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Brumbies call for new competition
PETER FITZGERALD
March 22, 2010 - 2:36PM
The ACT Brumbies have called for an overhaul of Australian rugby's second-tier structure.
Coach Andy Friend wants the ARU to create a competition from 2011 where the Brumbies, NSW Waratahs, Queensland Reds, Western Force and Melbourne Rebels second teams play a home-and-away competition.
And chief executive Andrew Fagan hinted the Canberra Vikings could return to the Sydney club competition next season should a second-tier competition not eventuate.
The Brumbies' pleas come because Saturday night's Brumby Runners match was the last time that players not in their top 22 each week would have competitive playing options.
The Sydney and Brisbane competitions don't start until April 10 and the standard doesn't rival Super 14.
Friend accepted there were financial challenges with setting up a new competition but insisted something had to be done.
The ARU funds the Sydney and Brisbane club competitions more than $1million each in premier rugby grants.
The ACT and WA unions receive no such grants. All the ACTRU receives is a $200,000 payment, which is used to employ staff for development programs with a community focus.
Friend believed the best solution would be a second-tier competition coinciding with the Super 14 draw.
"I'd love to see, even next year, every time we play the Waratahs, Reds, Force and Rebels, both home and away, that our second-tier teams play the curtain raiser, or even the day after," he said.
"Whilst ever we're playing in a competition that only really focuses on the top blokes, your young fellas can train well but what do they do then? Sydney and Brisbane club [rugby] is competitive enough but you can't compare that to the top level. Something needs to be done because I think it's being overlooked at the moment and I don't think it's helping the game."
The Brumby Runners have played six games this season, which the Brumbies have organised privately.
Friend has used them to give his bench players more game time.
"I'd love to be able to say to our Runners, 'OK guys, you've got eight games of quality football', that they play all the other provincial sides home and away and it actually means something," Friend said.
"If your players aren't making the one to 15 in your top team, they're still getting game time, at a good level, in a second-tier structure and be able to put pressure on the people ahead of them.
"How does the bloke who hasn't played a lot of footy show me that he's better than the bloke who is ahead of him? It's bloody hard but if he's playing week in, week out and showing that he's killing it at that next level, well you start to take notice of them."
The Vikings played in the Sydney or Brisbane club competitions between 1995 and 2005. They then played in and won the Australian Rugby Shield in 2006 before coming seventh in the one-off Australian Rugby Championship in 2007. Sydney's competition is run by the NSWRU, which has refused to invite an ACT team for the past five years.
Canberra Times
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...0322-qq91.html
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