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The great Rugby shame"The revolution has started as grassroots shun the establishment

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The revolution has started as grassroots rugby shuns the establishment

Neil Breen
By Neil Breen
December 14, 2019 — 1.00pm

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The biggest killer of a sporting organisation is an entitlement culture. And the one that exists at the elite level in rugby is the game’s biggest problem.

Israel Folau and his inflated ego believes, because he’s a good outside back, that the game owes him millions.

David Pocock was floored by the widespread criticism he received when he was paid $800,000 to have a season off. A "sabbatical", as only rugby could do.


Castle defends 'cost effective' Folau settlement

Rugby Australia CEO Raelene Castle defends 'cost effective' Israel Folau settlement.

In his book Openside, he expressed his disappointment that people didn't want to help him financially with his charity efforts in Africa during that year, 2017.

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“In hindsight now, it has been pretty disappointing all the stuff about being paid for a year off,” he wrote. “After I agreed to sign for 2018 and 2019, they [Rugby Australia] asked if they could average some payments across the three years instead of just two, which is apparently not uncommon, so when people started talking about me ripping off Australian rugby, I was really surprised.

"I think the worst part was that it definitely made it harder in Zimbabwe. A couple of the stories that ran in Australia were printed verbatim over there, and then people just thought I was printing money.”

Wow, $800,000 to “smooth out” his salary. What on earth was he earning?


Pocock’s conservation efforts in his home land of Zimbabwe are to be applauded, no question. This is in no way a criticism of that work, or his beliefs and humanitarian efforts. But grassroots rugby people were rightly confused by the "smoothing" payment.

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And Pocock needed to understand the confusion.

At club rugby level, the game is living hand to mouth. As it always has.

My old club Easts in Brisbane now has more than 1000 juniors. Which is incredible. The biggest junior club in Queensland and a far cry from the one team per age group of the 1970s and '80s.

Easts is run by volunteers, paying the club, and the game, back for what it did for them as kids and young men and women. Fantastic community engagement.

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But, get this. For the privilege of nurturing 1000 juniors while the game eats itself alive at the elite level, the club (that is, the parents) hands over $100,000 a year to the Brisbane Junior Rugby Union, the Queensland Rugby Union and RA.

It amounts to just over $100 a child. Between $5 and $18 for each kid is for insurance.

For seniors, they hand over $117.70 a player to the QRU and RA (insurance included).

Turn the clock back five years, and the club used to receive grants from the controlling bodies of about $100,000 a year. It helped keep the dream alive; kept kids on the field and jerseys on their backs.

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Clubs have gone from being net recipients to net payees, in many cases in excess of six figures a year.

It’s completely backside about.

At Easts Rugby Union Club you’re feeling pretty weird about stumping up for a massive power bill for the kids to train under lights when Folau is on Instagram with a smile on his dial and millions in his pocket.

Clubs the nation over should be looked at by powerbrokers as an opportunity to grow the game, not an opportunity to fill the coffers.

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Rather than sign Israel Folau for seven figures a year in the first place, help the clubs.

All of this madness has led to a resurgence in support for club rugby. It’s a grassroots rebel movement. People love rugby and are showing the love by attending suburban grounds and shunning the establishment.

RA, and all involved at the elite levels of the game, need to get their heads out of their backsides.
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