Where to for Super Rugby?

[joeyjohnz]

Any remaining Super Rugby competition is a better option than that.

A domestic comp as the level below test rugby would be such a massive step back that it would take years to recover from (if we ever did). It's not an option to pursue as a stepping stone to something better.

Braveheart, you must be pretty ignorant of the current state of Australian Rugby. We've already reached that point.

I'm of the firm opinion that in response to this threads title: "Where to for Super Rugby?" the best option is e) No super Rugby.

We gave NZ the chance to Trans-Tasman this shit. They denied. Fuck 'em, and fuck super rugby, it's doing Aus Rugby NO favours.


Sometimes to save the village, you've gotta burn the town.

They say don't put all your eggs in one basket, but at the moment the ARU's only basket has a massive hole in the bottom. The eggs won't break if the baskets on the ground.

Yes a crowd of less 10k says it all where professional rugby is at the moment. Just loss of interest.

How do we get it back...? Serious question..

The best response in my opinion would be:
1) Take a leaf from the Big Bash and put two teams in your two biggest markets. Cut NSW country, we can't afford it. QLD Country becomes "southside", i.e. anywhere south of the Brisbane River. Country supporters support the QLD Reds.
2)Rebrand NRC teams to sync up with current Super franchises. We're not in the position of cricket to start completely from scratch, we need brand recognition for market penetration.
3) Run the 8 team comp (5 Super Franchises, +Western Sydney & Soufside & Fiji) in the NRC window until Super Rugby agreement finishes in 2019, then move to a standalone season.
4) Move to make the 2 expansion franchises semi-professional in 2018 & 2019(30k max per player), in order to be professional in 2020. This will cost $1.2mil.
5) Whichever Super team is cut retains professional status over the two year period. The big-name players are loaned to other franchises to save costs. Cost: unknown

Start small, shoot big. Hell, shamelessly introduce a State-of-Origin series between QLD, NSW & "the rest" over a 6 week period with each team playing home& away. Play it as the lead up to the RC.

I think Aus Rugby could even get behind the culling of a Super Rugby team if the ARU put forward a transparent proposal for us to go it alone. We all know it's broken. We just haven't been shown a light at the end of this very, very long dark tunnel that we've been travelling along since the mid noughties.

 

[Teh Other Dave]

^^ I disagree with every point made in this post. If we 'go it alone', we'll fall into a bigger hole. I also get the feeling that you're from Sydney.

 

[wamberal]

If I lived in Canberra Id be inclined to sit at home with a few beers and the fire raging watch in on TV rather than go and sit in the freezing weather. The only drawback is listening to Kearns blather and Kafer's dewometer.

The mute button is your friend.

 

[Merrow]

If I lived in Canberra Id be inclined to sit at home with a few beers and the fire raging watch in on TV rather than go and sit in the freezing weather. The only drawback is listening to Kearns blather and Kafer's dewometer.

You can still hear the blather if you have sports ears

 

[joeyjohnz]

^^ I disagree with every point made in this post. If we 'go it alone', we'll fall into a bigger hole.

Born in Perth, raised in Brisbane, played for Australia.

I disagree with your disagreement.

I'd love to tell you why, but you haven't offered any counter arguments.

I also get the feeling that you're from Sydney.

It's unnecessary bullshit like this that drives people away from these forums.

 

[Leo86]

You can still hear the blather if you have sports ears

yep, i found the best way was to switch it to the ref and commentary setting and only put in the earplug with the ref. Putting it on the ref only setting seemed to have an overbearing backfeed of commentary

 

[Inside Shoulder]

yep, i found the best way was to switch it to the ref and commentary setting and only put in the earplug with the ref. Putting it on the ref only setting seemed to have an overbearing backfeed of commentary

Mine didn't even work at the Scottish test - same as Poite's in Auckland

 

[wamberal]

Born in Perth, raised in Brisbane, played for Australia.

I disagree with your disagreement.

I'd love to tell you why, but you haven't offered any counter arguments.

It's unnecessary bullshit like this that drives people away from these forums.

Stick with it. Ignore the bs, that's what I do.

 

[No4918]

SANZAAR are going to be shocked next season when interest stays low in the best markets and continues to wane in others.

 

[wamberal]

SANZAAR are going to be shocked next season when interest stays low in the best markets and continues to wane in others.

No, they probably have access to the same numbers we do.

 

[cyclopath]

Born in Perth, raised in Brisbane, played for Australia.

Out of interest, in what?

 

[half]

Braveheart, you must be pretty ignorant of the current state of Australian Rugby. We've already reached that point.

I'm of the firm opinion that in response to this threads title: "Where to for Super Rugby?" the best option is e) No super Rugby.

We gave NZ the chance to Trans-Tasman this shit. They denied. Fuck 'em, and fuck super rugby, it's doing Aus Rugby NO favours.


Sometimes to save the village, you've gotta burn the town.

They say don't put all your eggs in one basket, but at the moment the ARU's only basket has a massive hole in the bottom. The eggs won't break if the baskets on the ground.


