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Super Rugby must go 'free-to-air' to save sport in Australia

Joe Powell of the Brumbies and Quade Cooper of the Rebels. (Photo by Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images)

Brumbies coach Dan McKellar has called on administrators to ensure Super Rugby’s next broadcast deal puts the game on free-to-air television.

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Super Rugby crowds are at record lows this season and Canberra has been no exception, despite the Brumbies sitting on top of the Australian conference.

Rugby Australia has been plagued by off-field drama for several years which has turned some fans away, but McKellar is confident the game can recover.

McKellar says the crucial next step is getting the game into every home in Australia and not just the 30 per cent which have subscriptions to Super Rugby broadcaster Foxtel.

The next television deal will be negotiated from 2021 onwards and McKellar said it was paramount to get games on a free-to-air network.

“Get it on free-to-air, definitely get it on free-to-air. Whoever is doing the next television deal, make sure that happens so that all the kids have access to see the best players runnin g around,” McKellar said.

“Your (David) Pocock’s, your (Christian) Lealiifano’s, your (Scott) Sio’s, Quade Cooper, Henry Speight … all these sorts of players, we’ve got to make sure every little boy and girl in the country has access to them and aspires to play rugby union.

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“At the moment we’re sort of hidden away. Fox are tremendous in their support of the game but I think free-to-air would certainly be a real positive change.”

The Brumbies came under criticism for their game style by former player Justin Harrison earlier this month and McKellar said it was time the rugby community banded together.

“Just talk positively about the game. We’ve got rugby union people that are bashing rugby union, like why are we doing that?” McKellar said.

“We’re starting to see the benefits of four teams and two Australian sides might sneak into the finals. We’ve got a World Cup this year … let’s start talking about the good things and t he footy instead of worrying about beating ourselves up all the time.

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“All we can do is perform well on weekends and put on a good product for our fans … then hopefully they’ll come back and drag a few more people along.

“People love the game, it’s the people that are sort of 50-50 that sit on the fence. At the moment they’re on the other side of the fence and we have to bring them back.”

AAP

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Nickers 36 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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