In Australia it's not good. I can't believe how badly the game is going considering how great things looked after the 2003 WC.
In saying that, Union dominates our game on the international scene and will do so for many years to come.
I'm not bashing Rugby Union here, just my view of the game in Australia.
After the 03 WC the Wallabies still had the nucleus of the pre professional era of Rugby playing. All very good players.
The SA and NZ players adapted to the pro game quicker simply because in those countries people live and breathe rugby, in Australia we dont.
Take League or AFL either way it doesnt matter, a young kid from the bush with a bit of talent learns from a very early age that if you are going to succeed at the highest you have to make every post a winner.
Lets say a 16 year old kid from the bush shows some skill and makes a local rep team, he might have to travel 2-3 hours just for training twice a week, he then goes to a state carnival and plays very well and makes the state team, he thinks hes great.
The next year he makes the same local rep team but has a couple of bad games in the show piece of the state carnival and misses the state team selection, he learns that every time he steps onto the field he has no second chances and this carries over to the pro ranks , it is instilled in him very early, the "will to win"
Im winging it a bit here about Rugby but now look at a young rugby player growing up in the private school system in the big smoke which still appears to be the case for Australian Rugby Union as far as I'm aware, he walks out his back door to training, travels maybe an hour for a game and is playing in front of the talent scouts basically every weekend, one bad game is not the end of the world, the next weekend he plays very well in front of the state selectors and they put down the bad performance as an aberration, he doesnt learn that will to win and to make every post a winner.
Its too late when youre playing against the kid from the bush because he already has that mental toughness.
Im not talking about doing whatever it takes to win by illegally taking an opposition player out, its more about having the mental toughness to keep performing even when you are getting beaten by 30 points, the kid from the bush knows if he slackens off here he wont make the state team.
