The same problem is rife in league also.
Firstly: fuck league. They may share a few problems with us, but theirs are starkly of their own making at club level i.e. pissing away sponsor money trying to win competitions.
I don't buy the idea that this magical re structured comp is going to have rugby players magically fall out of the sky.
Since 2015, in div 5/6 just about everything has been tried, merged north and south, split north and south.
I'm not thinking just of Div 5/6 - and some of those ideas were shit BTW. Fact is you can't solve the structural problems of Subbies using 1-Grade clubs as an example.
In any case, it isn't really a question of player numbers, but the structure in which they can play, and the level of rugby that suits those who pull the boots on year in, year out.
Fact: not everyone can or should play First Grade.
I certainly shouldn't, but like a lot of guys at the club I'm forced to because we don't have other Grades or are running short on props some weeks etc. Yeah I still love the set piece, but pretty much everything else about playing against guys half your age sucks balls.
Across our team we've got guys who would play First Grade at quite a lot of clubs, but we've also got a roughly equal number of guys who would be lucky to bench Thirds at those clubs large enough to have one. Our for/against of over 300 for 11 games shows this - and some of those games we were right in until the benches came on, admittedly, but the numbers are what everyone sees.
So, why not give clubs an opportunity to grow by putting them somewhere they can compete both physically and on the scoreboard? Stick our club in a reserves competition while outfits with a bit more youth and talent can play First Grade and win that prestige. Have promotion and relegation each year. Maybe even have a mid-season regrade in order to ensure nobody is foxing and that everyone gets to turn up to work on Monday.
I'm not saying this should be some sort of everyone-wins-a-prize lark and that victory is the only way to grow. However, particularly for 1- or 2-team clubs, you lose a few blokes to apathy, injury, or other life events, and you're fucked - no matter how hard your volunteers work, or how strong your recruitment sell is.
It isn't all Subbies' fault of course. Kings OB shot themselves through the head a few years back, with monumental error in deciding to stay in Div 3 a few years back, KNOWING they'd lost 4th Grade and maybe a few others. Now they're just getting back to 2 grades so hopefully that sticks.
Of course, it would be much easier to get Juniors going and get people back to playing park footy if the Wallabies would win a few fucking games in a row, or at least be competitive more than 1 week at a time.
