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Australian Rugby / RA

L

Leo86

Guest
Yep, no club affiliation. AFL convert. So similar to Daz. Was Spirit, Force and Wallabies. Unfortunately now i dont seem to have it in my heart to support the Wallabies like i once did
 

Micheal

Nicholas Shehadie (39)
That is a very interesting point and well worth exploring, because I would suggest that there are many Super Rugby fans who have no tribal/locked on local club (Shute/Dewar/Premier/Pindan, etc) affiliation.


23 year old Sydney fan here - I have absolutely no Shute Shield club affiliation but if I had to choose one I'd probably say I'm a Norths or Manly fan.

I'd rather not choose one as I don't actually like the Shute Shield in aggregate at all. Entitled and self-centered lot.
 

Gnostic

Mark Ella (57)
23 year old Sydney fan here - I have absolutely no Shute Shield club affiliation but if I had to choose one I'd probably say I'm a Norths or Manly fan.



I'd rather not choose one as I don't actually like the Shute Shield in aggregate at all. Entitled and self-centered lot.


One could say that about Uni students...... in fact one has on numerous occasions, even when I was one.
 

Wilson

Phil Kearns (64)
Wouldn't mind seeing the "wear blue to the wallabies" campaign picked up for all the remaining home tests this year as a show of support for the force. Not sure how much up take there'd be outside of WA, but even if the wallabies come out winning the aru don't deserve any clear air on this issue.

Ugh, I can't believe I just advocated wearing blue to a rugby game, I feel dirty.

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk
 

Gnostic

Mark Ella (57)
You miss the point Michael, entitled and self centred statements from somebody who doesn't watch the game. I'll watch Rugby regardless of who is playing generally, though the I dropped out of the Australian Super Rugby games this year because of the lack of quality.

I find it strange that people who'll watch the contrived altered rules competition of the NRC won't watch the Shute shield which is IMO better quality.
 

James Pettifer

Jim Clark (26)
That is a very interesting point and well worth exploring, because I would suggest that there are many Super Rugby fans who have no tribal/locked on local club (Shute/Dewar/Premier/Pindan, etc) affiliation.

When I spent time in Perth, I got involved with Joondalup, because my son played for them, so lots of junior rugby, but I rarely watched any of the top level senior club rugby.

In Melbourne, I will occasionally go watch a Dewar game, but I don't really follow any particular team.

For me, my rugby affiliation and day to day support (time and money) is Melbourne Rising (NRC), Melbourne Rebels (Super Rugby) and the Wallabies (National).

I wonder if, teams aside, that level of engagement matches the experience of anyone else on these boards.

I grew up in Tassie. Had no idea about Rugby (either code). Went to ANU and dated a girl from a Rugby Union family and over time was converted.

Did my time in Sydney and ended in Melbourne.

Loved the World Cup in 2003. Great.

Then the period of discontent. Some years we didn't even get the Bledisloe Cup live as Seven was too busy showing the 20th repeat of some movie and the ARU didn't have the balls to ensure that the matches went out live across the capitals.

Went to all of the ARC Melbourne Rebels games only to be pissed off when they were culled after a year. I know it was just the ARC, but for us in Melbourne, it was the best we had.

Go to pretty much every Rebels game except for those when I am overseas for work (young children make this challenging). Haven't been to a rising game. Haven't been to any club game.

If the Rebels had been culled, I might have gone to a rising game or 2 but with such a short season, it seems almost pointless. Probably would just give up and finally pick a ^%#^ing AFL team and fully integrate into Melbourne society.
 
B

BLR

Guest
If the Rebels had been culled, I might have gone to a rising game or 2 but with such a short season, it seems almost pointless. Probably would just give up and finally pick a ^%#^ing AFL team and fully integrate into Melbourne society.

There we go, you have your Plan B already! :p
 

USARugger

John Thornett (49)
I find it strange that people who'll watch the contrived altered rules competition of the NRC won't watch the Shute shield which is IMO better quality.

A reflection of the retarded nature of the relationship between the Australian rugby state bodies in a sport where the ultimate product is the international side.
 

dru

David Wilson (68)
I find it strange that people who'll watch the contrived altered rules competition of the NRC won't watch the Shute shield which is IMO better quality.

Factually I'm guessing plenty would disagree with this.

I'm at a point now however, where "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". I made the effort to a couple of Subby games this year, thoroughly enjoyed myself irrespective of the quality. I really do see Shute Shield for me next year.

But NSW is kind of unique, yes the QPR is reasonable but not I think the same as SS. Nothing comparable I suspect elsewhere. For me though in Sydney, it's an opportunity. Whether I agree with you or not, Gnostic, we may rub shoulders at the SS in 2018.
 

Brumby Runner

Jason Little (69)
For me, my rugby affiliation and day to day support (time and money) is Melbourne Rising (NRC), Melbourne Rebels (Super Rugby) and the Wallabies (National).

I wonder if, teams aside, that level of engagement matches the experience of anyone else on these boards.

Yep, that is me to a tee, iro Vikings, Brumbies and Wallabies. I have also taken an interest in the JID finals series, but have no club affiliation.
 