The best response in my opinion would be:
1) Take a leaf from the Big Bash and put two teams in your two biggest markets. Cut NSW country, we can't afford it. QLD Country becomes "southside", i.e. anywhere south of the Brisbane River. Country supporters support the QLD Reds.
2)Rebrand NRC teams to sync up with current Super franchises. We're not in the position of cricket to start completely from scratch, we need brand recognition for market penetration.
3) Run the 8 team comp (5 Super Franchises, +Western Sydney & Soufside & Fiji) in the NRC window until Super Rugby agreement finishes in 2019, then move to a standalone season.
4) Move to make the 2 expansion franchises semi-professional in 2018 & 2019(30k max per player), in order to be professional in 2020. This will cost $1.2mil.
5) Whichever Super team is cut retains professional status over the two year period. The big-name players are loaned to other franchises to save costs. Cost: unknown

Start small, shoot big. Hell, shamelessly introduce a State-of-Origin series between QLD, NSW & "the rest" over a 6 week period with each team playing home& away. Play it as the lead up to the RC.

I think Aus Rugby could even get behind the culling of a Super Rugby team if the ARU put forward a transparent proposal for us to go it alone. We all know it's broken. We just haven't been shown a light at the end of this very, very long dark tunnel that we've been travelling along since the mid noughties.

Just confirming this is not me using a different tag.

I so much agree with this post.

Dave what you can't see IMO, is Australians love to watch Australian teams play Australian teams.

Beyond that I keep saying, screaming, pleading to have faith in the game.

Its the structures we establish that over time make you strong. The Super Rugby structure especially now with five nations is crumbling before our very eyes.

Dave and no offence meant is you seem to look at the cost and see what we can afford. I want to build the best structures and then fund these the best we can.

We can grow if we put the right structures in place.

 

[TOCC]

Personally, I don't love to watch Australians play Australians, I'd prefer to watch the Reds play the Crusaders or Chiefs..

In terms of preference:

1. Reds vs NZ
2. Reds vs AUS
3. Reds vs RSA
4. NZ vs NZ
-gap-
5. AUS vs AUS

After that, the reality is I wouldn't watch a game

 

[kiap]

^^ I disagree with every point made in this post. If we 'go it alone', we'll fall into a bigger hole. I also get the feeling that you're from Sydney.

There are different ways of "going it alone".

It doesn't mean of necessity (or even by intention) that there never be Trans-Tasman matches again. Clearly, that's not the preference for Australian Rugby.

But what might need to happen, for pro rugby to survive, is for a national comp (perhaps including Fiji and perhaps others) to take the bulk of the regular season.

There are upsides to this option on several fronts, as well as downsides. But this can be partnered with "Champions Cup" type deals where some teams will still play in NZ and elsewhere.

So JoeyJohnz gets an upvote. Doesn't mean I agree with every dollar and every comma, but he sees the Aussie delusion of pretending Super Rugby will stay viable. That penny is going to drop.

 

[kiap]

Personally, I don't love to watch Australians play Australians, I'd prefer to watch the Reds play the Crusaders or Chiefs..

In terms of preference:

1. Reds vs NZ
2. Reds vs AUS
3. Reds vs RSA
4. NZ vs NZ
-gap-
5. AUS vs AUS

After that, the reality is I wouldn't watch a game

Problem is, the Kiwi preference doesn't match that.

Four Oz sides playing NZ soup in a round-robin will still be getting floggings.

Two sides in a top 8 for any given year is … perhaps … where we're at, which for now we barely warrant.

We need to reconcile that without returning the game to the stone age.

 

[No4918]

No, they probably have access to the same numbers we do.

So you don't think they are convinced by there own solution to the current problems?

 

[wamberal]

I think they are probably shit-scared and clutching at straws. Events have unfolded too quickly for them. Unravelled might be a better term.


Their options are limited, by definition. They either try something (from within a very, very limited set of alternatives) or commit corporate suicide. What would you do if you were in their shoes right now?

 

[KevinO]

Going it alone with out the kiwis might do Australian teams a favor. At the moment all those kiwi fans refuse to support oz teams in any form cause they play against kiwis. If they were only playing other oz teams they might go along to watch live rugby and eventually start supporting local teams as well.

Sent from my LG-H850 using Tapatalk

 

[Teh Other Dave]

Ok, JoeyJohnz, so going through your points:

A national competition with two teams in Brisbane and Sydney, presumably changing Queensland to North Brisbane, and then adding a new team to the Southside. So basically those who have gone through years/decades supporting Queensland are now given the choice of barracking AGAINST them? And to also suggest that Qld Country and NSW country are a waste of resources is absurd. Both teams currently fulfil an important role in the NRC by bringing rep footy to the regions (and thus the Sydney remark).

The argument for reducing our super rugby cohort is that player stocks are being thinned out. An 8 team national league (7 plus Fiji) would thin talent out even more, would require more numbers through turnstiles in order to be sustainable, and would probably spread player wages thinner than they are already, making player retention even more difficult. This would be even harder to sustain than the current model. Its only advantage would be travel costs.

Thinning talent will also only exacerbate one of the main problems plaguing Super Rugby at present: our teams are below par i personally think that is as much the fault of our coaching set up as anything else, but diluting talent will not help.

The existing franchises would also have a huge advantage over the new sides in having established player rosters, coaching staff, facilities, and (albeit dwindling) supporter bases. I'm nit sure that the loan system would be of any benefit, just more upheval for the player involved.

So while I like that you've given this thought, I just don't agree. Saying that the fact that I disagree with you is 'Bullshit' and a reason for dwindling forum posts is in itself, frankly, bullshit. You put an idea out, which is great, but people are going to disagree with that - thus the whole point of the forum.

 

[James Pettifer]

Thinning talent will also only exacerbate one of the main problems plaguing Super Rugby at present: our teams are below par i personally think that is as much the fault of our coaching set up as anything else, but diluting talent will not help.

Below par compared to the NZ teams that they won't be playing. No one really cares that the A-League teams are below par compared to the Premium League.