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Australian Rugby / RA

hoggy

Trevor Allan (34)
I personally think it’s the way to go if we want to improve.

To be the best, you need to play the best.

Also that language is unnecessary.

Apologies for the language guys, it was not appropriate.

I am just a bit over hearing "To be the best, you need to play the best." analogy.

It just hasn't quite worked out that way in Australia has it.
 

Derpus

George Gregan (70)
One positive has been the anger/ passions from fans today… We might be pissed off but we still care about the wallabies

Can anyone say the same thing for say the Waratahs ? …

I mean, I’d rather hatred than indifference..
I mean, outside this forum? Nope. My old man was miffed but no one at work even knew what the result was or cared in the slightest.
 

Kenny Powers

Ron Walden (29)
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.
This is a very good point we have 2 Wallabies captains and both world cup winners who never played for their school 1st XV they were both in the 2nd XV. In this day and age a 2nd XV player will never find themselves in a Rugby Australia “pathway”.
Farr Jones left Newington College in 1979 and debut as a Wallaby in 1984. Phil Kearns left in that same year 1984 and debut as a Wallaby in 1989. They developed and proved themselves in the intervening years playing senior mens first grade club rugby.
In todays ‘pathway’ world Nic Farr Jones and Phil Kearns would be zero chance of making it to the Wallabies.
Yeah pathways are the answer!
 

Marce

John Thornett (49)
Except every single aspect - tackle, breakdown, box kick - is a genuine contest. I understand your point but overall there is a greater degree of variability in rugby than there is in league.
Rugby in the 90s and 2000s used to be more exciting than the current kicking game.

I prefer a good Rugby Union game over a good League. Sadly I see more good League games than RU in these days

Nic White is the perfect example. When was the last time we see him pass the ball from the base of the ruck? He's a box kicking machine even in opposition 22
 

Marce

John Thornett (49)
Not sure if this may have been posted already, but a very good article on the Wallabies with some damning financial comparisons with the AFL and League. The difference between good sporting administration and.....well Rugby Australia.

https://theconversation.com/australian-rugby-has-reached-its-lowest-point-how-did-it-get-here-214255
Prior to the Wallabies’ final loss at the World Cup, Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan offered some curious advice: “For all the Wallaby detractors, don’t watch the game.” McLennan well may have this request granted.

Is this true??? What a genius! Wait a moment. That's what Aussies have been doing consistenly in the last decades. Stop watching rugby lol
 

Slim 293

Stirling Mortlock (74)

rodha

Dave Cowper (27)
NZ, South Africa and France are all built on strong domestic competitions (Not sure about Ireland TBH). It's about building from the base first. Yeah I get that it may not be enough in isolation but it is fundamental.

It genuinely annoys the hell outta me how little rugby the Aussies actually play. They play only 14 games every year. Contrast that to the premiership where teams play 18 games every calendar year excluding the premiership cup and the challenge cup. There are 26 games per season in the top 14 for fucks sake. The URC has 18 rounds too.

Marcus Smith is the same age as Noah Lolesio yet has 200 professional games under his belt. The lack of games also means that the Aussies are often gassed and not fit enough and don't have enough time to build cohesion.
 

dru

Tim Horan (67)
One positive has been the anger/ passions from fans today… We might be pissed off but we still care about the wallabies

Can anyone say the same thing for say the Waratahs ? …

I mean, I’d rather hatred than indifference..

Oh, I have absolutely entered indifference to the Wallabies. I'm angered with RA as to the sport they have developed and their on-going destruction of the sport inAustralia. But the Wallabies? Do not give a damn.
 

wamberal99

Syd Malcolm (24)
Not sure if this may have been posted already, but a very good article on the Wallabies with some damning financial comparisons with the AFL and League. The difference between good sporting administration and.....well Rugby Australia.

https://theconversation.com/australian-rugby-has-reached-its-lowest-point-how-did-it-get-here-214255
No matter how well Rugby Australia performs, the two domestic sports are well ahead on every metric. Apart from anything else, in every game they play, an Australian team wins (except for an occasional win by the Wahs).
 

hoggy

Trevor Allan (34)
No matter how well Rugby Australia performs, the two domestic sports are well ahead on every metric. Apart from anything else, in every game they play, an Australian team wins (except for an occasional win by the Wahs).
Australian rugby can have that as well by simply having a genuine domestic competition, but it chooses not to.
 

The Ghost of Raelene

Andrew Slack (58)
It genuinely annoys the hell outta me how little rugby the Aussies actually play. They play only 14 games every year. Contrast that to the premiership where teams play 18 games every calendar year excluding the premiership cup and the challenge cup. There are 26 games per season in the top 14 for fucks sake. The URC has 18 rounds too.

Marcus Smith is the same age as Noah Lolesio yet has 200 professional games under his belt. The lack of games also means that the Aussies are often gassed and not fit enough and don't have enough time to build cohesion.
You just had to watch the U20s World Cup to see how drastic it is.

The French side had players with 25+ top 14/D2 games already. Yet we get excited that Teddy Wilson and Taj Annan had stepped foot in a Super Rugby game.
 
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Wallaby Man

Trevor Allan (34)
Interesting comment from Hamish in saying he hasn’t been taking a salary from RA. I guess that does show he’s passionate about what he’s doing. Still doesn’t mean he’s the right man.
 

Wallaby Man

Trevor Allan (34)
Oh, I have absolutely entered indifference to the Wallabies. I'm angered with Rugby Australia as to the sport they have developed and their on-going destruction of the sport inAustralia. But the Wallabies? Do not give a damn.
We need to throw more ire at the states. Because we have a federated model and the self interest that creates, RA is effectively powerless in so many areas of the sport. We are letting all the parties that are as responsible for this mess off the hook by pointing at RA.
 

Wilson

Michael Lynagh (62)
This is a very good point we have 2 Wallabies captains and both world cup winners who never played for their school 1st XV they were both in the 2nd XV. In this day and age a 2nd XV player will never find themselves in a Rugby Australia “pathway”.
Farr Jones left Newington College in 1979 and debut as a Wallaby in 1984. Phil Kearns left in that same year 1984 and debut as a Wallaby in 1989. They developed and proved themselves in the intervening years playing senior mens first grade club rugby.
In todays ‘pathway’ world Nic Farr Jones and Phil Kearns would be zero chance of making it to the Wallabies.
Yeah pathways are the answer!
Seems unlikely they would've missed out today given there are players currently in the wallabies who didn't play firsts and developed themselves in senior men's club rugby, even with the more developed pathways we have now.
 

Doritos Day

Johnnie Wallace (23)
I think the future will look like South Africa.

The best players get paid overseas and will remain eligible for national selection.

Some form of Currie Cup equivalent will emerge alongside a smaller Super Rugby competition (3 Aus sides, maybe with Japan involved)
 
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