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G&GR Grassroots Rugby THINK TANK

Matt Rowley August 9, 2012 4

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Grind the cogs

This year the Aussie Super conference dolled out points like it was the Eurovision Song Contest, our under 20′s got schooled at the Junior World Cup, the Waratahs management spectacularly imploded and we still have no national third tier competition.

Alarm bells anyone? Perhaps not. Perhaps – like the ARU – you believe that being 2nd in the world rankings with best ever ‘participation’ numbers everything is fine and dandy.

Either way, it’s the perennial issue in Australian rugby – are we doing the best with what we have?

Enter the G&GR THINK TANK.

Over the next week or so – while we have no international rugby and our grass roots competitions are in full flow – Green and Gold Rugby will go beyond the usual howling at the moon. We want to tap our collective functioning braincells to nut out the $64,000 question:

What state is grassroots Aussie rugby in, and how could we make it better?

By ‘grassroots’, we mean anything below the elite level – so that can be school, club, kiddies or Super Rugby and everything else that isn’t the Wallabies.

We’ll start off with a few articles on the front page to get the juices flowing and encourage you to wrap your educated thoughts about it all into comment/posts – the best written and most interesting of which we’ll elevate into blog posts of their own accredited to you.

We’ve also started a dedicate thread in our forum to it HERE.  As possible leave this thread free of cheap quips and rebuttal – make powerful arguments instead.

Depending how this all works out, you never know what we can put together. There’s an ARU governance review that this might fit nicely into….

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POSTED IN » 3rdtier, Rugby
About the author: Matt Rowley View all posts by
Matt started G&GR just before the 2007 Rugby World Cup and has been enslaved ever since. Follow him on twitter: @MattRowley


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Discussion

  • Johnnoo

    Big thing for me is Re-modelling sydney rugby. I know a bit about Brisbane rugby but i am an expert on sydney school boy rugby having played in the private school system CAS in the 90′s and played vs lot sof the GPS and ISA schools to. I am 32 yr old man who has played rugby all his life in both public and private school systems. Facts I can add about re-modelling sydney high school rugby in 2012 and beyond.

    -In year 2012 internet and globalisation age, the geography, demographics, and meaning of the tope private schools have changed massively since say the 1990′s and 80′s 0′s 60′s 50′s.

    -Students from all religions, and cultures and ethnic background. Not just christian, or anglo saxon. Many Asian, pacific , and african students, and all religions attending to these elite private schools.

    -Now in 2012 transport and geography and time poor parents is an issue, 2 parents in working families work full time.

    -So on saturday, parents would prefer if conferences were local based in other word more local derbies.

    -My theory to re-model private school rugby is this:

    Have 3 conference/zones or 2 zone:

    -Greater northern Zone
    -Sydney metro zone
    -greater western sydney zone

    -On north shore you have about 9 top schools add central coast grammar to as they are big school not far from north and they play in ISA anyway.

    -Have sydney metro zone , so for example cranrbook scots,waverley,newington, in same zone and a few others.

    -And greater western sydney zone (GWS)
    Kings,oakhill ,triinity st pats strathfield and a few others.

    -More local derbies, and less stress on parents with trasnport in saturdays.

    -Local derbeis are what sell in super rugby and would sell better in school boy rugby too.

    -And you can add the Greater sydney surrounding areas like bowral with oxley, and chevalier, and central coast grammar who can easily go in northern zone, and the top schools in orange and bathurst.

    -So more local derbies and less stress on parents as a result with transport.

    -And you can be flexible with new conferences and have a state title warpath shield with all schools, like winner of each conference and the public schools competing for a waratah shield.

    -Be great if joeys and riverwiew, shore,can play Barker and Knox in real matche snot just local derbies hence re-zoning school conferences based on geography, and would make matches more exciting and meaningful

    • Bay35Pablo

      All good ideas, but would be shot down by the “old boys” refusing to change “traditions”, that don’t see rugby needs to change and hanging onto them would confine rugby to the social relevance of polo or cravats.
      The only way it will happen is if the ARU lays down the law on reform and/or flashes the cash. Unlikely given it is full of and propped up by old boys.
      Personally I’d love to win $1b, then go to the schools comps and say “Right, mucho dinero if you do what I want for the good of the game, and see how long those traditions last …”

      • Johnnoo

        Thats the problem Bay35Pablo. The old boys brigade. Rugby has an elitist problem in Australia and is out of touch with the mainstream. It is seen as private school sport still. Which it is not anywhere else especially NZ. Schoolboy rugby should be shown on tv like in NZ and Sth Africa. But the old boys clubs at GPS rugby didn’t want to do that, tv bring exposure, and i can tell you tv ratings in NZ and Sth Africa are good for schoolboy rugby.

        -I think DCW a 3rd tier can work well here if done right. THe ITM and currie cup rate well. And we have much bigger population and just as much talant as NZ. Just look at our league team. Just our junior pathways are not competitive enough, and not enough money goes into development.

  • DCW

    It really is a cycle problem, we don’t have depth because we don’t have a successful NPC or Currie Cup style competition, BECAUSE we don’t have the depth to showcase an entertaining competition.

    Ie. If we can hardly fill the stands for super15 games, why would people pay to see games of a ‘lesser’ quality, 2nd rate comp?

    Australia needs the salary cap gone, and as much as I hate that I am saying this, we need to start poaching some of the NRL big guns and rising stars.

    Image if the likes of Inglis, Slater, Thurston, Watmo had a shot at rugby union, those are some of the names I would love to (have) see(n) in the union area. Ben Barba may well be the Gio Aplon of Australia?

    Rugby is not going to be the number 1 sport in Australia, like it is in NZ and SA for quite awhile, yet we are still competitive on the International scene (at times we are shocking ie. Scotland has a 2-0 win ratio over the Deans era)

    Something drastic needs to be done, or else bring back Super12. Tahs, Brumbies and Reds to carry Australia, a sad but strong idea that will devistate the great supporter bases that the Rebels and Force have.

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