S14 Reserves comp?

Has any thought been given to the idea of a Australian Super 14 Provincial reserves competition? I would have thought that having a reserves team for each of the four Aussie S14 provinces would then add up to eight professional teams, just like the ARC, and we could get a high standard curtain raiser to all our games while bridging the gap further between club and S14 level. I know we would only have four teams in this comp, but the teams could play each other twice each -home and away- resulting in six round robin matches and a final. (May not even need the final.)
Also, couldn't the highest placed Australian team in the Super 14 proper be named Australian Provincial Champion?

Then we could get on with consolidating the Australian Rugby Shield, adding an amateur Brisbane team and possibly NSW Subbies while re-introducing the Perth Gold. At the end of the season why couldn't the Shield Champion play against the winners of the Sydney and Brisbane Premierships in a very small tri-angular National Premier's Championship? We would then have a national champion for sub-provincial level. In addition to this an Australian Rugby Shield XV could be picked with possible games against Australian Universities or Services XV's, even games against the S14 Reserves. It could be seen as a direct pathway to professional rugby for stand-out amateur players from outside the Sydney and Brisbane Premiership heartlands.

The final piece would be to revive the Super 8 concept, having the four Australian S14 provinces playing against Tonga, Fiji, Samoa and Japan. I know this was vetoed by New Zealand originally, but so was WA's involvement in the Super 12 and we finally got that didn't we? After all, the IRB says it wants to give these teams consistent competition, so let's see them back up their words and support what could be the world's most exciting rugby competition.

At the very least, Australia would not have to worry anymore about being baited (usually by New Zealand) into establishing a costly national championship. The above-mentioned structure will yield at least five different national champions, all worthy of the title, throughout different levels of rugby.

Cheers,
Matty

:spin:

Nice Ideas Matty. I'm pretty sure the ARU is organising a short Super 14 Reserves series a bit like the APC of 2006 for 2008 to take the place of the ARC. It lessens the blow, if only slightly, of losing the ARC. I like the idea of a stronger rugby relationship between Australia and Japan. There is a hell of a lot of sponsorship money in Japan and it would be good to try and exploit that for out benefit. As for the Island nations it would be hard to implement a sustainable competition with the political and social instability you get in Fiji and Tonga. Military coups like the recent(ish) one in Fiji make it very difficult to travel to and from those places.

It already happens , it doesn't involve WA.


But I have heard a Force A team will be up and running in 2008!

Now don't be upsetting Fulvio it is the season of goodwill to all men - his beloved Force Players torn away from the Club comp to play for a State team - wash your mouth out with soap - it's all a question of timing on how well this idea is received if they play outside the tradition club season all will go well

Welcome aboard Matty, arguably the best first three posts on TWF! :cheers:
I think all of you ideas have enough merit to flesh out a bit, the bottom line is there has to be an answer to the existing chasm between Australian Club Rugby and Australian Super 14 Rugby.

Wow! Thanks for that! And here I thought my funky avatars would be my only claim to fame!:yay:

Great concepts matty, excellent fodder for thought...you are gonna fit right in here mate...

ps, love the avatar

Great ideas all Matty. I really think Fulvio would be happy for any of these ideas to come to fruition, I think Fulv would have been fine with teh ARC Fulv's argument is that ivory tower dwellers come up with solutions to the world's problems at the last minute and foist them on the clubs with no consideration or consultation. Matt ALL of your ideas would work, many others have stated options that would work, Sydney clubs have options that would work.....What needs to happen is somebody needs to start working on getting them planned NOW, not halfway through the club season, when the players have to be wrenched from their positions in club rugby to participate. People need time to plan for stuff. We could start playing a national series in May if the community rugby department is advised before the season starts, they adjust some dates, maybe bring the start of the season forward, change some structure and hey-presto, it works, and no-one is pissed off. If however somebody says in mid March 'we're starting in May' then clubs get upset, because they're preparing for finals in August or September.

We need this resolved ASAP. the only people who can solve that are the ARU!

And yet, with less Senior Male Players to draw on, the NPC has successfully managed to grow and evolve while generally overlapping with the New Zealand Club seasons.
The two major factors they had to overcome and that are so relevant here are the desire to see it succeed for the betterment of the sport and the willingness to put the blame game and the "them-n-us"/"ivory towers" BS to rest for long enough that egos don't rule future planning.

I know what you are saying Burgs, but it is also worth remembering NPC rugby preceded professionalism, S14, TN and RWC. The basis of all rugby in NZ has always been in the provinces and, for example, Waikato will often draw bigger crowds for the ANZC than the Chiefs will for S14. By comparison, we are trying to create the support level after the event.