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Thread: Force set to be axed

  1. #466
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    RUGBY
    John Connolly calls for Brumbies to merge with Rebels as SANZAAR deadline looms

    April 24, 2017 7:44pm
    by JAMIE PANDARAM
    Source: The Daily Telegraph
    AUSTRALIA will be expected to have cut a team loose from Super Rugby within a fortnight.

    SANZAAR has scheduled a board meeting for the week of May 10 in Tokyo, where it’s expected that the ARU and SARU will confirm the axing of teams so Super Rugby can return to 15 sides next year.

    The SANZAAR nations agreed in London in February that the 18-team format is not working, and Australia agreed to lose one team while South Africa will lose two.


    ANDREW SLACK: WHY ARU SHOULD FORCE REBELS OUT

    But since announcing three weeks ago that either the Western Force or Melbourne Rebels will be kicked out, the ARU has been bogged down by legal threats and action from both clubs, leaving the situation as unclear now as on the day of the press conference.

    But the ARU will be expected to attend the Tokyo meeting with confirmation that either the Force or Rebels are gone. If not, the other SANZAAR partners could potentially take legal action against them for not delivering on the agreement that has been signed off by all broadcasters involved.

    It is most likely the Force will get axed, despite the current broadcast agreement guaranteeing their survival until 2020.


    However, former Wallabies coach John “Knuckles” Connolly said the ARU would be wrong to axe the Force and instead believes the Brumbies - who have been declared safe by the national body - should merge with their southern neighbours in Melbourne.

    “The Force really should survive, it’s a rugby stronghold and it’s well positioned,” Connolly said.

    “The Perth market is growing, they’ve developed a lot of talent, half their side is from their local juniors.

    “We want a national game, and they provide it.

    “Melbourne will always struggle to find that foothold with the AFL being so dominant, and the Brumbies from my point of view are fortunate to have escaped.

    “I really think they should merge and become the Melbourne Brumbies. You keep the Brumbies brand and can capitalise on growth in Victoria, and they can split their home games.

    “There’s no perfect scenarios at this point, so I believe this would be making the best of what we’ve got.

    “Losing the Force would be a great shame.”

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  2. #467
    Veteran SNOB's Avatar
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    Seeing as they ARU are so broke maybe they should just do a video conference and save on their flights! Sounding more like jaunts to me!
    Good words from Knuckles!

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    May the FORCE be with you!

  3. #468
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    Super Rugby door ajar for Rebels-Brumbies merger - Wayne Smith The Australian.

    The Australian Rugby Union is pushing ahead with its plans to cull either the Melbourne Rebels or the Western Force from Super Rugby, but Rebels owner Andrew Cox has not turned his back on a hybrid proposal to create the Melbourne Brumbies.

    With Canberra not able to match the projected growth rates of either Melbourne or Perth over the next 10 years, the least disruptive solution for Australian rugby would be for the Brumbies to move to Melbourne and continue the Brumbies brand in the Victorian capital.

    This would entail effectively usurping the Rebels brand, but it has been in existence only since 2006, when it was used in the now defunct Australian Rugby Championship and then resurrected in 2011 when the team entered Super Rugby. By contrast, the Brumbies name has become a global brand over the 22 years that Super Rugby has been played. Indeed, one wonders how it might flourish when the Melbourne business community gets behind it. The Brumbies jersey could still be maintained as Melbourne’s away strip, although the Rebels’ red-white-and-blue would be worn at home games.

    Cox certainly did not drop the phone in horror when the plan for a relocation of the Brumbies was put to him. In his Good Friday statement, he made it clear that he was not prepared to sell the Rebels’ licence if the intention was to shut down the club, but that certainly leaves the door wide open for a relocation of the Brumbies to Melbourne.

    Ironically, Melbourne itself has already relocated two teams of its own, with South Melbourne becoming the Sydney Swans and Fitzroy becoming the Brisbane Lions and both teams are able to tap into their original supporter base whenever the AFL draw takes them back to Melbourne.

    “Obviously, for legal reasons as we have reserved all our rights, I can’t really comment on this idea,” said Cox, when asked his opinion of the idea. “But it’s certainly great to see someone thinking outside the box to help the ARU board find a way out of this. But it is a matter for the ARU board and we certainly haven’t had any discussions with the Brumbies.”

