But an increasing number of players do not want to train.
The Otago Rugby Football Union has been conducting a survey of current and past players on what they did and did not like about the game.
The survey came about after the perception the sport was losing players when Pirates pulled its premier club team from the competition at the start of this season and other sides dropped out.
Otago Rugby Football Union general manager Richard Kinley said the union sought information from those both still playing and those who had given up.
He said the survey was the first of its kind in New Zealand and had thrown up some interesting information.
``They play rugby as they want to play with their mates, have some fun and it's about social interaction,'' Kinley said.
``Whether that is in a competitive or non-competitive grade they still want to play. And they all still want to play on Saturday. That is the day they see as playing their game.
``And the clubs are still really relevant. Regardless of what level they are playing at, they still see their club as a key part of their experiences. That is where they feel the most connected with their game.''
More players though only wanted to play and not train. Lives were busy and training was not for everyone.
But he said one of the tricky paths was to find options for both the player who wanted to train and play in a competitive grade and others who still wanted to play but perhaps were not as keen on training.
The issue around that was finding enough players for squads in viable grades.
A group had been formed to look at the issues coming out of the survey and the union's board and the Metropolitan Rugby Council would consider some recommendations.
Those recommendations were yet to be finalised.
Kinley said the Dunedin premier club competition was a strong competition and was respected by many unions across the country.
He said weight grade competitions had proved popular in other unions but they had drawbacks.
In Auckland, they had proved popular but the union did not have a colts grade.
Kinley said weight grades only worked if the union had many players.
Auckland had 22,000 players while Otago has just under 8000.
