Where to for Oz Beyond Super Rugby

[hertryk]

In Monday’s Australian, Bret Harris quoted an unnamed Australian rugby CEO saying the ARU had to be prepared let South Africa and New Zealand go “if a thorough cost analysis demonstrated that expanding to a 17 or 18-team Super Rugby competition would imperil the financial viability of the professional game in Australia.”
Such sentiment has been met with derision from plenty of commentators in New Zealand and South Africa, who see Australia as a basket case. This is at least partly fair; the ARU squandered its early, TV-provdied financial strength. But what’s done is done, so the question is: how does the ARU come up with a way to survive in the face of clearly conflicting interests from its SANZAR partners?
At this stage, the only realistic solution appears to be in line with Harris’ unnamed CEO; the ARU must leave New Zealand and South Africa to it in Super Rugby if they insist on an expanded format that would threaten the solvency of Australian Rugby.
From here things get trickier still. What does Australian rugby do in the interim to ensure it remains competitive internationally? There is a way forward that doesn’t involve Super Rugby.
First, use this as an opportunity to plough more into the National Rugby Championship. Have it functionally replace Super Rugby at the start of the year, when the new Super Rugby tournament featuring only NZ and SA teams starts. You can then run that tournament through to May or June with a proper finals series.
This would obviously have a much weaker pull than Super Rugby. To at least partially make up for the drop in standards and interest, you follow this series with a three-match rugby union State of Origin series.
The vast majority of Australian Rugby players continue to be drawn from NSW and Queensland, so holding an Origin series would not exclude too many players, and would restore the ‘representative’ identity that both teams lost with the formation of the Super Rugby franchise system.
The sad fact is these games no longer posses the spite and feeling that they once did, as players go back and forth between the provinces, leaving little room for the entrenched historical angers of rugby league’s hallmark series.
Given the dominance of the Sydney and Brisbane, only a few players will be excluded from this match, meaning it would also be the perfect litmus test for would-be Wallabies prior to the international season.
Ultimately, it would be better if we could keep Super Rugby, but the ARU has to start thinking smarter about the future, and a remodeled calendar which places the national competition front and centre before a rugby union Origin series makes sense from a development and marketing perspective.

[The InnFORCEr]

Complete load of crap, lose Super Rugby and that will spell the end of rugby in Australia IMHO. Who is going to fund this ludicrous suggestion??

[jargan83]

Brett Harris must have been high when he wrote this

[shasta]

Having a public brainfart there for sure. But I don't dismiss the possibility of expanded Super being punted by the ARU is totally out of the question. There are plenty of ES club officials who see us and the Rabble as an expensive mistake and would rather concentrate on the "heartlands". They, of course have their heads where the sun dont shine.

[blueandblack]

Since Bret is focused on copying rugby league, maybe we don't need to expand Super Rugby. Transfer the Reds and the Waratahds to rugby league then get in a pair of other teams (Japan & Pacific Island perhaps?). That should solve things...apart from lack of funds.

[jargan83]

Transfer the Reds and the Waratahds to rugby league

I thought the St George Reds were already a feeder side for the St George Dragons?

[GIGS20]

Complete load of crap, lose Super Rugby and that will spell the end of rugby in Australia IMHO. Who is going to fund this ludicrous suggestion??

Obviously the hundreds of thousands of NSW and Qld dwellers who would turn up to see a state of origin match between the third and fourth best teams in Aussie rugby!

Complete twaddle by a faceless apologist for all things NSWRU.

[The Man]

gee what a scoop! Why dod you think we have the NRC??

[Rex Messup]

The ARU needs to think outside of the paradigm
Australia has a small population
How can we make $$$ out of the largest populations masses?
get Japan and China into super rugby and build the Oz rugby brands in Asia
Western Force would love to sell merchandise to several million people in Asia
Out of the box thinking
Playing Oz rugby franchises twice is a model that is causing bankruptcy....and is doomed
20 teams, globalise the super concept and manipulate the population concentrations. Play each team once.
So much opportunity outside of the small rugby community of Australia
Innovate or die
These people need me
Dead set

[chibi]

Wouldn't harm the Force to sign a couple of Japanese players either...

[beige]

I should point out that article was written by someone called "Daniel Roos-Tah": http://www.theroar.com.au/2014/04/23...d-super-rugby/

[jargan83]

The Roar....

Article makes a lot more sense now. The ramblings of one of the usual idiots that writes on The Roar

[Tonkar]

Maybe the ARU are asking for suggestions from ES folk on how do we politly tell the rebels and force we dont need them any more
I think I might start a book on published comments suggesting to politly remove the Rebels and the force from the comp... This one would be high up there...


What the ES folk forget is that at present the Force and the rebels are paying in to the big black hole they get paid from.. Yes we have had a few slow yrs with money issuses but most of that was because of bad player contracts ( Bloody Eastern states players wanting to much and giving nothing back )) now we back on track with Sindlebury and the team thinking out of the square ...

[GIGS20]

( Bloody Eastern states players wanting to much and giving nothing back )) now we back on track with Sindlebury and the team thinking out of the square ...

unfortunately that doesn't help the ES franchises as much as having two development franchises to give game time and coaching to the fringe players they don't want/can't afford to and then contracting the ones who fall through the sieve as capable players at the end.

Both the Rebs and the Force have embraced the idea of looking OS for players, most of whom couldn't give two shits about living in Sydney unless they have family there. I suspect most of our SA brigade would call Perth their Aussie home and need a fair bit of money to go live in a cesspit like Waratahland.

Another master stroke by Sinderberry