Izzy Folau

[TRF_heineken]

Is just me or are there a lot of Aussie sportsmen about with a HUGE attitude issue?

Entitlement is more the word I would use. But yeah, perhaps it's their abrasive attitude that makes it seem much worse than it is or we as outsiders perceive it.

 

[Derpus]

Is just me or are there a lot of Aussie sportsmen about with a HUGE attitude issue?

Life is too cruisy here and they dont appreciate the opportunities they are given.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Folau went full retard a while ago, he has now gone beyond full retard and entered the retard twilight zone. I don't see how anyone can claim this is seriously about religious "freedom" any more. The man has shown himself repeatedly to be a money grabbing bigot. Captaining Australia!? After his comments. Utterly detached from reality.

 

[Hulk Hogan]

Folau has increased his claim to 14 million Aud and has claimed he lost the opportunity to captain the Wallabies at the world cup.

If this lunatic sinks Aussie rugby for good i will be bitterly dissapointed.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/israel...nsation-claim-against-rugby-australia-2019112

TO BE HONEST I kinda hope he does. Rugby Australia is a complete flop of an organization. If they sink Twiggy Forest buys them. And we have a billionaire who cares about rugby running things.

 

[Derpus]

TO BE HONEST I kinda hope he does. Rugby Australia is a complete flop of an organization. If they sink Twiggy Forest buys them. And we have a billionaire who cares about rugby running things.

Yeah great a mining magnate dependent on tax subsidies running rugby in the interests of Western Australia.

Cant see any issues with that - even if he opted to buy it out. Which he wouldnt because that would be a wildly stupid thing to do.

 

[Hulk Hogan]

Yeah great a mining magnate dependent on tax subsidies running rugby in the interests of Western Australia.

Cant see any issues with that - even if he opted to buy it out. Which he wouldnt because that would be a wildly stupid thing to do.

He's not dependent on much he's got 7.5 billion dollars, And he can't be any worse than Rayleen Castle and her gang of NSW Flops.

 

[Derpus]

He's not dependent on much he's got 7.5 billion dollars, And he can't be any worse than Rayleen Castle and her gang of NSW Flops.

He most certainly does not have 7.5 billion dollars. That's his net worth.

And im not convinced he would be. GRR hasnt exactly taken off has it?

Besides, Raelene is good. She's dealt with the Folau matter as well as possible, invested considerably in securing the young talents coming through the under 18s and under 20s and improving those pathways. Shes also recruiting a very respectable coaching team.

Hate this 'Twiggy is a billionaire, he can save us attitude'. Hes struggling to save one provincial team.

 

[mania]

folau just never wants to have to work again for his entire life. what a grub.
twiggy owning aus rugby is a bad idea. one man answerable to himself? disaster

 

[Hulk Hogan]

He most certainly does not have 7.5 billion dollars. That's his net worth.

And im not convinced he would be. GRR hasnt exactly taken off has it?

Besides, Raelene is good. She's dealt with the Folau matter as well as possible, invested considerably in securing the young talents coming through the under 18s and under 20s and improving those pathways. Shes also recruiting a very respectable coaching team.

Hate this 'Twiggy is a billionaire, he can save us attitude'. Hes struggling to save one provincial team.

Is it doing any better or worse than the NRC?

Raelene or whatever her name is is investing in 18s and under 20s is great but on the whole has done nothing for grassroots rugby. Twiggy probably can't buy RA, but he can buy his way in. RA needs to do something to make the game more popular and they need money. Better Twiggy than Clive Palmer or Murdock.

 

[Derpus]

Is it doing any better or worse than the NRC?

Raelene or whatever her name is is investing in 18s and under 20s is great but on the whole has done nothing for grassroots rugby. Twiggy probably can't buy RA, but he can buy his way in. RA needs to do something to make the game more popular and they need money. Better Twiggy than Clive Palmer or Murdock.

She has barely been in the role a year. And what the hell is grass roots rugby if not juniors?

