ARU opens door to helping hand from Twiggy Forrest - (Maybe?)

[SNOB]

Surely he must put the proposal to the whole board before it can be rejected? Or should we be referring to Herr Clone the Dicktator!

[yungfen]

Wow, turning down 50 million! This is beyond any logic and which further makes it evident that the ARU simply does not want the Western Force to exist as Sydney probably getting scared of all the development that we have made over here.

[jono]

Ok. Taking as much emotion as I can out of this.

How high is his fucking financial delegation if he can say no to $50mil!?!?! Surely that needs to be a whole board vote.
I'm sure that someone as experienced as Forest wasn't silly enough not to take a broad outline of an agreement that outlines what he wants in return. That proposal should be discussed at board level.

[GIGS20]

If true, that is a clear indication that Patsy Clone will kill Aussie Rugby simply to save face. I'm sure he'll now be hoping to lose the appeal, just so he doesn't look like a dick when forced to reinstate the Force anyway.

I would assume the $50 Mill would have come with conditions other than keep the Force, I would assume one of those conditions would have been the immediate resignation of the current board. Not particularly surprised that Clone was dictatorial about it, I get surprised every day by Eales and Robertson though. Particularly Eales, i had such respect for the man until now, he's proven himself to genuinely be one of only two things.

He's either completely morally bankrupt , which surprises me that he was able to con the rugby world into thinking he was an honourable human being or he's a complete wuss, being towed around by the nose, which surprises me because I thought he was one of the most inspirational leaders the country has seen on the pitch.

Either way, his legacy is in tatters.

[shasta]

Well if that's true, and we don't know what conditions the offer was made under, it will only ad impetus to demands for a Senate inquiry. I'm not surprised at all though.

[andrewg]

ARU STATEMENT - ANDREW FORREST MEETING
AUGUST 22, 2017

Board representatives from the Australian Rugby Union today travelled
to Adelaide to meet with Western Australian businessman Andrew Forrest
AO and his representatives.

The meeting was held with the purpose of discussing the future of the
Western Force and a way forward for Rugby in Western Australia.

ARU Chairman, Cameron Clyne said: “We had a long discussion with Andrew
today and have provided in detail the position of the ARU and the
factors that have led to our decision to discontinue the Western Force
Super Rugby licence.

“While we fundamentally disagreed on the number of teams in Super Rugby,
we had an extremely constructive session and have agreed to work together
to ensure that Rugby has a strong future in Western Australia.

“Andrew brings a lot of innovative thinking to the table and we discussed
a number of possibilities for the future of the game.

"Some of this discussion focussed on competitions and the pathways for young
players to the highest levels of the game, the community game and women’s Rugby.

“We look forward to engaging further with Andrew and RugbyWA
and sharing the plans with WA’s passionate Rugby community.

“We were genuinely appreciative of Andrew’s generous offer to back the Western Force
and Australian Rugby, however, given the position we are
in we are unable to work towards retaining five teams in Super Rugby.

“We are at the final stages of this process and Australian Rugby’s
constituents have voted to reduce Australia’s Super Rugby representation
to four teams and we have made commitments to SANZAAR.

“We were asked about the possibilities of retaining the Western Force in a
16-team Super Rugby competition, however a 16-team competition was
eliminated by SANZAAR during its review process based on a number of
factors. These factors included the extensive cost and limited appeal of
a 16-team round-robin competition, player welfare issues due to extra
travel requirements, and the loss of popular home and away ‘derbies’ in
each country.

“Our decision to discontinue the Western Force Super Rugby licence
is subject to appeal and we await the outcome of
this process before making any further comment on the matter.”

ENDS

So travel to Argentina and Japan is OK but too much of a hassle to drop into Perth while moving between NZ/East Coast and South Africa. Give me a break!!

[Macattack]

SANZAR's lapdog, no matter what the impact on Australian rugby - dickheads

[sittingbison]

You couldn't make this shit up

[Occidental]

Australian Rugby Union rejects $50 million offer from Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest

Tom Decent

The Australian Rugby Union has rejected an offer of around $50 million from billionaire mining magnate Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest to save the code and look after the financial burden of the Western Force.

Forrest, who first pledged support for the Western Force after the club's last match against the NSW Waratahs in July, was flanked by former ARU director Geoff Stooke and West Australia's first homegrown Wallaby John Wellborn at the meeting.

An estimated 10,000 Western Force fans have rallied in Perth against the club's axing by the Australian Rugby Union. AAP
The trio met with ARU chairman Cameron Clyne, deputy chairman Brett Robinson as well as director and former Wallabies captain John Eales.

During a three-hour meeting in Adelaide, Forrest told the ARU there would be no financial risk to the game's governing body if the Force were able to continue in Super Rugby.

Fairfax Media has been told Forrest put an offer of around to $50 million on the table to the ARU to help them out of financial trouble.

When contacted, the ARU said it would not comment on any dollar figures put forward by Forrest.

The ARU, however, is in a difficult predicament given it has already told SANZAAR it will cut a team from Super Rugby next season.

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The ARU rejected Forrest's offer at the meeting and made it clear they were committed to cutting the Force.

"We had a long discussion with Andrew today and have provided in detail the position of the ARU and the factors that have led to our decision to discontinue the Western Force Super Rugby licence," said Clyne.

"We were genuinely appreciative of Andrew's generous offer to back the Western Force and Australian Rugby, however, given the position we are in we are unable to work towards retaining five teams in Super Rugby."

Nonetheless, it is an eye-watering sum of money for the ARU to be turning down, no matter how committed they are to following through with its proposal to axe the Force and fulfil a SANZAAR obligation to reduce a franchise for a 15-team competition next year.

Although Forrest was disappointed, he was pleased the ARU outlined its commitment to working with the Force to develop a new international competition based in Western Australia.

Meanwhile, RugbyWA will find out on Wednesday whether their appeal against the ARU's decision to axe the Force will be heard in the NSW Supreme Court.

If not – or if the appeal fails – the Force will be left with no other choice but to explore playing elsewhere.

Forrest has said he would consider launching a new rugby union competition in Asia if the Force were unable to win their way back into Super Rugby ranks.

During the Force's supporter rally last Sunday, Forrest threw up a curve ball by saying he would start his own international league if the Supreme Court appeal failed.

Force chief executive Mark Sinderberry said the idea had merit.

"This is a really exciting concept and picks up on some interesting rugby we're seeing in Asia," Sinderberry said.

"Certainly Twiggy's vision is one we'd be very excited to understand. It's an embryonic idea, but one worth exploring.

"There's a number of cities and countries in Asia that do play rugby at the moment and are looking at ways to develop their own programs. So we think it would be very well received."

With AAP

[Jules]

According to kick and chase (why am I watching this drivel!!) it's not financial to cut a team it's high performance. Seriously so irritating

[blueandblack]

.....
"Some of this discussion focussed on competitions and the pathways for young
players to the highest levels of the game, the community game and women’s Rugby.

“We look forward to engaging further with Andrew and RugbyWA
and sharing the plans with WA’s passionate Rugby community.
...

...just so long as WA does not have a high level team, no matter the cost to us.

[Ham105]

According to kick and chase (why am I watching this drivel!!) it's not financial to cut a team it's high performance. Seriously so irritating

High performance?

And they are keeping the Sunwolves!

[travelling_gerry]

So last week it was purely economic...this week performance? What next week? Our shade of blue?

[valzc]

Are they keeping the Tahs?

[blueandblack]

They'll keep our training facilities and take our players.