Sketching out the road map to recovery
On the day John O'Neill said Australian rugby was 'at the crossroads', he opened up on many issues confronting the game. Greg Growden did the prompting.
On the possibility of playing the All Blacks in Hong Kong in November, followed by a Barbarians fixture at Wembley the following month:
"We're not in a position to formally announce the Hong Kong match, but it looks very promising. It would be a very good initiative by the Australia and New Zealand rugby unions to have the national teams playing in Hong Kong, and there is the possibility of it becoming a semi-regular fixture. Tokyo might be a possibility as well. We are uncertain whether the Bledisloe Cup will be up for grabs in the Hong Kong match. There is also the chance of the Wallabies playing at Wembley on December 6."
On changing the season calendar:
"We must broaden the current competition market. We need more mass-entertainment product, more mass-entertainment games. Clearly, Super rugby, Tri Nations, the Bledisloe Cup and the Nelson Mandela Challenge are valuable - but they could be made more valuable. The season at the moment is sporadic. We go from Super rugby and then wait for the inbound tours, and hope they involve the best available players from the north. Then you wait for the Tri Nations, another break, and then you go north. It's not a sensible season structure … and we would like to move to a more seamless provision of quality entertainment. That may mean an expansion of Super rugby. We may contemplate having the Super rugby competition during June and July, with the inbound Tests at that time being played as midweek fixtures. We also need to reinvigorate existing valuable assets, such as the Bledisloe Cup. Like Super rugby, it needs to be refreshed."
On expansion and strengthening the Australian Super provinces, which could include the provision to sign one or two foreign players:
"We need to expand the game. But expansion should not be at the expense of an erosion of your market share in your key areas. There are eight rugby league teams in Sydney, one in Newcastle, one in Canberra, and we [rugby] have NSW in Sydney and the Brumbies in Canberra. We need to protect ourselves in our own backyard, and the expansion of Super rugby in a form which is valuable needs to be explored. We also need to look at a freer market for players, and consider a change in our policy towards foreign players. This could involve one or two foreign players for each Super province, carefully selected in positions that doesn't diminish the competitiveness of the Wallabies."
On the threat from other codes:
"We're under attack in our heartland. The AFL are right into the [NSW] school system. They have spent a lot of money already, and some argue that they haven't really got much to show for it. But that's often a bit of Chinese water torture and the dam will break. When I see the Swans coming to a school like Riverview regularly to train, and they've got Leo Barry as an old boy from Riverview playing for them, and Lewis Roberts-Thomson, an old boy for Shore, playing for the Swannies … well it ain't going to go away."
On the new Wallabies coach, Robbie Deans:
"He is an exceptional coach, and I'm excited about his style and manner, plus what he is going to bring in terms of culture. We need to reinvigorate and re-establish the Wallabies culture - which includes the do's and don'ts of being a player representing your country. That's about leadership in every respect and Deans observes very closely his environment he has created with the Crusaders. It's quite enviable what he has been able to do in terms of cultural awareness. He is also a very good selector. Great coaches tend to be great selectors, and on top of that, he is a very good man-manager. At the moment, Deans has his day job coaching the Crusaders, and we deal with him at night … so to speak."
On the threat from other codes:
"We're under attack in our heartland. The AFL are right into the [NSW] school system. They have spent a lot of money already, and some argue that they haven't really got much to show for it. But that's often a bit of Chinese water torture and the dam will break. When I see the Swans coming to a school like Riverview regularly to train, and they've got Leo Barry as an old boy from Riverview playing for them, and Lewis Roberts-Thomson, an old boy for Shore, playing for the Swannies … well it ain't going to go away."
On the new Wallabies coach, Robbie Deans:
"He is an exceptional coach, and I'm excited about his style and manner, plus what he is going to bring in terms of culture. We need to reinvigorate and re-establish the Wallabies culture - which includes the do's and don'ts of being a player representing your country. That's about leadership in every respect and Deans observes very closely his environment he has created with the Crusaders. It's quite enviable what he has been able to do in terms of cultural awareness. He is also a very good selector. Great coaches tend to be great selectors, and on top of that, he is a very good man-manager. At the moment, Deans has his day job coaching the Crusaders, and we deal with him at night … so to speak."