NRC is a tier below Super and GRR - they arent meant to be on the same level.

Why dont you go read a thing before contributing nothing to the conversation but ill informed whining.

 

[Hulk Hogan]

She has barely been in the role a year. And what the hell is grass roots rugby if not juniors?

NRC is a tier below Super and GRR - they arent meant to be on the same level.

Why dont you go read a thing before contributing nothing to the conversation but ill informed whining.

The NRL, the AFL have a way of advertising the game at schools and at junior levels Aus Kick clinics and the like to support the growth of the game at a grassroots level. What does RA do for that? Little to nothing, if you don't go to a private school or have rugby parents you'll likely end up playing League or AFL (Or even worse soccer).

RA don't assist the club level of rugby in the slightest. To promote rugby what did they do? They made the NRC yeah great teams literally no one gives a **** about that have no history. If they wanted to assist the growth of the game they would have made an effort to combine the Shute Shield with Brisbane Premier Rugby, had teams with history and already established fans, playing on a somewhat national level. That'd garner far more interest than the NRC.

Getting professional players back to club rugby after the season, giving fans an incentive to support their local clubs would do far more than securing talents from 18 and 19's (who are likely more heavily invested in league but face a more difficult pathway to the professionals than in union) that then leave to play for the Broncos after two seasons of Super Rugby.
Would twiggy fix anything like that? probably not. So I'll concede on the Twiggy issue is a hypothetical great hope that would probably end up being a failure anyway.

But Rugby Australia do not support club rugby like they should. Maybe it's different in NSW but it certainly isn't here in Queensland.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

how to save Rugby in Aus might need its own thread

 

[Hulk Hogan]

how to save Rugby in Aus might need its own thread

Agreed. But I don't hold anything against @Derpus unlike @smartcooky I can accept someones differing point of view without running to a different forum.
Derpus may well be right and I could be completely wrong. I'm not an expert on how Rugby Australia operates by any means.

 

[Derpus]

The NRL, the AFL have a way of advertising the game at schools and at junior levels Aus Kick clinics and the like to support the growth of the game at a grassroots level. What does RA do for that? Little to nothing, if you don't go to a private school or have rugby parents you'll likely end up playing League or AFL (Or even worse soccer).

RA don't assist the club level of rugby in the slightest. To promote rugby what did they do? They made the NRC yeah great teams literally no one gives a **** about that have no history. If they wanted to assist the growth of the game they would have made an effort to combine the Shute Shield with Brisbane Premier Rugby, had teams with history and already established fans, playing on a somewhat national level. That'd garner far more interest than the NRC.

Getting professional players back to club rugby after the season, giving fans an incentive to support their local clubs would do far more than securing talents from 18 and 19's (who are likely more heavily invested in league but face a more difficult pathway to the professionals than in union) that then leave to play for the Broncos after two seasons of Super Rugby.
Would twiggy fix anything like that? probably not. So I'll concede on the Twiggy issue is a hypothetical great hope that would probably end up being a failure anyway.

But Rugby Australia do not support club rugby like they should. Maybe it's different in NSW but it certainly isn't here in Queensland.

They do grass roots stuff. Follow them on facebook etc.

The reason the NRC was introduced was because the jump in quality from club to Super Rugby was too large. I.e. a player who is up to standard in club is still miles off the pace of SR. They needed another development step and its working. Petaia, for example, found his feet in the NRC.

NZ have the ITM cup, saffas have the Curry Cup and we needed an equivalent.

I think local club rugby being the key foundation of rugby ended when it went professional.

 

[Hulk Hogan]

They do grass roots stuff. Follow them on facebook etc.

The reason the NRC was introduced was because the jump in quality from club to Super Rugby was too large. I.e. a player who is up to standard in club is still miles off the pace of SR. They needed another development step and its working. Petaia, for example, found his feet in the NRC.

NZ have the ITM cup, saffas have the Curry Cup and we needed an equivalent.

