Rugby: Schoolboy talent likely victim of Rebels' cause

More scouts are being seen at schoolboy games. Photo / APN

This time next year, the soon-to-be-formed Rebels will have a presence in Melbourne and New Zealand.

It's an inevitable fact that once the new Super15 boys are up and running, their recruitment eye will start gazing across the Tasman.

The focus won't be so much on the professional ranks, but rather on New Zealand's outrageously talented pool of schoolboys, where impressionable young minds can be more easily convinced that Australia, Melbourne specifically, is the land of opportunity.

Victoria has a rugby history as opposed to a rugby heritage. The game has been played in the region for more than 100 years but does not feature strongly in the public consciousness and has virtually no institutional grip.

Melbourne is an AFL town. Victoria is an AFL state and all around the city, in the grounds of every school, stand the curious four posts at either end of the oval grounds.

Rugby is not ingrained in the sporting curriculum and all Victoria has are eight clubs and a chequebook. However, money can lure established players and the Rebels could build a following if they are successful. Interest will grow but the region has to become self-sufficient, or close to it, if it is to be successful long-term.

There must be a larger local talent pool from which the Rebels can recruit. Rugby has to take a hold in the institutions, it has to be more widely played, age grade competitions have to blossom and talent identification networks built.

All this takes time and money but one of the easiest ways to fast-track depth is to recruit young New Zealanders who have rugby in their genes.

Grant Hansen, director of rugby at Auckland Grammar and coach of the New Zealand Secondary Schools team, has seen the numbers of agents and scouts attending schoolboy games in New Zealand explode in the past 10 years.

"It used to be quite rare that you would hear about a scout or an agent who came along to a game and was supposedly tracking one of the boys," says Hansen. "That has greatly expanded now and there are representatives from all sorts of codes - from rugby, from league from Australian Rules. I guess the talent base in some countries is more limited so they are on the hunt for outstanding players."

The arrival of the Rebels will be just one more face in an ever-increasing crowd of bounty hunters and Hansen says it is now imperative he and others give talented young players appropriate advice.

Agents and scouts can wander on to the field after a big game and begin presenting Australia as an exotic destination where money grows on trees and Wallaby test jerseys are easily obtained.

"We have to talk to the boys about this," says Hansen. "We make it clear to them that if they have a conversation, there are possible consequences. We make sure they understand that if anyone talks to them, they should always include their parents and me."

With competition so fierce, the enticements have become increasingly difficult to turn down. Hansen says that, for the most part, the prospect of becoming an All Black has not lost any of its sparkle.

For others, however, especially those from modest financial backgrounds, the promise of instant riches is hard to resist. There are reports of some youngsters being offered A$40,000, a car, accommodation and even employment for mum and dad should they commit to playing in Australia.

With three codes in the market, the inducements are only going to get bigger and the Rebels will be more desperate than most.

It's also a buyer's market. There is competition between New Zealand provincial unions for young talent but the financial incentives are not in the same league. It would be rare for a young player to pick up more than $15,000 for switching allegiance within New Zealand, while the average academy player could expect a $5000 a season.