The Tarneit thing is not a complete solution but it could be part of a solution to the problem. The only issue is that the rest of the solution requires RA to see beyond the Sydney Eastern suburbs which will never happen. The game is not sustainable in Australia at the current revenue levels. It is a pretty simple idea but RA seem to not understand that revenue needs to be higher than costs for a sustainable business model.
The salary cap for all of the Super Rugby sides needs to be slashed mercilessly so that they can cut back on their cost base. Yes, the best players will all go overseas to earn the big pay packets but that will happen anyway in a few years when revenues continue to plummet as cutting teams means lower broadcasting revenue.
The future of Australian Rugby is not pretty if we continue down the path RA has us on.
It will start with the Rebels being chopped and the broadcasters saying by cutting Melbourne you have cut 6.8 million possible viewers in a country that is just short of 27 million people and on top of that 1 less side means 20% less content. We will be forced to cut what we pay by at least 40% given that.
A couple of years later and it will be the Brumbies head on the block because they cannot make enough revenue out of Canberra. Down to three sides and then revenues have dropped again because the amount of content has dropped by another 25% this time.
Queensland who had up till now been happily just in the black column find themselves pushing into the red because funds that are needed to support the game in this country is earmarked to strengthen the Tahs as they are the Jewel in RA crown.
A couple of more years and unfortunately the Reds have had to go by the wayside as well. The amount that Twiggy is having to fork out has now gone through the roof as the only revenue stream open to Australia is the Wallaby tests as broadcasting revenues are tiny and 6000 people at Tahs and Force games barely covers stadium costs. So, Twiggy says time for the Force to stand on their own two feet as he is not going to continue to throw good money after bad.
It is a very negative outlook and there may be a couple of golden days over the next few years but that money has already been spent.
If and only if Rugby Australia accepts that we are a third string competition and need to be paying players accordingly is there any chance of the game's survival in Australia. If the game dies in Australia please be aware NZ that it will die there too as your population cannot sustain a competition where the combined salaries of professional Rugby is around the 30 million mark. Your population of 5.2 million will not get you close to making the sort of money you need to survive.
Each club should have a hard salary cap of 2 million at the most and let's force clubs to live within their means.
