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Time to get brutal: we need radical change to save game
Phil Gould | May 25, 2008
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/new...1211183183413.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
It's time rugby league regained full ownership of its game.
We can no longer tolerate a media company owning the sport, nor the current structure of administration that is presiding over the slow decay of rugby league in this country.
Rugby league needs an independent commission, comprising professional, creative, passionate and ambitious leaders, to run its game.
Many people share this opinion - but no one wants to take the leap.
Last week NRL chief executive David Gallop warned that Sydney clubs face extinction as funding from leagues clubs was nearing crisis point thanks to the NSW Government's poker-machine taxes.
Where was the NRL's concern for the club industry years ago when the Government first proposed these taxes?
Why didn't NRL management assist in the campaign against them?
Rugby league is now in trouble.
The truth is poker-machine taxes are just a small part of the many problems plaguing our game.
Under the current administrative structure, our game's leaders carry neither the authority nor the freedom to make important decisions. Our game seemingly has no direction or plan for the future.
For years the NRL's damage-control style of management has delivered us warm and fuzzy press releases suggesting rugby league is in great shape.
They tell us that the crowds are up and the participation rates are increasing.
They report record TV deals and increases in new revenue streams. In fact, these deals were far less than they should have been because of the game's restricted bargaining power and the fact the code did not fully understand the potential of its media assets.
Now the real truth about the state of the game is emerging. Sydney clubs face extinction. Country rugby league is in a state of decay. Junior rugby league clubs are suffering.
Our top players are leaving the NRL in search of money overseas and in other codes. Two of our biggest stars, Mark Gasnier and Sonny Bill Williams, are about to leave league thanks to restrictive salary-cap rules and the break-even level of finances our clubs are forced to manage.
Our so-called professional league teams have no depth in talent. For most teams it's quite obvious when their best player is missing they that struggle to score a try, let alone win a game.
Then we have this ridiculous scheduling of representative matches that turns the NRL games before and after them into second-rate events.
The situation is appalling and embarrassing for the game.
You could argue that 25 per cent of matches are diminished in quality due to representative football, with players either missing or backing up to play club football in an inadequate time frame.
The salary cap has ensured clubs do not have the depth to cover for these players, and as a consequence the football is below standard.
Why should our clubs have to play without their representative stars?
Clubs are now forced to play in large empty stadiums because it's financially better than playing in their own suburban grounds.
What is the plan for our game in the next five, 10, 20 years?
What is the future role of suburban grounds? Figures show that the Sydney clubs that played solely at a "suburban" venue in 2007 - Cronulla, St George Illawarra, Penrith, Parramatta and Manly - had average crowds below the NRL average.
If tribalism and suburban grounds are the "heart and soul" of rugby league, why aren't these venues sold out every week?
If we think the future of our game involves clubs playing in front of 12,000 people in suburban grounds, I can assure you your club will almost certainly go broke.
That's why more clubs are taking advantage of the financial benefits of playing at ANZ Stadium although the atmosphere is not what they would like. You can't put atmosphere in the bank.
Sydney has nine clubs, crowds that average 14,000 and a modest membership base of approximately 35,000 across its clubs. Compare this with the AFL: Melbourne also has nine clubs, average crowds of 35,000 plus a huge and growing membership base.
Why can't Sydney be like Melbourne and what strategies does the NRL have to grow club memberships and game attendances?
We know that the AFL has very deliberately and successfully devised a strategy to play all Melbourne club games at two modern stadiums only: the MCG and Telstra Dome.
Sydney clubs will also find there is little justification for governments to continue to grant money for clubs to develop grounds to an acceptable modern level in suburban areas that are close to this city's equivalents - the Sydney Football Stadium and ANZ Stadium.
Sydney is the most competitive sports market in the world. How does the NRL intend to grow and protect its market share and revenues in light of the establishment of a second AFL team, a second A-League team and possibly a second Super rugby team in its biggest market, western Sydney?
What other revenue streams are being developed and what research is being conducted in this area?
The Australian Rugby Union has flagged its intention to procure private investment. Given that the A-League is almost totally funded by private investment, what scope does the NRL see for further private investment in rugby league?
Despite record numbers and an all-time high percentage of Polynesians playing our sport, the international game is at its lowest ebb and Australia has virtually no competition.
We are in our 100th year - a year in which we were promised a wide range of celebrations - and we're in a mess.
Who runs rugby league?
Can the NRL answer these questions? Please show us your research and documentation. Show us your plan so we can help. If you have no plan, own up!
I don't think News Ltd wants to run rugby league. I think it would sell its share tomorrow if it was confident the right management structure could be put in place.
It won't sell it back to the ARL and I don't blame it. The current ARL administration is as much a part of the problem with our game as the media company. They might all be great blokes and love the game, but that's not enough any more.
There is universal agreement amongst all league thinkers that the game desperately needs an independent commission to run it on a "whole of game" basis.
