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GREG GROWDEN
February 18, 2011
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Ruck and Maul
Amid all the hullabaloo around the Melbourne Rebels' first game tonight, let's hope that those heavily involved in keeping Victorian rugby alive when all appeared lost are not forgotten. There will be plenty of back-slapping when the Rebels run out to play the Waratahs, but this should have happened five years ago. In 2005, an overly cautious Australian Rugby Union opted for the Western Force rather than Melbourne as the fourth Australian Super franchise. This was despite Melbourne having the more alluring bid, but as a high-ranking official confided to R&M at the time, there was fears within the ARU of taking the AFL head on. So the ARU went for the soft option and headed west. Melbourne officials such as Ron Steiner and Bill Gillies pushed on, kept spreading the word, and continued making the Weary Dunlop Club one of the most dynamic gatherings in Australian rugby. Several, such as Steiner who put in such hard work during trying times, have moved on, but still deserve immense praise for their involvement in ensuring provincial rugby eventually got a foothold in Australia's second biggest city.
NO BED OF ROSES
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Despite high hopes that the Waratahs will make a small profit this season, life out in the community rugby ranks is far from rosey. R&M snouts say there will be big financial cuts in NSW grassroots rugby, particularly in the junior ranks. And yet again it appears those at the top of the money tree, including some officials, who no one seems to know what they do, will be relying on tireless volunteers at the junior levels to keep everything afloat. Sadly, junior rugby, which needs nurturing, will lose out.
TAH WOMAN?
The Waratahs are planning to hype up the entertainment at their home games, including theme nights. There were fears that, with the NSW Rugby Union tightening its belt, Tah Man could get the cut. But there he was larger than life at the SFS for the Fiji trial, flexing his muscles and gibbering into a microphone. His arrival in Nowra last week for the Force trial was spectacular when a helicopter dropped him in the middle of the ground. Great, except that the down draft blew over a coffee cart and a Portaloo, which was occupied at the time. And Waratahs boss Jason Allen asked R&M: ''Is it time for Tah Man to have a friend?'' Tah Woman? Look out! And the YouTube video this week involving several Waratahs, including a sausage and sauce splattered Benn Robinson, apparently led to a mountain of new Waratahs memberships.
COVERAGE-PLUS
For many years, only those keen to head to Sydney pubs in the middle of the night were able to watch the Six Nations. Thankfully ESPN have picked the tournament up this season, and have given the coverage a local touch through hosts Gordon Bray, Andrew Blades and Matt Burke. For trivia anoraks, R&M can reveal the hosts of the first Six Nations coverage shown on pay TV in Australia were Peter FitzSimons and myself. It wasn't exactly memorable television. The coverage broke down mid-match and returned to the Sydney studio - where one of us was eating a pizza and the other had dozed off. Then one of us forgot who was playing. Near the end, noticing there was a telephone on the set, FitzSimons read out the number, advising viewers to call in and give us their thoughts on the coverage. The phone never rang. While on media, Triple M is hosting a weekly rugby show on Sunday mornings and ABC Radio will be broadcasting all local Super Rugby games live this weekend.
RUMOURS OF THE WEEK
❏ Who is the rugby identity whose son's name is pronounced Kero-shayne? Apparently the identity was in a hardware shop and became impressed with a name he saw on the side of a tin of fuel. No, not Petrol. No, not Diesel. But …
❏ Relations are strained between one high-ranking player and an official involved with the Wallabies. We hear they recently had a very tense conversation.
❏ There's strong mail about trouble brewing in the Springbok camp as one official has not been paid for many months. Watch this space.
❏ Don't be surprised if you see the Wallaroos do a calendar to raise funds for victims of the Queensland floods. We hear it will be a bit fruity, revealing even.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...217-1ay9h.html
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Originally Posted by James