    Certainly it is going to require some courage from ARU chairman Cameron Clyne or chief executive Bill Pulver to admit that the national body acted precipitously in announcing that the Brumbies were no longer on the endangered list.

    Seemingly that’s not about to happen. An ARU spokesman last night insisted it had not altered course. “There has been no change to the ARU’s position that the Brumbies are no longer part of any discussion with regards to the process of reducing to four Super Rugby teams for the 2018 season.”

    But something or someone has to give, and with the Force and Rebels seemingly both having watertight cases to remain in Super Rugby, the ARU seemingly is faced with locked doors whichever way it goes.

    Former Wallabies coach John Connolly said the ARU could not continue with its self-interested approach by excluding the Brumbies from the process. “The position the ARU find themselves in at the moment, this is the only call that makes any sense — the Melbourne Brumbies,” said Connolly. “The ARU is correct in one sense, that we don’t want to continue down the road of maintaining five teams. It is just not sustainable.

    “But the Force have demonstrated their program is one of the best in the country, with almost half their match-day squad being made up of locals. They have two of the best young locks in the country and its proximity to South Africa is only going to become more important in the future. It deserves its place in the competition. And Melbourne is working hard on its under-20 program and will show the benefit of that in the years to come.”

    Cox meanwhile sees opportunities to take Super Rugby back to Canberra on a regular basis, particularly if the Super Rugby draw is expanded by another two rounds. “If there wasn’t a team based in Canberra, I could see that being a possibility,” he said

    The scheduled talks between the Force and the ARU are starting to resemble the Panmunjom talks at the end of the Korean War, where negotiations broke down over the height of flagpoles. Last night the two parties couldn’t even agree that discussions would go ahead on Thursday as planned.

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  4. #469
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    Quote Originally Posted by travelling_gerry View Post
    RUGBY
    John Connolly calls for Brumbies to merge with Rebels as SANZAAR deadline looms

    April 24, 2017 7:44pm
    by JAMIE PANDARAM
    Source: The Daily Telegraph
    AUSTRALIA will be expected to have cut a team loose from Super Rugby within a fortnight.

    SANZAAR has scheduled a board meeting for the week of May 10 in Tokyo, where it’s expected that the ARU and SARU will confirm the axing of teams so Super Rugby can return to 15 sides next year.

    The SANZAAR nations agreed in London in February that the 18-team format is not working, and Australia agreed to lose one team while South Africa will lose two.


    ANDREW SLACK: WHY ARU SHOULD FORCE REBELS OUT

    But since announcing three weeks ago that either the Western Force or Melbourne Rebels will be kicked out, the ARU has been bogged down by legal threats and action from both clubs, leaving the situation as unclear now as on the day of the press conference.

    But the ARU will be expected to attend the Tokyo meeting with confirmation that either the Force or Rebels are gone. If not, the other SANZAAR partners could potentially take legal action against them for not delivering on the agreement that has been signed off by all broadcasters involved.

    It is most likely the Force will get axed, despite the current broadcast agreement guaranteeing their survival until 2020.


    However, former Wallabies coach John “Knuckles” Connolly said the ARU would be wrong to axe the Force and instead believes the Brumbies - who have been declared safe by the national body - should merge with their southern neighbours in Melbourne.

    “The Force really should survive, it’s a rugby stronghold and it’s well positioned,” Connolly said.

    “The Perth market is growing, they’ve developed a lot of talent, half their side is from their local juniors.

    “We want a national game, and they provide it.

    “Melbourne will always struggle to find that foothold with the AFL being so dominant, and the Brumbies from my point of view are fortunate to have escaped.

    “I really think they should merge and become the Melbourne Brumbies. You keep the Brumbies brand and can capitalise on growth in Victoria, and they can split their home games.

    “There’s no perfect scenarios at this point, so I believe this would be making the best of what we’ve got.

    “Losing the Force would be a great shame.”
    How is it this guy still says we will be axed when almost everyone else seems to feel we have a strong legal argument and won't be?

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  5. #470
    Veteran Sheikh's Avatar
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    If Cox gets to keep the Rebels licence and they move the Brumbies to Melbourne, does this mean that the ARU are effectively giving the Brumbies to Cox? It's a take-over, but he has to keep the Brumbies name and play a game in Canberra every so often.

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    Published 25 minutes ago:

    AUSTRALIAN Rugby Union is holding firm on safeguarding the Brumbies amid calls to merge the club with Melbourne Rebels as part of a Super Rugby downsizing.

