Where to for Super Rugby?

[dru]

More reasons for the board to stand down.

heaps more in the article

Hell yes.

“Harris, who was boss of RUPA when the report was given to the ARU, is equally irritated there has been such a positive spin when the warnings were present a long time ago”

This feels familiar - I could name many long term G&GR-ers who are in this mode. The positive spin inculcating the forum, well no not that exactly, more a call/insistence that others follow suit, is irritating. Let the board resign, show some common sense in going forward (necessarily involves QRU and NSWRU), and I will look to the positive.

Also note the attitude in the article to a shift to a domestic oriented comp.

Also, sadly, the thought that Twiggy rugby won’t help. Or at least won’t succeed as presented any better than Soup. Very sad.

 

[Boof1050]

Of course guys like Harris and co are gonna claim domestic rugby is better and twiggy ball will fail because they get to retain their freeloading ways. It's no coincidence that the game has gone no where either while his hands have been in the honey pot as well. You can guarantee that the people downgrading the other comp won't be getting a gig in it.

 

[Slim 293]

Of course guys like Harris and co are gonna claim domestic rugby is better and twiggy ball will fail because they get to retain their freeloading ways. It's no coincidence that the game has gone no where either while his hands have been in the honey pot as well. You can guarantee that the people downgrading the other comp won't be getting a gig in it.

Read the article...... it was Colin Smith, not Harris, that said he doesn't believe Twiggy's comp will work.

As for Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest's new Indo Pacific Rugby Championship, Smith is not convinced it can be successful.

"That competition is not going to work either because of the very things that we've talked about before [in the report]," Smith said. "I'd love it to work. Having countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong; they don't have a professional rugby community. The thing that drives rugby is domestic rivalries and what they did out of the new competition is reduce rivalries.

"Over time it's going to be seen as a second-rate tournament. That's my concern."

 

[wamberal]

Hindsight. If we all had it, we would all be geniuses.



I worked with a Saffa once whose favourite saying was "even a blind pig can find an acorn sometimes".


No doubt the ARU had alternative advice, from other expert sources.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Hindsight. If we all had it, we would all be geniuses.

Too true Wamb, but it would be good to see a bit of foresight being shown by the powers in the ARU and state RUs as well from time to time.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Hindsight. If we all had it, we would all be geniuses.



I worked with a Saffa once whose favourite saying was "even a blind pig can find an acorn sometimes".


No doubt the ARU had alternative advice, from other expert sources.

Like all good consultants, probably from the man himself

Sent from my D5833 using Tapatalk

 

[dru]

Too true Wamb, but it would be good to see a bit of foresight being shown by the powers in the ARU and state RUs as well from time to time.

It’s not good enough, but some honest hindsight from ARU would restrain a little of the disrespect and disdain they have earned.

 

[Gnostic]

Hindsight. If we all had it, we would all be geniuses.



I worked with a Saffa once whose favourite saying was "even a blind pig can find an acorn sometimes".


No doubt the ARU had alternative advice, from other expert sources.

The problem Wamberal is that this isn't really hindsight when the report is there to see dated etc. Also go back and look and numerous posters have raised the very concerns that Rugby in Australia is now facing, in some cases those concerns were being raised and poo-pooed as long as 7 years ago.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Read the article.. it was Colin Smith, not Harris, that said he doesn't believe Twiggy's comp will work.

Well the ARU has struggled to find answers - so I am hoping by joining forces with TF's team of braintrusts they can together find an answer....as what we do know is things are not going very well and things need to change....as to what they need to change to is the harder bit. But yes we know we need a) to improve our rugby skills at grassroots level up to professional level and if don't do at both ends we have problems b) create a more interesting product people want to watch which has competitive games but also right level of skills (refer back to a)). Some of this requires new thinking and money - TF is offering this to the ARU as an organisation that has struggled with both of the former so glad to see they seem to be embracing working with TF and his team as I know with the ARU alone we are screwed...but with TF's team and money working with the ARU we just might have a hope.

 

[wamberal]

If the future of the game hinges on Twiggy's money and expertise, we are not in a good place.

 

[lou75]

More fake news on Fox sports re AFL semi final Richmond v GWS - they are saying the crowd is 95,000 - clearly not, since most Rugby clubs achieve that over a season, not one night. Damn those AFLers

 

[dru]

If the future of the game hinges on Twiggy's money and expertise, we are not in a good place.

And how’s the future looking with ARU money and expertise?

 

[TOCC]

If the future of the game hinges on Twiggy's money and expertise, we are not in a good place.

rugbys future hinges on someone with the balls to actually come in and change the status quo, currently your mates on the ARU board aren't demonstrating that, so maybe TF is the option

 

[dru]

I’m out.

It’s taken considerable time to reach this conclusion, and I had to wait until my anger edged off the boil. I reached a point where, what the hell, I’ll just watch the Reds. But then the Reds annual off season moronacy of coaching selection sort of killed that. All part of the same disease.

My Foxtel subscription isn’t justified without rugby. It’ll be cancelled on Monday.

