Third Tier 2026

[Wilson]

I think we need to cool our jets on expectations a bit here. We're talking about a comp that's not even a half NRC. The 3 or 4 games these guys get will help, but it'll take years in a program for them to make much of a difference. At this point it's basically a glorified pre-season program. It's not nothing, and as part of a fuller schedule like the Reds run it's a bit more meaningful, but if 3 games was all it took to prepare these guys for super we probably wouldn't need a whole competition to do it.

None of this is meant as a criticism of Super Aus, it's a good start and something is a lot better than nothing, but it needs to be longer (8-10 games) and even then, the pay off comes from a few years in the program, not a single season. We can already see that with guys over on New Zealand usually getting a couple of prep years in NPC before arriving on the scene in Super Rugby.

 

[Major Tom]

Yeah I’m not suggesting that it will prepare a kid for SRP (Super Rugby Pacific). But the handful of games gives them a glimpse of what the level is like and extra incentive to hit the preseason. And the reality is, someone like Harvey is probably gonna be thrown in next year anyways so at least now he’s got some prep, as opposed to nothing.