Rugby Australia can learn a thing or two from the NRL

Rugby has a lot to learn from the NRL’s Andrew Abdo, left, and Peter V’landys.

Readers of this column would know that over the past month we have been looking at the big issues facing the game. That seems to have rattled a few cages at Rugby Australia.

My pledge to the Australian rugby family is this: I will continue to use all my experience to keep those running the game honest, creative, progressive and relevant; and I remind those same people that they owe Australian rugby, the game owes them nothing.

The reality is, the poor administration of our game over the past 20 years has seen us go from world champions, capable of selling out the Olympic stadium, to easy beats with a dwindling support base.

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Consider this. Some rugby scribes have had a shot at choosing the next Wallaby team. One such “team” I noticed had one player from NSW.

We have just witnessed the Super Rugby AU final. Well done to the Brumbies, worthy winners. But NSW came fourth.

People who write to me know their stuff. One has said: “When you think about all the resources of rugby in NSW — the Shute Shield, country rugby, junior rugby, suburban rugby, female rugby, schoolboy rugby, the volunteers and supporters, literally thousands of people — and look at the disappointing mess.”

What does the Rugby Australia board think about the current status of NSW rugby and how it influences the strength or otherwise of Australian rugby. Now, Qantas has dumped the Wallabies. Many in the rugby family are angry that this is the same corporate “partner” that pressured Rugby Australia to dump Australia’s best player, Israel Folau.

But now it must be asked how much money Rugby Australia is chewing through each month.

Just this week, the NRL projected losses across the game of $400m over the next few seasons.

The NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said: “Our game has been hit by a hurricane called COVID.”

To prepare for the ongoing impact of this pandemic, the NRL have sacked 25 per cent of all staff, including key executives.

Under Peter V’Landys, rugby league is preparing for a sustainable future in order to face the financial storm ahead.

This week also saw the Irish Rugby boss Philip Browne appeal to an Irish Parliamentary Committee saying: “The very existence of professional rugby is under threat in Ireland. The rugby infrastructure built over 150 years may be wiped out.”

Browne pointed out that Irish rugby is burning through $10m a month to stay afloat and has grave concerns following the impact of the “COVID hurricane”.

This appeal to the Irish government is a last-ditch effort to save the professional game in Ireland.

It’s not just Ireland facing a crisis. The same is happening in England, Wales, Argentina and France.

So what is it costing Rugby Australia, each month, to keep our game running? Why don’t we know?

The future of our game right now is about survival.

The NRL have burnt through $20 million a month to keep their game going, but they have a plan to make it through the next two years. Do we?

If RA chairman Hamish McLennan thinks this proposed broadcast “show bag”, including the “State of the Union” and “Super Eight” competition, will revolutionise the game and make money flow like the Big Bash did for cricket, he’s deluded.

Right now, not one broadcaster, including the Nine Network, has shown any interest in these gimmicks.

In the short term, Rugby Australia must focus on cutting costs, just like our friends at the NRL have done.

Can anyone at Rugby Australia think outside the square?

I wrote in July: “The rugby public want to be heard and they deserve to have a say in the running of the game. The most successful football club in the world, Barcelona FC … have 110,000 paid-up members who, among other things, get to vote for their club president every four years. If the president does a good job and the team is successful, the paying members have the power to reinstate the president.

“Putting the fans first does a number of things. Firstly, their $400 season membership raises over $40 million to be invested back into the game. Secondly, the fans are so engaged because they have influence … They are proactive partners in the game. I suspect the reason the rugby establishment don’t want to empower the people is that they fear losing the very power they currently enjoy.”

Put simply, in this climate, rugby needs equity, shareholders’ funds and permanent money that is not borrowed. It is impossible to believe that our rugby family wouldn’t come to the party.

It’s been refreshing to see our provincial teams winning and not getting pumped by Kiwi provinces all the time. If we want our kids and supporters to follow the provincial teams, they have to be competitive and that means winning.

But if we want kids and supporters to get behind the Wallabies, we must stop signing foreign coaches with zero coaching pedigree.

In the past two weeks, Wallabies head coach Dave Rennie has signed a South African scrum coach with a one-year player/coach experience. On top of that, he has signed a rookie English lineout coach.

May I ask what the hell the head coach does?

Rennie should be rolling up his sleeves and coaching. He already has “assistants” coaching attack and defence. Even if we did need more assistant coaches, and we don’t, the opportunity should be given to Australian coaches with a pedigree.

These non-Australians will eventually up sticks and go home, so the money thrown at them by RA is not an investment in Australian rugby.

The logic of this extravagance is bewildering. I repeat, Scott Johnson, is costing somewhere around $750,000. That would fund the entire Sevens program. We are staring down a huge financial crisis, but extravagance prevails.

McLennan is known as “Hammer”. I urge “Hammer” to get a grip on the Wallabies’ program and its extravagant spending.

On his watch, we have assembled a coaching team bigger than any in world rugby for the shortest international rugby season in the game’s history.

Our friends in the NRL, and in more forward-thinking international unions, are preparing for two tough years ahead.

They have articulated the monthly cost of keeping the show on the road. Why haven’t we?

Ireland’s Browne said this week” “Burning $10m a month is not a sustainable position for Irish Rugby.”

How much are we burning each month? The rugby public deserve to know.