"Club rugby is dying... Club rugby is dead... We should all pack up and go home...blah...blah.."

"I am bloody tired with the boring talk-back argument that spews forth onto the airwaves like an overworked Takapuna sewer after a particularly nasty spell of weather.

While it is true that club rugby has been somewhat neglected in the grand scheme of professional rugby, that has been a sadly predictable by-product for a number of years. Perhaps one of the best things to come out of the recent inquiry into the World Cup debacle is the pervading lack of communication from top to bottom. In an attempt to dominate the professional era (something we weren't ever going to do well first time) New Zealand has ignored the structure which made it famous in the first place.

Before I start contradicting myself I see the problem as two-fold. First there has been some chronic mismanagement at a higher level and this has led to the feeling of abandonment from the "grassroots" of the game. Second clubs have failed to put in place reasonable planning in order to survive or prosper. While this may sound heavy handed, the rugby and entertainment landscape has changed dramatically over the last ten years, if clubs didn't see this coming then the blame cannot be solely thrown back in the face of the NZFRU.

Indeed it is probably the unions themselves which have to take more responsibility in the development of clubs and the competitions they are involved in. Strong communication and leadership from the "home turf" will ultimately have a "trickle-down-effect" to the clubs which they should serve.

The fact of the matter is that there will always be clubs. People have to start to play the game somewhere, good clubs builds good competition, good competition build's strong unions. While it is easy to bleat on when you belong to a strong union or a strong club this should never be an excuse to throw in the towel and not to "aim for the stars" in terms of club aspirations and development.

Certainly some clubs are bigger than others, some unions have more money, some benefit more from Super 12 etc. This is a fact of life and will now never be reversed. I say to the general public and club leaders, if you care as much about your club as you say you do then do something about it. Nothing ever got done by taking the easy option of moaning on radio.

Hundreds of good ideas and good people lie at the foot of every club in New Zealand. The tricky thing is that you have get off your arse and put them into practice. The difference between an idea and a great idea is action."