Melbourne awarded 15th Super rugby team

[pieter blackie]

And a 6th South African side being pushed for political reasons was any better? Given that 2 out of the Saffers 5 sides usually prop up the rest of the ladder

Even though I have a special place for South African rugby My rugby supporting future lies with the Wallabies and I can see that awarding a 5th Super team will just weakin Australian rugby even more. They could have rather taken the money and created a decent Australian wide club structure that will benifit all not just a few in Melbourne

[TOCC]

Even though I have a special place for South African rugby My rugby supporting future lies with the Wallabies and I can see that awarding a 5th Super team will just weakin Australian rugby even more. They could have rather taken the money and created a decent Australian wide club structure that will benifit all not just a few in Melbourne

i hate to be patronising but you now understand why many NSW and QLD supporters were reluctant to even see the creation of the Force.

---------- Post added at 22:48 ---------- Previous post was at 22:45 ----------

Lote is not banned/suspended but sacked.

I read something last week that said he was keen to play for Fiji at the next RWC and apparently there is a loop hole that would allow this to happen so long as he plays for a Tier 2 country

there is no loophole at the moment, however i believe the IRB are investigating a tier policy where the top 8 nations in the world represent tier 1, and then everyone else represent tier 2. The plan is that a play may be able to transition his allegiance from Tier 1 to Tier 2(Australia to Fiji), but it is still a very raw subject.

[Burgs]

I believe that it is a case of short term pain for long term gain.
Unless we are able to fill out five viable Test selection options per position we are set to remain the best of the rest in the SH and Tier 1 Nations.
We may get the occasional sequence of wins to get to iRB #1 for a few weeks, or win one or two more RWC's, but we have no hope of competing for long term World credibility.

[pieter blackie]

I believe that it is a case of short term pain for long term gain.
Unless we are able to fill out five viable Test selection options per position we are set to remain the best of the rest in the SH and Tier 1 Nations.
We may get the occasional sequence of wins to get to iRB #1 for a few weeks, or win one or two more RWC's, but we have no hope of competing for long term World credibility.

good point Bugs

[TOCC]

it is definetly a case of short term pain for long term gain..

lets be realistic here, Melbourne has the population equal to all of New Zealand, even if the new rugby union side taps into 10% of the market, then it would be classified a success.

Melbourne is a incredibly large market, the second largest in Australia, the potential increase in revenue from sponors and broadcasters is incredibel, it really has the potential to fund rugby's expansion for years to come.

[GIGS20]

there is no loophole at the moment, however i believe the IRB are investigating a tier policy where the top 8 nations in the world represent tier 1, and then everyone else represent tier 2. The plan is that a play may be able to transition his allegiance from Tier 1 to Tier 2(Australia to Fiji), but it is still a very raw subject.

Would that mean that a player can also move from Tier 2 to Tier 1?

Could said player move between tiers multiple times as long as they're playing in the same team in each tier?

If a Tier 2 nation gains entry to Tier 1 should those players be eligible to change to a team from Tier 1 or Tier 2?

In the same case, would those players be deemed to have already made their change?

This is a fun concept to play with

---------- Post added at 07:09 ---------- Previous post was at 07:08 ----------

ps I'm with Burgs in the short term pain argument......it happened with the Force, it'll happen with Melbourne

[travelling_gerry]

By Melissa Woods

From: AAP November 13, 2009 3:13PM Increase Text SizeDecrease Text SizePrintEmail Share
Glory days ... Rod Macqueen led the Wallabies to some of their greatest triumphs as well as starting the brumbies franchise from scratch. Source: The Daily Telegraph

MELBOURNE'S race to be ready for the 2011 Super rugby season has received a major boost with former Wallabies super coach Rod Macqueen interested in a position.
Awarded entry to an expanded Super 15 yesterday, Melbourne have set a March deadline to have a chief executive and head coach in place.

While the company make-up and board structure are still to be determined, Macqueen - also an accomplished businessman - offers the new organisation incomparable insight and expertise.

National coach between 1997 and 2001, Macqueen led the Wallabies to the 1999 World Cup triumph in the finest era of their history.

Renowed for his organisational ability, he was also the inaugural coach and a key figure in establishing the country's most successful Super rugby franchise, the Canberra-based Brumbies, from scratch.

He finished his Test coach career with a match winning record of just below 80 per cent.

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Macqueen said today it was premature to discuss a specific role but said he was interested in being involved with the Melbourne franchise.

"Given the right circumstances, certainly," said Macqueen, when asked whether he would consider a position of director of coaching.

"But it's certainly early days to be contemplating that.

"It's premature to say anything yet because we don't know what the ARU's position is ... except to say that it's great for Australian rugby that Melbourne's got the bid.

"I think it's going to give Australian rugby a lot more depth and I really do think that Melbourne is a city that will really accept rugby, all the signs are there, particularly in the business fraternity."

Macqueen backed the ARU's call for start-up concessions to be given to Melbourne, and for competition governing body SANZAR to allow it up to 10 foreign players.

"It's important to hit the ground running so some of those things do need to be fast-tracked," he said.

"Short term there does need to be some concessions but the ultimate goal has obviously got to be as many home-grown Wallabies as we can."

Coaches believed to be on Melbourne's radar include Leinster mentor Michael Cheika, Munster's Tony McGahan, Bath's Steve Meehan and John Mulvihill, as well as Wallabies forwards coach Jim Williams and his predecessor Michael Foley, currently an assistant coach at NSW.

The Australian Rugby Union will meet with the parties behind the Melbourne bid, the Victorian Rugby Union and VicSuper15, next Thursday.

The factions have been engaged in a bitter fight to control the team and VicSuper15 spokesman Ray Evans said there were still hurdles ahead.

"The ARU is coming down on Thursday and we'll all meet and hopefully all will be revealed," Evans said.

"They've put a model together that will be negotiated ... some of the stuff we don't agree with and some of the stuff the VRU don't agree with so there's a fair bit of negotiation to go on yet.

"If the ARU don't provide us with a model we're happy with, we won't be part of it.

"We're all talking so hopefully it will all come together and we can get on with it."

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1225797404120

[jargan83]

Even though I have a special place for South African rugby My rugby supporting future lies with the Wallabies and I can see that awarding a 5th Super team will just weakin Australian rugby even more. They could have rather taken the money and created a decent Australian wide club structure that will benifit all not just a few in Melbourne

I can see where you are comming from and Australian Rugby may take a "hit" again (depthwise), but as others indicated above for the long term it is a good decision and I agree

[TOCC]

i suppose the only worry is, that this 'short term pain' will coincide with the 2011 RWC

[jargan83]

i suppose the only worry is, that this 'short term pain' will coincide with the 2011 RWC

In theory the pain shouldn't be transferred to the National side too much, but more so the Super 15 sides in bringing more players through, as the players currently in the Wallaby setup will still be there just potentially spread a bit more

[GIGS20]

Possibly there will be a hit with combinations being broken up. It's no surprise that many of the selections are based around a combination. The centre pairing at the moment, Quade and Digby are already familiar with each other's playing style and therefore come up to speed quickly in an international team. If they played in different teams there would be a time of transition whilst they get used to each other's game. Spreading the same players around more teams will increase the impact of this.

I'm not an anti-expansionist, I just recognise that there may be some pain before benefits.

[oxleymoron]

Drove past the stadium last night - looks very impressive from the outside.

[mudskipper]

Drove past the stadium last night - looks very impressive from the outside.

The new designer stadium with a marque player and world-class coach could pull a good crowd in Melbourne...