Great to have some good news to end off the week
Printable View
Great to have some good news to end off the week
If it is, I'm done and dusted.
Spirit in the NPC is irrelevant for the future of WA players. That comp will soon founder, and anyway is not enough to create a genuine pathway to professional and international rugby. Without Super players the amateurs will struggle. And it's run by RatsArse.
I can see it being shelved until de Clyne gets the boot which is another good reason for the 2019 start date and the Sanzaar deal is being negotiated around Easter time next year. De Clyne is the biggest road block as he would do anything to spite Twiggy and protect his Sydney Uni cohorts. If the Saffies send more teams up to Europe the NZRU has to make a decision. One of their main reasons for NZ keeping Super Rugby over a Trans Tasman was to play SA teams. Obviously that will definitely dwindle with more going up to Europe.
A privately run competition such as the IPRC is far more conducive for NZ then forming a bilateral partnership with a union they don't trust in the RA to form a Trans Tasman competition.
They don't give half a flying f@%k about playing Saffer teams, all they want is the bucketloads of Rand they get out of the TV deal.
NZ rugby is quite happy to completely destroy the playing prospects of any competing union as long as it doesn't affect the bottom line.
Curious as to why NZRU wouldn't trust Rugby Australia? It was the NZRU (and SARU) that preferred having the Sunwolves remain in Super Rugby.
They see SA as their main Rugby rival not Australia.Quote:
They don't give half a flying f@%k about playing Saffer teams, all they want is the bucketloads of Rand they get out of the TV deal.
Western Force moniker returning home to WA
Nick Taylor
Thursday, 7 December 2017 1:30PM
The Western Force name will return home.
The Western Force name will return home.Picture: Nic Ellis
The Western Force is heading home.
Rugby Australia is set to hand the club name and intellectual property back as part of the deal that will see RugbyWA come out of voluntary administration.
But just where a Force side will play in the future is still undecided with RA placing “uncommercial” demands on mining millionaire Andrew Forrest’s plans for a new Indo Pacific Rugby Championship.
It is understood IPRC management will have further talks next week before the RA board meeting on December 18.
The Force announcement is expected tomorrow after creditors finalise a deal with RugbyWA.
It is also understood that Forrest will announce a big injection of funding into WA community rugby.
RugbyWA went into voluntary administration last month as RA initially chased the state body for $1 million in costs over the failed legal fight – arbitration and in the NSW Supreme Court - to save the Super Rugby club.
RA rejected claims it had forced the move during the bitter fall-out.
RA chief executive Bill Pulver had earlier told RugbyWA chairman Tony Howarth in a letter: “I want to make it clear at the outset that ARU (now RA) intends to pursue RugbyWA for its costs entitlements in both the arbitration and NSW Supreme Court. ARU is entitled to, and will do what is necessary to recover these costs.”
RugbyWA also owed $1.14 million to the WA Government as part of the 2009 upgrade of nib Stadium as well as an unspecified amount to law firm Lavan.
They also have a long term lease of Rugby Headquarters with VenuesWest of $360,000 a year.
RA bought the Force intellectual property for $800,000 last year and then bought the licence in an alliance agreement that effectively allowed them to axe the club from Super Rugby.
There has been a push for RA to sell the licence back for $1 – the same amount it sold the Melbourne Rebels to private businessman Andrew Cox and the same amount for which he sold it to the Victorian Rugby Union in August.
Meanwhile pressure is building on powerful corporate watchdog the Australian Securities and Investment Commission to investigate RA’s controversial dealings with the Rebels ahead of axing the Force.
A senate inquiry into the future of the sport made initial recommendations for ASIC to investigate when their report was handed down last month.
And WA Liberal Senator, who has relentlessly questioned the deals between RA and Cox and Cox and the VRU, has stepped up the push for the inquiry.
“Recently published media articles have included information that appears to contradict the evidence provided to the committee,” she said.
Her push comes after it was revealed by Seven West Media that RA was brokering a deal to save the rebels two months before the decision to cull the Force was announced and helped orchestrate the sale of the club to the VRU.
No, as per the press releases the other day postponing the December 10th announcement, negotiations are still ongoing. Twiggy decided to leak some embarrassing information on Rugby Australias petulant demands to leverage the power back. It would be the second time in a month that Rugby Australias being exposed as economically irresponsible. Lifting the Super Rugby salary cap will be madness seeing as Super Rugbys business model is still horribly broken and RA are crying poor and secondly imposing compensation fees on the professional teams to state based club teams for player access is ludicrously stupid. NSW clubs want compensation for Shute Shield players to play IPRC, the flow on effect is WA start charging the same fee to Super Rugby clubs for player access resulting in millions of dollars wasted paying unnecessary transfer fees and a state vs state war over protecting their own. The flow on effects the states should be more concerned about is that if their club produces a professional rugby player then that news inspires the local kids to try and follow in their footsteps. NSW will probably see playing numbers fall anyway with their recently announced new statewide levy.
And ultimately Twiggy has the money and Twiggy is our corner. Rugby Australias extortion attempts have been exposed, voluntary administration has seemingly provided the shield from RAs extortion attempts we needed and now we can move on to a rugby reality the east coast can only dream of. We rebuild our local competition, welcome Twiggys investment in our state game and continue to look forward to February 2019 when the IPRC kicks off while leaving the east coast to wallow in their incompetent administrators and their broken Super Rugby tournament.
I can't understand how the IRPC could allow player access to become an issue. I would have thought it would be a simple fix...no player in the Shute Shield, Hospitals Cup, Dewar Shield or Dent Cup will be considered eligible to participate in the IPRC. Easy peasy.
Restraint of trade?
Absolutely not, in no way affects their ability to pursue a career as a professional rugby player.
Exactly- just move overseas and further dilute the ranks in substandard comps like Shite and Dewart Shield