Dominic George: Rugbynomics solution to dull game

Roger Douglas shook up rural New Zealand.

Farming and footy have always been linked in this country. From Meads to Hore, the paddock and the field have, in many cases, been one and the same. So it was with great interest that I listened to a caller to Kent Johns' Sports Vox programme on Radio Sport last week who made a very pertinent point regarding Fonterra and professional rugby.

He began by explaining that his idea would have been considered nonsensical until the recent decision by the Australian Rugby Union to allow overseas players to be picked for the Wallabies under certain conditions. In light of that, he felt his idea could hold some merit.

First, a quick history lesson. He said back in the 1980s Robert Muldoon basically dictated everything we did, including what cheese we ate -- either mild or tasty -- they even debated whether or not we could have colby available to us. Seems remarkable but that was the reality.

The caller argued that the New Zealand Rugby Union seems to be stuck back in that world of the 80s at times. They've moved to professionalism but still want to control everything. He argued people are bored with the current "mild" and "tasty" options -- Super Rugby and ITM Cup -- evidenced by the fact that people simply aren't turning up to games. And yet we're still told by the NZRU that it's in our best interests if they control everything from who plays who, where they play and how much money they get.

The caller believed it's time to open the game up and allow players to play wherever they want without forfeiting the right to represent their country in doing so. He also rubbished the idea that New Zealand can't compete with Europe's billionaires. He claimed the European economy is in tatters, whereas ours is one of the leading economies in the world. Deregulate rugby like they did with farming in the 80s and stop funding provinces and franchises, he said.

Ask anyone who lived though Rogernomics and the farming reforms of the 1980s and they'll tell you, almost to a person, two things; one, Roger Douglas was the most hated man in rural New Zealand and, two, it probably had to happen.

The November 1984 Budget saw subsidies, which began in the 1960s, virtually wiped out overnight. If you consider that farmers were receiving about $500 million in supplementary minimum price payments and sheep and beef farmers were receiving about 40 per cent of their income through the government, then you can see why it was met with widespread condemnation.

About a third of an average farmer's income dropped overnight, interest rates trebled and product prices halved. Plus, the dollar rose against predictions, reducing incomes even more.

A lot of this information can be found in Neal Wallace's excellent book, When the Farm Gates Opened. Interestingly, only about 1 per cent of farmers were forced off their farms, about 800 in total, but rural suicide rates spiked. Rogernomics may have been economically necessary but it came at a very real cost.

Of course, the counterargument from those who oppose the rugby equivalent of Rogernomics falls back to the All Blacks. The All Blacks will be weaker and win fewer games. The domestic product will also suffer as the talent will be spread too thinly. But much like farmers had to adapt when subsidises were taken away in the 80s, that's the big challenge for New Zealand rugby. The caller argued that farmers ended up being more efficient and the products now on offer in our supermarkets are testament to that fact. Better and improved.

Can anyone honestly tell me they're happy with the rugby product at the moment? I'm a rugby man, have been for years. But endless and time-consuming scrum resets, a rule book so dense and confusing it could be straight out of Victoria University's creative writing class and such bad officiating, in no small part due to those convoluted rules, is making the national game a hard watch.

The caller reckoned change will occur when the wheels start falling off the All Blacks. Losses will spur on a revolution and people will demand a way we can foot it on the world stage, meaning administration more in line with the 21st century, not the 1980s.

It's bizarre to think of a world where rugby isn't the number one game in this part of the world. But that is seriously under threat and has been for some time. The subject was covered off brilliantly by former All Black and Rhodes Scholar Chris Laidlaw in his 2010 book, Somebody Stole my Game. Ironically, Laidlaw warned against the "market" controlling the game. He wrote " ... markets bring a confusing mixture of wealth and suffering ..."

Fonterra has risen from the ashes of Rogernomics to become this country's largest company. But just as there was a very real cost to farmers in 1984, you can't help but wonder who will pay the price if rugby heads down the farming path?