‘If NRL really wanted to - it could crush union in this country’

A new survey of Australian rugby union fans say school-aged talent should be paid to stave off the threat of the NRL.

Code-hopper Joseph Suaalii. Picture: Getty Images

Australian rugby fans have backed paid contracts for school-aged talent to prevent them leaving the code for the NRL, and fear the game is heading in the wrong direction, a new report reveals.

A survey of nearly 850 rugby fans by Freshwater Strategy found that more than two-thirds of respondents want paid retention programs for school-aged players to prevent an exodus to rugby league as they remain concerned that not enough is being done at the game’s grassroots.

Director and head of research at Freshwater Strategy, Dr Michael Turner, said the report showed fans were not interested in the code snaring high-profile NRL stars such as Joseph-Aukuso ­Suaalii and would rather it invested in its own talent to encourage the retention of boys and girls in the sport.

“Rugby union fans are clearly concerned that school-aged talent will have their heads turned by the NRL, and the results show that they want mechanisms in place to keep that talent focused on the union,” Dr Turner said.

“For just one Suaalii, RA could have secured a generation of talent for the game, and rewarded those who stay with the sport.

“There is strong support among rugby union fans (71 per cent) to ­retain top-level talent by signing school-aged players on exclusive and paid contracts to counter the appeal of switching codes to the NRL.”

The State of Rugby Union: 2024 survey made a number of other findings, including:

Almost two-thirds of rugby fans (61 per cent) say that the sport is heading in the wrong direction.

More than two-thirds of rugby fans (69 per cent) say Rugby Australia is doing a poor job and many lack confidence that the organisation understands how to get the game back on track (45 per cent).

The overwhelming majority of rugby fans in the survey said they were “dissatisfied” with the development of the grassroots systems (71 per cent), clearly choosing to prioritise growth of the grassroots game over “recruiting talent from other sporting codes” (87 per cent) and “ensuring that the Wallabies win more games (67 per cent)”.

Head knocks were also a concern for fans – 61 per cent supported lowering the tackle height to below the sternum to minimise concussion and brain damage.

Freshwater Strategy said the report was “independently conducted” and not commissioned by Rugby Australia or any other sporting body.

While many rugby union fans were also league fans, there was clear hope that RA would establish a clearer path to grow the game and map out better professional development pathways.

“The fans are saying; ‘you are neglecting the grassroots game, neglecting schoolboy rugby but in a way you are rewarding people for making the wrong decisions – like choosing to play league’,” Dr Turner told The Australian.

“The fans want RA to prioritise developing the grassroots over buying in marquee players from league or winning more games.”

Some union fans even commented that rugby had “become so boring compared to the NRL”.

“Our survey also showed a third of them say that they’re kind of regularly watching league as well and also describe it as more entertaining … there is a very clear sort of threat from rugby league,” Dr Turner said. “But the idea that rugby union should be in some way threatening the league by saying they are poaching players – when it feels like if rugby league ­really wanted to – it could crush union in this country.”

An overwhelming majority of the fans surveyed supported the departures of chairman Hamish McLennan (71 per cent) and Eddie Jones (68 per cent), while approximately three-quarters of fans agreed the next Wallabies coach should be given until after the next World Cup to show results.

Since the survey, conducted last month, the Wallabies have ­appointed coach Joe Schmidt on a two-year contract.

“It’s pretty much public knowledge that I have a young man at home who suffers quite badly with epilepsy and this job will take me away from the time that I’d sort of committed to pitching in and helping him,” Schmidt said when he was appointed.

“So if we can get the job done over the next 18 months and we can get the momentum heading in the right direction, then I’ll feel like I’ve done my part of it and I’ll be happy to hand on.”

The highly respected David Nucifora is set to take up a high-performance advisory role.

Rugby Australia has promised to overhaul the high-performance system but is dealing with some tough financial times – both the ACT Brumbies and Melbourne Rebels are facing insolvency if their situations don’t improve.

However, almost half of rugby union fans believe things will begin to improve for Australian rugby over the next 12 months.