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Joined June 2024
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An above average sportsman with a long suffering patronage to Rugby Union in Wales
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The solution to fix professional rugby in Australia is a competition that ensures an Australian team wins every week, and a strong focus on…
The game of rugby union in Australia and New Zealand has been intertwined since 1882 when the first international rugby side from New South…
Australia and its appetite may be enough to make a World Cup tournament successful however this may not be enough to sustain the future of the rugby in the country.
A positive and viable solution is to reinstate the Australian Provincial Championship however align this to engage the Country Communities rather than City-based teams.
Super Rugby Pacific is coming to its grand finale, Joe Schmidt is about to make his first Wallabies selection and a Test series against…
Agreed, a lack of a proper infrastructure strategy for the Waratahs, Reds and Brumbies has left all of them without a home grown that their communities a) view as dedicated to them and their identity and b) an appropriate match day experience to draw in spectators.
Now more than ever, Rugby Australia needs to invest in infrastructure before it is lost to the other codes
Correct, I was pointing out that any competition that drastically changes the landscape needs to consider stadium infrastructure. Super Rugby is trending in the wrong direction but an elevated club competition and NRC would run into the same problem: infrastructure built for, used by and dictated by the NRL and local governments.
NSWRU Centre of Excellence and BMS National Rugby Training Centre are great examples of developing training infrastructure but while Allianz Stadium and Suncorp are the only available options for professional teams, only the Wallabies will get anything near a reasonable attendance.
Now more than ever, Rugby Australia needs to invest in infrastructure before it is lost to the other codes
I wrote about the key factors limiting the growth of Australian rugby union. In my opinion, a positive next step and viable solution is to reinstate the Australian Provincial Championship (from 2006).
This would provide rugby union in Australia with the opportunity of more games (minus Wallabies). The additional games should be hosted around the states where rugby union has its strongest presence maybe as a double round robin providing 6-7 extra matches for development every year.
https://www.theroar.com.au/2024/08/06/population-and-cross-code-competition-are-limiting-factors-when-it-comes-to-the-growth-of-rugby-union-in-australia/
The missing link RA must back to arrest Wallabies' decline - and the short term fix needed right now
Lets bury the hatchet, merge codes and call it a day?
The key factors limiting the growth of Australian rugby union
I appreciate your viewpoint but Rugby Union dwarfs League from a Global Perspective. Unless you are based in Queensland, New South Wales, Lancashire or Yorkshire, you are a minority sport supporter. The article isn’t about solving an existential crisis of a Global Sport, it is pointing out a way to engage people in country communities through the professional game in Australia.
Maybe the NRL can learn from the English Premier League for when soccer inevitably takes over the sport in Australia by its more interesting and relevant comparison?
The key factors limiting the growth of Australian rugby union
Totally agree, we cannot afford to give Super Rugby home fixtures to these areas. As the article suggests, we can create a new competition with seven games and give these fixtures to this area!
The key factors limiting the growth of Australian rugby union
The challenge persists in an Australian only competition. A structure with no consequence for underperformance and then a lack of engagement from their supporter base.
Australia doesn’t have the money for more than 4/5 teams and New Zealand can’t afford 14.
At a minimum, two tiers of eight teams may just give Rugby Union a fighting chance in the South Pacific.
Super Rugby lite: How a second-tier, Trans-Tasman competition could level the playing field