B

BLR

Guest
So Dockers or Eagles for you? :p

There is no Plan B for me, the Force are the only thing that willl ever represent me as a sports fan end of story.

EDIT: Unless we bugger off the ARU and make the local club league a Pro league, actually, that's my Plan B.
 

Braveheart81

Will Genia (78)
Staff member
A significant aspect of the Shute Shield interest in Sydney is due to participation at a club which creates a very strong bond. For a lot of rugby people in Sydney they played juniors, colts or grade at one of the clubs and the link created there is hard to break. They very much feel an affinity with that team.

It probably also explains the lack of link a lot of those same people have with the Waratahs and Super Rugby. It's a different relationship. It is far more an arms-length sporting fan relationship than being part of the club. Certainly plenty of Super Rugby fans feel they are part of the club so to speak, but it's very different from the comparable situation in club rugby.

Over time though, rugby participation (as with pretty much all sporting participation past the early juniors) is dropping. Less people pursue team sport through to the end of school and into adulthood. Far more people do casual sport and/or go to the gym for their exercise due to a lot of reasons. Part of rugby's problem is that we don't have the tribalism of rugby league or AFL in the professional game so we have struggled to garner the broader interest of people who never played the sport and don't have a strong association with it.
 

Gnostic

Mark Ella (57)
. Whether I agree with you or not, Gnostic, we may rub shoulders at the SS in 2018.


Would love to say yes, but I unfortunately don't get to any Shute games these days as I live in Regional NSW these days, but you never know, I may be able to make a "work" trip to Sydney. I have managed the odd Super game and my yearly Test match, but that's unfortunately my representative limit, apart from that the local club games up here is my staple.

I have been lucky to meet some wonderful people via GAGR over the years and some have even been seen in public with me, which they struggle to live down. :)
 
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jimmydubs

Dave Cowper (27)
Is kearns seriously a candidate for CEO?
I admit it don't know the guy and he may be infintitely more suitable than he come across.... But really? Seriously? Is this a nightmare?
 

cyclopath

George Smith (75)
Staff member
Is kearns seriously a candidate for CEO?
I admit it don't know the guy and he may be infintitely more suitable than he come across.. But really? Seriously? Is this a nightmare?

The problem is, people (us, journos, etc.........) start throwing up "rugby" names usually on the basis of their long involvement in rugby without critically looking at their suitability. Rugby is niche enough that some background in it is probably desirable, but unfortunately many entrenched rugby people in the public eye in any way are just that, entrenched. The network needs to be at least seriously reworked, if not broken, not just rewired in a new box.
 

half

Dick Tooth (41)
The following article from a US doctor will I believe increasingly become a major issues and within in ten years may grow a life of its own.

I read late last year that an argument “””Could “”” be made that a club knowingly puts a players health at risk.
Tis something at some stage the ARU needs to put its collective heads together for a discussions on what to to otherwise it could come and bite us.

http://www.kidspot.com.au/parenting/teenager/teen-behaviour/doctor-says-letting-kids-play-contact-sports-is-a-form-of-child-abuse/news-story/69906aa463eaaa4227bb1dc8f051f9f4?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=PPC_Outbrain&utm_campaign=parenting

Doctor says letting kids play contact sports is a form of child abuse

Kidspot Editor | August 14, 2017
Renowned American neuropathologist says there’s no way to make kids under 18 safe from brain trauma when playing contact sports.

Doctor says letting kids play contact sports is a form of child abuse Around the country every weekend, the sound of kids playing contact sport rings across grassy ovals.For many parents on the sidelines it’s a good way for kids to learn about sportsmanship and it gets them outside. And so many kids love it.But one doctor is saying letting our kids play contact sport is akin to child abuse.Dr Bennet Omalu, is, in short, a concussion expert. The neuropathologist told an event in New York recently: “No child under the age of 18 in America today should play any of the high impact sports, high contact sports.”These include rugby, (American) football, boxing, ice hockey, mixed martial arts and wrestling.His reasoning is simply that it is not safe and there is no way to make it safer.”If you play football, and if your child plays football, there is a 100 percent risk exposure. There is nothing like making football
safer. That’s a misnomer,” he said.

Long-term head trauma

He has found evidence that NFL players sustained long-term head trauma with declining mental capabilities, due to the sport.”It is the definition of child abuse. Someday there will be a district attorney who will prosecute for child abuse,” he said.In Australia rugby league and union are two of our biggest contact sports. According to Sports Medicine Australia between 2002-2003, 1,612 people were hospitalised around Australia for rugby league injuries. That’s an injury rate of 678 injured per 100,000.For rugby union, schoolboy injuries occurred at a rate of 16 injuries per 1,000 playing hours. At an elite level there was 43 injuries per 1,000 playing hours. Furthermore, 209,800 Australians aged 15 and older played rugby league and 165,300 played rugby union, according to Statistics from the Australian Sports Commission’s 2006 survey.

“That study out of Boston simply reaffirmed something we have always known, that there is nothing like a safe blow to the head,” Omalu said.
 
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