I think there is a reality issue here where rugby is the 4th choice football code in a country of 25 million people, with a developing culture of wrapping our kids in cotton wool. Rugby doesn’t have, and is never likely to have, a broad enough grass roots base to consistently produce top tier players or quality coaching staff. As an amateur code (and fledgling professional code) it was easier to mask this fact due to the overall standard of rugby being, well, amateur.
As a professional sport we are extremely unlikely to ever be able to consistently compete against larger nations (or NZ) where rugby has greater public support. Like most sports we play, we generally punch above our weight, but our historical standing as a top tier rugby nation is unlikely to continue as other nations continue to improve.
It speaks volumes to me that we have the two highest paid players in world rugby, yet are 7th in the rankings. That tells me that rugby is struggling desperately to paint a picture that australian rugby is a viable career for professional athletes, but in reality, only a select few will make a decent living out of it.
That said, I totally agree that the structure of RA has massive room for improvement which, if ever capably addressed, would help us get maximum value from the resources we have.
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