Baxter: Shute Shield, grassroots grand finals a good news story
THE Wallabies are in a world of hurt but don’t despair. Former Test prop Al Baxter says for the heart of the game — grassroots and clubs — the greatest day of all is dawning.
Rugby
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FAR from being a dead weekend in rugby, 184 grand finals will be contested across NSW this Saturday and former Wallaby Al Baxter says the game’s revival can start here.
While many lament a 16th successive Bledisloe Cup defeat to the All Blacks, and with the Wallabies having a rest this weekend, it seemed there wasn’t much for rugby fans to get excited about.
But Baxter, now NSW Rugby vice-president, said for the heart of the game — grassroots and clubs — Saturday is the greatest of all.
“There’s seven Shute Shield grand finals, that’s four grades and the three colts grades, districts, country, subbies, women’s, sevens,” Baxter said.
“That is lost sometimes in the perception of the game, this is a massive weekend for rugby.
“The Shute Shield is at the pointy end of that and it is going great.
“But there’s an army of rugby supporters, players, referees, volunteers, and they’ll be out in force.”
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However, the state of the game is not healthy.
Rugby needs more participants, alignment and on-field success to avoid financial disintegration and NSW will be at heart of that.
Baxter addresses the challenges and plans for the road ahead.
SHUTE SHIELD FUNDING
While club rugby is thriving, Shute Shield backer Nick Fordham has recently slammed the lack of funding given to the club competition by Rugby Australia and NSW Rugby.
“The Waratahs spend $1.1 million on the community game, part of that is club rugby; competition structure, administration, referees,” Baxter said.
“But there’s also another 244 rugby competitions all over the state every year. There will be 177 grand finals on Saturday that aren’t Shute Shield, which is the top end of community rugby.
“But the $1.1 million can only go so far to make sure the Shute Shield has got the support it needs, and also other competitions get the support they need.”
LACK OF ALIGNMENT
Infighting has been a constant within NSW and Australian rugby, but Baxter said the realignment of the NSW Rugby and Waratahs boards earlier this year is reaping big benefits.
“Led by chief executive Andrew Hore, we are setting up hubs, the first of which was the northern beaches,” Baxter said.
“We got everyone in a room talking out how rugby can work for everyone in the area; professionals, community rugby, women, schools, the NRC team.
“When one is having a sevens tournament, we make sure there isn’t a clash. When we’re running a referees class, we get all of the community refs in there as well.
“We’re making sure everyone is talking to each other, it’s a combined effort.
“The hub model has been really transformative for the northern beaches area, and it shows with the recent results of Warringah, Manly and Northern Suburbs.
“We will set up another Sydney hub, and a country hub.
“A big focus for NSW is also getting back into schools — the schools are where the hearts and minds are won and lost.
“This year we’ve been re-engaging with schools, looking at how we can fund program managers in primary and secondary schools, making sure the communication from schools to clubs to Waratahs is flowing easily.”
RIVAL CODES
“We don’t have the money of AFL or rugby league, we don’t have the masses of money from those broadcast deals,” Baxter said.
“So it’s about highlighting the benefits that rugby has to offer — it truly is a global game.
“It breeds men and women of fine character, that’s one thing we can say.
“The game is more than just a professional sporting pathway, it fundamentally changes your life, that’s something I have personally experienced.
“You can look beyond just a pay cheque for some of those skills that rugby can bring to you.”
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Originally published as Baxter: Shute Shield, grassroots grand finals a good news story
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