Declining participation and ARU plans for the future

[wamberal]

Res ipsa loquitur.

The facts speak for themselves. The game of rugby is losing popularity in Australia hand over fist.


We have always been a niche sport, never a major code. Why? Because not enough people here like it.


If that unpopularity does not have an awful to do with the rules of the game, and the arbitrary and opaque way the game is officiated, I will walk backwards to Ballymore.

 

[Slim 293]

Well, you'd better start walking.........

 

[Ruggo]

It hasn't been promoted well enough for people to like it. Fact is those within the niche are so risk adverse they don't put the effort into promoting it. It is your typical narrow minded, mundane fucking conservative attitude.

People still have the idea in their heads that it is in competition with League. The people I speak to that have a glancing look at rugby are actually AFL people. They generally appreciate the high level of skill and strategy which are common attributes in both games. For all there differences, there are some very transferable skills. Both thinking mans games. Difference is there is no shortage of access to footy and there are so many different programs to lure kids into playing footy. Footy isn't risk adverse and they generate so much social license as a result.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Some good news out of WA amid all the doom and gloom: the game is still growing here in primary school aged kids.

https://www.rugbywa.asn.au/news/rugby-booming-in-western-australian-primary-schools/

 

[chibimatty]

Some good news out of WA amid all the doom and gloom: the game is still growing here in primary school aged kids.

https://www.rugbywa.asn.au/news/rugby-booming-in-western-australian-primary-schools/

Drove past my old school today and saw kids running with and throwing around a rugby ball, couldn't believe it. Put a smile on my face.

 

[KOB1987]

Drove past my old school today and saw kids running with and throwing around a rugby ball, couldn't believe it. Put a smile on my face.

The public school here my youngest is at is competing in a schools comp in Orange on Monday. This is my 8th year of being a parent at said school and this is the first time in that period they have ever been involved in the sport.

 

[papabear]

It hasn't been promoted well enough for people to like it. Fact is those within the niche are so risk adverse they don't put the effort into promoting it. It is your typical narrow minded, mundane fucking conservative attitude.

People still have the idea in their heads that it is in competition with League. The people I speak to that have a glancing look at rugby are actually AFL people. They generally appreciate the high level of skill and strategy which are common attributes in both games. For all there differences, there are some very transferable skills. Both thinking mans games. Difference is there is no shortage of access to footy and there are so many different programs to lure kids into playing footy. Footy isn't risk adverse and they generate so much social license as a result.

For players Union and League do compete because the skills are more transferable.

Rugby Union a thinking mans game, just because theres more variety in play options doesnt mean it requires more thought (compared to league). To be honest some notion that AFL / Union are more intellectual battles and league physical is a sign of your own arrogance and intellectual sporting ignorance.

As a product both union and afl have a similar sort of possession / territory battle. But from an entertainment perspective.

AFL generally wins in the sense that:-
- Players are generally always pushing the pace
- restarts from a throw in or ball up take about 1/100th of the time
- there competition actively looks at there rules in manners to improving the game and keep it moving forward.
- its players try and mark the ball and put the ball between the goalposts without waiting for free, whereas in union you will have sides who sit around keeping possession not having a crack at a FG or try hoping the ref will blow them something for the penalty.

The AFL and NRL compete as an entertainment product but not for the same employees.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Drove past my old school today and saw kids running with and throwing around a rugby ball, couldn't believe it. Put a smile on my face.

I've talked before about Force Foundation players visiting my kids primary school two years ago, but it appears to have gathered some momentum, which is fantastic.

 

[wamberal]

The notion that rugby is more complicated than league and therefore somehow better is laughable. Intellectually challenging? I'll tell you what is intellectually challenging.

Try working out why Ned Hanigan was yellow carded against the Kings for coming straight through a ruck. Try understanding how it is that Romain Poite is allowed to referee internationals, when he has shown on several crucial occasions that he does not have the slightest notion about scrum cheating.


I could do on. Suffice it to say that people are not attracted to a sport because it is more complicated than the alternatives. If that were not so, Royal Tennis would be the most popular sport in the world.

It is the progenitor of Lawn Tennis, and those few hardy souls who play it swear by it. The problem is that there are only four clubs in Australia, and 50 in the whole world. Great game, apparently. Definitely deserves more popularity. Anybody interested in putting it on FTA?


As for rugby league, let's face it, it burst into the Australian sporting scene when Dally Messenger signed up, and it has prospered pretty much consistently ever since. That is a simple fact. Yes, it might be a simple game for simple minds, but apparently most of us are pretty simple-minded when it comes to choosing our sports.

 

[Micheal]

Try working out why Ned Hanigan was yellow carded against the Kings for coming straight through a ruck. Try understanding how it is that Romain Poite is allowed to referee internationals, when he has shown on several crucial occasions that he does not have the slightest notion about scrum cheating.

