Australian Rugby / RA

[RemainingInTheGame]

Good luck to him!

Not a job I'd put my hand up for; declining crowds as spectators choose AFL or NRL, declining participation as kids move to soccer and basketball.

I also reckon the money from the Lions and RWC will not be as much as Rugby AU are hoping for, and that private investors won't be as willing to invest as media suggests.

2 options, focus on community rugby, or focus on elite rugby.

 

[RugbyReg]

I’ve heard him say “we have to fix the link between grassroots and elite”. I’d love to hear a couple of ideas about how that can be done.

 

[Jimmy_Crouch]

I’ve heard him say “we have to fix the link between grassroots and elite”. I’d love to hear a couple of ideas about how that can be done.

Bring back the buses from the club grounds to the stadium.

 

[LeCheese]

I’ve heard him say “we have to fix the link between grassroots and elite”. I’d love to hear a couple of ideas about how that can be done.

He did expand a little bit at the presser

"I've got a very strong affiliation to club rugby. To see the connection with the community is a massive part of my role leading the game in Australia," he said.

"It's really important that we actually go back to that and we put out our best players and simplify into clubs, and then we bring the club's supporters into Super Rugby and Test matches.

"It sounds pretty logical, but I do think there's been a huge separation over time. So to actually connect our rugby community and ensure that the game starts and ends in our crops, we need to really invest in that."

 

[Wilson]

Bring back the buses from the club grounds to the stadium.

Looks like you've got your wish:

He did expand a little bit at the presser

... and then we bring the club's supporters into Super Rugby and Test matches.

Busses from club grounds to stadiums confirmed.

 

[RugbyReg]

So just the rep players playing for club footy?

 

[Wilson]

So just the rep players playing for club footy?

Yeah, it's not really clear what he's planning there, because the quote "When I was playing, you would go to club games, and then you’d support your club players at the Super Rugby game. It is really important that we go back to that. That we put our best players and Super players into clubs" is pretty much just describing what already happens. It does seem to indicate he'd prefer an elevated club model to going back to the NRC, but that's not really news given the rest of the administrations stated position.

 

[Highlander35]

Unless there's some game changing (formal elevation of 7-12 clubs across Sydney/Brisbane with maybe one or two fly ins to a national setup?) or serious whackadoodle stuff (block players from signing for Super Teams out of School/During U20 years?) going on behind the scenes, I'm not certain how that's significantly different from what's already happening, between the NRC being dead & buried, Shute Shield & Hospitals Cup broadcast arrangements, and the Test Calendar having shifted to allow Super Rugby to run start to finish.

Or will it be some silly token arrangement where Wallaby Squad members get obligated into turning out for a club side once a season? IDK, it seems like such an establishment pleasing response without any actionable standards to be held to.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

I’ve heard him say “we have to fix the link between grassroots and elite”. I’d love to hear a couple of ideas about how that can be done.

I'd love to hear his thoughts on what exactly constitutes 'grassroots'.

 

[Adam84]

Unless there's some game changing (formal elevation of 7-12 clubs across Sydney/Brisbane with maybe one or two fly ins to a national setup?) or serious whackadoodle stuff (block players from signing for Super Teams out of School/During U20 years?) going on behind the scenes, I'm not certain how that's significantly different from what's already happening, between the NRC being dead & buried, Shute Shield & Hospitals Cup broadcast arrangements, and the Test Calendar having shifted to allow Super Rugby to run start to finish.

Or will it be some silly token arrangement where Wallaby Squad members get obligated into turning out for a club side once a season? IDK, it seems like such an establishment pleasing response without any actionable standards to be held to.

I mean day 1 of the job, surely the process is to first highlight the issues and outline the objectives... and then potentially work on the strategy to achieve that objective thereafter.

 

[wamberal]

I'd love to hear his thoughts on what exactly constitutes 'grassroots'.

He went to Shore and played for Sydney University. Lives at Mosman, worked in banking. I would like him to spend his Saturdays watching club rugby and listening to supporters.

 

[Crashy]

Actually grew up playing Warringah club rugby. Caused grief at the Rats when he moved to Uni - They gave him a Uni residential college scholarship from memory.
To be fair I saw him a few times running around at Uni.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

He went to Shore and played for Sydney University. Lives at Mosman, worked in banking. I would like him to spend his Saturdays watching club rugby and listening to supporters.

