Australian rugby's glory days will return, ARU boss John O'Neill promised on Wednesday in a major pitch to the game's "disillusioned" heartland.

O'Neill's overhaul of the struggling code moved forward with a look back as the Australian Rugby Union named seven Wallaby greats - one from each decade since World War II - as "rugby statesmen".

Adamant the initiative has nothing to do with rugby league's centenary juggernaut or the AFL's boast of a 150th year, O'Neill said Nicholas Shehadie, John Solomon, Ken Catchpole, Mark Loane, Andrew Slack, Nick Farr-Jones and John Eales would be seen in the next 12 months presenting Test jerseys and talking to youngsters in a new emphasis on the game's history.

Six of the seven took the stage at a function at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art, Catchpole attending despite his son Mark facing court on Tuesday on drug and firearm charges, but 81-year-old Shehadie absent after a fall at his home last week.

The move comes with a new TV ad and slogan - "built by rugby, forged in union" - and, O'Neill said, fits neatly with the changes the game is already undergoing.

They include a new national coach in New Zealander Robbie Deans, the courting of private investment in Australia's Super 14 franchises and the experimental law variations (ELVs) aimed at making the game more entertaining.

"We can't ignore the heartland, we can't ignore the nature of competition in our marketplace," O'Neill told reporters.

"The hearts and minds business ... is as competitive here as anywhere in the world and we just want to let the rest of the sporting community know that we're a genuine competitor.

"There's been some disillusionment and disenchantment over the last few years.

"We're very much a NSW, Queensland, ACT game in terms of big audiences. That's our history, that's the nature of our game ... and reconnecting with the dedicated rugby follower is something that we believe is very timely to do.

"I think the balmy days, the glory days, will come again. It's not that long ago when many of our competitors were looking over their shoulders saying, hey, this sport's on a roll."

But O'Neill denied the initiative was about countering the massive publicity generated by league's naming a team of the century last week.

"It's not about raining on anyone's parade," he said.

"This is simply a business as usual statement for us ... and very many happy returns to rugby league on their hundred years."

Neither is it a retreat to rugby's traditional breeding ground of the eastern states' private schools, O'Neill said.

"Those people who say that we're just a private school game haven't been looking at the composition of our teams over several years and where the players come from," he said.

Eales, voted the greatest Wallaby ever in 2003, said he could see positives for a game many consider to be running fourth in Australia behind AFL, league and soccer.

"It's about recognising people from the past but it's not about the past, it's about looking at the great qualities of the game that can take it forward," he told reporters.

"We're seeing some really good things this year with the experimental law variations.

"Three years ago there was no team in Western Australia, now we've got one of the most supported teams in the Super 14 in Perth."

O'Neill will head to Dublin this weekend as the International Rugby Board prepares to meet to discuss a global trial of the ELVs.

He will also meet Australia's SANZAR partners there with a view to having a 15-team, 26-round Super rugby proposal for broadcasters to consider by September.

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