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I would rather support the Sunwolves than any other team in our proposed conference, plus I want one of those hats!
At least we can still get some joy out of beating the others and if that means loading it with a few Force players, so be it. One is already there in Big Sam![]()
80 Minutes, 15 Positions, No Protection, Wanna Ruck?
Ruck Me, Maul Me, Make Me Scrum!
Education is Important, but Rugby is Importanter!
The idea of an affiliation between Rugby WA and Asia Rugby is appealing.
- Perth is on or within an hour of the same time zone as the major rugby playing nations of Asia.
- There are strong business links between Perth and Asian countries with an interest in Rugby Union.
- Asia Rugby includes familiar friends Japan Rugby Football Union, Singapore Rugby Union and Hong Kong Rugby Football Union (7s anyone?).
- Persatuan Rugby Union Indonesia is the union of our nearest and highly important neighbour - Jakarta is closer to Perth than Sydney or Brisbane.
- Not forgetting the 800 pound Gorilla in the Asia Rugby room - Chinese Rugby Football Association. I have heard that rugby is growing in the Chinese Universities.
- What could Rugby WA bring to Asia Rugby? Training? Coaching?
Of course, it probably requires access to money.
If the Sunwolves are going to play in the Oz Conference and the ARU/SANZAAR think that they will mitigate some of the travel by having them play a couple of games in Perth, use us as a layover, use our facilities.....well if that's their idea they can F#ck right off. Not interested.
The ARU would probably change the rules so that playing for the sunwolves players would still be allowed to play for the Wobblies. Because it would suit them! F@rk them!
May the FORCE be with you!
Ok, here's the plan, World Rugby are big supporters of developing the game in non Tier 1 nations. If the ARU try any funny business we simply say we are in it to help the standard of Japanese rugby and to bring them up to Tier 1 status.
The ARU has said that our presence in Australian rugby was hurting the quality of play so we would not want to cause such damage to an established Tier 1 nation so, in the kindness of our hearts we will affiliate with Japan to bring the market to fruition while unlocking the HUGE Asian market.
Or something like that.
EDIT: Or do what they do in European Football and tell the national side our players are injured and can't play.
Exile
Port Macquarie
"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that!" - Rocky Balboa
For the record, I'm completely in favour of linking with Asia, but I'll be buggered if I'd support a merger where we get half a team to help out those toss pots in Sydney. Entry into top league would be equally achievable and actually benefit us rather than the ARU. It would also allow for expansion into all the markets that you mention, which are pretty much on the same aviation corridor.
C'mon the![]()
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if this keeps us alive im all for it
I don't think the SunWolves are to blame for this at all; it could very well have been the Jaguares placed in the Australian conference with the SunWolves in South Africa, knowing how arse-about things are with SANZAAR at the moment, then we might be blaming the Argies.
Have to admit, the Japan Top-League was the first thing I thought about when the culling was mooted last year, I've thought it would be an interesting fit, especially as we wouldn't have to contract a Super Rugby quality team in order to be competitive. I've mentioned it before, but I keep thinking about how the Perth Kangaroos played soccer in the Singapore League in front of capacity crowds at the small Macedonia Park in Stirling. Flying each week home and away back to Singapore and occasionally Darwin, who were also in the league, the concept only really fell apart after we started winning games by 6 and 7 goals. I can't see that problem occurring in the Top-League, quite the contrary in fact. Plus, we could play home and away in two game patches instead; flying every four weeks only.
No home games on TV at all, but all away games on free-to-air via Kerry Stokes at TVW. Plus, maybe the weekly round-up show dubbed into English.
But, honestly, I can't see the Japanese being too interested in helping us out at all really. Maybe the sweetener could be to pitch it as an expansion, including Hong Kong and a Korean side? Shit, WA used to have links with Sri Lankan rugby if I can remember correctly, and those guys get 25,000 for bloody high school games.
I dunno, would be interesting food for thought. Maybe WA has to eke out it's own future, as we once did in soccer?
Japan and the Pacific Islands for Aussie Super 9's!
Let's have one of these in WA! Click this link: Saitama Super Arena - New Perth Stadium?
Well, the RugbyWA board are aware of the idea now.
