Hodgson, McCalman and Charles aligned with Perth Spirit

[The InnFORCEr]

7/21/2014
By ARU Media, RugbyWA Media Unit



Qantas Wallaby allocations for the upcoming Buildcorp National Rugby Championship have been announced today with Matt Hodgson, Ben McCalman and Nathan Charles all aligned with the Perth Spirit.

In general, Qantas Wallabies will be aligned to the NRC team that is affiliated with their Premier Club, with each NRC team entitled to four Test players outside of their 33-man contracted squad.

Western Force and Wallaby prop, Pek Cowan, will be aligned with Sydney club, North Harbour Rays to be situated closer to his family during the Championship.

If an NRC team elects to have more than four Qantas Wallabies aligned to their team, extra Test players will be counted as part of their contracted playing squad.

All Buildcorp NRC squads will include a combination of players from the Qantas Wallabies; Super Rugby; and club Rugby representatives from across the country.

Announcements regarding other player contracting arrangements will be made by each NRC team in the weeks leading into the opening round of the competition, which kicks off on Thursday 21 August.

Players recognised as Qantas Wallabies for the purposes of the Buildcorp NRC are those that were named in Australia’s 32-man playing squad for the June Test series against France.

ARU General Manager – National Teams & Rugby Operations, Andrew Fagan, said the announcement of player allocations was an important milestone for the competition.

“Rugby fans naturally have a strong connection to their national representatives, so it’s important for them to know which players are affiliated with their chosen NRC teams,” Mr Fagan said.

“The alignment of current Test players to the Buildcorp NRC is significant for the promotion of individual teams and the competition, while the potential still exists for players to train or play with their affiliated NRC team when they are not on international duty.”

ARU’s broadcast partner FOX SPORTS will broadcast one live NRC match each week. This will form part of a bumper Thursday night Rugby line-up, starting with live coverage of the New Zealand ITM Cup at 5.30pm, a live NRC match from 7.30pm to 9.30pm, leading into FOX SPORTS Rugby HQ.

To view the complete Buildcorp National Rugby Championship draw for 2014, please visit: http://www.rugby.com.au/nrc/FixturesDraw.aspx


Buildcorp National Rugby Championship – Qantas Wallabies Alignment


Brisbane City

· Will Genia

· James Horwill


Great Sydney Rams

· Kurtley Beale

· Ben Alexander

· Rob Horne

· Tatafu Polota-Nau

· Tevita Kuridrani


Melbourne Rising

· Scott Higginbotham

· Luke Jones


North Harbour Rays

· Scott Fardy

· Michael Hooper

· Wycliff Palu

· Pek Cowan


NSW Country Eagles

· Adam Ashley-Cooper

· Sekope Kepu

· Matt Toomua

· Nic White


Queensland Country

· Rob Simmons

· James Slipper


Perth Spirit

· Nathan Charles

· Matt Hodgson

· Ben McCalman


Sydney Stars

· Israel Folau

· Bernard Foley

· Nick Phipps

· Will Skelton


University of Canberra Vikings

· Sam Carter

· Christian Leali’ifano

· Pat McCabe

· Scott Sio


About the Buildcorp National Rugby Championship:

· The Buildcorp National Rugby Championship is Australia’s new domestic Rugby competition.

· Nine teams will compete in the inaugural season of the Buildcorp National Rugby Championship - two teams from Queensland, four from New South Wales and one each from the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Western Australia.

· The Buildcorp NRC will kick off on Thursday 21 August 2014 and will run until the beginning of November 2014.

· The competition will include eight preliminary rounds, with each team playing four home and four away games, one bye week, semi-finals and a final.

· For more information, visit: http://www.rugby.com.au/nrc

http://www.rugbywa.com.au/NewsEvents...th-Spirit.aspx

[AndyS]

It will be interesting to see how they handle players outside the game day squad - whether they'll be released to play, when the decision will be made, etc. In some respects it may be more disruptive to have them than not, if they are going to be parachuted in the day before the match without having spent any time training with the team.

[GIGS20]

So how much are the Greater Sydney Rams paying for their fifth Wallaby?

or is that all handled with brown paper bags and match payments?

[shasta]

So how much are the Greater Sydney Rams paying for their fifth Wallaby?

or is that all handled with brown paper bags and match payments?

They are only counting those who were in the June Test squad.

[G_Beard]

Not pleased that Pek has been based in Sydney.

[Sheikh]

So Moore, Cooper and Pocock don't count as Wallabies, or are their injuries severe enough that they are out of the NRC?

And what about: Douglas, Dennis, Hoiles and Ryan for the Tahs, Hanson, Ryan, Holmes, Gill, Robinson, the Fainga'a's, CFS, Tapuai, Shipperly, Davies, Turner and Harris for the Reds and Mogg for the Brumbies. They've all played for the Wallabies, yet Hodgson, who didn't play in the June Tests takes up one of our Wallaby spots?

[James]

Does it really matter? It's not like those Wallaby spots are valuable in any way. Who else would we have in Hodgson's place?

[Sheikh]

Probably not, and it's nice that Hodgson is being classed as a Wallaby, because I think he should be involved in the RC, but other players who are Wallabies (or are near Wallabies) don't appear to get classed as Test players.

Does this not give an advantage to the NRC team (I'm looking at Brisbane City, probably) who can pick a line-up packed with capped players in a tournament supposedly designed to see new talent come through?

[Alison]

Brisbane City Sheikh? Surely all four of the NSW teams are stronger, no?

[Alison]

Not pleased that Pek has been based in Sydney.

Based on the article, it looks like it was his choice to play in Sydney? :-(

[Tazzmania]

I think this is much ado about nothing.

The NRC is not about fielding the strongest team and win the comp, but rather blooding the next crop of future Super 15 players and giving them the chance to up their skill levels.

Most wallabies will not partake in any event, the more places for fringe players the more chance of building depth for the future.

[travelling_gerry]

So why are they keeping scores?

Spirit for the WIN!!

[jargan83]

Apparently this might need a quote to sink in

Players recognised as Qantas Wallabies for the purposes of the Buildcorp NRC are those that were named in Australia’s 32-man playing squad for the June Test series against France

[Ham105]

Based on the article, it looks like it was his choice to play in Sydney? :-(

Not too much to worry about, IMO. All ARU-contracted players (i.e. Test and Super) would have been asked to list their 1st, 2nd, etc., preference for NRC teams.

Obviously, given each team has at most only 16 super spots (+4 test ambassador spots), it's unlikely that everyone got their first choice.

Also, with 33 players per squad (excluding ambassadors), there must be at least 17 newbies per squad. There will be opportunites for those guys to play.