The future of WA rugby

[Leo86]

Listening to John Edwards on 6pr. There seems to be a push for the Force to become NRC. You wouldnt have the same team/name playing in different comps... would you?

My extreme cynicism of RA makes me think the IP was returned with conditions

[Bakkies]

My extreme cynicism of RA makes me think the IP was returned with conditions

Rugby WA had a card to play in regards to the rent on NIB Stadium.

The teams in SA have a similar branding in the Currie Cup. The Cheetahs, Sharks and Kings are stand alone teams these days. From what I understand the team name is still subject to a members. An issue for another day.

What matters now is finding out those Imperium Unit Holders/Shareholders, ASIC, the IRB and obviously the IPRC getting the go ahead.

[SPaRTAN]

Just did a search on IP Australia the RA still have the IP wouldn't put it past them not to transfer it over officially.

Bakkies.. you dont have to answer if you are uncomfortable doing so and I completly understand. But do yiu originate from WA and if not I admire your commitment. You are a true champion, just like Alison is, to our cause.. keep up the good fight cause you are winning.

[SPaRTAN]

Just did a search on IP Australia the RA still have the IP wouldn't put it past them not to transfer it over officially.

Way too early mate. According to the reports its April?

[Bakkies]

Bakkies.. you dont have to answer if you are uncomfortable doing so and I completly understand. But do yiu originate from WA and if not I admire your commitment. You are a true champion, just like Alison is, to our cause.. keep up the good fight cause you are winning.

No not from WA mate.

[Alison]

What a great day!!

I just want to say a big thank you to John Edwards, Hansie and all the other behind-the-scenes gladiators who have been fighting their socks off for our great game and have dug deep into their own pockets to ensure WA rugby continues to go from strength to strength.

Professional rugby will return to our fabulous State before too long, of that I have NO doubt. In the meantime, we can be sure in the knowledge that we have a rock solid base to build on and loads of exciting rugby to enjoy!!

Long live rugby in WA!!

[wasmute]

It was a fantastic day, super happy to bring my son to be a part of it and hear that he may now have a pathway to the wallabies once again.

[Bakkies]

Just had a few quick words with Hodge-very relaxed happy looking man. Asked about possibility of Clyne finally being booted, and told him of how Tonkar spoke to David Carrigy at World Rugby with little joy. Without being able to say much he said that Twiggy is actually dealing personally with the the Head honcho Bill Beaumont & he mentioned they are in contact with some higher authority of some kind- could be to do with ASIC. He will be off to Sydney next week for the meeting. He & Mindaroo will work closely with helping the Force. Can I just say Hansie & John, you guys just made for a happy weekend! The icing on the cake is when, not if Clyne gets taken down!

Good to hear that there is some movement on that and Beaumont is aware of what is going on.

[BLR]

Hopefully this is the start of phase 2 of the battle.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spor...32f-1512739345

[Bakkies]

Past the paywall

IPRC: Michael Lynagh puts reputation on line for Twiggy
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Former Wallaby five-eighth Michael Lynagh.
The Australian12:00AM December 9, 2017
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WAYNE SMITH
Senior sport writerBrisbane
@WayneKeithSmith

Michael Lynagh is not only one of the headiest players to have pulled on the gold jersey for Australia but also one of the most measured.

Even after all those years as a commentator for Sky Sports UK, he still carefully weighs up everything he has to say about rugby.

So the fact that he has involved himself in a project as radical and innovative, indeed as “way out” as Andrew Forrest’s Indo Pacific Rugby Championship is, at first glance, utterly surprising. As he himself says, “I am putting my reputation on the line.”

It is, let it be said, a reputation of some significance in the game — as one of the linchpins of the 1984 Grand Slam, the 1986 Bledisloe Cup series win in New Zealand and, of course, the Wallabies’ 1991 World Cup triumph. He is a Wallaby Hall of Famer, an International Rugby Hall of Famer and a player who, in the long history of the game, ranks as one of the 50 most influential players of all time, at least as far as former England captain Will Carling is concerned.

