GRAPHIC: ODTIn the first of a two-part series on the health of men’s club rugby, reporter Adrian Seconi asks club stalwarts Hayden Finch and Paul Dwyer how the national game is doing at the grassroots. Paul Dwyer and Hayden Finch have more than 60 years of combined experience when it comes to senior men’s club rugby in Dunedin, so who better to ask about how our national game is doing at the grassroots. Finch, who steered Green Island to their first premier title in 46 years as coach in 2024, is an optimist with a realistic bent. Dwyer, who writes a regular column for the Otago Daily Times, offers some more unfiltered views on the direction of the sport. Whatever side you fall on, these are two men whose passion for the sport cannot be questioned. Dwyer first linked up with the Dunedin club in the late 1970s. He has been a coach and a manager. He is a life member and he was chairman for a lengthy stint. He knows the game and the Dunedin club scene inside out. ‘‘Oh, it’s gone backwards. There’s no doubt about that,’’ he responded when asked about the standard of play in division 1. ‘‘It's been drifting, but certainly over the last four or five years, it’s been noticeable. ‘‘Go back 10 or 12 years ago, for you to play premier rugby in your first year out of school, you had to be a seriously good rugby player. ‘‘Now, if you're a good player at high school ... you're playing premier rugby, you're not playing premier colts any more.’’ It is something Finch has noticed as well. He has been in and around the club scene on and off for more than 20 years and has a good handle on it and the challenges ahead. Finch views division 1 through a mostly positive lens. He likes how competitive the grade is and is not convinced the standard of play is as poor as some claim. He has noticed the changing demographics, though. ‘‘I think it’s got a lot younger. You don't have as many of those hardened guys that have played between 60 and 120 games,’’ he said. ‘‘There wouldn’t be many over 25 [years old] in many teams. Maybe at Southern this year. They’ve got guys who have been there for a few years now. ‘‘But there is huge turnover every year now.’’ That turnover means clubs are constantly in recruitment mode. And if they cannot entice new players, they have to promote players from the lower grades. ‘‘It's a very bad year this year with the division 2 numbers and prem colts numbers. It's a big worry. Huge worry.’’ The division 1 colts grade has fallen from nine teams last season to six this year. Statistics provided by the Otago Rugby Football Union show there are 1665 registered players across the five men’s senior grades in 2026, up from 1602 in the previous year. That growth, however, has mostly been in the division 2 colts grade. ‘‘The most successful competition we have is now that junior colts grade, because we've got 16 teams,’’ Dwyer said. ‘‘So that's successful. ‘‘There are more kids in those spaces. But you cannot tell me the same is true in the open grades. No, the numbers are falling rapidly in the open grades.’’ Rather than fighting the drift towards more social rugby, Finch believes there is an opportunity there that should be embraced during the next decade. ‘‘I still think you will have [division 1] rugby, but I think you will have more social rugby. ‘‘Dunedin has to follow [other associations] and get an under-85kg grade. Then you will have the older guys still happy to run around and play against the younger guys. ‘‘We need to get on board. The clubs have got to get on board.’’ Dwyer has a grander vision in mind. He would like to see structural changes to the playing calendar to create a window for club rugby. ‘‘What needs to happen is they [New Zealand Rugby] need to sort out the rugby calendar, but [club rugby] is the last cab off the rank when it comes down to it. ‘‘I mean, every chairman that's gone into the NZRU, they've all said the same thing. ‘‘They're all about grassroots rugby. That's really, really easy to say, but basically, it's a bunch of bulls... ‘‘They'll only care when New Zealand kids are no longer playing rugby. ‘‘When wee kids start playing rugby, they can't go to a school to play rugby. At 4 or 5 years of age, they're going to a rugby club. ‘‘If those rugby clubs don't exist, rugby won't exist.’’ Financially, the clubs are keeping their heads above water. It is a tough environment, but they are managing. The crisis is in the declining number of volunteers, Dwyer said. ‘‘The big issue, the massive issue, is volunteers. It's coaches and managers. Right now, we have a really serious coaching crisis. ‘‘A lot of clubs couldn't put a team out this year — they could have put a prem colts’ team in, but they didn't have a coach to coach them. ‘‘So, I think the biggest crisis for the next two or three years for us is in the coaching space. ‘‘Most clubs can't afford it, but I know that some coaches are getting paid to coach. ‘‘I think right now that's our really serious issue. ‘‘If you don't have coaches, well, you just don't have teams.’’ • Part two of the series will run next week.
