The beginning of the end - AFL has stormed the ramparts

[Inside Shoulder]

I'm not a fan of fitzy so I don't often read his column. Today i did and I'm alarmed.
He wrote of the steps taken by AFL to undermine all the wonderful work that has been done by the NSWRU and ARU in schools.

Here's a snippet:
"While football numbers would be relatively unaffected by the introduction of AFL, rugby would be disproportionately affected. Our best guess is that if AFL were to be a full Saturday sport, we would be reduced to fielding probably one team per age group in rugby. Partly, this reflects the appeal of Aussie rules; partly, it goes to the failure of rugby in NSW to effectively nurse the game at the grassroots. At times, the game appears to sink under the weight of technicalities in its rules."


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/the-fit...ugbys-heart-20121109-293gc.html#ixzz2BkTE5voX

It turns out the AFL are setting up and largely paying for a Saturday morning school comp in Sydney IN 2013!!!

According to fitzy the comp is aimed at years 5/6 and 6/7, presumably the thinking is that once they're handling skills have been destroyed by the game they play in purgatory they will not consider coming back to our game.

The AFL NSW/ACT (which I will not promote by including a link) contains no real clue as to the structure- in fact I think it may be out of date, but it confirms:

"Interschool competitions are staffed by the AFL(NSW/ACT) and teachers. Teacher commitments include:
• Assistance with supervision of students
• Assistance with the circulation and collation of registration forms
• Set up of grounds
• Umpiring of games one appropriately trained"

This is the thin end of a well cashed up and determined wedge: their main focus may well be league but union will be collateral damage!



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[CTPE]

Just read it myself (do you survive on 3 hours sleep IS??). The introduction of Football as a GPS competition saw a very substantial reduction in the number of boys playing Rugby. If the AFL get their competitions up and running amongst GPS, CAS, ISA etc schools there will be a likely similar outcome

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Don't be too frightened. 10to12 has forewarned us here with the "form letter" sent around to the schools about the competition:

Not sure where to post this, but thought the on going push into the schools would interest some

Dear ,

As General Manager - AFL NSW/ACT, please allow me to update you on an
Independent Schools Winter AFL competition that will be commencing in
2013.

AFL NSW/ACT recently met with several school associations including
IPSHA, Associated Schools of NSW and AAGPS to develop a winter AFL
competition model for 2013. The competition is available to all
Independent Schools should they wish to be involved.

We are pleased to note that some schools have already expressed a strong
interest to participate in this competition and we are looking forward
to working with the Independent School community to facilitate this
opportunity for your students.

The basic model of the competition is outlined below;

* Schools can nominate teams in two age groups - Yr 5/6 and Yr
7/8.
* Game times will commence from 9am on Saturday mornings.
* Appropriate AFL venues will be finalised once teams are
confirmed.
* The season will include 10 weeks of competition from May 4 until
August 10.

AFL NSW/ACT will offer a flexible fixture to ensure all schools have the
ability to be involved and meet their current commitments. AFL NSW/ACT
understands association sporting calendars do not align for all schools
however we are hopeful a number of schools can be involved from the
various associations of the Independent School network.

AFL NSW/ACT will manage all aspects of the competition and provide
assistance to support schools to become involved. This support will be
available for a minimum of three years and will include the following:

* Booking and payment for all competition grounds.
* Provision and payment of field umpires for all matches.
* Appointment of a ground manager at each venue.
* Provision and payment of qualified sports trainers at each
venue.
* Coaching support for schools.
* A subsidy of 50% for AFL approved uniforms (jumpers, shorts,
socks) for up to two teams from each school entering the competition.


Please find a registration form attached to be forwarded to AFL NSW/ACT
staff. This form is due by 9th November, 2012 and will be used to
formally register teams if your school is interested.

I welcome any opportunity to meet with you to discuss your potential
involvement or any support AFL NSW/ACT may provide to enable your school
to participate in this exciting and historic competition.

Please feel free to contact me should you require further information
about any details about this proposal.



Kind regards,

 

[Hugh Jarse]

The money AFL have been throwing around may not have been achieving the desired effect.

AFL have been found cooking the books again regarding player numbers in West Sydney.

Well known investigative journalist Roy Masters has siezed upon a report from David Lawson, a Melbourne Uni academic, which was commissioned by the NSW/ACT AFL.

Quoting directly from the report and the Masters article:

"The reality is that junior club maturity and participation numbers appear to have stalled. There are 6 per cent less junior/youth players in 2012 than in 2009. The perception, however, is that the game is growing well. This perception is supported by masking low junior club numbers with Auskick numbers (Club, School and Community Auskick) and school program numbers.
"This optimistic, bullish perception is needed to market the game. However, this perception urgently needs to be underpinned by committed junior club participants.

