National Rugby Championship 2014

[Dave Beat]

H

Clubs will become direct feeders into NRC once the two competitions align properly, and everyone stops pissing around.

Hope so, I would've like the NRC to start the same weekend as the AFL, NRL grand final and club rugby.
SS final same day as the Bledisloe, and quality players starting there off season early - better planning required.

 

[Train Without a Station]

Dave I think you're getting caught up on the wrong things. Quality League and AFL players will be starting their off season whilst the NRC is going. There has always been rugby after the completion of club rugby.

The better planning would be relegating Shute Shield to a lower level by running NRC concurrently, and therefore taking the best players. I don't see that going down well with anybody initially.

 

[Eyes and Ears]

I just hope the NRC exists in 2015. It's a bit early to consider what it might look like in 2020. IMO it will never be more than a niche competition as we would need a much bigger fan base for it to be played at the same time as Super Rugby.

 

[Dave Beat]

Join - http://www.superbru.com/nrc/ - and share it with your rugby mates. One of the best run online tipping comps.

 

[Braveheart81]

Maybe incorrectly worded, after this weekend for the next 8 weeks;
What is the 1st tier comp. Test rugby?????
What is the 2nd tier comp. NRC ?????
What I'd the 3rd tier comp. Subies ?????
What is the 4th tier comp.
There are a lot of quality players not playing after this weekend, whilst AFL, NRL, and Subbies kick on - I'd hate to be sitting around watching.

The tiers are pretty clearly:

1st tier: Wallabies
2nd tier: Super Rugby
3rd tier: NRC
4th tier: Club Rugby

The fact that Super Rugby ends so test rugby can start is just a fact of life. Our best players need to be playing in both.

As has been discussed ad nauseum, we need a more professional compteition with less teams below Super Rugby because the gap is too large between club rugby and Super Rugby.

We need our non-Wallaby Super Rugby players playing more high quality rugby so they are better when it comes to Super Rugby and we need the best players from club rugby playing higher standard rugby in a more professional environment.

We are playing catch up with New Zealand and South Africa who have strong 3rd tier competitions that provide them with vast amounts more depth than Australian rugby has.

Most of the quality players from club rugby will continue their seasons in the NRC.

 

[Dave Beat]

The tiers are pretty clearly:

1st tier: Wallabies
2nd tier: Super Rugby
3rd tier: NRC
4th tier: Club Rugby

The fact that Super Rugby ends so test rugby can start is just a fact of life. Our best players need to be playing in both.

As has been discussed ad nauseum, we need a more professional compteition with less teams below Super Rugby because the gap is too large between club rugby and Super Rugby.

We need our non-Wallaby Super Rugby players playing more high quality rugby so they are better when it comes to Super Rugby and we need the best players from club rugby playing higher standard rugby in a more professional environment.

We are playing catch up with New Zealand and South Africa who have strong 3rd tier competitions that provide them with vast amounts more depth than Australian rugby has.

Most of the quality players from club rugby will continue their seasons in the NRC.

The tiers are pretty clearly:

1st tier: Wallabies
2nd tier: Super Rugby - Stopped
3rd tier: NRC
4th tier: Club Rugby - Shute stopped

Agree with your content, but the point i was trying to make;

• there are allot of quality rugby players now not playing because they just missed the cut with the NRC, or aren't playing subbies.
• Rays have started a colts NRC team, but in general colts season finished for most players but the NSW Cup, AFL, and subbies are still going.
• We should have looked to keep the players engaged with rugby, without players / grass roots we don't have a game.

 

[Pfitzy]

And what those third tier competitions have realised is that they can't run in parallel with Super Rugby and/or club rugby.

So in NZ they started ITM Cup on the weekend, with most regional club rugby wrapping up the week before.

In terms of Sydney club rugby, we need to then look at how to shorten the club season in the face of NRC expansion. That might mean starting the season earlier or cutting the number of clubs in order to still get a full home/away season going.

With the murmurs coming out of Subbies first Division, there might need to be promotion and relegation established IF, and ONLY IF, you went down that path. Limit each division to 10 clubs and go from there.

 

[Pfitzy]

• there are allot of quality rugby players now not playing because they just missed the cut with the NRC, or aren't playing subbies.

Then nothing changes from what these players were doing last year.

I understand the need for engagement, but those players from the club scene who aren't doing anything can now have an off-season, and go and support their NRC side.

 

[Braveheart81]

The tiers are pretty clearly:

1st tier: Wallabies
2nd tier: Super Rugby - Stopped
3rd tier: NRC
4th tier: Club Rugby - Shute stopped

Agree with your content, but the point i was trying to make;

• there are allot of quality rugby players now not playing because they just missed the cut with the NRC, or aren't playing subbies.
• Rays have started a colts NRC team, but in general colts season finished for most players but the NSW Cup, AFL, and subbies are still going.
• We should have looked to keep the players engaged with rugby, without players / grass roots we don't have a game.

It's a fact of life that we share players between the tiers. You can't have everything going at the same time.

AFL and NRL are the main tier in those codes. NRL slots in State of Origin and test matches around their season but it is a very small subset of their players both in terms of number of games and players involved.

If Club Rugby had more money and was a more professional competition then it could continue for longer. It's 18 weeks plus finals though which is hardly a short competition.

At this stage the best we can do is creating the NRC which aims to mix Super Rugby players with the best from club rugby to try and improve all of them and bridge the gap between club rugby and Super Rugby.

 

[qwerty51]

Let's get some predictions going.. rankings:

Canberra Vikings
Melbourne Rising
NSW Country
Greater Sydney Rams
Perth Spirit
Brisbane City
North Harbour Rays
QLD Country
Sydney Stars

 

[Brumby Runner]

For Round 1 I think the Rams might beat NSW Country, but home teams to win the rest.

 

[Wilson]

Any tipping or fantasy comps going on anywhere?

 

[Dave Beat]

Any tipping or fantasy comps going on anywhere?

check out -

Join - http://www.superbru.com/nrc/ - and share it with your rugby mates. One of the best run online tipping comps.

 

[Jagman]

Spirit
Rising
Eagles
Vikings
City
Rams
Country
Rays
Stars

Stars have a good future knowing they produce so many players and one would expect that anyone who plays for them now would continue to play if they get contracted to non NSW super teams but at the moment not enough contracted players to compete.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Highlander35]

In the future, when the format is closer to the ITM cup, the likelihood is that the Rugby Heartlands will be more successful, with players continuing to play for the team which gave them their first chance.

The current system, rightly or wrongly, will favour the one team regions. Talent needs to be developed and retained in these areas to ensure competitiveness.

On that note.

Vikings
Rising
Eagles
Spirit
City
Rams
Rays
Country
Stars

Carn the Rising!

 

[swingpass]

yes i think the top three will be Rising, Vikings and Spirit, but not sure what order. Rams and Bris city on paper the next strongest two. we shall all see in the next few weeks

 

[Braveheart81]

 

[Jagman]

The teams replete with quality locks with have a major advantage over the others for now. I also consider the Eagles to be a "one team" region. The ARU are not going to let Douglas go until after the 3rd Bled in case of injuries which will see him through for most of the comp. The Eagles will be up there with super rugby spin offs.

 

[qwerty51]

I doubt the ARU are keeping Douglas here for injuries. There's still Horwill and Jones before him.

 

[Braveheart81]

I doubt the ARU are keeping Douglas here for injuries. There's still Horwill and Jones before him.

Why wouldn't they release him then? It would cut salary costs.

I realise that he'd just be on his Waratah salary with no ARU top up but surely the ARU could do a deal with the Tahs to keep half each or something.