3rd tier is back in 2014 [Discontinued]

[refugee]

I see a growth in Talent Scouts coming.

 

[liquor box]

From Brett Harris in the Australuan



Behind the pay wall. Article is actually on player payments in the NRC. Essentially Super Rugby contracts will cover NRC games, EPS and club players will be paid to play, but wages will be 'reasonable'.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...-new-competition/story-e6frg7o6-1226781983255

any chance of cutting and pasting the article behind that paywall?

 

[wamberal]

I see a growth in Talent Scouts coming.

There are plenty of talent scouts around already, scouring the ranks of junior and schoolboy rugby. Maybe having a third tier will help us keep some of the talent.

 

[Braveheart81]

any chance of cutting and pasting the article behind that paywall?

Google the article title and click the link there. You won't hit the paywall.

 

[suckerforred]

I think that the issue with having any one club enter the NRC individually is that it will effectively drain players from other clubs/areas that maybe don't have the access. Yes initally Sydney uni might supply 90% of the players, but as the younger boys coming through see that they do not have to be playing at uni to get a chance and they remain in their respective clubs then that should come back to balance. Like selecting any team you are going to have some teams that are stronger in some years than others and it will be all sorted out in the ups & downs.

I thought I read somewhere over the last few days that Sydney Uni (Or any individual club for that matter) had been told that they were welcome to put in a EOI, but places would be more likely given to joint ventures. Or was I halucinating.....

 

[Bowside]

So from what we know:

NSW will have 3 possibly 4 teams out of:
Sydney Uni
Randwick-UNSW
Gordon-Norths-Manly-Warringah unholy union.
Western Sydney
Newcastle

QLD will have between 1 and 3 teams out of:
North Brisbane joint venture
South Brisbane Joint Venture
UQ
Sunnybank
Bond-GC

Plus a team each from Perth, Melbourne and Canberra.

Bit of an amalgamation of all the suggested ideas really: Franchises, stand alone clubs, university teams, super rugby reserves....

 

[suckerforred]

Oh, and as to the teams to be included, my thoughts :

Brisbane x 2
Sydney x 2
ACT
Melbourne
Perth
8th team to come from wherever can put up a good case.

I know people are saying that Adelaide hasn't got a hope but it is effectively an untapped market. Only really up against AFL so the possibility of some decent sponsorship dollars making the project viable is higher then I would expect in some other areas. Tassie might be in the same sort of position but their economy is not looking flash so may not get there. Also Adelaide might make scheduling easier, belive it or not.

Or is there a problem with only have a 7 team comp in the first year. Just mean that someone has a bye every week.

 

[Dave Beat]

Let's put it another way. What exactly would another Shute Shield club get out of joining in a bid with Sydney Uni if Uni were providing 90% of the players?

Let's say Uni put in a bid with West Harbour, Parramatta and Penrith and based it at Concord. Those other clubs would be lucky to contribute two players each to a 30 man squad.

Uni deserve the right to stand alone and we all should be congratulating them for that. I don't think it would be good for the game if they did though.

Uni might provide 90 - 95% of the players, but if this team played at Parramatta Stadium as an example, and it was great entertaining rugby with no NRL, AFL, as their season had finished. There is then a benefit.

 

[Dave Beat]

That's an interesting question for all clubs in the SS,not just prospective Uni partners.
No matter which clubs combine,there will be dominant partners,in terms of balance sheet and playing strength.
Without quotas or something similar,the junior partners will end up being absorbed by the more dominant clubs.
There are always unintended consequences when things like the T3 are established.

Will there though - it is a completely separate comp.
If a player is playing First Grade at Randwick, why would he go to Uni and play second or third grade when the first grade player is going to be first picked for the 3rd Tier, who knows there maybe even a better player than him at Easts who gets a seat on the pine.

 

[Quick Hands]

There is another issue, sfr. AS CEO isn't his primary responsibility the management, administration and finances of Australian rugby? Or has he got all that under control and now has spare time to indulge in dilettantish tinkering with the Laws of the game - and not just with the Laws but with its very spirit and ethos? He has already decreed on innumerable occasions that we are to have "smart, creative, running rugby", whatever that actually means.

Now the man may well have been an avid student of rugby while at the Shore school but there is not much evidence of real involvement since then. A very large number of the contributors to this forum have displayed real passion and commitment to the game over decades but no one is interested in drawing on their accumulated knowledge and wisdom.

You're being paid an absolute truckload to run the business of Australian rugby, Bill. Focus on that.
.

This is the part of the proposal that worries me.

I do like the idea of Sydney Uni going it alone as the fourth Sydney team, with special responsibility for SW Sydney I hope. (Warning: this is not sarcasm)

 

[I like to watch]

That's not what I was talking about at all.
What about when Blake or Kava get the coaching gig,tell a bench player they are being held back at the Club they currently play for?
Or maybe the outside back that sees little ball at his weaker club,and his new T3 team mates work on him to join them next year?
Etc etc
You know,as I do,with a quota,any movements will stop this type of talent drain and contribute to making the SS a much more balanced competition.