That card still gives me anxiety.

*Oopsy daisy I've blown the whistle and now everyone's staring at me - Lord Almighty I better do something*

"Erm, Blue.....ah.....six. Yep, Blue six, come over 'ere a minute. Mate, you've been doing it all game and you're gone for 10. Toot sweet, toodle pip, on ya bike son"

"But doing what sir? What'd I do?"

"Bugger if I know but if I had to say I'd guess it was a double fault, coming in from the side, tech foul, knock on extraordinaire. Now off you trot before I put you on report and send you to the blood bin for a concussion test for the rest of the 90 minutes - you don't want to miss next week against the Swans do you?"

*Hanigan jogs off in a state of confusion as Hoffman gives himself a bum tap and thinks Jesus, this reffing thing isn't so hard after all*

 

[Gnostic]

The notion that rugby is more complicated than league and therefore somehow better is laughable. Intellectually challenging? I'll tell you what is intellectually challenging.



Try working out why Ned Hanigan was yellow carded against the Kings for coming straight through a ruck. Try understanding how it is that Romain Poite is allowed to referee internationals, when he has shown on several crucial occasions that he does not have the slightest notion about scrum cheating.





I could do on. Suffice it to say that people are not attracted to a sport because it is more complicated than the alternatives. If that were not so, Royal Tennis would be the most popular sport in the world.



It is the progenitor of Lawn Tennis, and those few hardy souls who play it swear by it. The problem is that there are only four clubs in Australia, and 50 in the whole world. Great game, apparently. Definitely deserves more popularity. Anybody interested in putting it on FTA?





As for rugby league, let's face it, it burst into the Australian sporting scene when Dally Messenger signed up, and it has prospered pretty much consistently ever since. That is a simple fact. Yes, it might be a simple game for simple minds, but apparently most of us are pretty simple-minded when it comes to choosing our sports.

That's pretty easy because he was never onside. Even with my Tahs specs on I can see that was a penalty and the yellow came because of the context in the game after repeated infringements and the cynical nature of the offence.

As for League, when my Dad's mates were playing first grade in the Winfield Cup in the old NSWRL days it was well known and discussed often that there were informal deals to maintain the promotion and media position of the game in print and electronic forms. That became formalised when News and Packer bought into teams and then again when Super League started.

Many a great idea has died because the competition was far better resourced and promoted and because vested interests had invested vast sums into a product and could not let it fail before said investment achieved ROI.

My last involvement in League was in 1983 and I couldn't give a rats arse about the game at all, simple or not it holds no interest and hasn't since the Jets got booted, I know some people just don't like Rugby that's fine but trying to say that a sport prospers or not because of the simplicity of the game is ridiculous. Have a look at Basketball, NFL, Baseball or anything else the Americans have bastardised from other sports and you will see that pretty simple games have become immensely complicated over the years as they were professionalised and evolved, yet why are they so popular and played nowhere else? Do you think it is possible that media coverage and promotion just might have something to do with it?

 

[chibimatty]

Negative media is certainly an issue over here in WA. The Perth Glory were once touted as hooligans here, and dangerous for kids to attend games, utter garbage. When Australia played the Springboks in '98, the media questioned John Eales as to whether rugby was "tryin' ta come 'ere an' take over from Aussie Rules." When WA was given the fourth Super team license, the media said "The Western Reds failed, why are they having another go? Perth doesn't want rugby" etc...

 

[papabear]

The notion that rugby is more complicated than league and therefore somehow better is laughable. Intellectually challenging? I'll tell you what is intellectually challenging.

Try working out why Ned Hanigan was yellow carded against the Kings for coming straight through a ruck. Try understanding how it is that Romain Poite is allowed to referee internationals, when he has shown on several crucial occasions that he does not have the slightest notion about scrum cheating.


I could do on. Suffice it to say that people are not attracted to a sport because it is more complicated than the alternatives. If that were not so, Royal Tennis would be the most popular sport in the world.

It is the progenitor of Lawn Tennis, and those few hardy souls who play it swear by it. The problem is that there are only four clubs in Australia, and 50 in the whole world. Great game, apparently. Definitely deserves more popularity. Anybody interested in putting it on FTA?


As for rugby league, let's face it, it burst into the Australian sporting scene when Dally Messenger signed up, and it has prospered pretty much consistently ever since. That is a simple fact. Yes, it might be a simple game for simple minds, but apparently most of us are pretty simple-minded when it comes to choosing our sports.

Ok we are sort of commenting on the same but different things.

I agree that making things complicated does not make things more entertaining from a product perspective.

I disagree though, that a complicated rule book makes things intellectually more challenging. Use the american sports and add in soccer, all with various sizes of rule books and varying adherence to those rules, either way there is no more"intellectual horse power" involved in either of there games. It is just a sad state when one has to rely on this to get some relevance from his code instead of just sitting down and watching people run / tackle/ maul /ruck / engage etc.

