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I would be more surprised if a professional athlete weren't on PEDs these days.

The case for the Rebels existing seems a bit stronger for me than Moana Pacifika. Keeping a professional franchise in Melbourne seems like a valuable part of establishing a beachhead for rugby there and maintaining a spot in the public consciousness. Will never approach the popularity of AFL...

Certainly showed some league tendencies grubber kicking the ball against Fiji like 5 tackles had already been made. In all seriousness he's very skilled, but I feel as though we need to give him a position and allow him to consistently hone his craft there. I would rather maximize the talents...

It's a joke. Faf barely grazed his face but Nic White went down like a sniper shot him.

How much of that cost is the stadium itself vs. working around the location, time constraints, and existing infrastructure around it? Still a big number regardless.

The best way to understand the game is to play the video game Madden. Dead serious answer. It will give you a good understanding of player roles, rules, advantages of various personnel groupings/formations/play calls, and basic defensive coverage schemes/blitzing. Things become vastly more...

It's just too difficult in my mind to become a member of an active roster with his background since he's being thrown into the deep end of the NFL against guys that have been the best player on the team at every place they've been until they reached the NFL. For similar reasons I wouldn't back...

Too late to the game to have the technique to play defensive back. Too tall and light to play running back. I doubt he has the route tree understanding or hands to play receiver. Best case scenario like you said is being an athletic body teams put out as a kick returner or punt returner...

I think you'd have to combine this idea with a more relaxed fit supporters jersey for it to work. I'd consider myself to be in decent shape and I feel ridiculous wearing my rugby game kit anywhere other than the gym with how tight they are nowadays. Not saying you have to go full early 2000s...

At the risk of courting controversy, is there a consensus on whether Brisbane/Sydney GPS schools taking league prospects on scholarship to play rugby union for a few years is a net positive or net negative? Pros: exposure, puts eyes and exposure on union, could potentially put the thought of...

Pay $500-600 in reg fee for a season (at least for QPR clubs) or receive match payments in league. Would be a tough call if I were fresh out of school and wanted beer money to pick rugby over league if all else were equal. I wasn't delighted to pay my reg for grades this upcoming season despite...

how much is something like Q cup paying their lower end guys?

It's a bit of a tricky problem because of the financial situation I imagine. Not resourced well enough to compete monetarily with the NRL who will throw money at juniors and pay their way at Nudgee, but also stretched enough that we can't afford to take on a broader range of promising but...

Scouting and talent identification has become almost too good as different sports have become more lucrative. If you are an elite athlete someone will find you and offer a place in a development pathway or a contract. For example AFL teams will scout US college basketball for uncommonly tall...

You've put my thoughts into writing better than I could. It's difficult to produce 23 elite players for a test rugby if you aren't willing to support a critical mass of good to great players in the tier beneath playing a large volume of competitive, high-stakes games. I'd prefer for rugby not...

My feeling is that building the engaging domestic competition or at least changing Super Rugby has to be the priority. The Wallabies struggle because domestic rugby struggles. Building an entertaining, tribal competition that brings in revenue/engagement and all the advantages that buys...

For the sake of discussion, I'll put the English soccer model out there for consideration as an alternative to the top-down approach currently being advocated for by RA. Each squad is required to have a certain number of English players that have spent 3 years before their 21st birthday...

Thanks for looking into it. I've heard UQ has elite athlete scholarships that also give you additional flexibility with course planning and exam schedules. Was interested in the relationship between Bond University & Bond Rugby from the angle of those flights and player payments not being a...

For those who might know more, how involved is Bond University in the finances of Bond rugby? I'm not from the area but was under the impression that the university has deep pockets from those private tuition fees and a willingness to spend. I know a Bond med degree runs around $400k these days.

Today's guys are a different breed. The amount you can perfectly dial in training load while minimizing injury risk with tracking software is amazing stuff. Was having a chat with my physio about it since he works with a team and it's genuinely fascinating how much thought and data goes into...