The player pool has shrunk due to participation levels over the years. However, the pool is further reduced through counterproductive policies and structures such as:
1. The PONI system that picks the future too early and discourages kids outside of the system and reduces competition.
2. Leadership vacuum at the junior level which creates a power struggle between clubs and within village groups. This leads to families losing interest as the environment is so toxic. I have been involved in many junior sports, and rugby is far and away the worst run at club and association level. Clubs that get power then exercise it through selections for reps etc. it turns the more sane families off. Private schools will never trust rugby authorities to not stuff up the system so you need to assume Saturday will stay the same for many years to come. Fix up club rugby and the numbers come back - start with strong leadership, clear fixturing done months in advance not one or two weeks, better gradings which don't change halfway through the season making the first half of the season irrelevant.
3. Gen Blue/Pathways done too early. Why are they reducing the pool and picking future wallabies when they are 14 and 15, before they are physically and mentally mature. Kids born at the back end of the age group basically have a line drawn through their name 6 or 7 years before the real stuff even starts. The only logical reason you would structure a pathways system this way is if you believed there is a direct link between the month of birth and rugby ability. This makes the pool maybe 40% smaller through lazy development policies. Why not have six monthly squads to capture the good kids that haven't grown yet.
4. Select development squads that don't include kids at GPS and big rugby school kids. I know many of the best kids end up at GPS schools, but some of bias for the reps and pathways teams is ridiculous. Why would good kids stay in the sport.
5. Engage the CHS sport schools. It looked like very few of these kids made many of the rep teams. Is there program in place? Maybe have a combined team play vs other schools on a regular basis. Is there a round robin comp for these schools similar to GPS, CAS and ISA?
I would have thought there is a close relationship between the size of the player pool and future strength, so rather than excluding, start including.
