Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Indigenous aussie rugby players don't get a fair go

The good aspect of this australian rugby story is that it is being aired. If the problem is recognised then something can be done about it, hopefully.

From stuff
"Just three of the 118 players on Australian Super 14 rosters are of indigenous heritage. The NRL boasts 11 per cent of its ranks - including some of its biggest stars - as being aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders."
Tom Evans, the chief executive of the ARU-affiliated Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team, says''If it wasn't for the Polynesians in Sydney club rugby, there wouldn't be rugby union, but the system is still very white, Anglo-Saxon, teacher-schoolboy.
''I sit with the NSW and Australian Rugby Union community rugby and the whole office is very white Anglo, yet if you have a look at the player roster of all these teams, the Polynesian influence is massive.
''They've done very little to embrace that. They've done very little to embrace indigenous participation in rugby. If it wasn't for our organisation, there wouldn't be any indigenous program.''
Are players being chosen on merit? it certainly doesn't appear so from this story.

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