"In the chase for participant numbers in NSW and ACT, a shortened and often subsidised version of Auskick has been aggressively rolled out in primary schools (In-School Auskick) and after-school centres (Community Auskick) … Junior club feedback has indicated that the In-School and Community versions have, at times, harmed Club Auskick.

"Soccer, rugby league and rugby union introductory programs essentially comprise modified games whereas Auskick centres concentrate on skill acquisition drills. Interviews and surveys have suggested that in Sydney there is a preference for more game-based activities to complement skill-based content."

While AFL NSW's Dean Connors apparently claims that Australian football participation in Western Sydney had risen 27 per cent this year from 28,306 in 2011 to 36,000 to 37,000 participants.

According to the AFL NSW/ACT report, playing numbers in junior Australian football across all of Sydney last year was only 7694. Participant is defined as "no-less-than-six-weeks paying customer", Both parties used that definition to come up with their numbers.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/afl/afl-news/auskick-putting-sydney-kids-off-20121023-283ge.html#ixzz2AGu3k7QE

 

[p.Tah]

If the schools are now outsourcing sport because the AFL will pay most of the costs, then parents have the right to seek a reduction in the school fees!

 

[Inside Shoulder]

CTPE - too many beers!
Hugh Jarse I had seen those posts before - couldn't find them when i was looking (may have been something to do with the time of day when I was looking) to see where to post this news, apologies for any duplication.
The impression I get, however, is of a new thrust into the heartland. Coupled with some stories i heard last week of AFL targeting gifted athletes in any sport, including rugby, rather than the to-date broad approach with the emphasis on sheer numbers it would seem that the enemy has changed tactics.
I have a misgiving that rugby is defenceless, for all sorts of reasons, including money and structure: no all powerful national body like the AFL.
It reminds me of the old joke, appropriate given the test tonight, concerning the number of soldiers needed to defend Paris.
i am concerned that we die hards may not adequately perceive the threat or how it re-forms into a new version of the threat from time to time.

 

[Man on the hill]

This is not as new as everybody seems to think, but it is a lot more coordinated and high profile. For the past few years there has been a Friday evening competition between private schools played between the end of the CAS rugby season and whatever came next - a bridging season if you will.

The real "damage" lies in the volume of assistance being offered to get it up & running. NSW State primary schools have long had the opportunity to "outsource" school sport to AFL employees, this has been part of the AFL numbers beat up for a long time.

BUT - don't be distracted by trying to discredit the statistics - the enemy is on the parapets and will use its resources to buy favour and loyalty amongst the masses.

The threat is real; a clear and present danger.

 

[Jaghond]

This threat has been around for quite some time - going back a significant number of years when the Melbourne AFL heavies were sniffing around various local Sydney Councils to see what grounds they could "acquire" fro AFL use.
Whilst I imagine that the younger age groups could play on "modified" fields - when they get to the older age groups, there aren't that many suitable ovals around, apparently.

Certainly, many of the Sydney school grounds / "ovals" would not be large enought to accommodate full size AFL fields.

That in no way diminishes the threat.......particularly in the "west" where larger ovals are available.

NSWRU should be starting to circle the wagons.......

Cheers
The Hound

 

[Eggsie]

Guys, Nudgee College has had an AFL program for a couple of years. Some of the boys play it, but 'only to keep fit for rugby' by most accounts.

 

[Man on the hill]

NSWRU should be starting to circle the wagons...

That presumes that NSWRU controls the wagons.

Hugh Jarse (& others) will likely back me here. There are too many hands on the driving wheel that is youth rugby in NSW - and they aren't always in agreement. Each school system has its own sporting association (GPS, CAS, CHS, ISA, et al). Then you have the umbrella bodies - NSW Schools, SJRU, CRJU & NSWJRU.
Am I painting a sufficiently confusing picture of the control (or lack of control) mechanisms in play and the potential for confusion over control and allocation of development "resources" in youth rugby in NSW?

Which general is in charge??

 

[CTPE]

CTPE - too many beers!

My early morning rise was due to a couple of bottles of lovely Scarborough chardy!

Just noticed from the cartoon accompanying Fitz's article that the AFL character is wearing King's 1st XV socks

 

[Inside Shoulder]

.

NSWRU should be starting to circle the wagons...

Cheers
The Hound

The ARU & NSWRU will shortly announce an inquiry to determine whether to circle the wagons clockwise or anti clockwise.
It should report by 2016.


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[Quick Hands]

That presumes that NSWRU controls the wagons.

Hugh Jarse (& others) will likely back me here. There are too many hands on the driving wheel that is youth rugby in NSW - and they aren't always in agreement. Each school system has its own sporting association (GPS, CAS, CHS, ISA, et al). Then you have the umbrella bodies - NSW Schools, SJRU, CRJU & NSWJRU.
Am I painting a sufficiently confusing picture of the control (or lack of control) mechanisms in play and the potential for confusion over control and allocation of development "resources" in youth rugby in NSW?

Which general is in charge??

