Originally Posted by
AndyS
TOCC, while I would agree in retrospect that the $5million could have been better spent on just about anything rather than any ARC without follow-through, that wasn't the point I was making. My observation was that the club in question went into the whole exercise with that attitude, which will continue to be the sort of self-interest that will blight this issue. If it was not their solution, it was always going to be the wrong solution.
But to summarise your position then, it seems you have no opinion about how a new comp should be structured but are simultaneously certain that there must exist a structure that is viable, in the best interests of Australian Rugby, involves the clubs and keeps all of them happy. Using your example of Sunnybank, you are not advocating that Sunnybank be promoted to a national comp but expect that the new comp could still access Sunnybanks enormous finacial backing, their player depth, their facilites and their supporters. That would be perfect, so if you haven't given any thought to the make-up of the new comp, please do. But make sure it also does those things for all the other Premier clubs in Brisbane and Sydney too, otherwise there will be squabbling and, dare I say it, self-interest.
When you can visualise such a structure, I'd be interested in discussing it further. But just to clarify, I don't think the ARC as was should be reinstated unchanged either. I think structurally it was correct in terms of where the teams were located, but the one big change I would make is that each ARC team would be initially owned by the regional Premier clubs in equal shares. What they then did with that ownership share would be up to them, but they would at least have had the opportunity to participate. My hope would be that equal ownership shares would give each Premier club involved equal weight, preventing the smaller clubs from being disenfranchised. And who knows - with them also then in line to share any future revenues, they might even get behind the comp!