Which suggests that his definition of grassroots is fairly narrow. Where did he start his Rugby life? Which junior club? That's what I'm interested in. Mine started over 25 years ago with the Campbelltown Harlequins. Back then there were only two options in terms of clubs in my region of the city. The Quins or the Camden Rams. Today. Nothing has changed. I want to hear how he plans to make the game more accessible to kids and social player not from a small pool of schools and district clubs.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Which suggests that his definition of grassroots is fairly narrow. Where did he start his Rugby life? Which junior club? That's what I'm interested in. Mine started over 25 years ago with the Campbelltown Harlequins. Back then there were only two options in terms of clubs in my region of the city. The Quins or the Camden Rams. Today. Nothing has changed. I want to hear how he plans to make the game more accessible to kids and social player not from a small pool of schools and district clubs.

Started for the Narrabeen Tigers before going to Shore. He seemed to play for Uni any time he was available and fit. A lot of Wallabies would never be out there for their Club as much as he did. He's also been involved in the Sydney Junior Rugby over the last few years. I think he does have a better grasp of grass roots Rugby than many others may have in this position. I'd like to think with his own young children he has a view of the current situation that is more accurate than an old man/woman who wants to talk about how good it was 40 years ago.

 

[dru]

Started for the Narrabeen Tigers before going to Shore. He seemed to play for Uni any time he was available and fit. A lot of Wallabies would never be out there for their Club as much as he did. He's also been involved in the Sydney Junior Rugby over the last few years. I think he does have a better grasp of grass roots Rugby than many others may have in this position. I'd like to think with his own young children he has a view of the current situation that is more accurate than an old man/woman who wants to talk about how good it was 40 years ago.

A view of the current situation in Sydney? How solid is his knowledge of club rugger in Brisbane? Canberra? Melbourne? Perth?

Sydney outside of SRU or feeders to SRU clubs, for that matter.

I wish him all the best, but I’m not accepting any great depth in “grassroots” rugby till we hear something a little broader.

 

[Ignoto]

Yuck, Waugh is harping on about bringing in a draft;

“…We're only in the infancy of talking to them (about a draft) and we had the conversations with Mark Robinson, I’m not saying that’s the solution, I’m just saying we have to be creative around how we think about Super Rugby.”

I don't see how that solves this issue he mentions earlier;

“It’s certainly a reset across Super Rugby clubs and working closely with my (NZR) counterpart Mark Robinson to make sure we have the right distribution of players across the teams," he believes.

No point having a draft for 18 year olds who need 2-4 years growing into their bodies and growing. So is this draft for anyone who's looking to turn pro as the US have pretty strict rules about contracts/training for college level athletes looking to go pro.

So sounds like they're still miles apart on actually making Super Rugby competitive for the Australian market.

‘I think we need to be creative’: New RA CEO on the Super Rugby Waugh path | Latest Rugby News | RUGBY.com.au

New RA CEO Phil Waugh has flagged the potential of a Super Rugby draft as he admits the competition needs to be 'creative' heading forward.

www.rugby.com.au

 

[qwerty51]

He needs to start talking about disbanding Super Rugby completely and starting again!

 

[Wallaby Man]

I think a lot of his comments are just copy and paste for what his predecessors said. Castle and Pulver mentioned grassroots and reconnection in their opening speeches as well. So it’s just window dressing to appease certain parties from the start.

As Brett McKay pointed out yesterday in a comment to a roar article, non match day Super Rugby players are already participating in club games every week when they are fit. He listed about 7-8 guys from the Tahs squad that played last week, I know there is lots from the Rebels and sure it’s the same for other teams. If someone is fit and not required they are almost certainly playing club rugby and have been for years.

I can only speak for my chats with people at the Rebels but everyone knows solutions need to be achieved to get more high performance exposure for Australian players and expecting them to compete by playing club rugby isn’t the answer in 2023 and probably never will again. But it’s the best available at the moment.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

A view of the current situation in Sydney? How solid is his knowledge of club rugger in Brisbane? Canberra? Melbourne? Perth?

Sydney outside of SRU or feeders to SRU clubs, for that matter.

I wish him all the best, but I’m not accepting any great depth in “grassroots” rugby till we hear something a little broader.

If he was from Brisbane we'd be saying he doesn't know Sydney Club Rugby.... This is half the problem with Rugby here. It's so dispersed I don't know how anyone would tick every Rugby fans box in this country. I'm not defending him or think he really suits the role but we would be ready to put the boot into whoever got the job really. RA was never going to nail this. They haven't nailed anything in the last 20 years.

 

[SouthernX]

If he was from Brisbane we'd be saying he doesn't know .

Have we ever had a rugby australia ceo from Brisbane?