Spot on. Not only are the NSWRU not sufficiently in control of the wagons, I'm not sure that they would be able to form them in a circle anyway.

Had NSWRU spent the last 30 years growing and developing the game in growth areas of Sydney and places like the Central Coast, this would not be such a huge issue. What makes it such a huge issue for rugby is that NSWRU have sat back and let the school system do much of the work. Schools, like all bodies & clubs, look after their own players and develop them and provide resources for them. Schools and clubs aren't responsible for spreading and developing the game as a whole - that's the responsibility of the governing body, in our case the NSWRU.

Nothing that they have done in the past 30 years would indicate that they have the ability to address the central issue of spreading the game beyond the north and east of Sydney and the independent school systems. I'm not even sure that they know that a problem exists.

 

[p.Tah]

A positive is that Fitzy column is widely read, at least rugby followers who don't haunt forums will know about it.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Man on the hill and many others have pointed out the rather large number of entities involved in the rugby pathway in NSW.

Various Schools associations, NSW Schools, NSW Country Schools, Sydney Juniors, NSW Juniors, SRU, NSW CRU & NSWRU to name most of them.

Most of these have been working flat out delivering against their own agenda.

As a bit of a military historian, I note that the military have a similar situation with plenty of leaders and leadership teams at a veriety of levels. Armies have Divisions, Divisions have Brigades, Brigades have Battalions, Battalions have Companies, Companies have Platoons, Platoons have Sections. Each one of these groups has a leader and a leadership team.

The difference is that the Sections work together to achieve the Platoon mission, the Platoons work together to achieve the Company mission, the Companies work together....... and so on. Along the way, the there is also Artillery, Engineers, and Medical Logistics organisations also supporting the overal Mission of the Army. Blokes flying fast jets and helicopters also work on the same mission.

At every level in the Military, the various leaders and leadership teams are working on the one central mission, with each recognising their part in the overall onjective.

An effective army system requires competant leaders, and an effective communications system to make all that complexity work. Ineffective armies have the all these organisational structures but are missing leaders, and or effective communicaitons.

Similarly in rugbydom, it wouldn't matter that there were the various schools and juniors organisations as well as NSWRU etc PROVIDED there was competant leadership in those organisations, and an effective communications system with ONE mission that they are all signed up to. Unfortunately a couple of the characteristics of an effective military system appear to be missing in NSW rugbydom.

 

[Quick Hands]

I'm not sure that NSWRU even know that there is a war on, let alone what organisation and tactics to use in order to win it.

As you say, things could still work with different layers if those running the top layer exercised effective control. Remember these guys at NSWRU have spent the years since 1949 trying to maintain themselves as the major influence in the ARU. It's a great pity that at least some of that effort has not been devoted to their core responsibility of growing the game.

One suspects that some of them have only just woken up to the fact that there is now a new 13 man game in town called rugby league, which has spent the last 50 years establishing itself and developing a huge player base in the southern and western suburbs of Sydney.

As Sydney has grown, league has followed, while rugby has effectively sat on its hands. I talk here about those at the top, not those hard working people at the grass roots level in the west and south of Sydney who have worked their guts out for years without enough support from above.

 

[Jaghond]

From Qick Hands:- One suspects that some of them have only just woken up to the fact that there is now a new 13 man game in town called rugby league.

Given that the brand spanking new NSW Rugby League Heaquarters at Moore Park is but a mere drop punt from the NSWRU Bunker....one would have hoped that they ahd realized by now that there was a new game in town !

Blocked their view of the duck pond, too...

Cheers
The Hound

 

[Man on the hill]

snide comments aside - it is actually the ARU that has failed here - they are the general custodians of the game and have allowed the disconnect to start at the top and fracture its way down through the body. If your kid plays rugby in NSW you have AT LEAST 2 disconnected data bases to contend with - Buddha & MRA - they do not "talk" to each other.

The schools then sit outside all of this all together, not being required (as I understand it) to register their players! Because that's the way the schools have always done it.

IF the funding comes from the top so to should the participation rules. And the knife to the throat would be participation in representative rugby for the schools.

GOLDEN RULE #1 He who kicks in the gold, makes the rules!

 

[p.Tah]

in NSW you have AT LEAST 2 disconnected data bases to contend with - Buddha & MRA - they do not "talk" to each other.

Buddha & MRA?

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Buddha is a Sydney Juniors registration database.

MRA is I think My Rugby Admin (ARU Registration Database).

The Junior Jarses have played both Club and School Rugby. I have never had to fill in any ARU paperwork regarding School Registration for Rugby. Not sure what Insurance applies for School Footy.

Smart Rugby Qualifications have been a compulsary requirement for many years in Junior Clubland.

School footy seem to skirt a direct answer to the Are the Coaches ARU Qualified in Smart Rugby, or Foundation Level?

They seem to run their own masonic arrangements within the schools.