One of the most excellent criticisms historically leveled at rugby union powerbrokers has been their inability to make inroads into the tremendous capability of Western Sydney. It might be honest to mention that 15 years ago, with the regular sight of 100,000 enthusiasts filling Homebush Stadium to watch the Wallabies, the opportunity was ripe for increasing rugby union’s sphere of impact into the rugby league heartland. Nowadays, it is undeniable that no longer best has the struggle for the West has not been lost, but that the very belief in a rugby union Heartland is an idea that can now longer be taken for granted.
Indeed, 15 years ago, we believed we were in a competition for the city’s soul against our rugby league brothers. What turned into unforeseen became the impending invasion from the flanks within the shape of AFL and football. Western Sydney has all of a sudden come to be an utterly crowded area, and rugby union is now the least equipped of all the protagonists to launch any significant offensives. It is domestic to about 4 NRL teams, soon-to-be A-League groups, a properly-funded AFL group, and one struggling Shute Shield membership that hasn’t gained a premiership in 34 years.
But what of the traditional rugby union heartland from which this recreation has fed its ranks for generations? As different codes appear to make bigger, should this not be a time for our recreation to consolidate as opposed to combat unwinnable warfare? As destiny might have it, in a single sizable bite of that heartland, an unprecedented possibility has arisen to create something the sport has never had – a monopoly. The Northern Beaches and North Shore of Sydney, a place domestic to about 500,000 people, currently fields four Shute Shield groups – three of which frequently compete in the finals. In just the final ten years, the Northern Beaches by itself has produced over 14 Wallabies, with a further six coming from the North Shore. George Smith, Scott Fardy, Wycliff Palu, and Michael Hooper all emerged from this vital Rugby nursery together with countless Super Rugby players.
Yet in this equal area, rugby league has only one franchise, and hearsay has it that its very lifestyles are on shaky grounds. The Manly Sea Eagles have traditionally been one of the NRL’s most successful clubs. However, as the competition seems to become more prominent nationally, the economic mismanagement of the club has made it increasingly more susceptible to forced relocation. As this is being discussed, the news got here this week that the Manly A-Grade rugby league opposition is being axed after seventy-five years. This is a competition that, for years, featured ex-NRL stars and semi-expert gamers.
A competition that at one point competed with the neighborhood Shute Shield golf equipment, no longer handiest for sponsorship dollars and fans, but also for players. In this context, Rugby Australia ought to move aggressively to capitalize on this rare weakened role of its foe. Meaningful funding should be at ease in the North of Sydney as an extraordinary Rugby area, a real, unchallenged rugby union Heartland. The biggest attendance for any Shute Shield game last 12 months was at Pittwater Rugby Park, with the largest average Shute Shield crowd at Manly Oval, even as the largest attendance for any Waratahs game this year has been at Brookvale Oval. Yet the Sydney NRC team persists in retaining its games at an empty Concord Oval throughout the city.
Instead of pouring its scarce assets into an unwinnable battle royale in Sydney’s West, is not the time to cozy up a base from which to, without a doubt, promote our product to the nation. Imagine an offer of the Brookvale Oval being an extra permanent base for the Waratahs. Imagine an NRC group playing in front of the same crowds that support Manly instead of the Warringah neighborhood derby. Imagine a massive part of this substantial town being a region where all youngsters grew up with rugby union players as their local heroes. Rugby union is undoubtedly no longer robust enough to compete with the alternative codes in Western Sydney. However, any retreat by way of rugby league in the North should be greeted with an action plan to make this area, retaining more people than Canberra and Wollongong combined, the base from which our sport can make its stand till times improve.
