For the last few weeks Papworth has been in France watching the Rugby World Cup, and experiencing the woes of the Wallabies first-hand. But as Rugby Australia now sets out to rebuild the game\u2019s governance amid hopes the process will help strengthen community rugby, Papworth is staying on the sidelines.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had my say many times, and I am at a stage where I am going to leave it to others,\u201d Papworth told the Herald<\/em>. \u201cCentralise the operation all you want, but if you don\u2019t address the rapidly shrinking player pool you are stuffed.<\/p>\n \u201cTwenty-five years of neglecting the basics, while spending shitloads on themselves, has given us what we deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n Girls run through a tunnel at the Frosty 7\u2019s Girls Rugby tournament.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>NSW Rugby<\/cite><\/p>\n Cast around for views about the major problems in Australian rugby and, without fail, most concerned people will offer up a neglect of the grassroots game. Grassroots can be an ill-defined, and overused, catch-all term but, essentially, it means organised sport at the community level, where the game is run on the smell of a barbecue sausage.<\/p>\n But after rugby went professional in 1996, the amateur game found itself increasingly tied to the fortunes of the top-tier, and a catch-22 conundrum that came with it.<\/p>\n After early successes in the professional era, Australian rugby began focussing on a top-down approach with its resources. That saw an increasing amount of the game\u2019s finances poured into the Wallabies, and the Super Rugby sides, in the pursuit of trickle-down rugbynomics.<\/p>\n It works perfectly in theory: a winning Wallabies team with recognisable heroes brings the crowds in, inspires people to play the game, and attracts sponsors and all-important broadcast revenue. From that pie comes funding for the community game and the next generation of Wallabies, Wallaroos and ticket-buying fans. Then rinse and repeat; a virtuous circle.<\/p>\n The Wallabies celebrate Bledisloe success in 2002.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Steve Christo<\/cite><\/p>\n And with the golden generation of the early 2000s in full flight, it worked. Until the success then eased off in the late noughties, and then drastically in the 2010s. And during that time, as the top-tier cost of staying competitive grew more expensive in a global market, money spent by Rugby Australia on grassroots development only diminished more.<\/p>\n Measured as a percentage of all expenditure, Rugby Australia went from spending 14 per cent of its total expenditure on community rugby in 2002, down to 2.4 per cent in 2015. Including RA\u2019s grants to each member union, community funding has climbed a little since those days and in 2021-2022, it was back to 7.7 per cent of RA\u2019s total expenditure.<\/p>\n But when compared with England\u2019s Rugby Football Union, which spent 15.7 per cent, and Ireland (11.9), Wales (11.4) and Scotland (12.4), Australia still lags its foreign rivals. And that\u2019s without mentioning its cashed-up domestic rivals \u2013 the AFL, NRL and soccer \u2013 who all spend more in the community space, too.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal is definitely to increase that number and that percentage,\u201d Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh said. \u201cThat\u2019s our intention.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy thoughts on community rugby are well known \u2013 it\u2019s the heart and soul of the game. We don\u2019t own the game at Rugby Australia, the community owns the game.<\/p>\n \u201cThe challenge we have got is very much around the revenue challenge because what drives the majority of revenue for the whole game is the professional game.<\/p>\n Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Louie Douvis<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cWe are at a point right now where we are investing as much as we can, whilst trying to keep professional teams as competitive as possible. The reality is we need to drive more revenue into the game, and if we can get our professional teams performing better it will drive revenue, which allows us to invest more. It is a bit of a cycle, you have to balance the right level of investment across all pillars.\u201d<\/p>\n But while they may not be getting as much fiscal fertiliser as they want and need, does that mean the grassroots of rugby are dying, as many will argue?<\/p>\n \u201cI think a lot of it is alarmist,\u201d NSW Rugby chief executive Paul Doorn said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn rugby, and in community sports in general, often the thinking is if it didn\u2019t happen to me it, it didn\u2019t happen at all. I would be shot down in the old pub test if I said \u2018nah, rugby is fine\u2019. But there are plenty of good things happening in rugby all over NSW. Our challenge has been not being able to communicate that.\u201d<\/p>\n Rugby Australia\u2019s participation surveys show while overall numbers are still down from pre-pandemic levels in 2019 \u2013 fuelled mostly by a decline in male XVs players \u2013 the figures of overall growth in club footy have been driven by increased numbers of juniors, women\u2019s players (particularly in sevens) and schools participation programs.<\/p>\n In all sports, where those involved in short-term engagement programs can be counted as participants, stats can often mask the reality on the ground. In NSW, the true heart-check figure is the 35,323 registered players in 2021-2022, which was up 2 per cent despite the lingering shadow of COVID.<\/p>\n Boys from William Clark College at Hills Gala Day.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>NSW Rugby\/William Clark College<\/cite><\/p>\n School rugby continues to be a big driver in NSW, with 11,325 players. The majority remains in the traditional enclaves of private and independent schools, but there has also been success in new competitions built for non-traditional rugby schools in NSW and around Australia (particularly in regional and country areas) via the Emerging Schools Foundation and a $1.75 million donation from the Ramsay Foundation in 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI am eternally optimistic but why I always say rugby is certainly not dead is we have been holding pretty steady for a while now,\u201d Doorn said. \u201cThe last four years we have had with COVID and coming out of COVID have been very tough, but our numbers have remained very stable.