Pfitzy
George Gregan (70)
^^^ I like the acidic nature of that post - we should all be very fucking angry TBH, particularly those who are burning the candle at both ends running the amateur game (and wondering why we bother).
To your points:
Continued success is important, but it isn't the only foundation on which attendance is built.
To me, a successful metric for a Tahs home game should be about 20k - how many times have they hit that since 2014? The figures of over 25k we were getting in the early 2000s were driven by a combination of Wallabies success, the presence of players like Mat Rogers and Lote Tuqiri, and a leaner competition structure - scarcity created value.
The early 2000s were different to now, I think we can all agree. A generation on, the entertainment factor is what people want, or they'll just go watch another sport or literally anything else on a Friday/Saturday night.
Ultimately, rugby isn't entertaining to watch at this point. Paid professionals dropping a ball cold under zero pressure isn't going to bring the crowds.
I agree with the general nature of your comments about the schools layer; while it serves a purpose for some, more and more it is a handbrake on the Junior Rugby scene, and is increasingly full of NRL talent getting a free education so they can go back to the other sport.
Re: Ireland - success has been good for Ireland, but they took a fucking long time to get there and needed to do exactly what we're talking about: figure out how success works and then prioritise it above everything else. We're going to start with a HP restructure under Horne and Uncle Joe, but it'll need to go a lot further than that to save participation rates and therefore fans.
I find Ireland an interesting case because they have similar conditions to ours ie. other sports are bigger than rugby (soccer, gaelic, hurling) but they understand how to drive high performance. I liken this to Moneyball - we've got no budget but Australia are the old guys at one end of the table talking about "athletes" and "studs" and confidence based on having a girlfriend. Ireland are Jonah Hill "He gets on first".
Insanity can be defined as doing the same thing and expecting a different result.
To your points:
Continued success is important, but it isn't the only foundation on which attendance is built.
To me, a successful metric for a Tahs home game should be about 20k - how many times have they hit that since 2014? The figures of over 25k we were getting in the early 2000s were driven by a combination of Wallabies success, the presence of players like Mat Rogers and Lote Tuqiri, and a leaner competition structure - scarcity created value.
The early 2000s were different to now, I think we can all agree. A generation on, the entertainment factor is what people want, or they'll just go watch another sport or literally anything else on a Friday/Saturday night.
Ultimately, rugby isn't entertaining to watch at this point. Paid professionals dropping a ball cold under zero pressure isn't going to bring the crowds.
I agree with the general nature of your comments about the schools layer; while it serves a purpose for some, more and more it is a handbrake on the Junior Rugby scene, and is increasingly full of NRL talent getting a free education so they can go back to the other sport.
Re: Ireland - success has been good for Ireland, but they took a fucking long time to get there and needed to do exactly what we're talking about: figure out how success works and then prioritise it above everything else. We're going to start with a HP restructure under Horne and Uncle Joe, but it'll need to go a lot further than that to save participation rates and therefore fans.
I find Ireland an interesting case because they have similar conditions to ours ie. other sports are bigger than rugby (soccer, gaelic, hurling) but they understand how to drive high performance. I liken this to Moneyball - we've got no budget but Australia are the old guys at one end of the table talking about "athletes" and "studs" and confidence based on having a girlfriend. Ireland are Jonah Hill "He gets on first".
Insanity can be defined as doing the same thing and expecting a different result.
