By Toby Tancred

In my house, all the important decisions are made at the family dinner table. So a few weeks ago, I asked my three sons and my wife who they would rather watch on the weekend; the Roosters, Swans, Sydney FC, Emus (our local rugby club in Orange) or the Wallabies.

Number one son was quick as a flash with his response in favour of the Swans. Number two son went the way of the Roosters. Number three son, being a cunning little bugger, initially went for the Wallabies thinking that was the answer I wanted to hear. Upon clarifying that I wanted him to tell me which team he really loved watching, he changed his answer to Emus. My wife went for the Wallabies but only if the match was played at Moore Park. Of the five choices, watching a Wallabies test, for me, came a very distant last.

I’ve been a rugby fan for as along as I can remember. My grandfather and his brothers toured the British Isles with the 1927-28 Waratahs. He then went on to manage (I.e coach) the 1947-48 Wallabies. His love of the game was passed on to my father who in turn passed it on to me. My father-in-law and brother-in-law were very good rugby players both representing the Waratahs. I was if nothing an enthusiastic long time rugby player only being held back by a lack of size, courage and ability.

But still, how could my family, my rugby family, choose to watch other codes over the Wallabies? It’s more confusing when you consider that for the last ten years I have been heavily involved in my local rugby club variously as player, coach, board member, president, first XV manager and sponsor.

The answer, I believe, is that the ARU, the Wallabies, and more broadly professional rugby in Australia, exists in a parallel and entirely disconnected universe to that which I and many thousands of others inhabit.

I don’t have all the answers, but the ARU must immediately embrace the notion that rugby in Australia is a game for participants, not spectators. It is a game not a product. It is not a business.

Heaven forbid, we could go the way of professional NFL in the United States where the ability to participate ceases at the end of High School, save for the exceptional few.

Although we’re not far off that here.

In 2000, the Sydney Subbies club that I played for had six grades, each side with reserves and colts. The Subbies competition had seven divisions and over 70 Clubs. Season 2016 saw the clubs reduced to less than fifty, player numbers halved and one club suspended for, if you’re squeamish look away, paying players.

I can offer some recent experiences that are emblematic of the ARU’s inability to read the mood.

The first is a good story. In early 2013 I was contacted by our hard working regional rugby development officer, Mark Debrincat. He asked if Emus would be interested in hosting a coaching session to be attended by Robbie Deans and it was a definite yes.

Deans drove himself to Orange from Sydney and arrived at Emus home ground mid-afternoon and then set about supervising and coaching literally hundreds of junior players for over three hours. Following that he conducted a coaching clinic for coaches from all the Central West clubs with the Emus and Orange City first XV sides as the crash test dummies.

He then retired to the Emus clubhouse and spoke to the assembled throng. Deans was in his element and you could tell that he got it. He kept saying, “you people are important.” He told many great stories but one still rings in my ears. Pointing to the main field he said, “when the shit hits the fan out there, no one cares about your pay packet.”

Robbie hung around after speaking to the many people whom he had impressed and was one of the last to leave. I gave him a carton of wine from our club sponsor to thank him for his troubles and I still cannot forget how genuinely grateful he was. But of course he’s a Kiwi, they get it.

Robbie Deans and the ARU have now parted ways. But it says a lot about Deans, that he was willing to attend a regional area in a foreign country, apparently his own idea, to spread the rugby gospel.

This year I tried to get Michael Cheika to attend our annual Long Lunch as our guest speaker. He had prior commitments, even though the date was flexible to suit his convenience. I don’t blame him; he was probably up all night knowing that the World Cup was an aberration and there was a hell of a long season ahead.

During the 2014 season when Ewan McKenzie was still head coach, the ARU, to its credit sent the Wallabies out to Central West NSW to train on consecutive days in Dubbo, Orange and Bathurst.

Several weeks prior to the attendance of the Wallabies, an advance party of ARU employees were sent to inspect the designated facilities at Emus’ home ground. The main field at Emus was deemed not worthy for the Wallabies to train on. Instead the Wallabies trained on the carpet like plush fields of a local private school.

I have no doubt that this was interpreted by many observers as reinforcement of the old notions of rugby being a game for the blue bloods. We were told by one official “come on, can you imagine if Kurtley rolled his ankle – the media would have a field day.” It was a lost opportunity.

To their credit several Wallabies attended Emus training that evening and stayed for a drink and a question and answer session in the clubhouse after training. There was however almost no excitement for their presence and the very small audience was embarrassing for all concerned.

Later in the 2014 season I received a telephone call to let me know that Orange had been chosen as a venue for a NSW Country Eagles NRC game. The date, time and venue were all locked in. They asked what assistance Emus could provide? Myself and several representatives of Emus together with representatives of other rugby clubs in Orange attended a meeting and it was obvious that the expectation was that the local rugby clubs would be responsible for all the heavy lifting in the organisation of the match day.

It was also obvious that the ARU, or whoever was charged with responsibility for organising the National Rugby Championship, had assumed that the rugby community in Orange would jump to and feel privileged to assist. Never mind we were told when the game would occur and where, not asked. The privilege involved a lot of hard work and inconvenience and came the week after the grand final of our own rugby competition.

After the caravan had rolled in and out of town, one was left wondering what it was all about. A man and a dog turned up to watch a game that itself was a spectacle of no greater quality than a Shute Shield first grade match. Even though Mr Pulver attended the match, there was no thanks forthcoming from anyone in any official capacity at the ARU for all the hard voluntary work conducted by local rugby supporters.

But we did get to keep the money we made from the BBQ.

Four years ago at Emus we tried to get Foxtel connected to our clubhouse so people could watch Super Rugby. $50,000 for the pleasure. The local Austar rep made it clear that the price had been set by the ARU. No thanks. At the start of last year some bright spark realised the cost being charged was prohibitive and we were offered a markedly reduced price. The club now has Foxtel but the only people who watch the Super Rugby games are the Kiwis in our club. I’m not sure why?

Three weeks ago at the same time as our first XV played Dubbo Rhinos, the Shute Shield grand final was being played on the television in the clubhouse. Lots of people were keenly watching both games and by the last twenty minutes of the Shute Shield decider, more were watching Uni and Norths despite the fact that Emus were putting the cleaners through a determined Dubbo side. The roar from the clubhouse when Norths clinched victory could be heard by our players on the main field – they knew they were playing well, but not that well.

Stories like these can be heard in country towns right around Australia and it’s only getting worse. To be honest, in Orange we are lucky, the neglect is far harsher elsewhere and the game is quickly dying.

If the ARU wants to adopt a corporate model for the Wallabies then it will live and die by that decision but it could at least have the decency to do it properly and give us a team of which we can be rightly proud.

The sums of money that are pulled out of the game by those who sit behind a desk at ARU headquarters is breathtaking.

If the ARU were a public company the board and CEO would have been voted out long ago by the shareholders. If it were a private company it would be in liquidation and if it was a local rugby club, those behind the desks would struggle to get a run off the bench in third grade.