Wasn't sure which thread to put this, but thought it another pretty sad indictment on the ARU. Posted on GAGR.
https://rugbynews.net.au/think-austr...g-to-the-bush/
Wasn't sure which thread to put this, but thought it another pretty sad indictment on the ARU. Posted on GAGR.
https://rugbynews.net.au/think-austr...g-to-the-bush/
He really shouldn't worry as Clone and Puller's culling of a team will be the panacea for grass roots
That last para is the thing that seals it for me.
And that is the frustrating thing about removing a Super Rugby team. The team and state that goes will almost certainly be cast into oblivion. There is no secondary competition or plan for the cut state to be able to continue growing rugby. All funding will be slashed to near zero and rugby dies in thate state.
The truly most frustrating thing above everything though is the ARU are still only looking at the short term solution and worst of all, we will still have the same idiots running the ARU. This whole saga should be Rugbys watershed moment when underperforming, overpaid and token administrators need to be cleaned out. The games finances need to be taken back from the protectionism and self aggrandising muppets trying to run their pissy little backyard comps as a professional comp and used for the greater good. No matter which team gets cut, that is still the biggest thing that will get overlooked in all of this, we will still have the same crooked administrators making the same crooked, near sighted decisions that have plagued rugby for 100 years in Australia, the administrators who only look out for their own little backyard self interests.
Just read the article, had never heard of the website, was going to bookmark it but had a look at the resultsall Qld and Nsw, says it all really,
Yep. Rugby News was basically a Sydney publication with a focus on Shute Shield. The anchor on the top corner of this old cover tells what you need to know.
http://i.imgur.com/kvPBlJfm.jpg
Good on 'em, no problem with passionate rugby people writing about rugby.
But with a mindset that struggles to get beyond Sydney's North Shore and Eastern Suburbs, it's not for me.
It stopped being printed a few years back and went solely online.
The Queensland stuff is a fairly recent addition. Maybe they're starting to realise, via the power of electrons, that Parramatta is no longer the western frontier.
But still a long way to go for mine.
Cannot 'up thumb' your post enough Kala! You have hit the nail squarely on the head. Self-interest will shrink the game backwards but no-one who's in a position to do anything about that cares because they are the ones whose self-interest is being served.
I took all my Wallabies gear to the charity shop today. I just don't have any desire to watch them anymore.
I'm hanging onto mine to burn outside of NiB stadium.
Time for the ARU to admit it can't cut a Super Rugby team
Dean Mumm
As the Wallabies took on the Azzurri in Brisbane, I was fortunate to be one of many Waratahs who went back and played in the Shute Shield for our clubs. It was a terrific reminder of the strength of the rugby community and another step in the revitalisation of Premier Rugby, which is thriving across the country.
The women's game is thriving, headlined by an impending University Women's Sevens Series and an upcoming Women's Rugby World Cup, and then there is the humbling story of Christian Leali'ifano's return to the game after 10 months out after beating leukaemia. Over the next two weeks, he will hopefully join the 47 debutants who've enjoyed their first taste of Super Rugby in 2017. Clearly, there are great stories and great people in Australian rugby. The game is not in crisis. Well, it isn't yet, but urgent action is needed to resolve the ongoing Super Rugby debacle, because no matter how much good news there is, it is all being overshadowed by the elephant in the room; a game on the brink of shrinking its future.
Seventy-eight days ago after the ARU's announcement to cut one team, the enormous mental toll on players, coaches, staff, families and fans in Perth and Melbourne continues to drag on. This is the result of a process that is now defined by the time it has taken and the harm it has caused, rather than the benefit it sought to offer the game in Australia.
We know that the ARU would like to have made a decision by now, but we can't escape the fact that it still remains undecided. Walking away from last Tuesday's ARU general meeting, we couldn't help think that despite the opportunity for discussion, there is still no clear timeframe for when, or obvious legal basis for how, this saga might be resolved. For all players, it is bewildering there was not a greater anticipation of the legal or financial constraints before any decision was made.