I'm not angry at the SunWolves at all, I'm angry at SANZAaR and the ARU for thinking that they are a better high performance option than the force and for thinking that the rebels are a safer bet financially.
C'mon the![]()
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Today's Australian- Wayne Smith
Australia’s original World Cup-winning captain Nick Farr-Jones has emerged as the Western Force’s white knight in their negotiations with the Sunwolves of Japan, arguing that both franchises would benefit from a merger.
As the Australian Rugby Union turns the screws on the Force and was only stopped from shutting them down by the Perth franchise’s legal action next Wednesday in the NSW Supreme Court, Farr-Jones has worked to keep the club’s options open.
“I think from the Force’s perspective, you’ve got to look at every opportunity, every option,” Farr-Jones told The Australian yesterday. “First prize is clearly to remain in the competition which the team, the management, their supporters and sponsors are desperately keen to happen. But you have to look at all options.
“Whilst it is not obvious about a potential merger between a Perth-based and a Tokyo-based team, there are a hell of a lot of synergies when you really examine it.”
Farr-Jones had raised with the ARU the possibility of exploring the Japanese rugby situation and a possible merger with the Sunwolves, whose own place in Super Rugby has been put under threat a number of times by SANZAAR because of sustained poor performance over their two years in the competition.
“I knew they (the ARU) were looking at the potential merger of the Brumbies and the Rebels but for various reasons that didn’t go ahead,” he said. “But I said, ‘Have you given this some thought?’ because it might get you out of your dilemma and you might find that Japanese rugby would be very open to it.
“The response then was that it would not comply with the current SANZAAR arrangements but you’d like to think that SANZAAR would be flexible enough that if the two teams pointed out the common sense and the advantages that such a merger would bring, you’d think they would be flexible enough to entertain it, wouldn’t you?”
In the end, Farr-Jones raised it himself on a trip to Japan last month, speaking with the chairman of the Japanese Rugby Union and the chief executive of the Sunwolves, both of whom gave him a good hearing. The Force, meanwhile, have also welcomed his intervention.
“They are very keen to keep every option open, as you can imagine,” Farr-Jones said.
“They feel absolutely shot in the foot about this and a lot of them feel that eastern seaboard people aren’t that sympathetic. And I think it’s really important that a lot of us who have had a profile in the game do express our sympathies and say that we are 100 per cent backing you and supporting you. And, as has been stated many times, I think the ARU has handled this appallingly.”
If the alternative is oblivion, then the Force might well see the benefits of merging their roster in the short-term with the Sunwolves, especially since the Japanese side is slated to be competing in the Australian conference next season.
The Japanese are under intense pressure to lift their game, not only to keep SANZAAR at bay but also to improve the standard of Cherry Blossom rugby ahead of hosting the 2019 World Cup.
The Force, meanwhile, have a single-minded goal just to stay alive by any means until the SANZAAR broadcast deal expires in 2020, at which point they hope a fifth Australian team again will be required, especially if Super Rugby morphs into a trans-Tasman competition.
While there has been considerable angst aimed in the West at the Melbourne Rebels, especially as details of the financial deal that secured their place become known, the reality is that had the Force supported the Victorian Rugby Union and the Rugby Union Players Association in their bid for an emergency general meeting back in June, they might not be in their present predicament.
Had the Force acted with them and enlisted the so-called southern states, they might have created enough critical mass to make NSW and Queensland reconsider their position.
Meanwhile, Western Australian Liberal senator Linda Reynolds has called on the ARU to “come clean” on details surrounding their decision to cull the Force. She also has written to the Australian Minister for Sport Greg Hunt, urging him to become involved
Wasn't it the Rebels (not the Force) who supported the 4 teams at the EGM providing it wasn't them!? Have never seen any support for the Force come from Rebels management at any stage.While there has been considerable angst aimed in the West at the Melbourne Rebels, especially as details of the financial deal that secured their place become known, the reality is that had the Force supported the Victorian Rugby Union and the Rugby Union Players Association in their bid for an emergency general meeting back in June, they might not be in their present predicament.
Had the Force acted with them and enlisted the so-called southern states, they might have created enough critical mass to make NSW and Queensland reconsider their position.