Good point Bakkies. Wonder how that bankruptcy trajectory is looking now......
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Good point Bakkies. Wonder how that bankruptcy trajectory is looking now......
It's a ripper isn't it. They are better off bankrupt so de Clyne has another breach of fudiciary duties against his name.
This is while teflon John sits on the money gained from his 2.7 million dollar pay out for doing a shit job and creating the Rebels.
Can anyone access Wayne smiths article today about pay deal and force? Title reads : Pay deal grants ‘Force’ lifeline... but who’ll go west?
NRC: Perth Spirit wins lifeline under CBA
Chairman of Rugby WA, John Edwards. Picture: Will Russell/Getty Images.
The Australian
12:00AM January 11, 2018
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Wayne Smith
Senior sport writer
Brisbane
@WayneKeithSmith
It’s a slender lifeline at best but the future of the Perth team in the *National Rugby Championship has been secured until the end of the current broadcast deal in 2020 by the collective bargaining agreement jointly announced yesterday by Rugby Australia and the Rugby Union Players Association.
According to RA, the future of the Perth Spirit — or, as it has been rechristened in the wake of the *recent settlement between the *national body and RugbyWA, the Western Force — was never in doubt. The only issue was whether the NRC itself might change, *becoming either a national club championship or perhaps was merged with Andrew Forrest’s planned Indo Pacific Rugby Championship. Either way, *according to the national body, it was always intended to maintain a Perth component.
RugbyWA chairman John *Edwards remembers the conversation somewhat differently. When Perth’s Super Rugby team, the original Western Force, was about to be shut down, he recalls it was RA’s intention to also close the NRC team on the grounds it would quickly lose its competitive edge following the Force’s demise.
“It was definitely under threat,” Edwards told The Australian *yesterday. “We had to fight hard to keep it. In the end, they (RA) felt they couldn’t do with any more bad press.”
RugbyWA’s hope now is to keep its NRC team competitive by recruiting former players who have relocated to Super Rugby franchises in the eastern states — particularly those who have still maintained homes in Perth. The plan is to find a recently retired Wallaby who is still fit enough to lead the team and show the youngsters what’s needed at Super Rugby level.
No one is saying it publicly, not until yesterday at least, but by keeping rugby alive in Perth at NRC level, it would make it so much easier from RA to revive the professional game in the west should the landscape change in the coming years.
“We remain very open-minded about what future professional rugby competitions might look like,” said RUPA chief executive Ross Xenos. “This CBA that has been announced today has a term that runs through to the end of 2020 and that was a conscious *decision to only have a short-term agreement in order to allow for flexibility based on whatever the competition model looks like in 2021.
“Clearly not having a Super Rugby team in WA is a setback but if the collective view is that we need to put measures in place now to potentially reintroduce a professional team in WA in the future (and) maintaining a rugby pathway for young rugby players is an absolutely critical step,” Xenos said. “If we did not have that (NRC) team there, what would the pathway look like for aspiring players in WA? If they didn’t have that semi-professional team to aim for, how would they be seen in the shopfront competition?”
Yet the demise of Super Rugby in the west is already being felt. Even before the 2018 season *begins, virtually no east coast players have moved to Perth to play in the club competition, as they have done in considerable numbers in years past in an attempt to impress Force recruiters.
This was the first CBA to take a “whole of game” approach, which means that all of women’s rugby has been brought inside the tent. Although the news for the women’s rugby was again only modest, the Wallaroos — the *national women’s team — will *directly benefit from the CBA.
Players selected in the Wallaroos will earn match payments of $1000 per international while players who join team assemblies but are not required to play in the Test will be paid $500. “Those players are taking leave from work and travelling overseas and doing so on limited per diems allowances and this is recognition now that playing for your national team should have some compensation going with it, albeit not at a significant level to start with,” Xenos said.
At present, the international calendar for women’s 15-a-side players is sparse, bordering on non-existent, and Australian players are suffering compared to those is the northern hemisphere who can compete in the annual women’s Six Nations. Moreover, it is increasingly being recognised that promoting sevens rugby ahead of the 15-a-side form in the women’s game is causing complications. “One of the limitations of sevens is that, unlike the 15s side of the game, there is not necessarily a place on the field for all shapes and sizes,” said Xenos. “And rugby is a game for all.”
The male professionals, meanwhile, have pledged under the CBA to commit $750,000 of their own money over three years to help make the Australian programs more competitive. Each year, RUPA will donate $50,000 to each of the four provinces, as well as $50,000 to the sevens *program, on areas such as sports psychology and medical support.
With the CBA also confirming a RUPA place on the high performance panel that RA is putting in place, the hope is that experts in the field will be able to identify where the money is most needed. “We’re putting our money where our mouth is,” said Xenos.
It was also announced yesterday that while 2018 is a transitional year, parameters have been set for 2019 and 2020, with the *salary cap fixed at $5.5 million. But the CBA has also built in an *advantage — again modest — for the heartland rugby states of NSW and Queensland.
They continue to provide the bulk of professional players in the country and Most players begin their Super Rugby careers at the Waratahs or Reds. As a result, they should *benefit most from the new *provision that allows franchises to count in their salary caps only 85 per cent of the wages of players who have been with them for seven or more years.
