Boronia’s rugby league club president has been coaching the same kids for a decade, but keeping them in the game is getting harder

Long travel times and competition for sponsors are slowing the growth of the only rugby league club in Melbourne's outer east, but club president Michael Baird says a strong committee and a committed player and support base is keeping them afloat.

📈 Little by little: The Eastern Raptors Rugby League Club has steadily built its numbers since launching in 2011. The club currently has 160 registered players across 10 teams, ranging from under-6s to seniors and a Masters group.

• Club president Michael Baird said retaining players remained a challenge.

🗣️“South-east clubs, being more closely aligned with outer-suburban growth corridors, tend to do a little better in attracting and retaining players,” he said.

⏳ Long journeys: One of the biggest hurdles is travel, with many away games requiring lengthy trips across Melbourne.

• 🗣️ “There are now somewhere in the vicinity of 20 clubs in the Melbourne metro league,” Baird said. “The majority of these clubs are in the north and west of Melbourne.”

🤕 Head injuries: Rugby league is considered one of the most physically demanding sports globally. 

Baird said it was this perception which brought many in but also turned many away, especially following the recent steps towards a better understanding of the brain damage risks of concussions.

• 🗣️ “The league has the strictest protocols of any sport around concussion and the penalties for head high contact and dangerous contact are also very harsh,” said Baird. “We have very few injuries related to the collision side of the sport.”

💰 Split funds: Securing sponsorship has also been difficult, as rugby league clubs struggle to compete with AFL and soccer clubs for funding, according to Baird.

• “We play in AFL heartland amongst older, more established local clubs with deeper pockets, rusted-on sponsors and much bigger committees than ours,” Baird said.

♀️ Girls go hard: The Raptors founded their first senior women’s team before it folded during the Covid pandemic. The side has since returned alongside an under-12 girls team, with hopes of adding an under-14 side. Baird described the group as a “gritty lot who leave it all on the field”.

• 🗣️ “The women tend to play harder than the men,” said Baird. “Playing with nine on a field that usually supports 13 players leaves a lot of gaps in the line and so there is more effort required to close those gaps or attack them.  Given they normally have lower numbers, they also have to spend more time on the field.”

🤝 Bridging gaps: Baird said rugby league had become a cross-cultural sport, and that this engagement with other cultures had taught him a lot about respect and the importance of welcoming diverse perspectives. 

• 🗣️ “I’ve had the privilege of participating in Welcome to Country ceremonies, attending smoking ceremonies and facing hakas,” said Baird. “A game might be quite physical but at the end, both teams will invariably leave the paddock respecting each other’s efforts regardless of the scoreline.”

❤️ A social outlet: For Baird, the club’s greatest strength is its sense of community. He is now coaching under-15 players he first met in the under-6s.

• 🗣️ “They learn things about themselves and each other that they will carry with them for life,” said Baird. “I genuinely believe that they will be better human beings based on the values they learn as a part of playing rugby league.”