RUGBYS CULTURAL PROBLEM

[Hugh Jarse]

Rugby Sevens must be the key to Rugby Union development in Australia.

It is now an olympic sport. League and AFL are not and never will be.

Sevens is short and sweet, and made for TV and tribal spectators. The equivalent of T/20 cricket.

There is plenty of running and tries, and very limited scrummaging, rucks, kicking, and lineouts (which can discourage many potential converts and their mums).

Over time the converts will either stay in sevens or gravitate towards the more technical game of 15 aside.

A 7's tournament is easy to organise for the Schools, Clubs or Development Officers, and can be all over and done with in one day.

The players who will be central to our tilt at the 2016 Olympic Gold are this years Under 14-16's!

 

[Lee Grant]

Good post Big Bum and a belated welcome to the forum. Good to have you here from you know where.

Cheers LG

 

[Nusadan]

Trouble is that I am having trouble taking his posts seriously when his a** is staring out at me and is of an odd colour...

Of course, what with the extra time now on in the World Cup, that Pimms on top of my earlier beers are making me say the above...

 

[the berries]

Very well put and very very accurate. But consider this. As the cultural mix of this nation changes and we see a greater influx of more parents who promote academic achievement above all other ( Not being racist here but Asian and Indian decent ) we will see a differing of pupils attending these private schools. (look at Fort Street and Sydney Boys) Different cultures embrace different goals and beliefs. I think for Rugby to continue and grow a push must be made into the heart lands of league regions. REAL pathways and football development of players must occurr or we are stuffed in the long run.

 

[lincoln]

High schools were good supporters of rugby before sport in high schools was emasculated by the politically correct set (resulting in loss of male teachers who could coach). CHS had one of the best teams ever in 1974 and there where numerous high school boys in the 77 schoolboys. Problem was the likes of Wally Lewis, Tony Melrose, Russell Fairfax ended up in league.

 

[RugbyFuture]

Very well put and very very accurate. But consider this. As the cultural mix of this nation changes and we see a greater influx of more parents who promote academic achievement above all other ( Not being racist here but Asian and Indian decent ) we will see a differing of pupils attending these private schools. (look at Fort Street and Sydney Boys) Different cultures embrace different goals and beliefs. I think for Rugby to continue and grow a push must be made into the heart lands of league regions. REAL pathways and football development of players must occurr or we are stuffed in the long run.

Whilst i agree as someone who lives in what can be considered the most recently created asian heartland in sydney and is part asian, i also need to add this observation of mine. Both those schools are in reality public schools which, because of theiir age ended in the private school comps. Therefore they have a culture of academia over everything, as they are selective publics.

The normal selective private schools, whilst encouraging academia, also have a policy of interviews to establish a school culture of social integration and "community building" so those asians who are purely driven by the marks of a high school student cant really get into these schools.

This is also the reason that private schools are growing, as selective publics are becoming too asian and ESL for many parents who want their kids to have a life beyond a university researcher....

[video=youtube;AIDmoBmCYD0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIDmoBmCYD0[/video]

 

[RugbyFuture]

PS. I can make that joke, im part asian

 

[maulman]

then came WWI, when rugby union was disbanded and rugby union players and officials joined up to fight. The rugby league kept going and this helped them to establish their sport.

So, you could say that Rugby League got a leg up through institutional cowardice.

 

[wamberal]

High schools were good supporters of rugby before sport in high schools was emasculated by the politically correct set (resulting in loss of male teachers who could coach). CHS had one of the best teams ever in 1974 and there where numerous high school boys in the 77 schoolboys. Problem was the likes of Wally Lewis, Tony Melrose, Russell Fairfax ended up in league.

Lots of rugby players ended up in league, back in the amateur days. Melrose and Fairfax at least played a couple of seasons of clb rugby, and represented as Wallabies.

The advent of professionalism has been a mixed blessing. Of course State high schools are still producing some good rugby players - the difference is now that the private schools are poaching them.

We wanted and needed open professionalism, and we got it. One of the unforeseen consequences has been a drift away from the poorer schools and clubs (like Penrith and Parramatta in Sydney) towards the richer schools and clubs.

 

[Nusadan]

PS. I can make that joke, im part asian

Does my being one-sixteenth Asian be ok in this case?

