This article originally appeared in the Rugby News grand final edition.
By Brett Papworth
As the closest Shute Shield Premiership battle in my memory draws to a close, I thought it appropriate to again highlight the things that make grassroots Rugby such a strength.
I have witnessed full houses at Manly Oval, Rat Park, the impressive new University Oval, TG Millner and Forshaw Rugby Park, as the tribal Rugby fan continues to support their local club with passion, regardless of the fact that the professional game continues to take more players from our ranks.
It matters not to us that we no longer see Test or state players playing club Rugby. To many of us, the entertainment is better than ever. More running Rugby, more counter attack, and just as intense as anything the professional game can dish up. Players not over coached, prepared to have a go and prepared to back their skill. Tatafu Polotau-Nau knows this and flew home from New Zealand in the early hours, having played the night before, to lace on the boots for his beloved Parramatta Two Blues. He knows how important it is.
Over the last few weeks, I witnessed the following scenes, which reminds me of why club Rugby still matters and why for so many it is so important:
I saw a fourth grade coach cry, when his team found a way to win and qualify for the grand final. This from a bloke who has played over 350 grade games, and been around club Rugby for 35 years. Why so emotional? Well, he played in two grand finals in his playing days, one in second grade, one in fourth grade, but he never won one. His team had won only two games this year from the first nine. They have been unbeaten since. It really matters.
I watched a 36-year-old Julian Huxley come on as a replacement for Warringah in third Grade, 15 to go, his team in front, just. He played with time and space and vision that was a level above everyone else on the park. He punched the ball into the corners with timing, he knew where the space was, turned the opposition around time after time, marshalled the troops and remained calm. The Rats got home but could easily have lost even after the bell. He may not have played even 15 minutes, but taught teammates and opponents plenty. It is fantastic that guys like him are around to teach those lessons.
I watched a second grade forward, who has won a first grade premiership, break down as he told his teammates after a semi-final loss that the game would be his last. The best mates he had, he said, and the best season and the best time he had had in the game. It really meant something to him and it is this culture in our clubs that should be learned from. Team first, no shortcuts, and if you want to win you better be prepared to do it tough because no one hands you a victory or a premiership. If you think it’s about you, and perhaps your next contract somewhere in the world, then maybe you would be better off somewhere else.
The previous day, I watched University dominate Warringah in first grade. Warringah lost Hamish Angus very early in the game and therefore lost a key man whose vision and calming influence could not be replaced. University, on the other hand, had Angus Roberts. I have watched him quite a bit over the years, but mostly as an opponent so was usually cursing rather than watching very closely. He seems to play with time that other players don’t have. He never appears rushed, has excellent vision, and invariably makes the right decision. He certainly has plenty of quality teammates, but his ability to turn the opposition around must give his forwards a huge boost. Watch him today and you will see what I mean.
University have qualified in six of seven grand finals, missing only in second grade. That is a seriously big achievement. Supremely fit and well drilled, they continue to set the benchmark. In first grade, Tim Davidson has made the transition from multiple premiership winner as a player, to successful coach, with ease. They play expansive rugby, have no weakness, and they just keep coming. Latu and Robertson anchor a very good forward pack, and in young forward Lachlan Swinton, just 19, they have real potential. He is very athletic, with just a hint of crazy about him. We will see a lot more of him. Stuart Dunbar, Jim Stewart and Roberts at fullback provide the class that will make University very hard to beat today
Sunday saw Northern Suburbs beat Southern Districts comfortably. I didn’t see that coming! Souths were responsible for the best performances I saw all season. No weakness from 1 to 15, and the ability to really use the ball if they need to. But they were never in it. Norths shut them down, and got stronger the longer the game went.
After eight rounds, Norths had lost four matches. University beat them 40-17 in round eight. They haven’t lost since. Brilliantly coached by Simon Cron and led by Will Miller, they have an excellent set piece, tackle like demons, attack the breakdown like Kiwis and build pressure. Add the calm demeanour of Angus Sinclair at flyhalf, another who seems to have more time than most, and they play the sort of game that wins the big ones.
