It's behind the paywall, so I've taken the liberty of posting the whole article.
Each week, the debate continues, with the focus on Super Rugby and the continuing failure of Australian teams to make any impact of note on the competition.
I will have something to say about the whole Super Rugby concept at a later date, but to put it in the most succinct way, and from a purely selfish Australian Rugby point of view, the Super Rugby competition has to go.
The manifestations of the kind of problems I’ve been articulating are everywhere and the Super Rugby competition won’t assist in resolving any of them.
On the contrary, without urgent changes, the problems and the results will get worse.
You have only to take the once-powerful Gordon Rugby Club in the Sydney Shute Shield competition.
After eight rounds, they have lost seven of their games. They have had 443 points scored against them, an average of just over 55 points a game. Last week, they lost 97-14 to Northern Suburbs.
Their only win was against Penrith, who’ve since been dumped from the Shute Shield for bad performances.
Gordon’s lower grades have been similarly dismantled. And they were flogged by huge margins in 2017.
This is a famous club, which has been a powerhouse of Australian rugby since 1936.
They have won eight first grade premierships, 12 club championships.
They have produced 34 Wallabies, including four captains — Trevor Allan, Bob Davidson, Peter Sullivan and Stirling Mortlock.
And they have produced other great Australian rugby names — Jim Phipps, Arthur Summons, Rod Batterham, Laurie Monaghan, Steve Cutler, Andrew Blades, Tony Dempsey.
Rugby Australia hasn’t a clue about these issues, nor does it offer any solutions.
Just keep drifting along.
But where are future NSW and Wallaby teams going to come from if clubs such as Gordon are fighting for their very future?
Or is the answer to send them into the same rugby oblivion that has been dished out to Penrith?
I had a note from a regional headmaster in relation to a recent Sydney club game between Easts and Parramatta. They played at Orange.
He writes: “The crowd was incredibly disappointing. No one knew it was on. Solution for a huge crowd? Give a free family ticket and post it to every school kid in Orange and include a sausage sandwich and a free can of drink. They bring mum and dad. Mum and dad will pay for theirs. It would barely be a $500 exercise. It’s not rocket science. It would only need Castle and co. to donate 1 per cent of their wage to pay the bill. I keep the faith, but I fear rugby union in Oz is getting close to terminal illness time.”
Another reader writes: “I was at the Brumbies v Rebels game on Saturday night and, dear God, what a world of hurt Australian rugby is in. There was no atmosphere. I mean none. The game was on the line and, honestly, nobody cared.
“The issue isn’t isolated to Brumbies games. It starts at the top and filters down. Having said that, it did seem that the Brumbies organisation had lost interest … I was so disappointed and saddened at what I saw on Saturday night as I remember packing out the mall at Canberra to watch them on the big screen not that long ago. How far from that we now seem.”
And, of course, on the eve of that match, rugby administrators in Canberra were warning the rugby public if they don’t turn up, the club might go under.
Oatley Rugby Club is a little outfit in Sydney, but, writes a lawyer and donor to the club: “The club, like many rugby clubs, is devoid of sources of funding and is facing the reality of years of inept administration of the code by Australian Rugby and NSW Rugby.”
He writes: “I, like many lovers of rugby, am disillusioned by the approach of the administrators of the code in Australia. They are continuing to alienate the true supporters of the code and unless something is done to change this, rugby in Australia will continue to be weakened. It’s not a question of lack of support, as there is a great deal of support for club rugby and subdistrict rugby if the code is properly administered. But that requires proper recognition of the fundamental importance of such clubs and also the need to ensure they are properly funded.
“The failure of the Penrith Rugby Club is just one stark illustration of the real problems facing the code of rugby. One of the most important points made by Alan Jones is the huge increase in the bureaucracy of the administration of the code. It must be kept in mind that these bureaucrats are paid enormous sums of money. The costs involved are such that running a club such as Oatley is not properly addressed with the resultant negative impact upon such clubs.”
All this is easily addressed, by simply ousting the failed Board of Australian Rugby. Put people there who know, listen and want to address these grassroots issues. From the grassroots grows the harvest.
Rugby is owned by its members. The board is elected by its members. What has been done by members can only be undone by them.
If the two big member unions, NSW and Queensland, wanted to, they could convene an extraordinary general meeting, the purpose of which would be to move a vote of no confidence in the Board of Rugby Australia. Then install a new board. Not hard.
But it’s quite clear there is no one within these two powerful member unions with the fire in the belly or the courage or the political nous to marshal the forces. They’re cosy and compliant.
They sat on their hands and allowed the Western Force to be executed. Why? Self-interest.
They thought they’d be the beneficiaries of the demise of the Force — that’s what Rugby Australia told them. More money, more players.
But as one of my correspondents said: “Guess what, no money, no players …”
A revolution is needed, but the members have to bring it on.
By the way, New Zealand did just that in 2002. The incumbent New Zealand Rugby Board lost the co-hosting rights for the Rugby World Cup 2003 to Australia.
They absolutely stuffed up and tried to brush it under the rug. The member unions in New Zealand convened an extraordinary general meeting and sacked the lot.
There are many people in Australia who would make terrific directors.
There are capable and knowledgeable rugby people who have been there, done it and are ready to do it again.
As one young person wrote to me, a young fellow who loves his rugby: “If Donald Trump was an Australian rugby fan, he’d probably be pretty angry. He’d rightfully point out that we don’t win anymore, that we send in weak negotiators. But most importantly, he’d point out that New Zealand and South Africa are ‘nasty guys’ and we should not be nice to them.”
Pretending that SANZAAR has any relevance to Australian Rugby at the moment, given the mess we’re in, and that Super Rugby can continue in its present form, is the ultimate proof that we have weak negotiators and have lost the plot.
Now, in a week’s time, we face Ireland. The “scoreboard” indicates the difficult prospect in front of us, though not impossible. We do have talent.
But the backdrop against which Michael Cheika has to deliver is, at best, unpalatable.
In 2013, Ireland published an outstanding document entitled A Strategic Plan for Irish Rugby.
It was labelled: “Irish Rugby — from grassroots to international success — One Ireland, One Passion, One Goal.”
The report determined that Ireland would:
• Win a Six Nations Championship once every four years — and they won this year’s title, undefeated
• Win the European Championship (the Heineken Cup) by 2018 — they did that this season with Leinster
• Win the Pro 14 European Competition every two years — they did with Connacht in 2015/16 and Leinster this season
• Increase the number of rugby participants to 180,000 by September 2017
• Spend 109 million euros a year on grassroots and provincial rugby
• And that rugby should be based on respect, integrity, inclusivity, fun and excellence
Ireland are now the No 2 side in the world and they copied, of course, what New Zealand’s summit did, as I have written previously, after New Zealand were knocked out in the quarterfinals of the World Cup in 2007.
So the simple, positive point is success need not be elusive. If Ireland, with a small playing population, can do it, so can we with our abundance of playing talent.
Only one thing stands in the way. And increasingly, I think, everyone knows what that is.
