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Thread: The Force and Rebels have struggled on and off the field

  1. #1
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    travelling_gerry's Avatar
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    The Force and Rebels have struggled on and off the field

    The Force and Rebels have struggled on and off the field


    WHEN Western Force entered the Super Rugby competition in 2006, it did not receive any concessions from the ARU as it set up a new franchise in AFL-dominated territory.



    Five years later, the ARU gave Melbourne Rebels expansion franchise the ability to recruit up to 10 foreign players to help it get going.
    But it was nothing like the support the AFL has given to its expansion teams beyond the borders of the heartland of the game in Victoria.
    The Force and Rebels, who play each other in Perth today, have struggled on and off the field.
    In seven seasons, Force has never made the Super Rugby playoffs, while the Rebels finished last and third-last in its first two years.
    Presently, the Force and Rebels are sitting in 12th and 13th position on the table respectively.
    You could make excuses for both by arguing that expansion franchises take time to develop.
    But compare them with the Brumbies, who took only two years to reach the final and six years to win the first of two titles.
    ARU chief executive Bill Pulver believes the Force and Rebels now need more support.
    "As two developmental franchises, the Rebels and the Force are deserving of a unique amount of help," he said.
    "What that unique amount of help involves at this point is not absolutely clear. However, I am in dialogue with the chief executives of all the Super Rugby franchises to try to understand what measures the ARU can implement to help."
    Pulver qualified his comments about the Force and Rebels by saying he wanted to help all five of Australia's Super Rugby franchises.
    But he said they all needed to be treated differently.
    NSW and Queensland are heartland states, the ACT is a small economy, while Western Australia and Victoria are AFL-dominated dominions.
    "To some extent I don't subscribe to the view that a cookie-cutter policy approach from the ARU . . . in other words, policies where one size fits all, which I think in some cases we've had . . . I'm looking for unique strategies that work for each individual franchise.
    "They are in different situations. In many ways NSW and Queensland have a unique advantage. The majority of the talent pool grows in NSW and Queensland.
    "Canberra have a unique challenge in the size of their economy. Perth and Melbourne have a unique challenge where they are developing franchises where rugby has not been historically the preferred sport.
    "I don't think one size fits all. I'm looking for ways of supporting each of them uniquely, the end game being better results at Super Rugby level."
    Pulver believes better Super Rugby results will translate into a more successful Wallabies team.
    "The overarching objective is to try to help Australia's Super Rugby franchises compete more effectively," Pulver said.
    "Ninety-plus per cent of revenue in Australian rugby comes from Super Rugby and the Wallabies. When you look at our performance in Super Rugby, this is our 18th year of Super Rugby, we've won three tournaments, two of those in Canberra, which is a wonderful thing for the Brumbies, but it's an economy where you really can't get as much leverage on the success as you would like.
    "One of my personal theories in a strategic development sense is if we can implement strategies to help Super Rugby compete more effectively and win more Super Rugby tournaments and improve last year's results of sixth, seventh, 11th, 13th and 14th, move everybody up a couple of places, the Wallabies should take care of themselves."

    http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spor...-1226613607689

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  2. #2
    Legend Contributor Alison's Avatar
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    Wooooo hooooo!! Combine that with the top-drawer qualities we have in our new CEO, Mark Sinderberry, and rugby in WA and at the Force could really go places!!

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    Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby

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    Veteran valzc's Avatar
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    About bloody time the ARU acknowledged they haven't done enough.

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  4. #4
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    I see the fingerprints of Sinderberry all over this one. Well done, Mark!!!

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