The Little Competition That Could

[Burgs]

The Little Competition That Could

by Garth Hamilton August 24, 2007, The Roar.

Riding a wave of rugby public goodwill and support, the ARC has defied expectations of being the dead man walking of the Australian sporting landscape. In barely three weeks the ARC has shown that it is capable of producing the quality of rugby required to fill the cavernous gap between Super 14 and club rugby. But should the competition be trying to achieve more?

First and foremost the role of the ARC is to provide a national competition that better prepares more players for Super 14 honours and higher. No doubt this competition will also go one step further in reducing the ‘league dropout’ that has robbed so many players from Australian rugby over the years. Fundamentally however, the ARC is set up to aid other teams in the competitions above it. Should the administrators of this competition have set their sights so low?

A realistic and long term goal should be to one day raise the standard of each ARC team until they are competitive with the New Zealand and South African Super 14 teams. By the time this happens the Super 14 competition will most likely have changed dramatically. Whatever shape the new Super rugby competition should take it must be the ARU’s focus to eventually enter the ARC teams into that competition. That is, to replace the current Super 14 teams with new ARC teams.

This would allow Australian rugby supporters to follow the same team in Super rugby at the start of the season and then in the ARC later in the season. This idea borrows heavily on the northern hemisphere model of using multiple competitions to fill a season. Contrary to what some Australian rugby commentators have written this is not really that difficult a concept for Australian supporters to grasp.

What this would mean is a reduction in the exposure of the state teams. It would not, however, mean an end to them. Interstate competition could still be contested however in a much reduced capacity. If we expect those at the bottom of the food chain, the clubs, to accept a shift in their traditional position in Australian rugby, why shouldn't we expect those at the top, the states, to eventually do exactly the same?

Its all for the good of the game.

[frontrow]

I like his thinking regarding the continuous morphing of clubs till the point they supercede current teams, ie ARC team morphs to Super14, but i would like to know where to after they reach the pinnacle, a new elite competition???

[Burgs]

To me it should be kept at a 2:1 ratio, in other words, 8 ARC:4 S14, 10 ARC: 5 S14 to evolve to a situation where each S14 side has two feeder ARC teams.
With a four S14 model it could be.
WA, Spirit & Rebels
Qld, Aces & Tornadoes
NSW, Fleet & Rays
ACT, Vikings & Rams.
Or
WA, Spirit & Rams
Qld, Aces & Tornadoes
NSW, Fleet & Rays
ACT, Vikings & Rebels.
A five S14 model may be.
WA would perhaps be Perth and a SA/NT/Tas composite with two home games in Adelaide & Darwin and one alternating between Hobart and Alice Springs.
Queensland with the Tornadoes and perhaps a Townsville, Cairns or Rockhampton based team.
NSW maintain with the Fleet and Rays.
ACT keep the Vikings and pick up the Rams.
New Victoria to obviously keep Rebels and perhaps Gold Coast.

[Flamethrower]

What a great article. I had to read it three times just to try and find the negative slant. Bugger me, there wasn't one. An article that is saying lets push this great game as far forward as we can. What Gold after the last few weeks.

Garth Hamilton