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Peter FitzSimons
In the beginning, it was simple.....................There was a bunch of blokes who – for no good reason anyone could work out – loved nothing more than running into other blokes, who in turn loved running into them
the Wallabies in turn, would frequently play for their country one day, and their clubs the next day. For the grassroots clubs, and the national teams had the same ethos – it was all about the game, and the camaraderie, and the touring, and the fun. The grassroots clubs and their supporters were as proud of their national players, as the national players were as proud of the clubs whence they sprang.................
And then, around the turn of last century, in Australia particularly, it started to get complicated. For while the grassroots clubs continued with much the same ethos as ever, living off the smell of an oily rag, those representing the national teams realised they could make MILLIONS of dollars ... and that is where the trouble started.
For the disconnect between the grassroots and the national team became so great that, well ... it became so great, that just yesterday, the most influential president of a grassroots club in the country, Brett Papworth, launched a withering attack on the ARU, and its CEO, Bill Pulver, in an article he penned for Rugby News.........
Bill Pulver, in response?
I think it fair to say, it was not his best day in the job. I have encouraged him to write a full response for the Herald. But, in the meantime, he gave considered responses and outright denials to much of it, including the Vuitton bags, and most particularly the charge that there is an even division of revenue between the states – he says NSW got 36 per cent last year and Queensland 29 per cent. He regrets saying that the clubs would only piss money up against the wall........
I am with Papworth that the professional game is insufficiently respectful to the grassroots game that has nurtured it, sustained it, and turned it into the powerhouse it is. I have long said the best-administered game in the country is the AFL because instead of putting all their resources in the pointy end of the pyramid, they have concentrated on growing the base – at which point the pointy end gets higher by itself. I think rugby is moving towards that, but should try to move faster, and steer by one star alone: "How do we get as many bums into muddy shorts as we possibly can?" A successful Wallabies side is a hell of a start for that. But a flourishing grassroots is the end game.
Bottom line? Papworth and Pulver need to talk into the night. And the ARU Board has to give a lot more money to development, to making the grassroots grow.
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/the-fitz...02-gn8rwe.html