I’ll look at things again once Clyne goes, and look at where Twiggy broadcasts, I’ll watch what I can of the Reds at the pub, presuming I can talk a pub into switching Chanels from mungo. And I’ll replace it with community rugby, I suspect Papworth has a new follower at the Woodies.

All the best Soup, but I think you are fucked (it’s a technological description), and I won’t support the current ARU, or the sycophantic sublimation to Tew and SANZAAR.

 

[Brumby Runner]

It's really hard to keep the interest up, Dru. I have felt like pulling the plug myself a fair bit just recently, but intend to stick it out for the present though til I see where things are going and if they improve.

 

[half]

What disappoints me most at the moment is they manner in which the ARU have painted themselves into a corner.

By arguing so hard for Super rugby to be only four teams and thats all they can afford it simply reduces alternative options.

Further the old blame someone else will come into play as the ARU seem to be saying that TF's new competition could be the solution .

In what I have read the TF international Pan Asian / Pacific competition with one Australian team has almost no chance of gaining any sort of major traction IMO.

While I would not go so far as to say its deliberate, however the miss management by both the ARU and the state Unions boarders on neglect .

It beggars belief the ARU against expert advice signed off on the 18 teams Super Rugby competition. Then after 9 months of constant negative press have the hide to say they are the best to run the game.

AS in all things there is a tipping point when recovery to former levels is near impossible. The ARU IMO are well on the way to this.

In spite of all my support for Papworth and the Shute Shield even I understand its not the long term solution, just at the moment the SS is a kinda hand brake to stop us falling off the cliff.

Dru I was where you are some time ago.

My experience for what its worth is you drift into other codes and start to enter their world and it makes you mad as hell when you say why can't rugby do this.

 

[wamberal]

Meanwhile there was an article in today's SMH in which the claim was made that an NRL Grand Final in Melbourne would be a full house.


The AFL Grand Final is always a full house, hardly need to point that out, do I?


The other codes are what we are up against, Half, not the ARU.

 

[dru]

Dru I was where you are some time ago.

Yes and it has taken me some time to catch up. From total ARU support to wanting the individuals concerned gone for good, Super Rugby removed from Australia, and get back to basics. Definitely I'm there now.

My experience for what its worth is you drift into other codes and start to enter their world and it makes you mad as hell when you say why can't rugby do this.

I don't know - did the round ball game when living in the UK, good at the time but I'm not going back. Mungo does nothing for me. AFL even less. Maybe a game pass for some Grid Iron? Probably not.

It's really hard to keep the interest up, Dru. I have felt like pulling the plug myself a fair bit just recently, but intend to stick it out for the present though til I see where things are going and if they improve.

Not so far apart BR. If Clyne and his pals are gone, and something effective in terms of thinking is explained, I'll return tomorrow. For now it'll be highlights reels and game reports here on G&GR.

 

[BLR]

The other codes are what we are up against, Half, not the ARU.

When the governing body cuts the fastest growing grassroots region in their own sport.....yeah, I think other codes are the least of our worries.

 

[Brumby Runner]

A few of us have been wondering what is going on with the reallocation of players from the WF to other franchises. There has been a deathly silence from the ARU about how this will all be achieved, and about the financial arrangements that will apply.

It seems to me that there must be a lift in the current salary cap to allow a fair whack of the surplus WF players to relocate. Even allowing that the ARU has guaranteed their contracts (or at least any loss of earnings I would guess) there would have to be very large doubts about any of the Franchises being able to cough up any additional money to fulfil the contract obligations they are inheriting, so further largish grants or loans from the ARU must be on the cards.

And that just gets us over the immediate problems. What then happens when the existing contracts run out? I imagine most of the ex-WF players will only have a year or two at most to run. If they are the top line players the Franchises would be looking at, then they (the Franchises) will be faced with a huge dilemma at the end of 2018 and/or 2019. Presumably, any cap increase then will be removed by the ARU or what is the purpose of axing the Force at all. I can see there will be a big clean out at any of the Franchises who do take a number of ex-WF players on. The alternative would surely be further deficits and possible bankruptcy.

If, on the other hand, the ARU backs out of its commitment to meet the current contracts of ex-WF players, then any Franchise looking to recruit the bigger name players suddenly on the market would have to do so from their existing operations. Just a quicker route to possible bankruptcy.

I rather think some of the bigger name ex-WF players, like Adam Coleman, might just be wondering and considering the likelihood of another Franchise going bust either before the end of the current broadcast deal, or at the latest in 2020. Would they willingly put themselves in a situation similar the one they've just gone through with the Force?

It won't surprise me at all if a number of top line ex-WF players opt to go overseas for a year or so until the waters calm down a bit over here, and then if any opportunities exist to come back in time for RWC consideration. In my version of things, some high profile Locks like Douglas, Simmons and Carter will probably have concluded that the RWC is out of reach and will be looking for overseas gigs around 2019. There just might be some good options opening up for the likes of Coleman at the Reds, Tahs or Brumbies. He might look upon that as a better pathway than to associate himself with a Franchise that is more likely not to be around in the medium term.