you speak of.

All your proposal does is create a single, more powerful fiefdom at the expense of the five or six smaller ones we currently have.
.
 

kiap

Steve Williams (59)
The Reds sacked their newly reappointed coach
Hang on. Some of these things are good. :)

Many QRU board positions turned over. Needed to happen.

Even the Brumbies board on point of collapse is part of a turnaround. Let's get some sun shining on those past dealings. Needs to happen.

Rebels have new owners. Let's see how they go.

If any committee needs to be gutted, it's not the ARU but the NSWRU. Do they run a pro team? Do they run the local competition? What's the point of them?

Other than handling some soup money from the Tahs on the way through to the SRU, are they even needed?
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
This is kind of like the Australian Federation argument that you would need to get the states to agree to abolish the states.

It seems wholly unlikely.
 

wamberal

Phil Kearns (64)
This is kind of like the Australian Federation argument that you would need to get the states to agree to abolish the states.

It seems wholly unlikely.

Time, like a rolling stream, bears all its sons away. As the hymn says.


Life is going to get progressively harder for our game here, we have very little traction or momentum, meanwhile the rival codes get bigger and stronger, and both will be able to move to the pay-for-view model that is probably the future - as far as pro sport is concerned, anyway.


This would not matter if we were not competing with one of them (and occasionally with the other, also with basketball) for the best young players.


We know that our only chance of staying relevant is to produce a very competitive international presence. The tide of change means that is less and less likely.


Our traditional recruiting grounds have either largely dried up (the State schools) or are very heavily contested. I thought a few months ago that we would get the Bledisloe back this year or next, on the back of Carter, Smith, McCaw and Nonu retiring. Hah!
 

lou75

Ron Walden (29)
I know many won't agree with this comment, but here goes.

6 months ago tomorrow, the Wallabies defeated England at Twickenham in the RWC. That and the subsequent performance of the Wallabies to reach the final, should have been the platform to re boot Rugby in Australia. Instead, what have we got?
  • The Western Force ownership in disarray
  • The Brumbies board on the point of collapse
  • The Rebels being propped up by the ARU
  • The Reds sacked their newly reappointed coach
  • The Waratahs new CEO will have a huge job reuniting with NSWRU and building a working relationship with the ARU
  • The Sydney clubs in open revolt over lack of development resourcing
  • A decline in junior club participation in Western Sydney and other parts including traditional rugby schools
  • A general feeling in the grass roots that the game is teetering on the edge of irrelevance to the non rugby public

If ever there was a time to blow up the Australian governance model and start again it is now. The ARU should be gutted and re structured to be the governing body of the whole game, with a CEO who reports on behalf of the game in Australia to an independent board. State General Managers, reporting to the CEO, should be responsible for the performance of everything from grass roots juniors to the Super franchises and corporate structures put in place to ensure the game is supported and growing in their state.
Rugby in Australia needs to reinvent itself in terms of structure and responsibilities. Old fiefdoms and structures must be changed now if the game is to survive as a tier one sport in this country.


Totally agree and Mr Clyne is in a good position to recalibrate his team of ARU managers now
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
There are plenty of people complaining about the ARU on Facebook regarding the Pumas v Wallabies Rugby Championship Test being played at Twickenham.

Their inability to realise that this is the Pumas home game and the Wallabies home game is in Perth is a little concerning.
 
T

TOCC

Guest
There are plenty of people complaining about the ARU on Facebook regarding the Pumas v Wallabies Rugby Championship Test being played at Twickenham.

Their inability to realise that this is the Pumas home game and the Wallabies home game is in Perth is a little concerning.

Which was a predictable response, and one which the ARU should/would have foreseen, it's up to the ARU to better communicate decisions like this if they are been easily misinterpreted by the public.
 

