https://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/a...cb1e58bf8d3f5e
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So how many WA clubs will sign up to this new Association do you reckon? This could be similar to the current FFA / FIFA scenario where a negotiated change of governance occurs in Australia after the international peak body steps in. In that case there has been a significant change in representation from the grassroots and commercial clubs.
How many WA clubs have received a copy of the letter?
Well at least 2nd time round Papworth has acknowledged rugby outside NSW but does a leopard change his spots?
I think his targeting the clubs directly is inspired.
Is this Australian Rugby's Spring Revolution?
Interesting comment by a reader:
""Representation of all" - obviously Melbourne/Victoria are no longer considered part of Australia by Papworth and his Sydney buddies. So what Rugby Australia has done to WA, the steering committee seem to be wishing to do the same to Victoria? Vic Schoolboys team has consistently out performed WA, our U19 team defeated Sydney City yesterday at the U19 National Championships and we have produced considerably more home grown Wallabies in the last 10 years than WA has? But it seems we should all just give up in Melbourne and go and play AFL. "
"in the inaugural year the governance will consist of one representative from each of Queensland, NSW, NSW Country, ACT and WA plus Brett Papworth
ie NSW will get 3 reps including Papworth, Qld 1, Act 1, and WA 1.each out of 6.elections",
Thereafter democratic elections will determine the composition.
So as in politics, I assume the candidate who attracts the most votes gets elected, even although they dont necessarily have a majority. So NSW clubs could vote in block for their other candidates in the composition and wipe out any opposition, even although they dont have a majority.
Very clever Pappy
• This letter with questionnaire will go to all the 850 rugby clubs in Australia, firstly by email to the premier clubs in Sydney and Brisbane plus the seven leading clubs in the ACT, and shortly afterwards to all the others by a mixture of email and post.
So the unwashed in WA, Vic, SA, NT, Tas and "non-leading" clubs in Act dont get the letter until the big boys have worked it all out among themselves first.
Was that Papworth saying it was wrong of RA to cut WA loose?
I doubt it. Wouldn't trust them as far as I could kick them...appeasing them is a big part of why Australia is where it is and they are only longing for the good old days.
RA is falling down on the job big time, but that wouldn't make those entitled aholes a better option. I personally think the NRC is the last real hope for Australian rugby if they would just get organised and take it seriously - wonder what it's future would be with them in charge?
I listened to Papworth three days a week for two years in 2015/16. I had more than a couple of on air Barneys with him. Mainly on two topics. His lumping us in with the Rabble as he big drain on resources and ignorance of where our players come from. I particularly grilled him about the actual finances and where they were going. Incredibly he didn't know and said someone in the know had told him. Fortunately, others like Jones, Dwyer are much more attuned to the value of WA. Dwyer was scathing over the Force axing well before it happened. I think they, along with the performances of our players since 2016, probably have educated Papworth. There are many in the East who are much more aware now as well.
Like it or not WA Rugby really is a minor playe. But we have some powerful allies now. The way to stay relevant in this action is to fight inside the tent. It is very obvious that the financial and administrative penny has finally dropped and who/where it has dropped on. Alison's hours of delving, Senator Renolds' and Andrew Forrest's relentless determination, and possibly this website have played their parts. We owe all concerned a big thanks. Long road back but it's probably the only one.
Maybe DeClyne will re surface now?
Best outcome is the RA Board and CEO resign and this crowd take over. Maybe Phil Kearns as an interim CEO?
Am slightly dubious of the steering committee original make-up: one representative from each of Queensland, NSW, NSW Country, ACT and WA plus Brett Papworth.
1) If Papworth wants a seat on the committee he should go for the NSW slot. Or a non-voting, consulting role. Otherwise we risk going back to the old days when Sydney and Brisbane controlled Australian rugby, and this time Brisbane loses out.
2) Although acknowledging that the larger a committee, the less it gets done; personally, I think the steering committee should include representatives from: Vic, RUPA, women's rugby, and possibly the National Coaching Panel (currently Mr R Kafer!).
I know that technically women's rugby would fall into each individual state, but as the committee gets set-up and takes control, there is a real risk of them concentrating on the issues in the mens game and through inaction destroy all the good work that has been done in the women's game.
3) The steering committee come up with a transparent way of electing a new Australian Rugby Board, and that all members of the steering committee are barred from serving on that board for at least the first elected period. This should stop the committee setting themselves up as the new ARU, and try and ensure that they set up a governance structure that suits rugby rather than themselves.
I'll listen to them when it is one vote per state. The inherent nature of genuine "grassroots" is that the standard doesn't matter, it is the participation that counts. By making it uneven and all about the supposed heartlands, they show it for what it really all about.
When NSW gets three votes out of six it isn't about heartlands plural, is it?