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I think it's all over for us in SuperRugby for the term of the current broadcasting deal. After that I think SANZAAR will fold anyway. So there is time, with Twiggy's backing, for us to get our Force Foundation and Pindan league right up there with the best so we are ready to hit the ground running in whatever new competition ensues.
Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby
Didn't hold out much hope on this when twiggy started throwing around money and released the legal advice the ARU received in February last week. Why do that if the lawyers had confidence.
Generally speaking you aren’t learning much if your lips are moving!!!
Force statement:
https://www.rugbywa.asn.au/news/rugbywa-statement-2/
So the ARU won because with impunity, cut the Force from the Super Rugby competition because it now unconditionally owns the Force free of the impediment of the Alliance Agreement. So no action in good faith when agreeing to the Alliance agreement, just gave them the legal right to push us under the bus.
One Team - One Dream - Go The Western Force
Jono, there is some very interesting stuff in the body of that document.
The first thing is the narrow definition that was before the court. The judge took great pains to clarify that this ruling was simply about the terms of termination, not about any other proceeding. RugbyWA could still move an action of not acting in good faith or any of the other things that SteveWA mentioned, or indeed what the fuck happened to the 200 odd million dollars from the broadcast agreement to make the ARU so broke.
There was also a timeline that has been entered as a record of law, June 2016 Alliance agreement signed "Late 2016 or early 2017" SANZAaR decides to cut a team, could be handy in arguing that the contract was not signed "in good faith" There is also the question left to be argued about the legality of renegotiating a contract solely for the purpose of cutting a signatory to the agreement.
It's not over yet, but I accept that without some significant input from Twiggy, we'll probably lose most of our staff and be required to start again from scratch.
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What gets me is all the support we have, all the fans all over the world, the State of WA, the players, the staff it means nothing to however many people are in that Board in some office in Sydney! It's just heartbreaking..
They won because they set us up from the beginning - recent leaks of information have made it clear that the Alliance Agreement was struck in a manner like no other assistance package with the intention of giving the ARU the option to cut us - short answer, we were conned, as we all now know. Not sure what options we have on the failing to negotiate in "good faith" angle, but that seems like our only slim option at the moment (as far as Super Rugby participation goes).
Not sure how we will keep our highest performing players now, but lets hope RugbyWA and Andrew Forrest can create something out of this that keeps international standard rugby alive in WA until this shambles ends with the dissolution of SANZAR in 2020.
After a quick perusal (45 sec), it looked like The Hammer was not at all impressed with the ARU and their motivations and subsequent actions, however decided the letter of the law must be upheld.
This reveals to all and sundry how nefarious and grubby is the ARU.
The issues of ARU breaking their own charter, unconscionable conduct, etc etc have never been examined in law, only the single concept f breaking the agreement.
The roots of Rugby is dead in Australia, the grubs have finally white anted the trunk. RugbyWA should discontinue the union effective immediately. A poisened chalice. What's to lose? They already give WA the least funding for "grassroots" yet happily put out the greased hand for every membership juniors included. We would be better served going it alone. After this year when the current contracts expire there won't be a Spirit, professional players and coaches will quite rightly look for employment elsewhere.
Set up our own independent union, mount our own professional competition welcoming the other orphans. Set up a north south axis based on GMT +8...Singers, Honkers, Nippon etc. Small but quality. There will after all be plenty of professional players here and overseas wanting employment. Broadcast it on Channel 7.
The long sobs of autumn's violins wound my heart with a monotonous languor
hugely disappointing and makes you so angry
We need a plan B from Twiggy now though.
Hopefully he comes out with a new deal to play in Asia or Europe or a breakaway competition. Something anyway we need to keep this team together.
From the discussion in the judges ruling. He knows the ARU are wankers.
"Second, the parties do not have identical interests in the longevity of the Alliance Agreement, although hopefully they both had the interests of furthering the game of rugby union in mind."
"As the facts of this case demonstrate, they were supposed to be allies, but they were not friends."