We need this sooner rather than later.
Phil Gould | May 25, 2008
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/new...1211183183413.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
It's time rugby league regained full ownership of its game.
We can no longer tolerate a media company owning the sport, nor the current structure of administration that is presiding over the slow decay of rugby league in this country.
Rugby league needs an independent commission, comprising professional, creative, passionate and ambitious leaders, to run its game.
Many people share this opinion - but no one wants to take the leap.
Last week NRL chief executive David Gallop warned that Sydney clubs face extinction as funding from leagues clubs was nearing crisis point thanks to the NSW Government's poker-machine taxes.
Where was the NRL's concern for the club industry years ago when the Government first proposed these taxes?
Why didn't NRL management assist in the campaign against them?
Rugby league is now in trouble.
The truth is poker-machine taxes are just a small part of the many problems plaguing our game.
Under the current administrative structure, our game's leaders carry neither the authority nor the freedom to make important decisions. Our game seemingly has no direction or plan for the future.
For years the NRL's damage-control style of management has delivered us warm and fuzzy press releases suggesting rugby league is in great shape.
They tell us that the crowds are up and the participation rates are increasing.
They report record TV deals and increases in new revenue streams. In fact, these deals were far less than they should have been because of the game's restricted bargaining power and the fact the code did not fully understand the potential of its media assets.
Now the real truth about the state of the game is emerging. Sydney clubs face extinction. Country rugby league is in a state of decay. Junior rugby league clubs are suffering.
Our top players are leaving the NRL in search of money overseas and in other codes. Two of our biggest stars, Mark Gasnier and Sonny Bill Williams, are about to leave league thanks to restrictive salary-cap rules and the break-even level of finances our clubs are forced to manage.
Our so-called professional league teams have no depth in talent. For most teams it's quite obvious when their best player is missing they that struggle to score a try, let alone win a game.
Then we have this ridiculous scheduling of representative matches that turns the NRL games before and after them into second-rate events.
The situation is appalling and embarrassing for the game.
You could argue that 25 per cent of matches are diminished in quality due to representative football, with players either missing or backing up to play club football in an inadequate time frame.
The salary cap has ensured clubs do not have the depth to cover for these players, and as a consequence the football is below standard.
Why should our clubs have to play without their representative stars?
Clubs are now forced to play in large empty stadiums because it's financially better than playing in their own suburban grounds.
What is the plan for our game in the next five, 10, 20 years?
What is the future role of suburban grounds? Figures show that the Sydney clubs that played solely at a "suburban" venue in 2007 - Cronulla, St George Illawarra, Penrith, Parramatta and Manly - had average crowds below the NRL average.
If tribalism and suburban grounds are the "heart and soul" of rugby league, why aren't these venues sold out every week?
If we think the future of our game involves clubs playing in front of 12,000 people in suburban grounds, I can assure you your club will almost certainly go broke.
That's why more clubs are taking advantage of the financial benefits of playing at ANZ Stadium although the atmosphere is not what they would like. You can't put atmosphere in the bank.
Sydney has nine clubs, crowds that average 14,000 and a modest membership base of approximately 35,000 across its clubs. Compare this with the AFL: Melbourne also has nine clubs, average crowds of 35,000 plus a huge and growing membership base.
Why can't Sydney be like Melbourne and what strategies does the NRL have to grow club memberships and game attendances?
We know that the AFL has very deliberately and successfully devised a strategy to play all Melbourne club games at two modern stadiums only: the MCG and Telstra Dome.
Sydney clubs will also find there is little justification for governments to continue to grant money for clubs to develop grounds to an acceptable modern level in suburban areas that are close to this city's equivalents - the Sydney Football Stadium and ANZ Stadium.
Sydney is the most competitive sports market in the world. How does the NRL intend to grow and protect its market share and revenues in light of the establishment of a second AFL team, a second A-League team and possibly a second Super rugby team in its biggest market, western Sydney?
What other revenue streams are being developed and what research is being conducted in this area?
The Australian Rugby Union has flagged its intention to procure private investment. Given that the A-League is almost totally funded by private investment, what scope does the NRL see for further private investment in rugby league?
Despite record numbers and an all-time high percentage of Polynesians playing our sport, the international game is at its lowest ebb and Australia has virtually no competition.
We are in our 100th year - a year in which we were promised a wide range of celebrations - and we're in a mess.
Who runs rugby league?
Can the NRL answer these questions? Please show us your research and documentation. Show us your plan so we can help. If you have no plan, own up!
I don't think News Ltd wants to run rugby league. I think it would sell its share tomorrow if it was confident the right management structure could be put in place.
It won't sell it back to the ARL and I don't blame it. The current ARL administration is as much a part of the problem with our game as the media company. They might all be great blokes and love the game, but that's not enough any more.
There is universal agreement amongst all league thinkers that the game desperately needs an independent commission to run it on a "whole of game" basis.
We need this sooner rather than later.
