Aussie Pro Rugby
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@Tim https://play.afl/auskick seems to be remarkably successful. Programmes like that are making headway in traditional league/ rugby areas.
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@antipodean said in Aussie Rugby:
@Tim https://play.afl/auskick seems to be remarkably successful. Programmes like that are making headway in traditional league/ rugby areas.
AFL, aside from appearing to be well run, also has a natural advantage at the junior level these days - in a world where concussion effects are being recognised and increasing numbers of parents don't want their kids playing the violent codes, AFL is a great compromise . You can still be a bit aggressive, but there is little in the way of impact injuries.
It also gives a decent grounding in using both hand and feet skills.
I still don't like the sport, but I can see why parents put their kids into it.
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@mariner4life said in Aussie Rugby:
@nzzp said in Aussie Rugby:
@antipodean said in Aussie Rugby:
First up test for incoming CEO if it's Kearns or Farr-Jones; recognising the parlous financial state of RA, will you do the job for free?
Pop quiz hotshot: how much would they have to pay YOU to take on that CEO role, in that viper pit? Honestly, I'm not sure there's enough money... would be brutal
i would take it over the NRL job in a heartbeat
Can you imagine the 1st 15 seconds of every day as NRL commish? Open your eyes, heart rate spikes to 195bpm as you check your phone for the latest scandal...
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@voodoo said in Aussie Rugby:
@antipodean said in Aussie Rugby:
@Tim https://play.afl/auskick seems to be remarkably successful. Programmes like that are making headway in traditional league/ rugby areas.
AFL, aside from appearing to be well run, also has a natural advantage at the junior level these days - in a world where concussion effects are being recognised and increasing numbers of parents don't want their kids playing the violent codes, AFL is a great compromise . You can still be a bit aggressive, but there is little in the way of impact injuries.
It also gives a decent grounding in using both hand and feet skills.
I still don't like the sport, but I can see why parents put their kids into it.
the AFL, in the main, works off a bottom-up model. Get the kids in, and everything else takes care of itself.
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@Tim said in Aussie Rugby:
I've been told that AFL has by far the best junior program in Australia. Is this true?
Yes very well run they target the best athletes very early.I know in my Job within Cricket here in Australia we are always batting to keep the better athletes as the AFL run well funded and very well marketed academies.
We lost a few young players to AFL which were already in the system playing for Australia u/19s.Two I coached are now 22 and only playing in the local AFL comp but are not interested in coming back to Cricket.
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@nzzp said in Aussie Rugby:
@antipodean said in Aussie Rugby:
First up test for incoming CEO if it's Kearns or Farr-Jones; recognising the parlous financial state of RA, will you do the job for free?
Pop quiz hotshot: how much would they have to pay YOU to take on that CEO role, in that viper pit? Honestly, I'm not sure there's enough money... would be brutal
I've already (many times per year) offered my services for a measly $250K per year + expenses (the free tickets, travel etc. that @antipodean has already pointed out).
Oh and carte blanche to run the place as a dictatorship, including a plan to rip up the current schools structures and implement new ones - particularly in Sydney where it is a basket case.
As I've pointed out on multiple occasions: the issue with rugby in Australia is too many unions unaligned to the primary goal, which should be international success. NZR did this years ago and the benefits are amply evident.
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@Tim said in Aussie Rugby:
I've been told that AFL has by far the best junior program in Australia. Is this true?
If your kid wants to play AFL, they'll get their local team players into a school with a development officer to run a course for free, and even give away branded footy, water bottle, and backpack.
Hell, the kid might not even want to do it, but AFL will put the time and money into at least exposing them to the game and get them involved via their mates etc.
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@Crucial said in Aussie Rugby:
@antipodean said in Aussie Rugby:
@Winger said in Aussie Rugby:
And preferable an Aussie who once played rugby at some level.
I don't see how that has anything to do with being good at sports administration.
First up test for incoming CEO if it's Kearns or Farr-Jones; recognising the parlous financial state of RA, will you do the job for free?
Yeah, I don't see how 'played at some level' is really a criteria. More like 'understands the game through long term involvement'.
I do agree that a complete outsider is not a good approach no matter how strong the business acumen, but the board is already full of those and apparently they weren't good enough for the whinging mob.
That Fitzsimons article pretty much hits the nail on the head. RA have had a run of bad decisions and bad luck. Work together if you love the game."Whinging mob".
Castles appointment has turned into a disaster. And an expensive one at that. Its fine to dismiss this as bad luck and throw in nonsense like "working together". My view is thankfully she's gone. As I want strong Aussie rugby across the Board (inc super rugby that likely means only three teams) not the joke that its become. And optics is important to get the supporters back on side. So yes ideally if someone has the required admin and leadership skills at least playing rugby in the past (man or woman) is preferable. Not essential but preferable. And also surely they can find an Aussie who has the skills. At $800,000 a year. Although likely less dollars now.
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@Winger said in Aussie Rugby:
Castles appointment has turned into a disaster. And an expensive one at that.
Data shows the loss is comparable to previous RWC years. Unless of course you think covid-19 is her fault.
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@mariner4life said in Aussie Rugby:
@voodoo said in Aussie Rugby:
@antipodean said in Aussie Rugby:
@Tim https://play.afl/auskick seems to be remarkably successful. Programmes like that are making headway in traditional league/ rugby areas.
AFL, aside from appearing to be well run, also has a natural advantage at the junior level these days - in a world where concussion effects are being recognised and increasing numbers of parents don't want their kids playing the violent codes, AFL is a great compromise . You can still be a bit aggressive, but there is little in the way of impact injuries.
It also gives a decent grounding in using both hand and feet skills.