    Rebels boss Andrew Cox has welcomed discussion of the idea, raised by former Wallabies coach John Connolly who has backed the vulnerable Western Force to remain in the competition.

    But an ARU spokesman said there had been no change in its position that the Brumbies were excluded from discussions around axing an Australian team.

    Both the Rebels and Force have insisted the ARU has no legal right to remove them following governing body SANZAAR’s decision to reduce Super Rugby by three teams, including two from South Africa.


    Connolly, who also coached the Queensland Reds during a successful period in the 1990s, told News Corp Australia the ACT-based Brumbies were fortunate to survive the axe.

    His merger proposal would see the “Melbourne Brumbies” split their home games between the locations, while the Force’s ability to produce homegrown talent entitled them a place in the competition.

    Cox told News Corp no discussions with the Brumbies had taken place regarding a merger.

    http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/ar...1268918a7d5698

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  7. #472
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    God the ARU are stubborn. It seems MOST folks agree the merger is by far the easiest option, even before the Force were announced on the block.

    Still, the ARU refuse to entertain the option. They are like petulant children.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sheikh View Post
    If Cox gets to keep the Rebels licence and they move the Brumbies to Melbourne, does this mean that the ARU are effectively giving the Brumbies to Cox? It's a take-over, but he has to keep the Brumbies name and play a game in Canberra every so often.
    That's a f@&king good deal for Cox, he gets to align himself with over 20 years of history and the title of most successful team in aussie rugby. It doesn't matter that the brumbies are a financial and administrative basket case, the Reds are saddled with their own financial difficulties, but have an endless pipeline of ARU promises

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    C'mon the

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    Legend Contributor Alison's Avatar
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    What is it that the Brumbies have on the ARU that makes the ARU refuse to entertain any compromise that involves the Brumbies?

    That the ARU refuses to consider the Brumbies but won't make their axing criteria public points to something very dodgy imo.

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  10. #475
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alison View Post
    What is it that the Brumbies have on the ARU that makes the ARU refuse to entertain any compromise that involves the Brumbies?

    That the ARU refuses to consider the Brumbies but won't make their axing criteria public points to something very dodgy imo.
    Perhaps by Cox taking on the Brumbies, the books will have to be made open to his accountants before a sale, and there's a pretty good possibility of details not intended to be found out. The behaviour of the ARU has been something like the Gambino family, just waiting The Iceman to knock someone off!

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  11. #476
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alison View Post
    What is it that the Brumbies have on the ARU that makes the ARU refuse to entertain any compromise that involves the Brumbies?

    That the ARU refuses to consider the Brumbies but won't make their axing criteria public points to something very dodgy imo.
    Someone in canberra must have a picture of an aru official with a donkey, or possibly a brumby. That's my take on it.

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    I am really a Palmyra troll.

  12. #477
    Legend Contributor Alison's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by valzc View Post
    Perhaps by Cox taking on the Brumbies, the books will have to be made open to his accountants before a sale, and there's a pretty good possibility of details not intended to be found out. The behaviour of the ARU has been something like the Gambino family, just waiting The Iceman to knock someone off!
    Great ananlogy Val! There is something VERY stinky going on!

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  13. #478
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alison View Post
    What is it that the Brumbies have on the ARU that makes the ARU refuse to entertain any compromise that involves the Brumbies?

    That the ARU refuses to consider the Brumbies but won't make their axing criteria public points to something very dodgy imo.
    Federal Police investigation?
    ASIC investigation?

    I dare say the criteria to axe a side will never be made public because the 3 teams that are exempt from an axing probably wouldn't meet the criteria.

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    This is a durian fruit. A fruit whose stench is so bad that it's banned on the MRT in Singapore. Yet it still smells sweeter than what's happening at the ARU right now.
    Attached Images Attached Images  

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    Quote Originally Posted by Alison View Post
    What is it that the Brumbies have on the ARU that makes the ARU refuse to entertain any compromise that involves the Brumbies?

    That the ARU refuses to consider the Brumbies but won't make their axing criteria public points to something very dodgy imo.
    At a minimum, there is a lot of connection to the Brumbies on the ARU board. The problem is that in the same way the Shute Shield is not the future of Australian rugby, neither is the Brumbies. You can't rest on past glories.

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