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Australian Rugby / RA

Brumby Runner

David Wilson (68)
Do you think Super Rugby would be a good product if the Australian sides were competitive?
Please don't tar the Brumbies with the same uncompetitive brush being applied to the other franchises. Only two NZ sides have consistently beaten them in SRPac while they won one and ran second in the two iterations of SRAu. But, even so, I am over the trans Tasman Super Rugby competition. The best rugby we've seen locally in a long time was the SRAu competition during Covid. So, no, I don't think SRPac is a good product.
 

Gnostic

Mark Ella (57)
I have not posted for a long time but still read often. The usual comments have been made. Tinkering around the edges will do nothing.

1.Terminate all professional systems in this country. Everything to do with professional rugby in this country is a failure. Two Super Rugby titles and next to nothing else. Flash in the pan wins then nothing. Part of the issue is contracting players just so League won't get them. I personally know two young blokes in the "professional" system now. Neither of them have played a full game at 1st grade club level. A season of 7s is not 15s. Both have contracts with Super sides. They are great young men and very good players at 18 years old. Are they anywhere near a finished product - No where near it. How many times have people here said that there is no time at Super Level to train skills - well in that case unfinished players cannot be contracted.

2. Time to do away with RA and the state Unions. Lets start again - and derail the gravy train and restructure from the ground up with actual perfomance the metric to test & assess. Not a Banker or Lawyers assessment which basically amounts to what we can strip from the game for ourselves.

3. All contracts in this country at National level must be incentives and selection based only. The massive up front contracts must end. People like Hooper, Tupou and now Suallii, zero results and no return on investment and worse than that zero improvement in terms of skill execution. If they will not stay on such contracts, fine goodbye. Australian Rugby does not have the funds.

PS - If it comes out that Jones was fielding calls to go elsewhere. Send him and sue him for breach of contract.
 

Beer on the hill

Ward Prentice (10)
Please don't tar the Brumbies with the same uncompetitive brush being applied to the other franchises. Only two NZ sides have consistently beaten them in SRPac while they won one and ran second in the two iterations of SRAu. But, even so, I am over the trans Tasman Super Rugby competition. The best rugby we've seen locally in a long time was the SRAu competition during Covid. So, no, I don't think SRPac is a good product.
Must be playing against the kiwis. We won’t improve playing ourselves.
 

KOB1987

Rod McCall (65)
A solid foundation on which to make progressive improvements breeds success. Everyone wants to use success (that we don't have and can't achieve) to build the solid foundations.

Makes no sense to me.

Aren't the Wallabies a perfect example of success not breeding success? First to two world cups and all that.
That's the thing though, rugby was hugely popular during that period we won the 2 cups, and up to the 2003 home final because we were doing well. I was living in Sydney in the late 90s and would go to pretty much every Waratahs game and every Wallabies test and the stadiums were always packed. Even the pubs in Sydney would be packed watching the Brumbies play on TV. 2004 was the year the slide to obscurity commenced and its just got worse every year in line with our performance.
 

Derpus

George Gregan (70)
That's the thing though, rugby was hugely popular during that period we won the 2 cups, and up to the 2003 home final because we were doing well. I was living in Sydney in the late 90s and would go to pretty much every Waratahs game and every Wallabies test and the stadiums were always packed. Even the pubs in Sydney would be packed watching the Brumbies play on TV. 2004 was the year the slide to obscurity commenced and its just got worse every year in line with our performance.
I mean, yeah. We had success and then didn't use it to establish the foundations on which on-going success could be built.
 

KOB1987

Rod McCall (65)
I mean, yeah. We had success and then didn't use it to establish the foundations on which on-going success could be built.
Sure, that’s an entirely different matter which has been well documented. It had nothing to do with the success of the Wallabies and everything to do with the mismanagement and arrogance at the ARU which has continued to the present day.
 
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Lorenzo

Colin Windon (37)
A solid foundation on which to make progressive improvements breeds success. Everyone wants to use success (that we don't have and can't achieve) to build the solid foundations.

Makes no sense to me.

Aren't the Wallabies a perfect example of success not breeding success? First to two world cups and all that.

I don't understand what you are saying. Australian Rugby rode a wave of great interest in this country for many years after the 1990s. and the results in the ensuing decade were a good deal better than they've been of late. Sure, no major trophies but surely win rates of about 60% (Jones: 57%, Conolly: 64%, Deans: 58%) were a good deal better than we have seen since? And probably close to where we should be, given the dynamics of our market?

No one is suggesting you can just win an RWC then sit back on your laurels in perpetuity?

I agree that getting the wallabies to win is harder than me simply requesting it. But a successful Wallaby team has always been the key driver of interest in rugby in this country, outside of a small community of loyal fans.
 

Derpus

George Gregan (70)
Sure, that’s an entirely different matter which has been well documenter. It had nothing to do with the success of the Wallabies and everything to do with the mismanagement and arrogance at the ARU which has continued to the present day.
What I meant by my previous comment was that the foundations get built and the success follows (you know, in theory). We can't hope for Wallaby success to precede and lead to the rectification of the grass roots, a professional comp etc.

Its backwards.
 
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Beer on the hill

Ward Prentice (10)
What I meant by my previous comment was that the foundations get built and the success follows (you know, in theory). We can't hope for Wallaby success to precede and lead to the rectification of the grass roots, a professional comp etc.

Its backwards.
I don’t see how the sport is appealing to kids anywhere anymore.
 
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