I appologise for the length of this reply
Rugby seems to be going AOK in the NH with good crowds good atmosphere etc
In the SH there has been a decline in all three especially over the past few
years. I have been attending Waratah home games since 1996 and notice a sign
of increasing frustration even among the diehards. In Sydney Rugby has only
one flagship team - the Waratahs. There has not been an "inspirational" or
exiting game at the SFS for several years. The Waratahs seem quite lethargic
ambling up to linouts in slo mo even when needing to play catch up with time
running out when they are behind. There appears a total lack of urgency, and
this has been evident for several seasons.Even last year making the finals
seemed a non event as a win by the Crusaders seemed inevitable. The Crusader
domination has made the comp boring. Even the RL crowds in NZ seem higher
that the big S12 games. SA has some good crowds but as the Lions and the
Cheetahs seemingly being inept has made those games a turn off, especially
when shown at 2am in Oz - No wonder only 1900 watched such a Brumbies game
on Fox the other week. The Reds have been cellar dwellers for several years
The move to Suncorp from Ballymore seems to be a failure as the ground
appears almost empty. The Force had initial great support but their onfield
performances have been too erratic. The Quokka incident and the Firepower
fiasco could not have happened at a worse time and apparently the fans are
turned off by games at the round Subiaco Oval as the spectators are too far
from the field. Maybe the chance to play at the new rectangular stadium will
help (whenever it comes on line). The fact that Matt Giteau is leaving will
not help though. The Brumbies do not seem to have recovered from the loss of
Gregan and Larkham as well as Joe Roff, Jeremy Paul and other high profile
players. Mortlock and Smith are at the end of there careers and there are no
"household names" to take their place, apart from the return of Giteau.
The AFL and NRL have the artificial draft + salary cap which tends to make
the talent spread fairly even amongst all the teams. RL gets about 6 pages
of coverage in the Telegraph compaired to 1/2 to 1 page on Rugby. Matches
between OS teams get 1 sentence usually describing the result.The newspaper
coverage of school games and club matches is now virtually non existant.
Club game attendances seem to be waning, and it will be interesting to see
if this changes with the filtering back oh S14 and Wallaby players. A big
problem is that apart from the occasional test there is no free to air
coverage which limits the exposure of the code to potentional new converts.
A few years ago a Joey's v Riverview game on ABC outrated a Swans game! In
Sydney the NSWRU seems to have abandoned the west and north west to League
and AFL. The local public schools rarely get promotional visits etc.
The Wallabies themselves have been uninspiring for a few years as well, with
only occasional challenges to the Boks and Blacks. The rot really set in
with the pedestrian performance at RWC 2007. Though financially successful
and ratings successful (in NH) the tournament was seen as a dud in the SH.
The improvement in teams such as Argentina, Georgia and some of the Pacific
nations was a boon, but the big games weer often disappointing. The terrible
Wallabies v Boks game at the Olympic Stadium was a disaster, as was removing
the Bledisloe Cup from Sydney for 2 years. Even this traditional highlight
has suffered with the game last year in Sydney well short of selling out.
The fact that this series is now stretched to 4 games a year is a worry, and
as pointed out in the Herald's editorial today a de-valuing of the product.
ANZ stadium has become a major turn off, (other codes included) as it is a
soul-less wasteland. The pressure to increase the Bledisloe games to try to
make money is understandable, but this is compounded by the European teams
arriving pre the Tri-nations being B or C teams lacking in top name players
and in fact a waste of time and attracting diminishing crowds.
As is also pointed out in the Herald Editorial the game itself has become a
turn off. It needs "sexing up" it is not a trendy place to be. The ELVs are
not the universal panacea they were hoped to be. Matches are still often
decided by inconsistent referees who still think that the game revolves
around them (Has Matt Goddard learned is lesson?) A lot of bonus points are
also decided by dodgy refereeing as well.
The ELVs are a big improvement but do not go far enough. A lot of going over
the top and bridging is permitted as is coming in from the side. The
abandoning of rucking has been a disaster as the breakdown now resembles a
gridiorn type arrangement with minimal forwards commited to the ruck. Too
often the game stops with the ball sitting at the back of the ruck while
the half decides what to do. If a player does try to contest by coming
through the gate and counter-rucking he is penalised for off side. The
abandonment of the rolling maul has aggravated this. The problem previosly
was that Refs hardly ever called "use it" when the maul stopped or went
backwards from good defensive play, and the usual result was a penalty for
pulling down the maul which had become a legalised form of truck and
trailer.
Defense has become much more dominant, and this has not been helped by the
Refs again , (and "Assistant" Refs ) not enforcing the "locks feet" law.
This is especially noticible when play is close to the line. Often the
banana defence results in the outside centre caught behind the gain line. A
lot of this results in the tendency for kicking, which often is of poor
quality, especially the Aussie teams.
The tap kick/penalty debate seems to be the most controversial NH v SH
argument but this is a sideshow. In a recent match Dickinson threatened to
revert from tap kicks to full arm penalties because of repeated
infringements. Is he allowed to do this under the laws, or is the only
option the dreaded Yellow Card? (Matt Goddard Sic)
The changes I feel the ELVs neglected
1) 5 metre law at rucks and mauls (Even when badly reffed this would creat
more space for attack)
2) Accidently collapsed scrum when the ball is at the back - compulsory free
kick to the team in possession (stops a lot of unnecessary re-sets)
3) Uncontested mark in 22 - scrum with feed to defending team from where the
ball was kicked (should help reduce aimless kicking)
4) Unsuccessful dropped goal - Penalty from middle of 22 ( Makes players
think twice about the"soft" option, and makes the 3 points if successful
more worthwhile)
The one thing that has not changed is the ethos of the game . The
friendships, the camararderie, the socialising, the travel, being able to
sit next to rabid supporters but still share a joke and a laugh even when
your team loses. This is the biggest thing that non Rugby folk miss out on.
Cheers Phil