GRAPHIC: The Indo Pacific Rugby Championship

So he does not lend his name lightly to a project as daring as Forrest’s IPRC. Initially his involvement extended no further than smoothing the way for Forrest and his team to meet the movers and shakers of World Rugby, the likes of Bill Beaumont and Brett Gosper. Since then, however, his participation has grown, to the point where he is helping to negotiate with Rugby Australia, albeit it from London.

In the process, he has become the most articulate and persuasive of spokesmen for the IPRC. I confess to being sceptical of the project, along with virtually everyone else involved in Australian rugby, but Lynagh is so reasoned and thoughtful that it’s at last sounding not just doable but desirable.

The key is Rugby Australia. If they do not sanction it, then Forrest has basically two options — to fold up his tent and retreat, in which case Australian rugby will miss out on potentially more money than has ever been poured into the game anywhere in the world; or he can fight. As the *former Australian Cricket Board could attest after its battle with Kerry Packer, as rugby league *discovered when it took on Rupert Murdoch in the Super League war, fighting billionaires with pockets so deep is pretty much an *invitation to disaster.

So the day of decision is fast *arriving for Rugby Australia. *Indeed, it is upon them. If the IPRC is to be up and running in time for a February 2019 start date, running in direct opposition to Super Rugby which was, curiously, Australia’s and SANZAAR preference, then it must be *approved by next week in order to give Forrest’s people time to *arrange franchises, teams, coaches, playing rosters, stadium, *sponsors … you name it, in fact.

This is a competition being built from scratch. In fact, it may already be too long delayed, with a player such as Matt Toomua re-signing with Leicester when arguably be could be have been a prime target for the IPRC, which in turn could have released him to the Wallabies for the 2019 World Cup.

Lynagh is sympathetic to the fact that RA has had a lot on its plate this year and is in the process of changing it chief executive. But he also is mystified. “When somebody comes in and says he wants to start up a new competition providing first-class rugby to the people of Western Australia and, by the way, wants to help out Australia by bringing players back from overseas or preventing players from going overseas, and wants to help with grassroots, schools, coaching — all sorts of things are possible — you’d think that the red carpet would be rolled out, with trumpets blaring.”

That hasn’t happened. Forrest’s relationship with the national governing body was strained from the outset, with the then ARU attempting to, and eventually succeeding, in kicking the club he followed, the Western Force, out of Super Rugby. So it all started with animosity and there’s plenty of that still in the air but Lynagh believes that for the good of the game, it must be put aside.

World Rugby and Asian Rugby have given the project their tentative endorsement but, frankly, there is only upside for them in the IPRC. Forrest is promising to open up arguably the last great frontier for rugby, Asia, while also vowing to create a meaningful competition for the Pacific Islanders. At its most basic, he is doing World Rugby’s job for them. Small wonder they are cheering him on.

So too the long overlooked nations that make up Asian Rugby. Forrest is intending to launch a competition that would have been beyond them for at least the next 20 years. If the Western Force has no other legacy — and it surely has others — then this alone would give the club a meaningful place in the history of the game.

No, the only organisation which has, potentially, the most to lose out of the IPRC is RA. If it gives its blessing to the competition, it could be the ruin of its *Wallaby selection criteria — with rugby going down the road of *soccer, where all the good players head abroad. It could also leave Sydney’s Shute Shield and *Brisbane’s Premier Rugby open to crippling raids as Forrest *potentially attempts to fill out his playing rosters.

“Clubs are all worried about us stealing players,” said Lynagh. “We don’t want to do that. We don’t necessarily need to do that when you look at all the players who are available, in Europe, in Japan and in the islands. Ultimately we’ll try to make it (the IPRC) equal to the best Super Rugby. But look at this year’s competition. Some of the games between lower-ranked sides (think, for instance, the game between the Force and the Kings) were exciting, even though they weren’t of the standard of the Hurricanes playing the Crusaders.”

In order to bring those overseas-based players home to Australia, Lynagh accepts that the IPRC will have to make it worth their while. “If I’m an engineer and get offered three times my wage to work in France, everyone congratulates me. But in the case of sport, which is such an emotional thing, if we don’t quite condemn players for going to France, we at least question their loyalty *because they’re going to be earning a life-changing amount.”

