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I hear that Kankowski was never a target.Quote:
Originally Posted by GIGS20
The goss from SA was just a bet-up by his manager trying to get in on the action.
I agree that we have better local talent.
Really pleasing to see Tevin Ferris given a go particularly after his strong showings with Perth Spirit last year.
Is someone able to paste Wayne Smith’s article today from the Australian for those who don’t have subscription?
Might be the case, but the overarching concept is still validQuote:
Originally Posted by andrewg
Spiced Up Rules for Twiggy's World Series Rugby
WAYNE SMITH
Senior sport writerBrisbane
@WayneKeithSmith
Perth mining magnate Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest has channelled another billionaire sporting rebel, Kerry Packer, by naming his breakaway competition World *Series Rugby. And like Packer, Forrest has promised a product that will make the traditional game look staid and stodgy.
The Western Force, closed down by Rugby Australia last year as part of the move to scale Super Rugby back to 15 teams, was relaunched yesterday as part of World Series Rugby, the new tag for the awkwardly named Indo-Pacific Rugby Championship. It is intended that WSR will apply not just to the series of matches starting in May but also to the professional competition Forrest intends taking into Asia next year.
Former Australian captain *Michael Lynagh, Forrest’s adviser and chief conduit to both World Rugby and Rugby Australia, said starting a new competition in Asia in the year of a Rugby World Cup would have its challenges but also its advantages.
“With the World Cup being staged in Japan, the profile of rugby in Asia will be on a high,” Lynagh told The Australian yesterday.
He also provided the first hint that Forrest and his Mindaroo team were not intending to start from scratch in Asia but could piggy*back off existing structures owned by such organisations as the Hong Kong Rugby Union and Singapore Rugby Union.
“The six-team competition that Andrew promised is still very much on the agenda,” Lynagh said.
WSR is scheduled to run parallel to Super Rugby next year but the Force side might also have a busy schedule for the rest of 2019, possibly playing matches against sides that narrowly failed to make the World Cup.
The relaunched Force will kick off its WSR schedule this year on May 4, playing a Fiji side that recently went down narrowly to Queensland in the Reds’ final pre-Super Rugby trials. Then will follow a May 13 encounter with Tonga before a scheduled clash in Perth with the Melbourne Rebels on June 9, the same day the Wallabies play their first Test of 2018 on the other side of the country, against Ireland in Brisbane.
The Rebels have not agreed to play such a match, even though half their Super Rugby side is ex- Force. The then ARU fingered either the Force or the Rebels to be culled last year and there is unease at how a Melbourne team, half-filled by Force players, would be received in Perth.
The man who coaches the Rebels is the man who mentored the Force last year, Dave Wessels, who has vowed to do all he can to keep rugby alive in Western Australia.
“We’re still considering the idea,” Melbourne CEO Baden *Stephenson said.
Subsequent Force games will be against the Crusaders (June 22), Samoa (July 13), Hong Kong (August 10) and an unconfirmed opponent, possibly from Japan, on August 17. All matches will be played at nib Stadium and the Force is in negotiations to have them broadcast free-to-air.
WSR is also looking at spicing up the rules. The two biggest roadblocks to ball-in-play — scrums and lineouts — could both be turbocharged. Referees could give immediate penalties rather than order a scrum reset, while lineouts will be put on the clock and if the team that is supposed to be throwing in dithers, it will be play-on if they don’t form up in time.
There could, as well, be greater incentive to launch attacking raids from inside a team’s territory, as any tries that originate from inside the 22 could earn 10 points, not the customary five. Likewise, there could be a disincentive for short-range field goals. Those taken from point blank range will earn only one point but there will be a three-point line drawn for more ambitious attempts.
The Perth-based remnants of the Super Rugby side have been training for a month but the new Force squad began working as a group last Thursday. The squad includes two Test players, Wallabies winger Rod Davies and Springbok World Cup-winning centre Jaque Fourie and Olympic gold medallist Masivesi Dakuwaqa, a member of Fiji’s rugby sevens team that won the men’s gold at Rio in 2016.
Although Forrest’s planning is for later this year and 2019, the real benefits of his initiative might not become apparent until SANZAAR draws up a new broadcast deal at the end of 2020, under which Super Rugby might be disbanded.
If the world divides not into northern and southern hemispheres, as at present, but into compatible time zones, Australia and NZ might well be eyeing a move into Asia — especially if Forrest has already proven it a winner.
I can understand the motivation, but it will get the comp dismissed as Mickey Mouse BS. Perfect excuse not to pick any Wallabies from it...