FROM his ivory tower in St Leonards, Australian Rugby Union boss John O'Neill can see to Hong Kong, Tokyo and all the way on to Wembley. But he has lost sight of his own backyard.

He will defend his grand plan by insisting the big picture is all-important; that by accruing revenue from television rights to the Tests and Wallabies tours, he is safeguarding Australia's rugby future.

Almost in the same breath, O'Neill - a SANZAR director - has been talking up an expansion of the Super 14, hinting that Parramatta Stadium could become the home of a 15th team - perhaps known, a la Australian Rugby Championship (RIP), as the Western Sydney Rams.

In recent months, the rumours of an Australia-wide 10-team "Super Club" tournament have grown so loud that dogs are barking on street corners. One of those filthy rich television stations might throw some lovely lolly at the ARU to show it.

Where will it stop? When will it end? What about the origins of the Waratahs and Wallabies? What about grassroots and club rugby? As Peter Sellers intoned: "What about the workers?"

Hanging like a broad sword over the necks of the 22 premier clubs in Sydney and Brisbane is O'Neill's threat to withdraw annual funding.

The sum of $60,000 for each of Sydney's 12 clubs sounds paltry, but, after millions in administrative costs have been skimmed by the NSW Rugby Union, it is the lifeblood for some of them.

The attitude coming across from headquarters is clear: We've propped you up long enough, boys. Find the money yourselves - just let us get on with the important business of managing the game.

What is forgotten in the stampede towards expansion is that were it not for Australia's club system, Nick Farr-Jones and John Eales would never have led the Wallabies to two World Cups.

What has beckoned for three decades is Sydney's expansion to the west - to Emu Plains, Blacktown and Campbelltown, all suburbs with vast playing resources and large Islander communities.

In 1999, former Waratahs lock Peter Besseling led the Penrith Emus to 10 wins and a draw, only one victory away from a semi-final place in the Sydney premiership.

Besseling recalls one of the blackest days in NSWRU history, when five full-time development officers covering Sydney's west, all Penrith players, were summoned to Concord Oval, ordered to put mobile phones and car keys on the table and told to find their own way home.

The Emus have not been a force since. Penrith went from being an attractive club for the army of talented teenagers in the region, invigorated by enthusiastic development officers, to a rugby backwater.

Meanwhile, AFL and football pump millions of dollars into development in Sydney's west. And from rugby? Deathly silence.

The ARU rumour mill has been working overtime since the one-year wonder, the ARC, went under. The most disturbing piece of gossip to emerge is that a "Super Club" competition of 10 teams - five from Sydney, three from Brisbane and one each from the ACT and Perth - will hold an end-of-season national championship.

The concern is that should this competition become reality, players with representative dreams will flock from minor clubs to Sydney's Big Five to further their ambitions.

Kurtley Beale's meteoric rise has long been associated with St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill. What generally goes unsaid is that Beale is a product of Mt Druitt, one of Penrith's feeder areas.

One prominent Sydney official said of the Super Club concept: "It will kill off premier rugby in Sydney within three years. Ambitious players will gravitate to those clubs. The rest will simply become glorified suburban rugby clubs."

Businessmen ask themselves: what is the best raw product and where is the best place to find it?

The best raw product is the material you don't pay for. Develop it locally and you gain the benefit.

Look to the finished article and you will have to pay top dollar for players such as Lote Tuqiri, Wendell Sailor, Mat Rogers and Timana Tahu. Nourish the local product. Don't kill it off.

John O'Neill should remember Napoleon. Twice, he went into exile. There was no return from St Helena.