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Thread: Trans-Tasman speculation

  1. #61
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ham105 View Post
    Good old Mark Ella. Only read if bored.

    A Rebels-Force merger the better option to help get Kiwis on board

    MARK ELLA
    9:31 PM JUNE 19, 2020



    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...62bb70ca1d56e3
    Yes, that little Ella daydream is so missing in logic, that it is not worth getting worked up about. The perfect response, will be when the Force belt NSW and QLD in their own Super comp in their own backyards, with a Force side laden worth WA developed players and others that are "cast-offs" from elsewhere. All funded without any money from the RA.

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    Quote Originally Posted by shasta View Post
    To be fair the interview was about the expansion of the SRU. Much as we've been inclined to slag off the Shite Shield, it has become more popular than ever because of the antagonism towards the ARU and SANZAAR. Not so long ago that mob lumped us in with the Rabble as a waste of funding needed for root to tip game development. Like it or not the NRC did not appeal to the tribalism that is club Rugby in the East even though it was doing it's job. The view of WA by a lot of that mob has changed since then and people like Hodgo and AF see the way forward is more likely about working inside that tent. I don't know what it will look like, but I have a strong feeling that it might look more towards GRR than an unsustainable (not so) Super Rugby. I hope so anyway.
    Perhaps, but it was the bit where he was blethering on about paying players 35K, what a difficult transition it is between Shute Shield and the professional game, how the solution was for them to become semi-professional, and to do so by pulling the professional level down and them up to meet in the middle. F'ken moronic, when the whole direction and timing of the NRC meant that was exactly what it was trying to do - paying players, transitioning them into professionalism while they were still playing club rugby, lifting the the Shute Shield up to semi-pro in the process, and all without the need to drag down standards in the professional level. They didn't need to like it, although that would have accelerated the progress. They just had to let it be, but instead it looks like they'll be starting over once again.

    Mouthbreathers the lot of them, and he sounds like a prime example. So instead it looks like they'll swap a developing NRC and SR for some sort of bodged club comp (which will properly fuck the SS) and a lower standard version of SR. They won't lift themselves up, they'll just drag the entire system down. And if they get anywhere near GRR, they'll take that down with them.

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  3. #63
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    Quote Originally Posted by JSJ View Post
    The perfect response, will be when the Force belt NSW and QLD in their own Super comp in their own backyards
    You do realise that won't prove a thing to the myopic wankers in Moore Park right? They'll point to the two good moments in the game and use those as indications that the heartland teams are about to turn the corner. They'll bleat about all the fantastic NSW and qld players on the force team and say if only they were able to hold on to all of their players they'd be OK, they'll then point to guys like clay who crossed the Nullarbor to play for the force, how dare twiggy poach a Shute shield star of his calibre thus gutting the waratah academy.

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    C'mon the

  4. #64
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    Hamish McLennan, are you an old fart or a rugby visionary?

    Alan Jones
    July 16, 2020

    In the early 1900s, much like now, there was enormous disillusionment concerning the administration of the game of rugby by the “establishment”. The old boys’ blazer brigade was not listening to the players or the public and the seeds of revolution took hold.

    The NSW Rugby League was formed and funded by Sydney businessman James J. Giltinan and supported by sporting legend Victor Trumper, who convinced Herbert Henry “Dally” Messenger to join the breakaway code that had first been established in England in 1895.

    The new code tweaked the laws to make the game faster, more entertaining and more enjoyable to play. It dropped the number of players on the ground to create more space. It eliminated rucks because they were causing too many injuries and were a blight on the spectacle.

    The new code, rugby league, listened to the players and supporters. All the leading Wallabies of the time followed Messenger and the game quickly established itself as the most popular winter sport in Queensland and NSW.

    It’s worth reflecting on our past so we can make good decisions about the future. Right now, Rugby Australia is at the crossroads. The disillusionment about the game would appear to be similar to that around the time of the rugby league revolution.

    I have been arguing, forever, that Rugby Australia must embrace urgent constitutional change. The administration is deaf. The rugby public want to be heard and it deserves a say in the running of the game.

    The most successful football club in the world, Barcelona FC, as I have said before, has 110,000 paid-up members who, among other things, get to vote for their club president every four years. If the president does a good job and the team is successful, the paying members have the power to reinstate the president.

    Putting the fans first does a number of things. Firstly, their $400 season membership fee raises more than $40m to be invested back into the game. Secondly, the fans are so engaged because they have influence. They attend more games. They buy more merchandise. They are proactive partners in the game.

    I suspect the reason members of the rugby establishment don’t want to empower the people is that they fear losing the very power they currently enjoy. Ask the rugby punter; he thinks the administrators are happy to keep their snouts in the trough at the expense of the growth of the game. I was supportive of new RA chairman Hamish McLennan’s elevation to the onerous responsibilities he now must discharge. But apart from talking about a World Cup in 2027, he has yet to outline what he believes to be the future of our code.

