Rugby Union podcast: The Breakdown
The gripping untold story of how the sporting code with all the money went broke.
Who killed Australian rugby union... and who will save it?
Rugby union is the passion of Australia’s wealthy and powerful, who in 2003 are revelling in the glamour and drama of the all-conquering Wallabies. But when the World Cup is snatched from an expectant nation by an England extra-time drop goal, the clock starts running on a slow-moving catastrophe; two decades of decline that even a fanbase of business and political power players can’t arrest.
This exclusive investigation by The Australian’s Jessica Halloran will explore how rugby ended up embroiled in a culture war and abandoned by sponsors, broadcasters, athletes and audiences.
The Breakdown is a six-part podcast series available now on The Australian’s app, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Listen to The Breakdown now
In the app: swipe to the Podcasts section
On the web: Visit theaustralian.com.au/thebreakdown
Download the app via: Apple App Store | Google Play Store
Episode 1: The Breakdown
How has rugby fallen so far? Why isn’t the Wallabies’ greatest-ever try scorer coaching in Australia? Why do even private school kids struggle to name a Wallaby? Why are foreign coaches dominating the game? What happened to the $40m World Cup windfall? Why are clubs closing? Can anyone save rugby union?
Read more: Campo: kids can’t name a Wallaby | Sonny Bill ‘could have worn green and gold’
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Episode 2: Partying at the Lodge
For the first time, Olympic boss John Coates, rugby ex-supremo John O’Neill and the leading lights of Australian sport talk about the schoolboy rugby game that triggered mayhem, the futile efforts to reform the code and the seeds of today’s chaos.
Read more: Where did rugby’s missing $40m go?
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Episode 3: The Kick
A heartstopping England field goal broke Australian rugby’s heart in 2003 - and precipitated a terminal slide. We explore how union headhunted league’s superstars, hear ex-Wallabies shed a tear for what’s been lost and tell the ripping yarn of a rugby-related burglary at The Lodge.
Read more: Mat Rogers’ heartbreak: “It was horrifying. It still haunts me”
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Episode 4: Where’d the money go?
Billionaire Andrew Forrest and the frantic battle to reshape the game, amid roiling uncertainty at head office and looming disaster on the field.
Read more: Twiggy and the $50m Australian rugby rejected
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Episode 5: Folau and the First Lady
How rugby lost its golden player, featuring exclusive words from former Prime Minister John Howard, and a glimpse inside the locker room where Michael Cheika reveals how he handled the fallout with his players. For the first time, we reveal what really happened inside the boardroom.
Read more: ‘Great shame’ we lost Folau: Howard
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Episode 6: What now?
The never-before-told story of how rugby nearly died altogether, the voices of those people keeping passion alive at the grassroots, and the sharp reality facing rugby if it is to ever recover in Australia.
Read more: Rugby nearly became amateur again
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Do you know more? Email us: breakdown@theaustralian.com.au
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The Breakdown
Reporter: Jessica Halloran
Producer: Claire Harvey
Audio Editor: Dylan Adams
Digital design: Isabel Trujillo
Digital production: Kellie Southan
Marketing: Dean Roffe, Jarrah Petzold, Nathan Sprake
Special thanks: Eric George, Nicholas Adams-Dzierzba, Grace Richardson
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