 

[RugbyFuture]

yes...yes it does...
though im 3/8ths

 

[DPK]

Does my being one-sixteenth Asian be ok in this case?

Australia plays all the Asian teams to qualify for the soccer World Cup. Am I ok now, too?

 

[stoff]

ABC HD carries the Shute Shield on Saturday afternoons, throughout Australia, as far as I know. Certainly we can watch it live here in Queensland. ABC HD is channel 202 on Foxtel, but it is available on FTA if you have a digital antenna.

Only problem is they are now launching their 24 hour news channel on ABCHD, so now more Shute Shield if you are outside of whichever regions of NSW theybroadcast it to on ABC1.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Whilst i agree as someone who lives in what can be considered the most recently created asian heartland in sydney and is part asian, i also need to add this observation of mine. Both those schools are in reality public schools which, because of theiir age ended in the private school comps. Therefore they have a culture of academia over everything, as they are selective publics.

The normal selective private schools, whilst encouraging academia, also have a policy of interviews to establish a school culture of social integration and "community building" so those asians who are purely driven by the marks of a high school student cant really get into these schools.

This is also the reason that private schools are growing, as selective publics are becoming too asian and ESL for many parents who want their kids to have a life beyond a university researcher....

From the IRB Website.
Registered players in Japan = 122598
Registered players in Malaysia = 41050
Registered players in OZ = 84450

Rugby is not unknown in Asia, and many asians love it.

I have played at Singapore sevens and in various 10's and 7's tournaments around South East Asia in my youth and "the locals" played with passion.

Sydney BHS rugby teams are on the improve with large numbers of non-caucasian boys playing good rugby with skills and increasing confidence.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

According to the Aus Sports Commission figures for last year the number of Rugby player's in Australia is more along the lines of 150,000. Much of the IRB player stats are outdated. They state the USA has something like 87,000 player's while according to US sources the figure is closer to 95,000. In fact Rugbymag.com are undertaking a 'club census'. There is some very impressive groth. Particulaly in Georgia.

Back to topic. Rugby suffers from any real decent FTA exposure. Simply, we need to somehow get Super Rugby on FTA at a reasonable time nationally. Considering the recent broadcasting deal has been signed and sealed it appears highly unlikely. However, would it be possible to force the issue. Could the much underestimated Australian Rugby community contact say Fox pushing for the on sale of the Australian S15 games on a one-hour delay. OneHD seems the likely candidate. To be honest I cannot take that channel seriously while its dominated by NASCAR and Baseball. They need local content, we just need to push both to do so. Both benefit. One gets actual local product outside of its Ten AFL feed and Netball and Rugby gets its FTA exposure. Fox opens another revenue stream for the package. Makes sense to me.

Oh and Sri Lanka has more than 121,000 Rugby player's.

 

[RugbyFuture]

according to the last ARU report it was around 190,000 actually

have you only joined now WCR? im surprised

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

I joined a while ago. I usually just like to trawl through the threads a while before I start commenting. Get a feel for the forum. Hopefully, the ARU figures are correct. One thing I do know is that the IRB's figures are significantly out.

 

[Jnor]

From the IRB Website.
Registered players in Japan = 122598
Registered players in Malaysia = 41050
Registered players in OZ = 84450

Rugby is not unknown in Asia, and many asians love it.

I have played at Singapore sevens and in various 10's and 7's tournaments around South East Asia in my youth and "the locals" played with passion.

Sydney BHS rugby teams are on the improve with large numbers of non-caucasian boys playing good rugby with skills and increasing confidence.

Just my 2c on the issue. I went to Fort St and my year was probably 60-65% Asian of different ilk (East and South-East). We had a team in which 3 of us, including me, weren't Asian. As a team we were tiny and never had any real training or continuous, well-structured competition to play in but we all loved playing despite the fact we got thrashed most of the time. The boys on the team are mostly dual-code supporters (RL & RU), with their support for rugby started by the games through school. A decent amount went on to play club afterwards too.

My point is there wasn't any lack of enthusiasm just becaused the school is selective and with exposure kids will see the light. We just needed a real rugby program with proper structure within the school. We shouldn't assume that 'rugby league heartland' is the only place to pick up supporters; that potential is everywhere.