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All good, I do a daily check when I can.
No I'm not actually.
I have been asking a fellow tweeter who's a Sydney legal, he's said the daily check is the go... "His (The Hammer) associate will advise the parties when & he will then hand them a copy of the written judgement & announce what orders flow. But it will appear in the list like the hearing did. Just have to keep an eye on it as will probably occur on 24hours notice."
Having checked out "the Hammer's " background on Wiki, he has some very impressive credentials. Am also like the fact that he was 'led' be the lawyer who represented Nelson Mandela, so I'm hoping he'd recognise the signs of corruption & abuse of the law!
Interesting Article from Wayne Smith:
Super Rugby Culling Process Takes Its Toll On ARU Board
As Australian Rugby Union chairman Cameron Clyne observed earlier this week, no one sets out to “discontinue” a team in Super Rugby for their health.
It’s been a harrowing time, this 145-day journey of reducing *Australia’s five Super Rugby teams to four. And while attention naturally has been focused on the suffering caused to the innocent victims of this decision, the *players, staff and fans of the two *affected clubs, initially, and more recently just the Western Force, it’s also taken its toll of the ARU board and staffers.
Some of the abuse they have been subjected to has become vile and personal. Clyne’s defence of the three female directors on the board was well-intentioned and protective, although I’m not sure that they would have especially welcomed it. In their minds, they are not “female” directors, just *directors and they would have been prepared to take criticism like any other board members. Still, no one, man or woman, *deserves to be vilified, especially when they are doing what they perceive as their difficult and necessary duty. So, in a word to their critics, clean it up, huh?
Hopefully this imbroglio is coming to an end next week, but that’s far from certain. It will end only if the Force win their appeal in the NSW Supreme Court and the ARU decides enough is enough and turns its attention to how to broach it with SANZAAR that there will be five Australian teams.
On the other hand, if the Force lose, then they have signalled their willingness to fight on, if necessary going as far as the High Court. There are many reasons why they would feel compelled to fight on, but perhaps one of the less noble reasons would be to stretch out the courtroom battles indefinitely, so that SANZAAR is left with no *option but to include the Perth club, at least for next season, while the lawyers duke it out.
Much as I would love nothing more than seeing the Force lawyers stand up in that esteemed chamber and argue “it was the vibe of the thing”, one wonders just how much entertainment can be wrung out of this. And, yes, that was just a little humour in front of the firing squad.
At some point, Australian rugby must move on from this *diabolical mess. Increasingly, it is becoming clear that Clyne is *potentially an obstacle to that. He has already announced that he will resign if the ARU cannot cull a team and the reasons for doing that are pretty much self-evident. But he must also consider his *position even if the ARU prevails.
The Force’s doggedness to stay alive shows no signs of waning. The momentum is building, *especially with Andrew Forrest fanning the flames at every opportunity. This is turning into rugby’s equivalent of South Sydney’s *battle to get back into the NRL after they were “discontinued” at the end of the 1999 season. It took the Rabbitohs two years of courtroom drama to prevail, with *Russell Crowe playing the role now assigned to Forrest, but they got there. They won the NRL premiership in 2014, which is in keeping with Dave Wessels’ hopes for the Force in Super Rugby.
In short, the Force are not going away any time soon. Even if they are culled during the lifetime of this broadcast agreement — which is no certainty — you can be certain they will draw their inspiration from Lazarus when the time comes to go back to broadcasters in 2020 for another round of “Where is Super Rugby heading?”
There is no way now that Clyne can continue to negotiate with those in WA or the state government, whatever the court outcome. And, frankly, there are a lot of people on the east coast who are anything but happy at the way this has been handled.
If history is written by the *winners, then he will go down *either as the man who saved *Australian rugby in perilous times or the villain who did the dirty on the Western Force. Either way, his job is done.
There is, as well, the issue of where the remainder of the ARU board sits, particularly should the Force win the appeal. The vote in favour of culling a team was 8-1. Only the recently resigned Geoff Stooke dissented, so the board steadfastly has supported Clyne through thick and thin.
A Force legal win won’t change the legitimacy or otherwise of the board’s position, though, ironically enough, while this crisis was unfolding, the Force and the *Melbourne Rebels both moved to *address their financial crises.
Indeed, dare it be said, but the Force will soon become the best-backed rugby club in the history of Australia, thanks to Forrest. *Depending on how the situation plays out and how the national body deals with him, Twiggy Power might even be put at the *disposal of the ARU, which is *another reason why Clyne must move on. But a mass cleanout of the board would achieve nothing at this point although, in future, surely a whole-of-rugby solution would be a lot fairer than scapegoating an innocent team.
It will be interesting to observe which directors show up in Perth for the Springbok Test next Saturday, although special commendation should go to John Eales, who not only is going but has volunteered to be guest speaker at the University of Western Australia Rugby Club lunch where he will attempt to explain the board’s *decisions. Courage like that Australian rugby could use more of.
It could take rugby years to *recover from the reputational damage the code has suffered over the past seven months.
Or this crisis could just come to be seen as “the rugby recession we had to have”. Certainly Australian rugby couldn’t have kept drifting as it was. Whether we admire the ARU directors for their courage or damn them for their mule-headed stupidity, they at least brought the game face-to-face with some *unpleasant realities.
A lot will hinge on how the game proceeds in the coming days. The crisis isn’t over
"Written and produced on behalf of the Australian Rugby Union by Wayne Smith."
Maybe the board need to get together and discuss motives for this and that alienating a whole state is not the answer to ANY of the crap criteria they go on about on different days!! Admit they were wrong and undo this damage now!
The directors are accountable for every decision they have made and I will continue to hold them to account. If that's labelled by the media as vilification, then so be it.
Oh and "boo hoo" to those poor ARU board members. It must be so distressing to sit in their ivory tower wielding the axe without so much as a personal 'thank you for your service' to every person they have summarily sacked at the Force.
Does Wayne Smith know how those people found out they were being sacked? They discovered it by receiving a copy of the ARU press release saying they'd withdrawn the Force's licence.
Now tell me again why I should spare a thought for the ARU board, Wayne.
Last edited by Alison; 02-09-17 at 06:41.
Proudly Western Australian; Proudly supporting Western Australian rugby
What a load of bullshite propaganda.
Who the hell is bringing Eales in?
Generally speaking you aren’t learning much if your lips are moving!!!
All I can say is I hope to God he opens it up to questions and somebody records it. Based upon recent circumstances, I suspect he won't be interested in talking about anything but his playing career and he'll continue trying to sell the lie that he has honour, but I won't be interested in watching that.
C'mon the
I see this fluff piece epically backfiring on trying to empathise with these miscreants. I predict this will add more fuel to the fire with most responses being in and around HTFU.
Generally speaking you aren’t learning much if your lips are moving!!!
Eales will only bleat yet again about the 'spreadsheet', I think that's all he knows.
Eales appears not to be smart enough to deviate from the Party Line. But he does seem to have an overwhelming need to be seen as a good Person, given that he as a lying, honourless snake, I can't understand why.
C'mon the
Just asked malcolm turnbull if he can help us out. Said he cant influence the aru much and going to leave it to twiggy
IF I was going I'd wall out when he got up to make his speech because you know it's just going to be the same old BS.
As Gigs says I've lost all respect for him.
May the FORCE be with you!