 

[papabear]

That's pretty easy because he was never onside. Even with my Tahs specs on I can see that was a penalty and the yellow came because of the context in the game after repeated infringements and the cynical nature of the offence.

As for League, when my Dad's mates were playing first grade in the Winfield Cup in the old NSWRL days it was well known and discussed often that there were informal deals to maintain the promotion and media position of the game in print and electronic forms. That became formalised when News and Packer bought into teams and then again when Super League started.

Many a great idea has died because the competition was far better resourced and promoted and because vested interests had invested vast sums into a product and could not let it fail before said investment achieved ROI.

My last involvement in League was in 1983 and I couldn't give a rats arse about the game at all, simple or not it holds no interest and hasn't since the Jets got booted, I know some people just don't like Rugby that's fine but trying to say that a sport prospers or not because of the simplicity of the game is ridiculous. Have a look at Basketball, NFL, Baseball or anything else the Americans have bastardised from other sports and you will see that pretty simple games have become immensely complicated over the years as they were professionalised and evolved, yet why are they so popular and played nowhere else? Do you think it is possible that media coverage and promotion just might have something to do with it?

Your opinion on the Jets (and many bears fans would attest to) should be a big word of warning to the ARU before they boot perth or melbourne.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Interesting article in the NZ Herald about some of the trends occuring over the ditch. Some seem fairly familiar.......

Today: Schools have replaced clubs as the place where talent is identified and nurtured. With the rise of independent schools New Zealand might have inadvertently fostered an elitist structure in a sport that was noted for its egalitarianism. The search for new talent has reached even greater depths than before, with talent scouts targeting those in their early teens.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11862167

 

[p.Tah]

I was over on Sydney’s North Shore today at a training clinic. One of the fathers whose son played AFL commented that in the middle age groups (10-12s) they haven’t got enough kids for two teams as they have in previous years. The reason, the boys have switched to rugby. Small anecdote but nice to hear nevertheless.

 

[Dave Beat]

I was over on Sydney’s North Shore today at a training clinic. One of the fathers whose son played AFL commented that in the middle age groups (10-12s) they haven’t got enough kids for two teams as they have in previous years. The reason, the boys have switched to rugby. Small anecdote but nice to hear nevertheless.

Yep some really good things happening.
NSWRU has the beaches pilot hub now up and running.
One coach I know was involved in coaching 1,000 primary school kids last week.
There are some great initiatives happening.

 

[p.Tah]

My kids do Little Athletics in Summer. The season is just finishing. The following is from an email sent by Athletics NSW:

’It is that time of the year again, when the regular Little Athletics season draws to a close, and the winter sports season begins. This does not necessarily mean that Little Athletics is over, and if you like running middle or long distance, or if you just want to keep fit, you should get involved in one of the winter Cross Country programs offered by a number of Little Athletics NSW centres. If you would like to find out more, or want to know where you can get involved in Cross Country, please contact the staff at the Little Athletics NSW office on 02 9633 4511, or by emailing admin@lansw.com.au.

If Cross Country is not for you, or if you also want to be involved in a great team sport during the winter season, why not give AFL/Auskick a try. As part of our alliance with AFL NSW/ACT, a couple of great opportunities exist for Little Athletics members to experience Auskick and learn more about AFL. Here's what's on offer:
AFL Auskick Launch

Birchgrove Park, Thursday 15 March 4.30pm-7.00 pm
More information
Free AFL Clinic

FREE Little Athletics GIANTS AFL Clinic prior to the women's GWS Giants v Brisbane game held at Blacktown International Sportspark, 16 March 2018.
More information
AFLW half-time Auskick

Kick to kick at the women’s GWS Giants v Brisbane game held at Blacktown International Sportspark, 16 march 2018. AFL NSW/ACT are offering any registered Little Athletes between the ages of 5-12yrs the chance to be involved and have an Auskick experience on the main field at an AFLW game!
More information


Kind regards,

The Little Athletics NSW Team“

 

[Pfitzy]

I bitched about this elsewhere, but: had to fold our two minis teams for various reasons. Mainly lack of interest. I know a couple of other clubs are seeing numbers drop a bit as well.

I had to ask a local soccer club if they could spare some time on their field for our pre-season (Hills Council, being cads, have closed our ground "for maintenance" for three weeks). They were very apologetic, but said they've seen their numbers growing 30% thanks to the Active Kids program.

Active Kids would have made my rugby program free for all Juniors, but the financials aren't enough when its rugby.

 

[Pfitzy]

My kids do Little Athletics in Summer. The season is just finishing. The following is from an email sent by Athletics NSW:

Bam. Headshot.