The meeting heard how confident Rugby WA is in relying upon its "Alliance Agreement" with the ARU and believes it will succeed at its upcoming arbitration. Meanwhile, the Rebels released a statement on May 21 which said that "for the avoidance of any doubt whatsoever, neither the Melbourne Rebels nor its owners will engage with the ARU in relation to the sale or cancellation of its Super Rugby licence."
In response, there were suggestions the ARU was preparing a $6million offer to buy the Rebels' licence from owner Andrew Cox so they could close the club down. The players are yet to see any detailed financial modelling from the ARU which shows material savings, and there have been no public commitments on where any of the theoretical savings would be reinvested, not to mention what it will cost to fight a legal battle on two fronts. What positive effect will that reinvestment have if we have disenfranchised rugby fans in the interim?
We have to consider it a genuine possibility that the ARU may not be able to execute its preference to eliminate a team. At the very least, the elephant might settle in for another couple of months, leaving those affected to simply suffer the anguish and stress associated with being unable to plan for their futures, sign leases, enrol in childcare. For those with greater certainty, there's still little chance for the game to move forward as the headlines will continue to sully the name of rugby in Australia.
Super Rugby must be an attractive week-to-week shop window for the game. It must prepare players for Test challenges and honours, and it must generate revenue to reinvest back into the community game. Clearly the current format of Super Rugby is failing on all three fronts, but why does changing the competition mean we have to eliminate the professional game from an entire state?
The players collectively remain committed to the retention of five Australian teams, at the very least until the end of the current broadcast deal in 2020. Let's revise the competition structure, not cut off our nose to spite our face. Let's reduce off-field costs, duplication and governance issues, not further reduce the already limited market of rugby in Australia. Rugby simply can't afford to lose fans from one entire state.It's time for the ARU to bite the bullet and admit they can't cut a team, and to commission a genuine feasibility study prior to making any changes to our Super Rugby representation in 2020 as the competition itself continues to evolve.
Australian Rugby is not in a dire state if you seek to represent the people that make it great every weekend on fields around the nation, yet it has become clear that it will be much easier to celebrate the good news and the good people in the game once we've kicked the elephant out of the room.
Dean Mumm is a current player with the NSW Waratahs, a Wallabies captain and the president of RUPA.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...25-gwy9bv.html
Well said Mumm, despite all my reservations about his favouritism in the Wallabies, I'm happy at his stand here. It reignited the faith I the Stronger as 5. Pulver & Clyne have been deceitfully undermining what we SHOULD be doing in maintaining 5 teams! On the surface there is absolutely NO justification or financial saving in cutting a team. i have yet to see any figures from Pulver /Clyne to support it, where are their figures, where are are their reasonings? ZIP, NADA! I'm pretty bloody sure that there are alternative avenues possible to figure it out! As Alan Jones said... "you're a banker, go down the road and find the money!" The pair of them are limp dikked leeches, and need to be taken out ASAP so at least someone with a mitre of imagination could think outside of the box! Get them out - for Gods sake!
It's fantastic that Dean Mumm is taking this stance, the issue really is a fault of the format of the current competition. Can we help him out by having a discussion here about what the best format for a competition might be?
I'd like to see 3 separate conferences (Australia, New Zealand & South Africa), with like a finals competition. First up home and away games between the other teams in the Australian conference, break for the June tests, then the top 3 teams play the top 3 teams from each of the other conferences & bottom 3 teams play play bottom 3 teams from each of the other conferences. You'd minimise travel costs, and have less chance of scores like the Rebels going down 71 - 6 against the Hurricanes.
It was stated as finances which lets face it is a load of shit
Then there is its because of depth rumours... are they not looking at what WA are bringing to the table in that regard and its only goin to get better.
Then theres every chance SA might not be around after 2020... so why cut any teams until the end of the broadcast deal.
Its now a complete fuck up by the ARU who have done nothin but kill the game and they seem to think carrying on like this is beneficial.
Honestly 3x6 conference system for now and if necessary 3x5, 5 Aus, 5 NZ and SA x 5 and if they want 4 they can pick between Japan and Argies to fill