\u201d<\/p>\n Rugby is even thriving, in some areas. Rugby clubs remain vibrant in many bush towns, and Doorn points to the success of a NSW Rugby\u2019s \u201cDubbo Hub\u201d, where a centre of excellence was built with state government assistance. It has seven staff members, who run community programs from the facility, and the western plains competition has grown from 140 players to more than 1500.<\/p>\n \u201cWould we like to do more? One hundred per cent. But I think we punch above our weight for the resources we have access to,\u201d Doorn said.<\/p>\n For every pocket of Sydney or regional location that is healthy, however, there are areas where rugby volunteers are struggling to simply keep the 15-man game alive.<\/p>\n Up against the might of the three-time NRL premiers, the Panthers, organisers of junior club footy in Penrith bemoan rugby\u2019s nearly invisible presence in the fight for hearts and minds of youngsters in the region.<\/p>\n \u201cThe issue they have here for grassroots is trying to attract and keep players, and get them at that young age \u2013 league is just so dominant in this area,\u201d Sia\u2019a Taveuveu, the president of Penrith District Juniors, said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor Penrith RSL [junior club], when I started four years ago, we had three under 6s, two under 7s and two under 8s, a nines, a tens and an elevens.<\/p>\n A Manly under 15s player at the NSW Youth 7s State Championships.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>NSW Rugby\/David McLean<\/cite><\/p>\n \u201cNow, we have no minis [under 6s and under 7s]. It starts at under 8s. It fell through from four years ago, and got skinnier and skinnier and skinnier because that\u2019s when Penrith Panthers started winning. They\u2019ve won three grand finals, and all the kids have just gone to league. Obviously, the Wallabies not doing great doesn\u2019t help.\u201d<\/p>\n The problem for many junior rugby players across Sydney comes if they don\u2019t go to a school that plays rugby, particularly for kids in Penrith and other areas of western Sydney. Though they can pull together highly competitive junior rep teams for state carnivals, between the ages of 13 and 18, filling teams to compete in the weekly Sydney club competition can be a challenge. More than once, under 16 Penrith sides have had to play in the colts competition (under 20s) just to keep playing.<\/p>\n Many players start out playing both league and union, but a vast majority of the talent is now picked up by league systems. Even families from rugby-loving backgrounds are now steering their kids to league, seeing better pathways.<\/p>\n Across town on Sydney\u2019s northern beaches, the dwindling numbers of 13 to 18-year-olds at four village clubs \u2013 Manly Roos, Allambie Jets, Seaforth Raiders and Harbord Harlequins \u2013 saw them elect to join forces, and build teams at 115-year-old surburban club, the Manly Savers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they get to 13s, a lot of kids go to private schools and so you just have these teams that are depleted. They say they\u2019ll come back and play colts but most drift away. You have to keep them playing,\u201d former Savers club official Cameron Wall said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe still have AFL and league and soccer to compete with, but I think it has worked quite well. It is keeping rugby going in Manly, quite strongly. It has filled that gap that we are missing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt upsets some people who think it\u2019s basically a rep side, but it\u2019s what had to be done. They\u2019re not at private school, so what are they going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n Junior rugby officials say Rugby Australia and NSW Rugby need to get in the fight in schools, to win the next generation and counter the omnipresent AFL and NRL development officers armed with free kit and a different game to play.<\/p>\n Doorn says trying to keep up with the Joneses is a big task, and not cost-effective either: \u201cThose guys have tremendous TV money sitting behind them and amazing resources to be able to throw at schools in particular. We would love to be in that position, but we are not.\u201d<\/p>\n NSW Rugby has changed strategy and while still looking to work in schools, it is focussing its resources on helping local clubs and competitions, and connecting them with schoolkids in their area.<\/p>\n Academy programs \u2013 including one involving Penrith players \u2013 and a strengthened junior pathways program are hoped to provide a recognisable pathway for talented young athletes, Doorn said.<\/p>\n Waugh said his plan is to get men\u2019s and women\u2019s contracted players at all Super Rugby sides to become de-facto development officers, and to inspire the next generation by being visible in the community, and making connections with juniors.<\/p>\n Waratahs star Jed Holloway runs through a tunnel with juniors cheering on.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n Papworth\u2019s theory is a little more radical. In a 2016 column, he called for Rugby Australia to drastically change its priorities and pour half of the $80 million it would spend the next year into community rugby, with the goal of getting kids to play the game again. Forget trickle down, start building up.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a difficult one. I don\u2019t disagree with Brett in terms of the intent,\u201d Waugh said. \u201cBut the reality is you have to ensure you are driving revenue to a level where you can support the rugby ecosystem, and we know we have had challenges on broadcasting, which is a large revenue piece. So we have to create a product that is attractive to drive broadcast revenue, so that revenue can go down into the community. It is a bit of a cycle.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything we are doing around centralisation, that\u2019s just as much about improving the community game as it is about professional teams. Because by [RA] taking on more responsibility for the professional teams, it actually allows the member unions to invest and focus their time and effort in the community game, more so than getting distracted by running Super sides.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is as good an outcome for the community game as it is about the focus on high performance.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about how do we get our professional men and women back into the community, being around clubs, playing club rugby, coaching juniors, attending schools and community events. It is all about visibility and connection. We all love the same game.\u201d<\/p>\n News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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