Having no NRC is better how?

[The GroundsKeeper]

Love the idea of this mate, but would there be the possibility of bringing in a country side from both QLD and NSW and making it a six team comp which could have it run for longer and give more players an opportunity to get scouted by Sydney or Brisbane teams because there a lots of good players there, for example Tim Gavin, Jack Barret, Harry Wilson just to name a few

 

[rugbyman03]

We already have a fantastic club rugby system in Australia – let’s leverage that for our 3rd tier.

There would be two divisions.
Division 1 (Cup):
– Top 6 Shute Shield
– Top 4 Hospital Cup
– Canberra rep team
– Perth rep team
Division 2 (Plate):
– Bottom 6 Shute Shield
– Bottom 5 Hospital Cup
– Melbourne Rep team

Each division has 12 teams, of which there are two pools.
Division 1 is playing for the Cup, Division 2 is playing for the Plate.

Each pool of 6 is contains a mixture of the clubs throughout the Division.
You play everyone in your pool once. There shouldn’t be anymore than 2-3 interstate matches per pool.

Based on this years ladders. The pools would be as follows:
Pool A – Division 1:
Easts (Syd), Randwick, Norths (Syd), Brothers, UQ, Canberra
Pool B – Division 1:
Rats, Gordon, Manly, Wests (Bris), Souths (Bris), Perth
Pool A – Division 2:
Uni, Eastwood, Souths (Syd), Melbourne, Bond, Easts (Bris)
Pool B – Division 2:
Two Blues, Hunter, Wests (Syd), GPS, Norths (Bris), Sunnybank.

Finals:
Top 2 from each pool play off in a semi-final. Winners progress to the final.

Total of 7 weeks.

Promotion/relegation is done based on the ladder of the respective competitions. Perth/Canberra remain in Div 1 and Melbourne remains in Div 2.

This model isn’t perfect, but at least creates immediate fan engagement and tribalism at a reasonable cost. Additionally you could shrink SS from 18 rounds to 16 rounds. This will help keep lower grade players engaged (shorter season and less time commitments).

 

[The GroundsKeeper]

That looks great but I reckon you have to have an NT team and there, I got a few mates up there and apart from AFL is union up there and they got some strong teams

 

[Mr Pilfer]

There is a lot of talk about the fact the sth African teams left super rugby and made us weaker.

Only 4 of their teams went to the URC (Bulls, stormers, sharks, lions)

Could it be an option for them to put 2 teams back into super rugby (cheetahs and kings for example). They might like the fact they can keep a foot in both camps and it might help us.

Could go back to the conference system

- 5 Aussie teams plus Fiji, 1 saffa team and Japanese team
- 5 kiwi teams, plus Samoa, 1 saffa team and jaguares

Play each team in your conference home and away (14)then semi finals and grand final.

Then some sort of cross over games between conferences after that.

Needs to be more games than it is now but keep playing during July test window so fringe players get game time and build depth

 

[JRugby2]

More games - absolutely - but creating a massive global competition that requires teams to circumnavigate the globe isn't the way to do it. Especially the island teams who'll never be able to afford it - and there is little commercial value in the idea.

Also, depending on what story you believe - South Africa left Super rugby for Europe or they were forced out by NZ. Either way - and there is zero interest (at least publicly) for them to re-join Super Rugby or any version of it. They play in their own timezone now and their fans (and sponsors of the teams) can watch them play away games at normal times.

 

[Highlander35]

The performance of the two other South African sides in the Pro14 were this in 2018/2019 season:

Cheetahs - 6th of 7 in Conference A [W8 | D1 | L12 | PD -65]
Kings - 7th of 7 in Conference B - [W2 | D1 | L18 | PD -350]

And the following in the truncated season:

Cheetahs - 4th of 7 in Conference A [W6 | D0 | L7 | PD +62]
Kings - 7th of 7 in Conference B - [W1 | D0 | L12 | PD -294]

They necessarily fix the problem.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

I'd tweak it a bit. Add in the winner of the Canberra comp and move the Melbourne rep squad up to the 1st div. Two 7 team pools. Top 3 go to the finals. Winner of each pool straight through to the major semi. Second place from each pool plays the third place team from the other to determine who goes on to play in the major semi final. Total 10 weeks.

If a 2nd Div is involved do as suggested replace the Melbourne rep squad with an Adelaide squad.

 

[Steve_Grey]

In this proposed format (sorry if I missed it) they play your competition after Shute Shield / Hospital Cup etc. as opposed to instead of?

 

[rugbyman03]

Yep that's correct. Let it run throughout September and October.

 

[rugbyman03]

The Melbourne rep team isn't strong enough if they are local Melbourne players. I made it a Canberra rep team to keep their comp fair and enough - otherwise everyone will end up at the one club.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

There are currently more Melbourne born/raised professional players than there are Canberrans. All of which came through their club system.

