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Australian Rugby / RA

The Honey Badger

Jim Lenehan (48)
What are you referring to here?

The Force?

Or less teams?

Too cryptic for me to glean one way or the other.



The article was an interesting read but really didnt give much away. It made it clear that it was just "Super Rugby" for sale. (whatever that still means)

Then read what you will into this;

That means another opportunity for Australia and potentially the Kiwis to build a competition without the constraints of time zones and long haul travel. A competition fans can watch in prime time, two or three nights a week, featuring strong but familiar rivalries and fast, attacking rugby.

That extends to the shape of the competition and who pays for it. All big questions McLennan and RA boss Rob Clarke must work out in the next two months.



It really looks like all options are on the table and they are probably going through all the same options we are on the Where to thread. It seems from that quote underlined the TT thing is no certainty.

We dont know if it TT or domestic and know nothing about the potential structure in either case
 

Derpus

George Gregan (70)
^^^^
As i pointed out in the Where to thread, TT is by no means a certainty but a 10 team TT with the Force back involved is by far the best outcome.
 

wamberal

Phil Kearns (64)
^^^Twiggy with a proxy seat at the table is interesting, but I can't really fault anyone in that group or the move by McLennen to put the group together.

Mmmmm. The Prague Spring begins, eh? I wonder how long they will remain faultless? For them to achieve any bloody thing they are going to have to disappoint a lot of people.

I might add that Peter Cosgrove had a few years on the Board, and from memory headed the sub-committee that introduced the latest constitution. So apparently he is forgiven his sins?
 

The Honey Badger

Jim Lenehan (48)
^^^^
As i pointed out in the Where to thread, TT is by no means a certainty but a 10 team TT with the Force back involved is by far the best outcome.

Thats my second option, after a domestic.

But a 4 or 3 team TT is completely Fucked, but with 1 rider and thats where they do both as 2 separate comps and the TT follows the domestic.
 

Quick Hands

David Wilson (68)
Mmmmm. The Prague Spring begins, eh? I wonder how long they will remain faultless? For them to achieve any bloody thing they are going to have to disappoint a lot of people.

I might add that Peter Cosgrove had a few years on the Board, and from memory headed the sub-committee that introduced the latest constitution. So apparently he is forgiven his sins?

Because the group have the sole purpose of networking and using their contacts and influence to bring RWC to Australia in 2027. They don't have to achieve anything else.

Perhaps you've misread their role?
 

Quick Hands

David Wilson (68)
I don't see much point in having a negative outlook on everything, even if i do fall into that trap myself often enough.

Although on reflection I don't have a negative/pessimistic outlook on everything.

I certainly accept that I am pessimistic about the long term benefits to Australian rugby of a TT Super Rugby model involving state based teams, just as I have been long pessimistic about the benefits of the SANZAR pan-continental model. This pessimism is based on observations of; (a) what works in the national professional sports space in other Australian sports and (b) what works in the professional rugby space in other Tier 1 rugby nations. The ingredients for a successful (in terms of broadcast interest, fan engagement and sponsorship/ownership) extend far beyond the real or perceived quality of the athletes on the field. What we know is that sports fans worldwide and across Australia will engage best with teams which identify with a specific and parochial geographic area based on a town, a suburb or groups of suburbs. This leads to long term fan engagement even through the tough times - the NRL, AFL, English rugby and French rugby are full of examples of diehard fans who support teams in good numbers even after years of mediocre results. The Parramatta Eels for example haven't won the league since 1986 and have been in the doldrums for years but the fans are still there buying merchandise, demanding better results etc. Long term fan engagement leads to corporate support and all of this increases broadcast value.

If player quality was all that mattered then the Sheffield Shield would be the hottest domestic property in Australian sport.

Where I am optimistic is that if a national domestic league ever eventuates that it will be a long-term success. It will provide us with much of the above and a legacy for the game to thrive into the future. Again I acknowledge that in the immediate short term this will lead to a drop in available wages for players - but this is going to happen anyway by any objective analysis. I see for example the scenario where RA run the Wallabies and community rugby/development and the middle tier of pro-rugby is run by the clubs involved with PE as an exciting and positive development.

Even a cursory glance at these threads provides evidence that NZRU operate in a completely different context to RA and will always have different solutions to the issues that each faces. I see being tethered to NZ as being a negative as opposed to being cooperative equals coming together wherever our mutual interests lie as being an immense positive.
 

Highlander35

Andrew Slack (58)
The grand strategy of ‘over sighting’ M Cheika seems to have been a disaster all round, as one insider reveals with remarkable frankness:

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-...med-to-fail-at-world-cup-20200616-p55329.html


4ac.gif
 

wamberal

Phil Kearns (64)

Derpus

George Gregan (70)
It wasn't a strategy, it was an act of desperation. With the benefit of hindsight (a very common attribute of most critics), what was the alternative? Sack him? Or just let him continue hurtling down the pike without any controls?

Sack him and appoint Scott Johnson as interim, i guess. Not sure how realistic that option actually was, given the the financial difficulties.
 

formerflanker

Ken Catchpole (46)
RA employed Johnson to oversee Cheika.
Two salaries.
They could have sacked Cheika, paid him out, and employed Johnson as coach.
Two salaries.
That's no change in economic impact.
On the rugby front, all sorts of new scenarios would have been available.
 

Derpus

George Gregan (70)
RA employed Johnson to oversee Cheika.
Two salaries.
They could have sacked Cheika, paid him out, and employed Johnson as coach.
Two salaries.
That's no change in economic impact.
On the rugby front, all sorts of new scenarios would have been available.
You cant just sack a contracted bloke unless he has done something like breach his contravt. Otherwise you habe to pay out his contract to get rid of him.
 

Brumby Runner

David Wilson (68)
Sack him and appoint Scott Johnson as interim, i guess. Not sure how realistic that option actually was, given the the financial difficulties.

D, I would think having Johnson as head coach while paying out Cheika's contract would not have been significantly more expensive, if at all, than continuing the way things were. And there would have been a real chance some better player selections, better game strategies and perhaps more success come the RWC.

Incidentally, in the team photo in the article, have you ever seen a less interested lot while being addressed by Cheika?
 
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