Better Rugby Rules

 John O’Neill

Source: Numbers game will bar code – Jacquelin Magnay

AUSTRALIAN Rugby Union boss John O’Neill has given a blunt warning that one of the football codes might not survive. He reckons it will come down to the survival of rugby union or rugby league, not both.

O’Neill said yesterday that league and union need to protect their own backyards as much as concentrate on interstate and overseas expansion because of the crowded marketplace and aggressive pursuit of new territories by the AFL and soccer.

” I mean, competition is about survival. Rugby league and rugby union actually are the two games that are very similar. Rugby league is celebrating 100 years of its existence. I’m not talking about reunification of the two games, but in this battle for hearts and minds, there is a risk that one of us may slip off the list.

“I don’t intend for it to be rugby union, I’m not intending for it to be rugby league. But I think we know there is a gorilla in the room called AFL and we know, I know, that football is the big mover and shaker – and therefore, I think rugby league and rugby union are going to have to fight very hard to maintain our positions, particularly in the eastern states.”

My Comments:  If you have ever wondered why the ARU is blindly supportive of ELV rugby, the above desperation comments from John O’Neill must seal it for you. I am not against the ELVs, I like them with changes (see my page called My ELV Amendments ). The ELVs is the ARUs great white hope for competing with NRL and ARL, and survival.