The Shute Shield in 2016 was as close as I’ve ever seen it. Eight teams fighting for six spots, right up until the final round. Only two wins separated first from seventh. Parramatta, in 10th place, beat Eastwood twice and lost six matches by five points or less. At times they looked like contenders, as did Wests, who beat University in round five and at times played some sparkling rugby.
I have written plenty in recent months about my firm belief regarding the future and direction of the game and the feedback and support has been overwhelming, from Bondi to the bush. But has anything changed during season 2016? Nope. Not a single thing. As I said some months ago, the ARU have stopped listening. We are on our own, and seen as community Rugby, with no meaningful role in the Rugby pathway and the sooner we acknowledge that and make our own independent decisions the better off we will be.
It seems a shame that for everyone not playing in today’s grand final, the season finished in July. I know there are reasons for it, like the Olympics and the NRC, but for many of us the club season is our real Rugby season and the only thing that really maintains our interest. In the hunt for every last dollar, club Rugby is pushed further into the abyss, as we are the expendable ones. Under 10s play a longer season than us.
A quick analysis of the state of the game tells us that the Wallabies lost 3-0 to England in June. Beaten at the set piece, and goal kicking. Which is exactly how England has always played. Nothing new there. The ARU’s strategic long-term response to a problem we have had for more than a decade? Sevens, and primary school touch footy! Nothing wrong with that, I love Sevens, played a bit back in the day, but it certainly isn’t going to develop tight forwards or goal kickers. A game for all shapes and sizes? I don’t think so.
Of 25 games between Australian and New Zealand Super teams, we won three! Of the 75 Super Rugby games played by Australian teams, we won 30. And the Brumbies won 10 of those! The Reds, Rebels and Western Force won a combined 12 of 45. And remember of course that they all played each other twice.
Add this to the fact that all our Super Rugby franchises haemorrhage money unless they host a semi-final, and you might think it’s time to do something different. But no, more of the same, no doubt expecting a different result.
Our Under 20s finished sixth at the World Championship, which is actually a better result than in recent years. Monsters they were, our lads, with a forward pack bigger than the Wallabies! Beaten by Scotland, England and New Zealand. The answer is to expand our elite junior programs. Because it clearly makes sense to do more of something that isn’t working! In my opinion, it is these very programs that inhibit our success, because they develop what I call a “size fetish”, whereby the biggest lads get picked, in pretty much every position. Doesn’t work, just look at New Zealand Rugby and their ability to actually play the game with speed and skill. Have you seen Damian McKenzie of the Chiefs play? If he was Australian he would have been told to put on 10kg and seen as a defensive liability.
Not only do the biggest lads get picked, our elite under 20s mostly get contracted, sent off to Perth or Melbourne, where they are assigned to a local club and tackle bag duty. It is seen as unproductive to allow our best young players to play in the best available competition. If they don’t actually play Super Rugby, they are discarded after a year or two and come home a poorer player than when they left. But this player warehousing is approved, because if squads of young players are not available to the many paid employees of the game, the empires wouldn’t be needed, and we can’t have that because we have all this money to spend!
Or of course they could look at our club Rugby competition, which isn’t about money, but about quality coaches like Davidson and Cron (and others), coaching young men in the values of the game, where the basics still apply, and size doesn’t rule. Norths and University are not the biggest teams, but they look to be the fittest and maintain their skill levels under fatigue better than the rest. Simple really, and culturally the nearest thing we have to matching New Zealand rugby.
Our competition this year has provided many of us with enormous pleasure, disappointment, frustration and elation. They are the emotions caused by passion, and give us cause for optimism. I ask you whether there is one single part of the professional game that gives us a similar reason to be optimistic? Just one?
To all involved in grand finals this weekend, I hope you bring your best to the big day. Winning is bloody hard, and you will have earned it.