Is Deans doing a good job?
We are #3 in the world. I'd like to be #1, but given the limitations of the cattle, this is satisfactory.
Is Deans the best man for the job?
He must be if he got reappointed. You don't just get the job just because your uncle owns the bricklaying company and your Mum pressured him into it. There is at least a process that all stakeholders must have a majority on, and that includes both the major unions at the time and all the minor ones. There is absolutely no way he could get in without most of that support. And now it will be even harder with the "minor" states given equal voting rights (which is only a positive move for the long term). You don't sit down and bitch when the skipper makes the wrong call - you throw your support behind him and try to wrest back the result.
Is the ARU handling the management of our game well?
Do you have the utmost respect for the work they are doing?
No, and no. But that has almost always been the case in my humble opinion.
We need to start facing facts: Rugby is now #4 "winter" sport (A-League is summer but amateurs are winter) and that has been a long time coming. We must also face the fact that we peaked in the years 1998-2001, where we had some genuine legends of the game, a good coach, and an administration that grasped professionalism well before other unions world wide, and hosted the equal best RWC of the professional age (along with 2011 which I thought was immense from the Kiwis).
No matter how high it rises, rugby will keep falling down on the rampant dominance of the old boys network and the politics it likes to play. Look at the basket case the Waratahs are, when they should be dominating the entire competition much less the Australian scene. Look at how utterly flaccid Queensland Rugby was for almost a decade until McKenzie and an administrative turnaround delivered improvements and then the ultimate prize. BOTH unions have had to accept oversight and financial help from the ARU during the professional era.
Given how small our school and professional base is, we do bloody well. But overall, once the Olympic aspect of 7s ramps up, and nations start to take notice of the 15 man game, we're going to struggle. The ARU needs to keep pushing towards a workable business model in order for the game to thrive out on the field.
And I'm not sure, with the damaging back room battles, that its sustainable. Forget the Wallabies - the grass roots battle needs to be won, and you can't do that relying on the same schools network we currently have, because there is no growth. We're also going to need sustainable solutions to keep people involved in rugby, and Saturday games aren't going to cut it as the working week lengthens.
I don't have answers, but I'm not paid to think of them. I do know that stalwart entities like Subbies in Sydney need a complete re-think on the way they run competitions, and I know First Division coaches who concur.
