Quade Cooper suggests radical ideas to save Australian rugby

Australian fly-half Quade Cooper has shared his ideas of what the relevant governing bodies could do to boost rugby in the country.

Currently, the sport is struggling in Australia, as demonstrated by the Melbourne Rebels being placed into administration.

They have been forced to lay off 10 staff, including the chief executive, but Rugby Australia have pledged to cover the costs this year, which will allow them to compete in Super Rugby Pacific in 2024.

Their early Rugby World Cup exit has not helped either, with positive news currently hard to come by for Wallabies supporters.

The gradual decline of Super Rugby, which has lost its lustre, is another reason for their worries, especially with the Australian franchises generally uncompetitive against the New Zealanders.

And Cooper, who played for the Reds and Rebels in Super Rugby but now plies his trade in Japan, insists that something needs to be done.

“My views on how this could pan out are not quick fixes with rule changes and would take time,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Two ways imo. 1) Take it back to Super AU & Aotearoa and then have a final series. The problem in Aus is all to do with perception.

“Most weeks Aus teams lose to NZ teams and the perception for the fans is that their team is never winning, and it’s hard to keep fans and/or bring in new fans.

“So in Super AU, Aus teams win every weekend and each year there’s a champion. Nothing much changes for NZ.

“As you build you would essentially add in new teams, for example Queensland Country New South Wales Country.

“More games, better product with a local winner each year is a lot easier to market. Slow and steady.”

Cooper then discussed another possibility which Rugby Australia and SANZAAR should consider going forward.

“Use Super Rugby as a genuine rep team. People already play rugby for free at club level so they would do it for next to nothing, but each team would have a small budget in the markets with Super Rugby teams and those comps would make up the super teams for the finals series,” he wrote.

The Australian pivot also insists that he is not the only person trying to bring ideas to the table, with other players also taking an interest in attempting to grow the game.

“Have been enjoying these conversations in the locker room of late where everyone wants to be a CEO and fix something,” he added. “But it shows that there’s so many people who want the game to succeed.”

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