In our defence...they had our Nationals in bloody Adelaide, rather than somewhere more accessable to most. I know at least one city champion declined their invite to it as well. And it'd help if some states (I'm looking at you, Queensland!) actually had leagues.
...I'd better stop before I start ranting. ^^;; Suffice to say....it seems to me like the game gets a lot more support and promotion in NZ than it does across the Tasman.