The Force & Local Clubs vs Eastern clubs wtf!!!!

[Working Class]

A ARC like competiton needs to be ressurected. But this time open up the player market to foriegn players. Argentines, Islanders, Americans so on. With a stronger more credible administration now in place it would have more of an inprint. And make it a 12 team competion.

[rahrahgirl]

tyhe problem with even an 8 team event was money, there wasnt any going round.

i think the most likely thing to work towards would be an under 20's and a reserve grade contest during the australian pool stage of the super 15

[prop53]

God you all go off on different things we are suppose to be on about keeping our super 14 s players here in Perth in our Local Comp where does a under 20s and reserve grade come into it ? That is for the future not the present

[rahrahgirl]

its about them getting better though and unfortunatly in the short term them playing here would be a step down than playing in the east. an under 20's and reserve grade comp is just an idea for bridging the gap.

there is no use keeping a player in perth if it isnt going to push him to get better. there are arguments for and against but you can see as mentioned in a couple of posts above that players can be spotted and selected from club rugby in sydney and qld, whilst i dont think having a good game in perth would result in the same happening.

[beige]

Well the problem is we're kind of in limbo until the new season structure comes in 2011.

But anyway, fine, here's an idea and people can tear it apart all they want - Rugby WA invests some money in videotaping the first grade games and sends them to the Wallabies coaching staff so that they can keep track of how the Force players are going over here.

[prop53]

So whats the point of it all then let them all play where ever they want to.

[rahrahgirl]

its a balance of playing ranks to though isnt it.

i mean in the sydney comp if randwick is playing against penrith, the score is usually 150-0, so the quality of opposition comes into question. unfortunately, especiually while the wallaby camp is in sydney for the major part of the year, being in sydney and playing in high profile games will get you noticed.

ad the fact that deans has asked all the wallabies to be available to a qld or sydney team if they miss wallaby selection that week and you have a pretty storng tap fromt he man your trying to impress telling you to get east.

its a very hard problem to solve. perhaps the scheduling will change with club rugby along with super rugby so force players can at least spend a few weeks at the end of a season with a wa club.

does the force coaching staff help out WA clubs at the completion of the super season. they probably do already but it would be nice for them to do a training run with each club to help point people in the right direction.

[GIGS20]

I'll go out on the inevitable limb here, the only reason the ARC lost money is because the Sydney clubs (and I think the Qld clubs to a lesser extent) charged exorbitant amounts for players and then demanded compensation to replace them in the Shute Shield.....To my memory, that counted for all but about 800K of the shortfall....now if a competition can make a loss of 800K in it's first year, with no media representation and no real startup marketing, imagine how things would go in year 2......they probably would have made enough to cover the larceny of the Sydney clubs.

I think an ARC-level comp needs to exist for the good of rugby in Australia, either the idea needs to have some form of buy-in from the established Eastern States clubs or JON needs to have more huevos than Flowers and tell the clubs to shove it, the comp's running and if you can't keep players, stiff shit!

Think about it people, if we're going to be running a fifth team in 2 years, how the hell are we going to prepare talent for it without a national level copmetition to blood the fringe players?

Yeah Yeah I know, we'll franchise the club to a consortium from Japan, Argentina and the Pacific Islands and make a friggin' mint from it.....unfortunately, the Wallabies will be stuck without a decent talent pool until somebody cares about actually winning international matches and is prepared to spend some money to do it.

(That is spend money on things other than buying expensive, washed up league imports)

[rahrahgirl]

thats why i suggested an under 20's & reserve grade comp to be run in conjunction with the super rugby pool or whatever they call it. its 8 games which is the same as the ARC was anyway and bloods an extra 60 players each year (per team), plus the teams can fall under the guise of rep teams so clubs will have to release them. maybe they can even schedule breaks in club games while these are on.

[beige]

The rep thing won't help cos the NSWRU will go in to bat for their clubs anyway (O'Neill already tried to get a 3 week comp between the 4 Super franchises for October this year and it got shot down at the first hurdle).

[GIGS20]

But it doesn't answer the void in rugby for fringe players when the International season begins....the ARC is gone, Australia A is gone, the under 20's are already catered for.......these guys need regular week-in week-out rugby......I'd even be happy if it took place on the East Coast to cut down travel costs, I'd watch the whole thing on the Telly and still barrack for the Spirit, but seriously, it needs to happen so these players get blooded into this level of rugby, in a real, extended competition!

[rahrahgirl]

i can understand the clubs wanting to keep there players, thats why i suggested an overhaul of the schedule when the expansion comes in.

i dont think to many qld or syd clubs are that well off, losing players could cost them there futures and they have every right to want the best deal for them.

thats why they should be sitting down now and saying right in two years we need to do things better.

the super rugby season starts a month before club rugby so there is four or five weeks of games there.

then have a break for four weeks here, the schedule is, carry on.......

but they just seem to fragment it more everytime they try something.

[Working Class]

I believe there should be a 10 team U20's or Reserve grade competition set up. The sides will be Sydney, Western Sydney, Newcastle/illawarra, Brisbane, Gold Coast, North Queensland, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. Run over 18 weeks on a home and away basis. With a top 5 finals series. Hell it could even be a 12 team comp. But it will give us a whole other level to select players from. However it would require significant restructuring of the existing club structures.

---------- Post added at 17:40 ---------- Previous post was at 17:39 ----------

Over time the focus should begin to focus on this comp. Hence the organic and gradual growth of a national competition.

[welshrugbyfan]

Were just behind when it comes to rugby here and thats all.

With the amount of ex pats living here plus our blossoming junior level of rugby it's still going to take a few more years for the club comp to be on a par with whats on offer over East.

The first grade comp is the best its been talent wise and its only going to get better and better. Eventually the Force will be scouting players from the local club scene as a regular thing.

The Shute Shield isn't a god like comp, there just clubs that have been around longer and have sponsors with a bit more coin.

Give it time, rugby has only just taken off in this state really and good things are ahead.

[prop53]

we can all but live in hope ?