I still don't like the sport, but I can see why parents put their kids into it.
the AFL, in the main, works off a bottom-up model. Get the kids in, and everything else takes care of itself.
Just worth repeating ad nauseam that ex-Wallaby captain's are very unlikely to know what the bottom of the pyramid wants and needs.
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@nzzp said in Aussie Rugby:
@antipodean said in Aussie Rugby:
First up test for incoming CEO if it's Kearns or Farr-Jones; recognising the parlous financial state of RA, will you do the job for free?
Pop quiz hotshot: how much would they have to pay YOU to take on that CEO role, in that viper pit? Honestly, I'm not sure there's enough money... would be brutal
I'd take it on.
The first thing I'd is get each of the 11 previous captains who signed, plus Lynagh & Eales in, on a one to one basis and have a chat. Let them clear their airs, and have a discussion. I'd listen. I'd take a lot of notes. Then I'd do the same with the existing CEO, Club Captains, Team Captains and coaches of each of the super rugby team.
Then filter out the garbage ideas, and work on developing the package which has many people on board as possible. Too many people jumped off the train.
Only at this point would I outline my vision. I'd say nothing until everybody else had their input.
The biggest issue that Castle has is that people were never on board with her selection. That, and Folau.
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@mariner4life said in Aussie Rugby:
the rugby codes, especially the overly influential ex-players, have this weird obsession with the notion that you can only run the game if you played it at the top level. I wonder why that is? And, for some weird reason, people latch on to it as if it's perfectly logical.
The NRL is about to make the same mistake. It's fucking retarded.
I have been around rugby players nearly all my life. I would trust very, very few to run a fish and chip shop, let alone a gigantic sporting enterprise.
The other thing is that, by the time these "rugby men" get to the C-level, they've been out of the game for so long that what they "know" about the game (at least at the elite level) is practically obsolete.
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Kearns is obviously the anti-Hammett.
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@MajorRage said in Aussie Rugby:
@nzzp said in Aussie Rugby:
@antipodean said in Aussie Rugby:
First up test for incoming CEO if it's Kearns or Farr-Jones; recognising the parlous financial state of RA, will you do the job for free?
Pop quiz hotshot: how much would they have to pay YOU to take on that CEO role, in that viper pit? Honestly, I'm not sure there's enough money... would be brutal
I'd take it on.
The first thing I'd is get each of the 11 previous captains who signed, plus Lynagh & Eales in, on a one to one basis and have a chat. Let them clear their airs, and have a discussion. I'd listen. I'd take a lot of notes. Then I'd do the same with the existing CEO, Club Captains, Team Captains and coaches of each of the super rugby team.
Then filter out the garbage ideas, and work on developing the package which has many people on board as possible. Too many people jumped off the train.
Only at this point would I outline my vision. I'd say nothing until everybody else had their input.
The biggest issue that Castle has is that people were never on board with her selection. That, and Folau.
I'd venture to suggest that the people the most out of touch with Australian rugby are ex-Wallaby captains.
They may know a bit about the game in the top echelon. Those skippers with a few miles may know a bit about the game in the elite Sydney and Brisbane clubs and schools.
Fuck all of them would know about the grassroots supporter who volunteers time to run a small suburban club (like an @NTA )...
... or about a club in regional Queensland who can barely scrape up 25 players, or 4 front rowers and has to travel 3 hours every second week and pay hundreds of dollars each to the governing body for the privilege of getting bashed to fuck ... Or indeed not being allowed the opportunity to enter a team in the B grade comp meaning there is no meaningful rugby between say Noosa and Rockhampton ...
They have to fix the base to support the apex.
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@booboo I don't disagree. But they have high public profiles, and if you get in the job and alienate them, the cycle will repeat.
The grassroots is obviously the starting point, but if you don't get the high profiles on board first, the rest won't follow.
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@MajorRage said in Aussie Rugby:
@booboo I don't disagree. But they have high public profiles, and if you get in the job and alienate them, the cycle will repeat.
The grassroots is obviously the starting point, but if you don't get the high profiles on board first, the rest won't follow.
I think @nzzp has a good starting point, but I would add that after all is said and done, call or write to the signatories to tell them to GTFO and write an open letter telling the world that with snakes like them and cunning stunts like that in the middle of the biggest crisis in the history of professional rugby, Australian Rugby is doomed, and if they care at all about Australian rugby instead of their own political nonsense, they will STFU and keep their noses out.
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Good Article Really sums up the Mess that is Australian Rugby
[link text](link url)https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/opinion/121269539/amateur-hour-returns-as-raelene-castle-crumbling-sends-australian-rugby-back-to-the-past
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@Bovidae said in Aussie Rugby:
Maybe Castle and the whole board need to go as well
Did the staff number increase under Castle. Not a smart move for a business that was struggling. But 150 staff and paying the boss 800,000. It justs eesm excessive to me
*Alan Jones has fired a parting shot at Raelene Castle, saying the outgoing Rugby Australia (RA) chief executive "knows nothing about the game" and should never have been appointed to the role in the first place as he called for the entire board to follow her lead and stand aside.
The former Wallabies coach and radio broadcaster has been one of Castle's fiercest critics since she took the role in 2018, particularly over her handling of the Israel Folau saga.
"This solves absolutely nothing," said Jones on his 2GB program on Friday morning. "I have said all along it is easier to throw Raelene Castle under the bus. I can't imagine anything that she has done, whether it's the bloated expenditure, the ridiculous growth in staff to over 150, the foolish and personal spiteful attack on Israel Folau, the hopeless performances off the paddock and on the paddock ... all of these things have been endorsed by the board
Castle resigned as RA boss on Thursday evening after a tumultuous few weeks and attention will now turn to the survival of a board that may also see a number of casualties during a precarious period for the code.
