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Super holds the key for Wallabies
Adam Freier
September 19, 2010
Although the season is months away, there has already been a massive push for the next year's Super 15 competition. And so there should be.
For rugby to be the premier sport in Australia, it needs to develop a competition that has sustainability and longevity.
Fans need to embrace their Super clubs with the same fervour they have for the Wallabies.
Many have started already, with the Western Force leading the way, with every member or spectator draped in royal blue.
If you walk the streets of London, they all have allegiances to the national football team, but at the end they day, they support Liverpool or Arsenal.
Sure they support England passionately every four years, but at the end of the day, there is almost always a ''Gunners'' tattoo on the chest of a father and son at Etihad Stadium.
The leaguies are the same.
Sure, State of Origin is a great success, but I don't see too many people in Balmain cutting around in their NSW or Kangaroos jersey. It's black and orange all the way to Campbelltown.
The home-and-away round-robin Super concept in Australia will no doubt increase rugby's profile from March until June, but should we be pushing the boundaries and making it last even longer?
If it then starts to clash with the international Tests in July against our friends from the northern hemisphere, so be it.
The NRL seems to have no problem having its showpiece event on a Wednesday night. Why couldn't the Wallabies play a Test against France on a Wednesday?
I'm a true believer in the Super rugby concept. It is like no other sporting competition and if done properly, the flow-on effect to our national team would be immense.
The AFL has set the bar: it doesn't have a national team or even State of Origin yet pulls crowds of 50,000 seemingly at will. Incredible. Why? Tribal rivalries. Why can't rugby aim to hit those heights? Is it because all that really matters is if the Wallabies win? I hope not, but if that is psyche of some of our supporters, it needs to change. In fact, it needs to be the opposite.
Let's flip it around and see what happens to our national team if the Super rugby competition is our showpiece event, our crescendo. Then let's see how good our Wallabies really can be.
Let's use Queensland as an example. They were on the operating table flatlining 18 months ago -now they are beaming with new life.
Their support had definitely subsided, but along comes the Quade brigade, and it completely changed the landscape. The Reds didn't even make the finals this year and look how much life they have given back to rugby in this country, particularly the Wallabies.
Then suddenly the rugby experts say ''what a mess - look how good Queensland could have been!'' with Rocky Elsom, David Pocock, Berrick Barnes, James O'Connor and Richard Brown, to name a few, having all left the sunshine state to play elsewhere. Imagine trying to beat a Reds team with that type of cattle. That has dynasty written all over it.
Make no mistake, this is the time for this competition to really shine and lay the platform for rugby in Australia to grow.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...918-15h31.html
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