2
Nick Taylor has picked up the General's comments
Mr Edwards has also given Taylor some fresh views too.
This will now get it in mainstream media. Fantastic
I have been critical of the board in the past but I have nothing but praise for Mark and them all today.
Keep fighting and thanks General
Nick Taylor
Tuesday, 11 April 2017 10:10PM
Western Force claim they have uncovered major flaws in the Australian Rugby Union’s business plan that will be used to cull a side from next year’s Super Rugby competition.
The evaluation, that was only revealed when the Force board met the ARU’s chief operating officer Rob Clarke and chief financial officer Todd Day on Monday, has been described as fundamentally flawed by RugbyWA vice-chairman John Edwards.
The Force have already issued a writ against the ARU in the Supreme Court as they battle the privately owned Melbourne Rebels for survival.
A clause in the alliance agreement signed by the club and the governing body commits both parties through the current broadcast deal that ends in 2020.
“The ARU are considering breaching our alliance agreement and we are not going to allow this without an almighty scrap,” Edwards said.
“It was the worst business plan I have ever seen. They should have been embarrassed putting it in front of us.”
Edwards said the Force were also battling the Victorian government who had threatened to pull funding for the 2020 Bledisloe Cup and a British Lions Test in 2025, games that have not yet even been agreed on for Melbourne, if the Rebels were cut.
“It’s the Force versus the Victorian Government and the Rebels are just a side show,” he said.
“They even had a model where the Rebels stay in the competition for two years before closing down with the ARU taking control.
“On every aspect of the evaluation of a rugby nature we smashed both the Rebels and the Brumbies who were not considered a financial risk in any way which is also flawed.
“The most important thing now is for people to buy their shares in the Own The Force campaign.”
More here
https://thewest.com.au/sport/western...-ng-b88443885z