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Bret Harris From: The Australian April 27, 2011 12:00AM
IT sounds crazy, but this may be the last year an Australian team wins the Super Rugby title.
The competition is contested by 15 teams from three countries - South Africa, New Zealand and Australia - collectively known as SANZAR.
From next year, the ARU will unilaterally introduce a salary cap, which will place the five Australian teams at a distinct competitive disadvantage to their rivals in New Zealand and South Africa.
While the ARU's intention is to save money on top-ups for Wallabies, the salary cap will spread the talent across the five Australian teams - Brumbies, Melbourne Rebels, NSW Waratahs, Queensland Reds and Western Force.
This should have the effect of making the Australian teams more competitive against each other, but it will make them less competitive against the 10 New Zealand and South African sides, which do not operate under a salary cap, although the Kiwis do have a draft system.
The absence of a powerful Australian Super Rugby franchise could have dire consequences for the Wallabies. Australia coach Robbie Deans, who coached the Crusaders to five titles, always talks about the need for an Australian team, or teams, to be competing in the playoffs.
The All Blacks and Springboks have certainly drawn strength from champion teams such as the Crusaders and Bulls. It is no coincidence that only four teams - the Blues, Brumbies, Bulls and Crusaders - have won the first 15 Super Rugby titles between them.
Compare this to rugby union's main footballing rivals, AFL and rugby league.
Since the VFL-AFL introduced a salary cap in 1985, 11 teams - Essendon, Hawthorn, Carlton, Collingwood, West Coast, North Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane Lions, Port Adelaide, Sydney and Geelong - have won 25 premierships between them.
Rugby league introduced a salary cap in 1990 and 10 teams - Canberra, Penrith, Brisbane, Melbourne, Newcastle, Sydney Roosters, Canterbury, Wests Tigers, Manly and St George Illawarra - have shared the premierships in the space of 20 years.
There was no salary cap during the Super League war of 1997 and the Melbourne Storm was stripped of its two NRL premierships (2007 and 2009) for salary cap breaches.
The Brumbies are the only Australian team to win the Super Rugby title, lifting the trophy in 2001 and 2004. Those Brumbies teams were stacked with Wallabies greats, including George Gregan, Stephen Larkham, Joe Roff and George Smith.
Players did not gravitate to Canberra for the money necessarily but for the chance to improve their game and selection for the Wallabies. It was a different system altogether.
The Australian teams had a gentlemen's agreement that they would not pay players more than $110,000 plus expenses. The best players earnt most of their money from their ARU top-up.
The new salary cap system turns that on its head.
The teams can now pay whatever they like to individual players from their ARU grants of $4.4m, but cannot exceed the total amount on their whole squad, which is effectively the salary cap.
You can already see the spreading of talent begin with star Wallabies back Kurtley Beale leaving the Waratahs next year for the Rebels, who will become an anomalous team in an anomalous player payment system.
As a recruitment concession, the Rebels are allowed 10 foreign players (they only have eight this year), who are valued at only $147,000 under the salary cap, which gives them a real competitive advantage in the market.
But the Rebels will have to reduce their foreign quota to two players like the other Australian teams by 2016 when they will be on a level playing field.
The double whammy for the Australian teams is that the only Super Rugby conference operating under a salary cap will be the one which lacks the most depth of talent.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1226045237355
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Originally Posted by Burgs