I think local club rugby being the key foundation of rugby ended when it went professional.

You could easily do the NRC but with existing clubs, which would have brought fan support and provided a boost to club rugby.

Petaia was in the Reds before he even made his Premier Rugby debut at Wests, I doubt 8 games in the NRC had a big impact on his development. I agree we need a middle ground between pro and amateur but they could have done it in a much smarter way that would have helped the development of Rugby. I have two NRC teams within an hour of me either direction and I've never been to a single game. Brisbane City have terrible attendances while Brothers Rugby Union club or University have thousands more on the same day watching.

 

[Derpus]

You could easily do the NRC but with existing clubs, which would have brought fan support and provided a boost to club rugby.

Petaia was in the Reds before he even made his Premier Rugby debut at Wests, I doubt 8 games in the NRC had a big impact on his development. I agree we need a middle ground between pro and amateur but they could have done it in a much smarter way that would have helped the development of Rugby. I have two NRC teams within an hour of me either direction and I've never been to a single game. Brisbane City have terrible attendances while Brothers Rugby Union club or University have thousands more on the same day watching.

Might work for Sydney and Brisbane but the entire country? And any comp could never have all the clubs of each city/state so which ones do you choose? And what happens to the amateurs if their club goes pro?

I dont think its viable.

Also Petaia hadnt played 13 for anyone but his NRC team and he went straight from that to the Wallabies QF and did reasonably well.

 

[Hulk Hogan]

Might work for Sydney and Brisbane but the entire country? And any comp could never have all the clubs of each city/state so which ones do you choose? And what happens to the amateurs if their club goes pro?

I dont think its viable.

Use the Premier Rugby/Shute Shield as a relegation tournament for QLD and NSW, top 2 teams of each competition make it through to the next level, include one team from Canberra rugby, two teams from Victorian premier rugby and two from Western Australia. Logistically there isn't too much of a difference in regards to travel costs.

The question about amateurs if their club goes pro wouldn't really change, currently Shute Shield is Semi Professional and Brisbane Premier Rugby is Semi professional (though more under the table than Shute), NRC is very much semi professional with a professional gloss. The benefit of the existing club idea is you have professional players playing for a club they have history with, and fans of a club they have history with getting behind their teams.

I never played for Brothers, but I would go to watch games where David Croft fronted up for them after the Reds season, and enjoyed it immensely when Reds players would come out and train with my club when the season was over because that was their junior club. Now you lose that aspect of being a part of professional rugby while being an amateur. It's that disconnect with the rugby community that is hurting the sport (And the fact Aus clubs keep getting rolled by NZ and South Africa).

 

[Derpus]

Is there that connection anywhere else in the world? Im skeptical but i can see the value in having it if it could be achieved.

 

[Hulk Hogan]

Is there that connection anywhere else in the world? Im skeptical but i can see the value in having it if it could be achieved.

It happens in the NRL and the AFL. It happens in NZ rugby Union (Look at Sonny Bill playing for Belfast Rugby Club prior to his Super Rugby career). It does not happen in the US (but their professional system is far different to anywhere else). It doesn't happen in Europe as much, as they have so many semi professional competitions and their seasons seem to go on forever (But they have a better connection with their fans as they'll turn out to watch their local club professional club train).

Australians seem to get in a tradition rut with everything. You'll see people continue to go on about Ballymore being so much better than Suncorp Stadium (I've played on both, Suncorp is amazing but so is Ballymore) because of the atmosphere and how fans could get right up with the players after the game.

But when you have players playing a full season of Super Rugby and the ones that don't make the Wallabies then get sent out to play in the NRC for a team they don't care about you can guarantee they'd rather be playing for Wests or Brothers or Randwick because those clubs raised them.

 

[Derpus]

Wouldnt it be better if we just developed a level of affinity with the NRC teams rather than trying to crowbar in the clubs? Obviously it will take time but you have to start somewhere.