Australia could bury its head in the sand where the player drain is concerned, but for how long? The loss of 350 players, mainly to *Europe, has decimated South *Africa and the Springboks — and Australia could follow. “And there’s also the question of *whether the influx of foreign players is good for France,” said Lynagh. “At the moment, I’d say no.”

Lynagh’s personal view is that the north-south divide in rugby is becoming less relevant. Increasing, he says, the game should be divided vertically, not horizontally, where everything can be worked into the same time zones. It also would help player welfare by reducing the number of days players spend flying around the world for matches.

Long term, the IPRC could become the basis of a post-2020 arrangement after the Super Rugby broadcast deal expires. If South Africa does move north, the way would be open for New Zealand, with its five teams, to join Australia — with the Force reactivated — and Forrest’s five teams in Asia. “At the moment, that’s not our initial goal but it certainly is a prospect,” said Lynagh.

So, with Forrest indicating he will pour $100 million a year into rugby for the next decade — not exclusively Australian rugby, mind you — RA must decide how far it is prepared to push out the boats to accommodate him. Lynagh’s modest expectation is that they may extend Wallaby eligibility to the players in the Perth team — which surely will be the “Western Force” following news yesterday that the name had been returned to the West — but not to those Australians based elsewhere in the other Asian teams. And even that is only a maybe.

The real test of RA’s commitment is whether it is prepared to come to commercially realistic terms about the length of its commitment. If Forrest is to go to the expense of pushing through this competition, he deserves a long-term “lease” not one that’s going to expire in five years’ time, or worse, when the SANZAAR broadcast deal expires in 2020.

“If you had a lease on a flat for only a year, you’re not going to spend $60,000 on a kitchen, are you?” he asked.

Lynagh has watched from afar as Australian rugby has gone through its annus horribilis but now he believes RA can begin to turn the game around.

“They’ve been in bunker mode and I think they are still in that mode with us. RA needs a good news story and this is a good news story. As long as we are all mature and document things properly, we can make this work. We know we have to prove ourselves to Australia. I wouldn’t have got involved if I didn’t have that as one of my primary motives.”

[andrewM]

I agree

Perth Spirit to me is the evolution of Perth Gold, our local amateur team before the Force, a blend of the best of our local competition and professional players from wherever they may come in the near future.

The Western Force is the next step up, a professional team and part of a professional league, in whatever form that may be. Rather we keep that as a statement that we have returned victorious than to muddy the waters and have it denigrated as second rate pretenders.

[andrewM]

Nice piece from Wayne. Far too considered and developed for the Rats Arse to follow though?

[andrewM]

What a great day!!

I just want to say a big thank you to John Edwards, Hansie and all the other behind-the-scenes gladiators who have been fighting their socks off for our great game and have dug deep into their own pockets to ensure WA rugby continues to go from strength to strength.

Professional rugby will return to our fabulous State before too long, of that I have NO doubt. In the meantime, we can be sure in the knowledge that we have a rock solid base to build on and loads of exciting rugby to enjoy!!

Long live rugby in WA!!

Given you propensity in appearing in Western Force publicity material Alison I was thinking of getting you a blue and black beanie (a la 'Where's Wally') but you have the knack of ending up centre stage so it would be kind of moot!

[Bakkies]

http://m.sarugbymag.co.za/?postslug=...franchise-bids

Some potential opposition for the Force.

[lou]

I like the idea of the Western Force being back in the NRC especially if it can select some of its players from the SR squads - I think there was some mention at one stage that old Force players could come back for it - but also as part of the pathway to develop WA players and talent. I also like the idea of WF being available to play other teams not within the SR comp, but aside it either at the start of the season or during the dreary four week no game period as well as playing other nations who tour. Ultimately, SR is dead by 2020 imo so WA needs to be ready with its developed players for the next incarnation. Hopefully with the cleanout of RA senior management that is just about over we will see a clean out of the incompetent RA Board members and the new Board will stay true to its vision to grow Rugby in Australia and will appoint senior managers that are fiscally capable of doing their job with $100 - 120m of revenue annually.