 

[JRugby2]

Waugh reveals third-tier competition in pipeline for 2025

www.rugby.com.au

We're back (maybe, probably not)

 

[wamberal99]

I would trust Waugh not to "misspeak".

 

[AdelaideRugby84]

The NRC needs to return but RA needs to ensure the NSWRU doesn't whiteant it like it did for both the ARC & NRC.

 

[schmidt it in]

Still waiting for this comp!

 

[wamberal99]

Patience is a virtue.

 

[Dave Beat]

We already have a fantastic club rugby system in Australia – let’s leverage that for our 3rd tier.

There would be two divisions.
Division 1 (Cup):
– Top 6 Shute Shield
– Top 4 Hospital Cup
– Canberra rep team
– Perth rep team
Division 2 (Plate):
– Bottom 6 Shute Shield
– Bottom 5 Hospital Cup
– Melbourne Rep team

Each division has 12 teams, of which there are two pools.
Division 1 is playing for the Cup, Division 2 is playing for the Plate.

Each pool of 6 is contains a mixture of the clubs throughout the Division.
You play everyone in your pool once. There shouldn’t be anymore than 2-3 interstate matches per pool.

Based on this years ladders. The pools would be as follows:
Pool A – Division 1:
Easts (Syd), Randwick, Norths (Syd), Brothers, UQ, Canberra
Pool B – Division 1:
Rats, Gordon, Manly, Wests (Bris), Souths (Bris), Perth
Pool A – Division 2:
Uni, Eastwood, Souths (Syd), Melbourne, Bond, Easts (Bris)
Pool B – Division 2:
Two Blues, Hunter, Wests (Syd), GPS, Norths (Bris), Sunnybank.

Finals:
Top 2 from each pool play off in a semi-final. Winners progress to the final.

Total of 7 weeks.

Promotion/relegation is done based on the ladder of the respective competitions. Perth/Canberra remain in Div 1 and Melbourne remains in Div 2.

This model isn’t perfect, but at least creates immediate fan engagement and tribalism at a reasonable cost. Additionally you could shrink SS from 18 rounds to 16 rounds. This will help keep lower grade players engaged (shorter season and less time commitments).

Yeah - I'm not sure about it becoming 3rd tier - my reasons why;

I know more people who enjoy club rugby than those who enjoy Super Rugby.

We lose many quality players offshore or other codes because in NSW and QLD, we have only one professional team that has around 5 spots open up each year for how many players.

So why can't we make it top tier and not only a pathway, but a retention tool as well.

Look at South Africa, they pulled out of Super Rugby - their players can play around the globe and still be selected for the Springboks.
Look at the Shute Shield - clubs recruit players from around the world.

NRL focuses on the clubs across Australia and are growing the numbers of teams;

What does RA focus on
What does NSWRU & QRU focus on (noting ACT have more Super Rugby success than the larger states - could that be why)

I think club rugby should be top tier (priority) and what RA (NSW / QLD / and other rugby hubs focus on).

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Yeah - I'm not sure about it becoming 3rd tier - my reasons why;

I know more people who enjoy club rugby than those who enjoy Super Rugby.

We lose many quality players offshore or other codes because in NSW and QLD, we have only one professional team that has around 5 spots open up each year for how many players.

So why can't we make it top tier and not only a pathway, but a retention tool as well.

Look at South Africa, they pulled out of Super Rugby - their players can play around the globe and still be selected for the Springboks.
Look at the Shute Shield - clubs recruit players from around the world.

NRL focuses on the clubs across Australia and are growing the numbers of teams;

What does RA focus on
What does NSWRU & QRU focus on (noting ACT have more Super Rugby success than the larger states - could that be why)

I think club rugby should be top tier (priority) and what RA (NSW / QLD / and other rugby hubs focus on).

Do you think you may be subject to a degree of sampling bias in your assessment Dave?

 

[Dave Beat]

Do you think you may be subject to a degree of sampling bias in your assessment Dave?

In what way?

I speak to a lot of people, and they really enjoy what club rugby brings.

NRL lives of the exposure club league brings each week and has built off that.

I'm looking at how Rugby In Australia has changed over the last 25 years and comparing it with other countries and codes.

Only sharing ideas.

 

[JRugby2]

In what way?

I speak to a lot of people, and they really enjoy what club rugby brings.

NRL lives of the exposure club league brings each week and has built off that.

I'm looking at how Rugby In Australia has changed over the last 25 years and comparing it with other countries and codes.

Only sharing ideas.

NRL has a 100+ year head start, NRL has stadiums, most NRL clubs have thriving, diverse business models.

It's absolutely pointless to look at the success of the NRL and all of the replicable things that a potential AU only professional competition could implement - without also acknowledging the stuff that we will never be able to replicate or achieve (that make the NRL a success as a professional sporting enterprise).