Gnostic
Mark Ella (57)
They are clearly raising funds, but it's so they can reduce the subsidy to community rugby.
Our major problem is that every level of rugby costs more to run than it generates, except for the Wallabies.(and I mean in aggregate here, there will be clubs etc who can individually keep afloat)
The dollars flow downhill. That's fine, but it means the very lowest level is dependent on the very highest for funding, and there's an awful lot of people who want their cut of the pie before it cascades down to the base.
When the elite aren't going well, then the $$$ for the bottom dry up.
Top down economics has been thoroughly discredited everywhere except with the Liberal/Conservative Parties and the ARU.