 

[Mals]

I hope Sydney Uni do get in. Then I instantly have a team to hate

I guess the West Sydney team will be made up of Eastwood, Parra, Penrith & West Harbour.

 

[I like to watch]

So what would happen to Souths,Easts & the Wicks if SU stood alone?

 

[Hawko]

Oh, and as to the teams to be included, my thoughts :

8th team to come from wherever can put up a good case.

I know people are saying that Adelaide hasn't got a hope but it is effectively an untapped market. Only really up against AFL so the possibility of some decent sponsorship dollars making the project viable is higher then I would expect in some other areas. Tassie might be in the same sort of position but their economy is not looking flash so may not get there. Also Adelaide might make scheduling easier, believe it or not.

Adelaide is not a starter for the comp first up because:

1. There is no significant amateur rugby base in Adelaide. There is a small comp that basically came from UK/Irish immigrant stock. Total population is around 1M people
2. Rugby is totally dwarfed by AFL. There are two national teams based in Adelaide plus a local (think Shute Shield size but better financed) nine team comp (the SANFL) and virtually everyone in the whole state talks, thinks and watches AFL. If you think its a religon in Melbourne, double it and that's how Adelaide is.
3. Everyone in the team would have to be imported, any player from SA who wants to make a future in Rugby goes to NSW or QLD. Those import costs are what killed the ARC.

For my sins I have been interred here for the last nine years. If it wasn't for Fox and the internet for Rugby I'd go nuts. Adelaide might be an option in ten years time when the ARU have improved their finances and when we expand the NRC to two divisions as the ITM Cup is. Before then though there are more important and realistic priorities.

 

[Dave Beat]

That's not what I was talking about at all.
What about when Blake or Kava get the coaching gig,tell a bench player they are being held back at the Club they currently play for?
Or maybe the outside back that sees little ball at his weaker club,and his new T3 team mates work on him to join them next year?
Etc etc
You know,as I do,with a quota,any movements will stop this type of talent drain and contribute to making the SS a much more balanced competition.

I understand that thought, a bit like Dingo picking the players who always say yes. I hope that doesn't happen, I want to see the best rugby players playing entertaining rugby.
I think there'd probably be 23 - 30 players in the squad developing keeping the pressure on the starting team.
I understand what you mean though.

 

[gel]

I hope Sydney Uni do get in. Then I instantly have a team to hate

I guess the West Sydney team will be made up of Eastwood, Parra, Penrith & West Harbour.

Perfect!

It's not a real competition unless there's a team that almost everyone hates (ABSU - anyone but sydney uni)

If sydney uni get in on their own, this new competition is going to be a roaring success.

Thumbs up from me.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Interesting quotes from Bill this morning:

Mr Pulver said in addition to providing additional broadcast content, the National Rugby Championship will generate extra revenue for Rugby.

Successful teams will be selected based on a number of criteria including: financial performance; professional team staffing structure and environment; commitment to player development; venue facilities; links to Super Rugby clubs; and current or potential fan base.

Not hating on Uni but if this is a major consideration then it could be a significant speed bump they will struggle to overcome if the commission holds true.

 

[stonecutter]

Just being the devils advocate regarding what appears to be a hurried process with little planning. Lets see the details before committing a clubs roster and resources to a joint venture. Some of the clubs being rumoured to forming partnerships have spent years hating each other. Who is going to appoint coach's and playing rosters. How long before a club pulls out because they believe they aren't being fairly represented. How long before 4 first graders from club X turn up at club Z because it's in their best interests to continue playing for the new franchise.
I also still can't see how they can overcome the past problem of distance and travel. ITM cup games are played midweek to expedite the competition into an achievable timeframe but travel times will hamper that with games in Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne. Bus travel is also used frequently in NZ to allay costs which I suppose is achievable between Uni oval and Nth Sydney oval.
If there is a benevolent TV executive out there with a lazy $20 million to cover expenses then lets go for it. But according to most pundits the ARU is running on the smell of an empty chardonnay bottle and this is an investment that if it goes wrong could cause serious long term damage.
I'm of the opinion that we already have enough representative franchises and that it would be less of a gamble to invest more responsibly in a competition structure that already has all the resources available and to use it as a feeder system. Who knows, it may even reinvigorate supporters into thinking that the NSW franchise actually represents the districts and not the Moore park precinct only.
I simply can't see that a 3T competition and providing further quasi professional exposure to rising and returning talent as the panacea to rugby's current woes is grasping the pineapple from the wrong end. It's the lack of exposure at the other end that needs attention before this great game becomes a boutique interest sport.

 

[Stands]

One of the criteria for entry should be the nomination of a home ground that has good spectator facilities, and is good for television. That alone would rule the Camperdown Claque out of contention straight away.

I thought I heard this year that Syd Uni is converting their No 2 oval to a Rugby Oval with Stands?

 

[Bruce Ross]

I thought I heard this year that Syd Uni is converting their No 2 oval to a Rugby Oval with Stands?

That's right, Stands. It is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2015 football season.
.