    Does he have a plan for the future, or is this rugby administration just more of the past? Who is telling New Zealand Rugby that there is no way we will be sending two teams to play in a new Kiwi-dominated trans-Tasman competition, as suggested by our friends across the ditch. We are not here to make up the numbers.

    I have said for years we have to, not should, opt out of Super Rugby altogether and build our own national competition, like soccer’s A-League. At least if we get it right, in 20 years we could be taking on the NRL again.

    And just on the A-League, I understand its broadcast deal is worth about $30m a season. That’s about half of what Rugby Australia was getting under the old broadcast agreement. But Raelene Castle knew better and was obviously supported by the discredited board. She looked the gift horse in the mouth and rejected the gift. Now what are we worth? Just $10m a year, if we are lucky.

    Yet the Australian Rugby Gold Membership program, that I have advocated, could easily generate enough income to make up for any broadcast shortfall and empower the lovers of the game at the same time. And when we tell the Kiwis that we don’t want any part of their lopsided trans-Tasman competition, we should also tell them we don’t want their *involvement in our 2027 World Cup bid.

    Why would we want to revenue-share with New Zealand when we should assert ourselves, bid for the World Cup on our own and enjoy 100 per cent of any World Cup profits? We have the facilities. We know how to put on world-class events. Why share the spoils when money is said to be our game’s biggest problem?

    The 2003 World Cup put $45m into an Australian rugby war chest. Imagine what the 2027 World Cup could do for the game and our economy.

    The 2019 World Cup in Japan saw 245,000 visitors from 178 *different countries who spent, on average, 17 days in Japan. And 90 per cent of those visitors said they would definitely visit Japan again.

    The economic impact for the nation and the game is so important it’s time for Scott Morrison to get involved. He says he loves the game. Well, come on Scott, prove it.

    It’s clear that New Zealand doesn’t respect our provincial rugby teams. You can’t blame them. We have rarely delivered, in recent times, a quality product. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have some self-respect and be prepared to go it alone and set up our own national club competition for the development of the game in Australia.

    Host the 2027 World Cup on our own and seize the opportunity to build a financial nest egg for the future of rugby in this country. But, until 2027, we will need to trim our costs and look for revenue opportunities.

    There are three ways to raise money now. McLennan, start sharpening your pencil. Firstly, embrace constitutional reform and drive a membership program with voting rights. Secondly, set up a national club competition and sell that to broadcasters. And thirdly, get Andrew Forrest to sponsor Australian rugby just as Gina Rinehart sponsors Australian swimming.

    But Forrest is not going to pay the money if he doesn’t have a say in how we get out of the current mess.

    Note this: nobody remembers the old farts in the establishment who held back the game more than 100 years ago, but everyone knows about Messenger and Giltinan, the reformers.

    It’s time for McLennan to decide whether he wants to be an establishment old fart or a game shaper and a visionary.

    Alan Jones

    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...9?from=htc_rss

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  5. #65
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    New Zealand plan raises hopes for all five Australian rugby teams

    WAYNE SMITH
    SENIOR SPORT WRITER
    8:47PM JULY 17, 2020

    New Zealand Rugby’s announcement on Friday that it was hoping for a Super Rugby competition of between “eight and 10 teams” next year has raised hopes that all five Rugby Australia franchises can survive but that may only happen if the planned Pasifika team is put on hold until 2022.

    The announcement leaves open the possibility that the Kiwis might still insist on having only two or three Australian sides in next year’s competition but the fact the NZ communique specifically left open the possibility of 10 teams suggests trans-Tasman relations are beginning to thaw.

    Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan not surprisingly is hoping that, despite the fact that Australian teams are not up to NZ’s superb form, the four Super Rugby sides – Waratahs, Reds, Brumbies and Melbourne Rebels – plus the Andrew Forrest-backed Western Force will have the chance to play in the competition and raise their standards.

    Part of that improvement is likely to come from Rugby Australia throwing the door open to foreign imports from South Africa and Argentina, although an obvious source of players would be if NZ allowed its overflow footballers to play with Australian sides without losing their All Blacks eligibility.

    “It is early days but I think we have an opportunity to create something special and world-class and clearly the Kiwis have put a lot of thought into it,” McLennan told The Weekend Australian.

    The more Australian teams that take part in the competition, the more attractive the series will be to Fox Sports. A broadcast deal still has to be negotiated but, with Fox Sports having always declared their strongest preference was for a trans-Tasman competition and if Australia is now able to negotiate five teams it would be a triumph.

    While it is understood that Australia and NZ both are strongly supportive of the Pasifika team’s involvement, COVID-19 restrictions, infrastructure problems with television broadcast from the islands and the fact that the team would need to be up and running within a couple of months means its entry could be delayed until 2022.

    “There is a huge desire to have a Pasifika team involved which we think will be massive for the competition, popular with fans and is a priority for us,” said Mark Robinson, the chief executive of New Zealand Rugby.

