GROWING RUGBY MEANS GROWING 1ST GRADE COMP
I am moved to one of my occasional forays into your midst on this forum, so please treat me gently!
Firstly, I cannot agree more with the praise expressed for the volunteers behind Junior Rugby. They do a massive, massive job. I would also like to include in that the huge amount of work done by the referees' Junior Coaching and Appointments Board, who do fantastic work in bringing on new referees through the Junior ranks.
Now - growing the game in WA. My impression from treading the paddocks here for 20 years is that the vested interests (i.e. the Western Suburbs clubs) have no interest in developing rugby in the expanding Perth metropolitan area. ARKS, Joondalup and Southern Lions manage to survive despite the WARU Council, not because of them, from what I have observed. Ask Southern Lions what happened to most of their 18s from last season after they were removed from 3rd Grade Gold competition at the beginning of this year.
I believe that the only way to grow rugby in WA is to expand the 1st Grade competition. We should have two new clubs in it asap, with a goal to have four new clubs in it by, say, 2017.
"Oh, Lordy, that would mean more games per season!", I hear them cry. For God's sake, my playing season in the UK was 30 games on average, with a minimum of 28 and 32 to 34 if you did well. Whereas here, our molly-coddled players do 22 games, at most. We need more 1st Grade clubs. Otherwise, where will all of these junior players go?
Stop prevaricating, WARU Council, and expand the competition. Have you learnt nothing from watching the AFL's steady march? There might be some pain and blowouts in results, but if you create the opportunities, the players will come.
Did you guys never watch Kevin Costner???
Bah humbug.