National Rugby Championship 2014

Not to mention, Eastern Sydney fans are hardly going to drive to Lismore to support their team. There's a huge potential supporter base in the eastern suburbs who aren't being catered to.

I did suggest, PLAY THE STARS' MATCHES AT REDFERN OVAL!

Problem solved.

As I did. Great minds think alike

My impression was that the NSW Country/Easts/Randwick alliance came about because Easts/Randwick/Souths couldn't agree on how to get together. Many pointed the finger at Randwick's desire to play in green jerseys and have home games at Coogee.

Much love for the NRC concept over here in the West.

http://www.rugbywa.com.au/article/clubs-will-reap-benefits-nrc

I think it's brilliant and will benefit the game in WA for years to come and the rest of the country too. I would argue that the survival of the code in this country will have a lot to do with a successful domestic comp if it keeps going as it is.

Given the rabid support of the Force though, I am a teensy bit disappointed the West isn't mobilising bigger crowds.

Is nib available for games?

Deliberate decision to go for the grass roots, Pfitzy. I love the fact that they're playing at club grounds.

The game I went to at McGillivray had a bumper crowd.

Also ground hire costs wouldn't be worth it.

No worries - not saying it would have been better, but the Sea of Blue light that joint up.

I was hoping Perth would stand up with crowds of 3k+ to see local boys play. Obviously the game in Adelaide was a bit of a downer on that.

so 2 games to be broadcast next round with the Sydney Stars vs Rays on Thursday night and then Brisbane City vs Vikings on Saturday as the Bledisloe Cup curtain raiser.

Geez,the Rays are regulars on a Thursday night.
Unusual for a side out of contention to get so much air time.

HJ it's the fitness. Club players struggle to maintain the pace of the game and aren't making it into the defensive line. It's not cases of holes in the line than poor execution from what I've seen.

Exactly.

I think I said elsewhere: its noticeable the fitness dropoff of the club players around the 30 minute mark, and then again at the 60 minute mark. The Super guys generally keep powering on.

Defence isn't great but fitness is also an aspect, with plenty of games blowing out towards the end, though many have been high scoring from the get go as well. There is more time in play and much more in the way of attacking intent than most games which probably helps too. At the end of the day defence takes time together as a team to build - its no surprise that the Rising have the best, having been together more or less since the beginning of the year under the same system. It should improve over the next few seasons as teams become more settled and coaches get a better idea of what players in the club comps offer at a higher level.

The club players all started training together in about June as well. A few extra weeks on the Sydney and Brisbane boys.

While watching the Eagles/Rising game in Orange I spoke to the Rebels' CEO Rob Clarke on this exact point: the Rebels players are still training five days a week while the Melbourne club players train with them for only two days. One could presume the training arrangements aren't that different with the other NRC sides. No wonder the clubbies run out of petrol towards the end of each half.

Yep one big gap at the moment is Eastern Suburbs not properly representative

Hard to see politically tie up of Randwick / ES with Uni/Stars.

I can see would make sense to align but politically nope - and the playing at Redfern Oval also makes sense..but then again would Easturn Suburbs types be happy going to Redfern oval.

Maybe the Beasties could try NOT sucking at rugby of they want more players in?

The draw for next years TRC has been released. Shortened to playing each team once and us playing NZ and SA at Sydney and Brisbane respectively, if we don't win the comp well there's no hope for us.