    However, it is understood that there now are growing concerns that the large Islander population in Auckland could impact on the Blues’ fan base if the team is based there. If that fear is realised, it is possible that the Pasifika team might even be based in Sydney.

    A fortnight ago, New Zealand was set to announce an eight-team competition – five NZ, two Australian and the Pasifika team – on a take it or leave it basis. Were that to eventuate, there is little doubt that Australia would turn its back on the NZ competition and set about organising its own domestic competition, albeit with heavy foreign player content.

    Now there is at least the possibility of a 10-team configuration made up of five Kiwi and Australian sides, with the Pasifika team to make their way into the competition in another 18 months.

    But if four is the upper limit to which New Zealand can be pushed, then Rugby Australia would face an invidious decision – whether to jettison a side, merge two teams or turn its back on New Zealand and organise a domestic competition of its own.

    Robinson said the NZR would be working with Rugby Australia “to seek expressions of interest from their current Super clubs and other interested parties to join the competition and that work will begin in earnest.”

    RA on Friday released a statement acknowledging the NZR announcement and promising to work constructively with the Kiwis in the coming weeks. It would, as well, continue its discussions with stakeholders in Australia along with its SANZAAR joint venture partners.

    “Due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rugby Australia recognises that there is a need to review the sustainability and practicality of the current Super Rugby competition and consider alternative models that are in the best interests of Australian Rugby from 2021 and beyond,” the statement concluded.

    The most important words in the statement would seem to be “in the best interests of Australian rugby from 2021 and beyond”. Rugby Australia attracted so much flak over its 2017 decision to cull the Western Force from Super Rugby that it would not lightly go down the road of trimming another franchise.

    Ironically, the Force now appears almost as safe as the powerhouse states of NSW and Queensland. They have returned to the Super Rugby AU competition and Rugby Australia has indicated that, with Perth billionaire Forrest now funding the Force, the club can look forward to whatever competition mainstream Australian rugby participates in.

    WAYNE SMITH
    SENIOR SPORT WRITER

    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...3962960ebf8c2c

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  6. #66
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    Can the Rebels and put the Pasifica team there...Australias sporting capital..

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    Personally I would rather we develop an all Australian comp. I'm much more interested in seeing the Force play Aussie derbies each weekend.

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    Quote Originally Posted by travelling_gerry View Post
    Can the Rebels and put the Pasifica team there...Australias sporting capital..
    Australia’s COVID capital.

    Maybe the best thing is for the Rebels to disband and enter the competition the right way. There was never the players and money for them in the first place. The other four sides had lost players due to retirements and movements overseas. The RA was borderline bankrupt and waiting to be bailed out by the Lions tour.

    The only really positive legacy of the Castle and Pulver eras is the focus on developing young talent which will hopefully move the game away from overpaying ageing underperforming talent. The RA just have to accept players will move overseas so they need to keep pushing players through.

    When the Rebels came in there was no NRC, the under 20s were starting to struggle, academies were disbanded at the other four teams, players were flying across the country to play club Rugby (I would like to know how much that cost), no local coaches were being developed and the funding model was poor.

    When they re-enter hopefully the NRC will be around in some form it can supply the team with players. Make the books transparent with no secret deals, proper links with the VRU, market the team properly so there is brand awareness and sort out the governance.

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    I love your sense of humour bakkies

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    C'mon the

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    Catch the Chiefs v Highlanders game if you can.
    Great rugby.
    I'd be very happy for the WF to be part of this again.

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    Quote Originally Posted by andrewg View Post
    Catch the Chiefs v Highlanders game if you can.
    Great rugby.
    I'd be very happy for the WF to be part of this again.
    Did you hear the commentators refer to the stadium in Hamilton as the "FMG" Stadium? My ears pricked up and I googled it, but could not find who FMG is.?? Anybody know??

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    Quote Originally Posted by JSJ View Post
    Did you hear the commentators refer to the stadium in Hamilton as the "FMG" Stadium? My ears pricked up and I googled it, but could not find who FMG is.?? Anybody know??
    FMG Insurance. Unrelated to other FMGs you may know and love.

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    Quote Originally Posted by maelkann View Post
    FMG Insurance. Unrelated to other FMGs you may know and love.
    Yes, I did see it was a stadium naming rights deal that started in 2015, long before our FMG and Twiggy even got deeply involved in rugby here WA.

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    Quote Originally Posted by JSJ View Post
    Yes, I did see it was a stadium naming rights deal that started in 2015, long before our FMG and Twiggy even got deeply involved in rugby here WA.
    The Chinese flag would be flying over the stadium if it was sponsored by Twiggy Forrest.

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    Quote Originally Posted by jargan83 View Post
    The Chinese flag would be flying over the stadium if it was sponsored by Twiggy Forrest.
    You are now on the shit list. Expect your email to be hacked and your devices remotely controlled. You life is over and your new ID is Deng Foo Jarg.

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