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From this morning's Australian Newspaper - NRC news
Western Force fears axe hovers over their NRC side
The Australian12:00AM August 14, 2017
WAYNE SMITH
Senior sport writerBrisbane
@WayneKeithSmith
The Western Force fear that it is not just their Super Rugby team the Australian Rugby Union is intent on terminating, but also their National Rugby Championship side, the Perth Spirit.
Force chief executive Mark Sinderberry confirmed last night the Perth club would seek leave this morning to appeal to the Supreme Court against the ARU decision to strip them of their licence, with a hearing likely to be fast-tracked to ensure a decision within two weeks.
Meanwhile, it has come to light that the ARU also intends cutting the Perth Spirit from the NRC at the end of this season. RugbyWA vice-chairman John Edwards said the club only realised their NRC team was also under threat during negotiations a few weeks ago after the ARU had issued a Termination of Alliance Agreement. (The agreement is the contract signed between the Force and the ARU when the national body bought the Super Rugby licence in June last year.)
“In the course of renegotiation about what would happen should we lose the arbitration, the NRC Spirit team was in the Alliance as well and we asked them about that,” said Edwards. “They basically said this will be their last season, the one that’s about to start.
“We said: ‘Why would you do that?’ And they said they were not quite sure there would be much support for (the team), or much *interest.
“We reacted to this by reminding them what the N in NRC stands for and that this was a very important pathway — oh, and we won it last year — and that this should in no way be linked to the Force outcome.
“What they did say, with not much credit, was that they would look at it after the season. That’s their intention.”
An ARU spokesman said yesterday nothing official had yet been resolved about the Perth NRC side beyond the end of this season. “If they are saying that we are making plans to wrap them up beyond this year, that’s different to saying there are no plans beyond this year,” the spokesman said.
Still, the differentiation might be lost on Force staff and supporters, who are desperately feeling the pain of Friday’s decision to cut the team. Certainly any attempt by the national body to eliminate not just the last step to the Wallabies, the Super Rugby side, but also the next-to-last step, the NRC side, will be seen as the ultimate betrayal. And it would fly in the face of the statement issued on Friday by ARU chairman Cameron Clyne.
“Western Australia will retain an important place in Australian rugby and the ARU will continue to support youth development programs and the community game in the West,” Clyne said. “There will be a clear pathway for young Western Australian rugby players to reach the highest levels and represent the Wallabies.”
When asked about the Perth NRC side and what role it would play, Wallabies coach Michael Cheika replied: “If that’s what will be there — I’m not sure where that organisation is — but if that’s what will be there, then that is what we will focus on, pushing the talent into there.
“Whatever that might be, it’s about us identifying those players a little younger (than NRC age). In the shorter period, that would be done. It’s the next generation. We have to make sure our fans and volunteers and people who participate in the game are still very engaged so the next generation of players and kids, they’re still seeing rugby as something they want to be involved in.”
There has been fallout on both sides of this civil war, with ARU chief executive Bill Pulver announcing he will resign as soon as a replacement can be found.
Former CEO of the Waratahs, the Rugby Union Players Association and the Western Force, Greg Harris, confirmed yesterday he had an interest in applying for the position. “You’ve got to attack it front-on. It’s one thing to have the courage to make it work, but you would also need to have the support of the ARU board,” Harris said.
Geoff Stooke, who resigned from the ARU board in protest at Friday’s decision, said yesterday Australian rugby needed to address both its finances and the high-performance areas while still keeping five Super Rugby teams.
“I don’t ignore the fact that there will be financial difficulties but they can be worked through,” Stooke said.
“And as for the suggestion that we’re spreading the players too thin by having five teams, that’s not been proven. We’re now providing a solution before we have identified the cause. The high-performance area needs to be looked at both from a national and from a state basis.”
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