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WAYNE SMITH
Senior sport writerBrisbane
The emergency general meeting of the Australian Rugby Union failed to divert it from its course of culling one of Australia’s five Super Rugby teams.
The meeting, which came about when the Victorian Rugby Union and the Rugby Union Players Association combined forces to force the ARU to explain its position, was not expected to produce any fireworks, with the NSW and Queensland Rugby Union declaring right from the start their support of the ARU’s policy of reducing its Super Rugby component to just four teams.
Curiously, even though the Rebels are one of the two teams on the chopping block – along with the Western Force – the Melbourne franchise also are understood to have backed the ARU policy to defeat the two resolutions attacking the reduction.
The third resolution, to set up an advisory Super Rugby Commission to advise the ARU, wasn’t decided upon, although a motion was passed to facilitate a wider discussion about it.
As expected, there was no move against ARU chief executive Bill Pulver. The meeting’s support of the ARU stand vindicated him to a degree, although it will only be a relatively brief stay of execution.
His contract is due to expire in February, and clearly the ARU intends to leave him in place until either he has culled a team or been defeated by the legal and/or arbitration process that the Force, in particular, are banking on to save them.
Once this interminable saga, which has now gone on for more than 70 days since the ARU first announced a decision would be made within 48-72 hours, comes to an end it is almost certain the ARU will move Pulver on.
Either way, he is in a no-win position – either he is the man who cut an Australian Super Rugby team or he is the man who promised to do so but couldn’t.
Appears the ARU have buttered up the rest of un-union, can imagine the conversation, "Back us to axe Force and you'll all get the spoils". Never about the good of the game, it if was the Force would be held up in a shining light as the franchise that tops all the KPI's.
So if/when the axe falls, RWA, sponsors, stakeholders and the state government should burn the house down, sue for every last dollar ever spent and bankrupt the game - rugby will be dead in WA and never ever recover.
That's my plan
C'mon the![]()
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Was that Hodgo at the EGM today? Saw him on the news.
I agree - burn the fking house down and hope the rebels sue them for all their worth as well. All just pushing their own self interest while rugby in Australia goes down the gurgler.
Rebels and other franchises will no doubt bleed them dry in a couple of years with further losses, as none of them actually have a plan top become financially sustainable unlike the force.
Probably been mentioned before, but is it possible for the Force to buy the Rebels license? An agreement with Cox to use money earned from Own The Force as a deposit, and buy now pay later deal! The Force will continue its goal of being financially independent, and tell the ARU to shove our license they stole up their respective arses.
I think the license is probably worth more to Cox than what we can pay, due to the damages he'll be suing for and the responsibility of the ARU to field 4 teams in super rugby (so will have to bail out the rebels when they keep losing money). Plus they'ce no doubt been promised more handouts from the ARU in the backroom deals
Did anyone expect anything different?
Whole thing went exactly as predicted!
May the FORCE be with you!
If only! He seems to be in strong position to leverage even more cash out of Australian rugby.
What an absolute shambles
Shambles is far too nice a word to describe it Mac!
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