Hardly a wonderful gesture by RA to have the Spirit/Force in the NRC in 2018, as if I recall correctly, Twiggy has offered to sponsor the NRC on that condition.
If RA genuinely wanted a secure pathway to the Wallabies in WA they fully endorse the IPRC and allow Wallabies to be selected from it.
Anything less is just pure lip service or a complete fabrication to make them sound like they care.
Thanks Bakkies
"*becoming either a national club championship or perhaps was merged with Andrew Forrest’s planned Indo Pacific Rugby Championship. Either way, *according to the national body, it was always intended to maintain a Perth component."
1. NRC is the Perth Spirit not the Force - Period
2. IPRC is ran during the Super season NRC is after the season (Same as SA&NZ provincial comps)
3. If the East RA want a spot in the IPRC give the West a spot in Super
4. If the above happens Fuck off any idea of any club aligned with the Tahs and give western Sydney a team
5. Bullshit the national body always intended to maintain a Perth component. Only through the hard yards from WA people and true rugby people has it been proven that the Force never should of been axed yet considered. WA is a Rugby state weather the RA want it to be or not
Thoughts from GIGS
F@$K off, NRC is Perth Spirit, you can't kill one of our top tier teams simply by changing the name to the other one.
News flash Wayne, if the NRC becomes the premier rugby competition in Australia, a significant majority of WA punters won't go to watch the games simply because it means giving money to the duplicitous arseholes at RA. I know I won't be watching the Waratahs, Reds Rebels or Brumbies play ever again.
Horseshit, it was always on the cards, it made sense. If they were truly interested in keeping rugby alive in the west, they wouldn't be incessantly stalling the IPRC. John Edwards is probably right, they just got sick of all of Australia's press seeing through their plans.
Interesting......wonder who?*
Again, if the ARU/Rat's Arse don't actually show some support for WA rugby I won't be pulling their arse out of the fire buying a membership.
Said it twice before, I'll say it again, professional rugby in WA will fail unless something significant is done to support the efforts of John and the team. and I mean something significant before May, not in October 2019
They would obviously go and warm the bench on the Tahs, wouldn't they?
No shit Sherlock, rugby in WA has been put back 20 years by this. Not only will nobody come from the east, but aspiring players will turn away, looking for a sport in which the governing body supports them.
Ahem, there are seven provinces....unless you play rugby of course.
Note this money doesn't even come from Rat's Arse, it's the players own money, given back to them, to support high performance outcomes in their teams. Not really a revolution, is it?
NO! I'm shocked, RUPA has locked in the hegemony.
"Most players begin their Super Rugby Carrers at the Waratahs or Reds? How does that happen when both routinely boast the most experienced squads in the country and there have been (up until now) 150% of the places in other teams? It sounds like another Rat's Arse-researched number pulled our of Patsy Clyne's arse.
I understand why Force fans are hurting: Pulver
AAP West Australian 11 Jan 2018
I'm a little confused by the comments attributed to outgoing EARU CEO, Bill Pulver, in today's West Australian.
"Part of this agreement (referring to the new CBA) is locking in the NRC team for WA for the remainder of the period through to 2020 and that was a very important issue for them," he said.
"Them" in this context, I assume refers to RUPA (but it could also refer to earlier reference to "WA rugby fans").
There is no reference made to RugbyWA.
In light of the assurances provided in the ARU press release on 11 August 2017, related to the axing of the Western Force, specifically:
"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. There will be a clear pathway for young Western Australian Rugby players to reach the highest level and represent the Wallabies".
Surely the retention of a NRC team for WA was also an important issue for the EARU (aka Rugby Australia) as without an NRC team there can't be a clear pathway for young WA rugby players.
It seems that Bill Pulver believes that WA rugby fans should be eternally grateful for something that should NEVER have been in question.
However, without a Perth-based professional team, the only "clear pathways" are the Great Eastern Highway or the Perth Airport departure lounge.
Hmm. I've done a little digging into this. In order to qualify for "seven or more years" with the franchise, they have to have been with them since 2011. Players who have been with a franchise that long are:Quote:
Originally Posted by Wayne Smith
Waratahs: Kepu (since 2008), Foley (since 2011), Horne (since 2008), and possibly Mumm (2007-2015, and since 2017).
Reds: Slipper (since 2010) and possibly Cooper (2007-2015, and since 2017).
Brumbies: Carter (since 2011), Lealiafano (since 2007), Speight (since 2011)
Rebels: Weeks (since 2011)
So that's 8 players (plus maybe a couple more if non-continuous years get counted, which doesn't sound like rewarding loyalty to me!), 3 each for the Tahs and Brumbies and 1 each for the Reds and Rebels. So not a huge benefit, and the Reds hardly benefit at all.
BTW, I think we'd have had at least 3 - Hodgson, Cowan & McCalman, plus DHP if non-consecutive years counted!
Has there ever been a player selected for the Wallabies directly from the NRC ? As Andrewg so eloquently put the options for young players is only twofold and neither benefits WA rugby . Furthermore where will these players fit into the current professional environment when they have to hit the highway ? Certainly ERU teams will have their own youngsters . This is lip service from RA pure and simple .