Former Wallabies coach and Randwick president Bob Dwyer has launched a scathing attack on ARU chief executive Bill Pulver for financially neglecting Sydney rugby clubs after asking for their help two years ago because the game's governing body was "going to go broke".Â
Pulver and the ARU have finalised their 2016-2020 strategic plan, and while there were a number of issues on the table, one that has infuriated a number of Sydney premier rugby clubs is that the ARU will no longer provide financial assistance to clubs that have been a nursery for rugby talent.Â
!['The battle we have is over funding': ARU chief Bill Pulver.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170530194512im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/1/m/m/q/s/y/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gmshre.png/1460377140906.jpg)
"The battle we have is over funding," said Pulver when asked about the club rugby funding situation. "I'm just not prepared to write a cheque to every individual club and we have a difference of view on that, I accept that, but there are really keen investments we are making."Â
It appears Pulver used more forceful words at a meeting with the NSW Rugby Union board in late January, telling those in the room during an animated discussion: "I'm not making any money available for the Sydney clubs to piss it up against the wall," according to Dwyer.Â
"How a person in his position can make such a stupid comment I'll never know," Dwyer said. "It is gross stupidity in all ways. By ignoring those people who not only do the job week in week out, year in year out, decade after decade, but came to his assistance, for their own detriment, I don't know what person is behind such an attitude."Â
In the past money has always found its way to Sydney rugby clubs. A decade ago grants in excess of $100,000 were given to clubs, but when Pulver approached them two years ago, such assistance, which has been dwindling for years, evaporated overnight.Â
Pulver explained how the ARU was in a dire financial position before asking clubs if they would be happy to not receive grants for a few years - as well as reduce their season from 22 games to 18, resulting in further loss of income - to supplement the cost of the NRC and get the ARU back on track financially.Â
Despite mixed reactions, clubs accepted Pulver's proposal, but are now fuming at seeing none of the cash that has come about as a result of an improved broadcast deal sealed late last year.Â
"I don't know whether this conclusion has been arrived at out of arrogance or ignorance, but sure as eggs, one or both of those factors apply," Dwyer said. "It's a reasonable assumption that if someone comes and says to you: 'I need help and without your help I'm going to go broke', the situation will be reversed. It's not only reasonable to assume that, it's morally binding on that person. All he [Pulver] wanted was to get his hands on the additional money from Foxtel, from the NRC. We will not stand by idly and accept the situation as he has presented it."Â
Pulver acknowledges the importance of club rugby as a development pathway but says it would be inappropriate to give money directly to clubs because there has been a tendency in the past for them to spend large sums on buying players. Instead, he says money is given to state unions and they "allocate funds within their state".Â
However, in their budget submissions to the ARU, state associations expressed a desire for money to be provided to clubs, but that was rejected by the governing body, who will instead invest hundreds of thousands of dollars elsewhere, including in western Sydney - an area where they hope to elevate the profile of rugby.Â
"I have the utmost respect for Shute Shield ... I simply believe it is an amateur level of the game and should not be the beneficiary of funding. There's only one state union which has asked for funding for clubs and that's NSW. We are very carefully investing in other areas that will lead to growth in the game."Â
Dwyer, like many people in club rugby land, has a different opinion to Pulver.Â
"I said to Bill: 'We are not asking you to give us a grant. We're asking you to give us a proportion of the money that we've helped you earn. It is not your money; some of it is our money'," Dwyer said. "We are the heart of Australian rugby. Without Sydney premier rugby, the game in Australia would not exist, full stop."Â
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