qwerty51
Stirling Mortlock (74)
I'm very confused by this
Rebels 2023
- Thread starter RugbyReg
- Start date
Scooter
John Solomon (38)
It would be good if they had the 5 Oz Super Rugby sides, minus their rep players, add in the Drua and maybe some genuine regional/country sides (e.g. a Qld team from NQ, NSW team from regional NSW) so that we have an ongoing 'local' comp to help develop those players further, bringing in some of the fringe/club players to replace missing rep players which helps develop more players at a higher level. This avoids the club issue that the NRC had. Some of the regional teams might need to be supplemented with a few stronger players to even it out a bit.
Highlander35
Andrew Slack (58)
Rugby Australia and Australian Super Rugby contracting runs from 1 November to 31 October. I suggest that this is a backward contracting model designed around (a) copying New Zealand, who only require their players be locked into contract that late in order to support their Provincial Championship & (b) involved a 3/4 match Bledisloe cup that could often see matches played outside the International window.
I feel, (in line with what Foote has said, and what I know both Turinui and Wessels have said previously) that this being the default model for contracting is no longer fit for purpose: in particular now that the seasons (in non-World Cup years) have been aligned to allow for Super Rugby to be completed fully prior to the Summer/Inbound/Mid-Year Tours (however you want to call it). As it stands, RA is paying, via the Super clubs, at least 100 blokes, to play Club rugby for approx. 2 months and train for 5. While the resumption of "A" fixtures moving forward is a positive, this is an inefficient use of resources; financially, individual development and in terms of team cohesion and performance.
I don't have a specific system in mind that would satisfy everyone to solve it, (my preference would be for a 3rd tier of some sort, preferably involving the direct promotion of high performance arms of the Sydney & Brisbane Club comps a la the Super 6), but generally speaking I would like to to see one of, or combination of:
1) Shifting the contracting period to be 1 October to 30 September. This covers the entirety of the Rugby Championship, local Club Rugby seasons and lead up to the World Cup. Alternatively, 1 August to 31 July, and look to make greater use of pro-rata contracting, and get expensive off the books faster each season.
2) Formalise loan, temporary release and permanent release measures for players outside of the Wallaby contract group, both as a player development measure (with the absence of First Class game availability within Aus) and as a cost-cutting/revenue raising measure.
3) In the ongoing absense of a formal 3rd tier, some sort of "6 week sprint series" (single round robin) following the conclusion of club rugby involving the 5 Super sides, and ideally a Barbarians side, which to my mind could also include the Sevens Players as well as it would be during their "off-season" (July-November)
It's not catch-all or supremely well thought out, but the amount of time RA lets its "assets" (I hate to refer to players in that way, but it's true) sit idle is absurd, something should be done about it, and that "something", to my mind doesn't actually require "input" from any external body.
I don't know that it is the start and end date of the contracts that is the issue. They're year long because the players are employees and are paid on that basis across the whole year. The start date of the contracts facilitates players being available for preseason.
I'm not sure what the point of shifting it a month earlier would be. This is effectively saying that the first month of your contract is your holiday period where you're not expected to attend your Super Rugby club at all.
The completion of contracts late in the year also facilitates releasing players who won't be there next season to play overseas so they then don't need to be paid.
Scooter
John Solomon (38)
Thanks to Reece Hodge, he leaves the Rebels with:
Most games (100)
Most points (573)
Most tries (37)
Most conversions (89)
Most penalty goals (70)
(Only similar stat missing is most drop goals -
Still only 1 player has kicked a drop goal for the Rebels ...
....
And that is Angus Roberts)
Most games (100)
Most points (573)
Most tries (37)
Most conversions (89)
Most penalty goals (70)
(Only similar stat missing is most drop goals -
Still only 1 player has kicked a drop goal for the Rebels ...
....
And that is Angus Roberts)
Boof1050
Bill Watson (15)
Jeez dude aren’t you just the positive little person.
Rebels have played some attractive rugby this year, supporters long time supporters are really hurting and you come up with that tripe!
From a genuine Force supporter fellas may I be the one to tell him to go find the Far Q for you guys?
rugbyAU
Nev Cottrell (35)
At the end of the day, its a results based game and the wins haven't been there & they've fallen away from matches in the 2nd half
Wallaby Man
Trevor Allan (34)
I have a feeling we will see him back in 2yrs. Couldn’t ask for a nicer guy and a great club man.
justlookin
Stan Wickham (3)
I'm not a rebels fan but enjoyed watching them play this year. They heading in the right direction with some good guys coming in next year. If you start winning you will get more coming to the games, look at the Storm. If they won only a couple of games each year they would have poor crowds too.
Wallaby Man
Trevor Allan (34)
Storm are well established now, I’d suspect they would be solid crowds no matter the success. It’s no longer bandwagoning there now.
Dctarget
John Eales (66)
I’ll post something more detailed later and preferably on company time but last year we felt shit with no talent, this year we feel shit with talent. Not quite sure where it’s breaking down, our forwards seem to hold their own or better. Our backrow is class. Gordon is great. Centres? I reckon centres. Hoping Tupou and Salakai-Loto can provide some starch.
Wilson
David Codey (61)
The forwards are great individually, but they haven't gone so well as a unit, particularly at the lineout. It's a bit surprising given it's normally been pretty good under Parling, but the Rebels are 3rd worst in the comp this year for lineout success. A lot of it is probably down to throwing, but injuries at lock over the past couple of years can't have helped.
Generally decision making has been pretty poor at crucial times too, alongside an almost complete inability to travel that has always been an Achilles heel of the club.
The Ghost of Raelene
Andrew Slack (58)
Agree.
Rebels have been pretty good to watch this year. They do need to find a Centre. Tuipolotu likely to re sign with the Tahs apparently. I also think finding a young 9 should be high on the priority list.
Wilson
David Codey (61)
This probably the area where things have really gone wrong:
From: https://www.theroar.com.au/2023/05/...e-rwc-and-the-one-that-suits-his-cattle-best/
Obviously that's more about what went wrong than how it went wrong, but it's probably a good indicator you're right about the centres being the problem. Not even sure it's necessarily the personal as much as the constant chopping and changing of the past few years. It remains to be seen if that'll change next year though, with Hodge gone and Ili currently unsigned you could be pretty much starting again next year in terms of building combinations there.
Highlander35
Andrew Slack (58)
I miss Tamati Ellison.
Wallaby Man
Trevor Allan (34)
Agree, need a focal point in centres. Anderson is probably the biggest power carrier we have, he’s not bad but need someone else with some punch. Nu’u could of been a lot of help at 12.
Vaihu and Ripley are the hopes. This is where a SRAU would be amazing to get 4-5 games into them with Vaihu on Ioane’s wing and Ripley learn that at the pro level his lose play doesn’t work.