HighPlainsDrifter

Jimmy Flynn (14)
I keep hearing about TV deals & sponsorship's but not much about the hard numbers to grow the game , Rugby League & AFL are not true international sports , Soccer has its moments but the rabid influence of a small core of fans seems to hobble the extensive efforts to capitalise on its strong participation in the youth market . It seems that the ARU needs to tough it out to maintain the games point of difference as a competitive force on the International stage (And that means the Western Force as well to attract more National sponsors and perhaps some of the corporate giants cash who's products covers some or all of the Super 18 footprint) .....the rest seems like click bait written by someone from another code . To be realistic the Wallabies are a highly competitive team , but in my mind at the moment the leading teams that come to mind on the international stage have been the girls ,covering Cricket , Rugby 7's , Hockey , Soccer etc... All with diminished resources vs the men . Maybe all codes can look at why the success of the women with limited resources seems to be a theme . Go Girls !!!! We need to look at this phenomena across the codes to ascertain why the female efforts are seemingly providing more with decidedly less . I realize I have not touched on grass roots and its vital role in the equation but until we have a forthright cleansing top down look at the finances the cupboard may well be bare if the quality of the spend and growth efforts are not addressed now .
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
but in my mind at the moment the leading teams that come to mind on the international stage have been the girls ,covering Cricket , Rugby 7's , Hockey , Soccer etc. All with diminished resources vs the men . Maybe all codes can look at why the success of the women with limited resources seems to be a theme . Go Girls !!!! We need to look at this phenomena across the codes to ascertain why the female efforts are seemingly providing more with decidedly less .


Whilst they are poorly resourced relative to the Australian men in the same sports, they are better resourced and have a longer track records that they are building on than their foreign competitors.
 

half

Alan Cameron (40)
I keep hearing about TV deals & sponsorship's but not much about the hard numbers to grow the game , Rugby League & AFL are not true international sports , Soccer has its moments but the rabid influence of a small core of fans seems to hobble the extensive efforts to capitalise on its strong participation in the youth market . It seems that the ARU needs to tough it out to maintain the games point of difference as a competitive force on the International stage (And that means the Western Force as well to attract more National sponsors and perhaps some of the corporate giants cash who's products covers some or all of the Super 18 footprint) ...the rest seems like click bait written by someone from another code . To be realistic the Wallabies are a highly competitive team , but in my mind at the moment the leading teams that come to mind on the international stage have been the girls ,covering Cricket , Rugby 7's , Hockey , Soccer etc. All with diminished resources vs the men . Maybe all codes can look at why the success of the women with limited resources seems to be a theme . Go Girls !!!! We need to look at this phenomena across the codes to ascertain why the female efforts are seemingly providing more with decidedly less . I realize I have not touched on grass roots and its vital role in the equation but until we have a forthright cleansing top down look at the finances the cupboard may well be bare if the quality of the spend and growth efforts are not addressed now .


Me thinks you have glossed over what NRL/AFL/ Soccer are doing to grow their games.

I could go on but to say NRL & AFL are not international and Soccer has a crowd problem totally masks what they are doing. Further it implies if we wait long enough it will turn around.

I think that hides some fundamental issues we have.
 

half

Alan Cameron (40)
I know many won't agree with this comment, but here goes.

6 months ago tomorrow, the Wallabies defeated England at Twickenham in the RWC. That and the subsequent performance of the Wallabies to reach the final, should have been the platform to re boot Rugby in Australia. Instead, what have we got?
  • The Western Force ownership in disarray
  • The Brumbies board on the point of collapse
  • The Rebels being propped up by the ARU
  • The Reds sacked their newly reappointed coach
  • The Waratahs new CEO will have a huge job reuniting with NSWRU and building a working relationship with the ARU
  • The Sydney clubs in open revolt over lack of development resourcing
  • A decline in junior club participation in Western Sydney and other parts including traditional rugby schools
  • A general feeling in the grass roots that the game is teetering on the edge of irrelevance to the non rugby public

If ever there was a time to blow up the Australian governance model and start again it is now. The ARU should be gutted and re structured to be the governing body of the whole game, with a CEO who reports on behalf of the game in Australia to an independent board. State General Managers, reporting to the CEO, should be responsible for the performance of everything from grass roots juniors to the Super franchises and corporate structures put in place to ensure the game is supported and growing in their state.
Rugby in Australia needs to reinvent itself in terms of structure and responsibilities. Old fiefdoms and structures must be changed now if the game is to survive as a tier one sport in this country.


Mostly agree.

The elephant in the room is how to break from SANDZAR without going broke.

Also accept this has been a lot time coming and Rugby has been poorly managed since the 60's and requires lots of work to fix.
 
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