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Where to for Twiggy Rugby?

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half

Alan Cameron (40)
Seems to me on the admin side. Lots of pots calling kettles black and lots of people in glass houses throwing stones that may come back at them.
 

cyclopath

George Smith (75)
Staff member
Another year with Gibson at the helm will see the Tahs fall back in with the pack.

I think we're pretty much behind the pack, really. Sad thing is, it seems they might get a chunky compensation payout for the stadium re-build "move" which will artificially bump the books and allow some of the deadwood to claim kudos points for good fiscal management! The irony.
 

Scrubber2050

Mark Ella (57)
It’s just a few people on this forum it’s not indicative of the wider population. But shouldn’t be surprised given that the people who continue to claim that Twiggy provided nothing are the same ones who believe the current ARU board are a functional group of people.

How the hell would you KNOW what the wider population thinks. That is mere supposition on your part
 
T

TOCC

Guest
Good on ya mate, let’s avoid the trolling hey


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T

TOCC

Guest
I at time disagree with some of your comments, yes ... I don’t do so with the intent to deliberately antagonise you though, but I apologise if it is conveyed that way.

I thought trolling was posting a comment completely unrelated to the topic at hand but intended to arouse an emotive response from another member.. such as “very touchy TOCC”
 
T

TOCC

Guest
Western Force/RugbyWA out of administration, some other big changes:

-Rugby Australia has forgiven RugbyWA debt
-WA Govt has offered guaranteed other long term debt
-Rugby WA has again taken ownership of the Western Force naming rights and IP.
-RugbyWA will remain at the RugbyHQ facilities
-Future Force Academy will remain operating
-Twiggy has provided $2million grant for general administration of RugbyWA, The Future Force Academy, Women’s Rugby and Junior development.
-led by Force Legend Matt Hodgson (Hodgo), Minderoo has also committed specialist management and high- performance resources to help us rebuild, rearm and prepare for our next taste of professional Rugby.
 

dru

Tim Horan (67)
FANTASTIC!!!

Cannot believe how long it has taken for common sense to take hold and for ARU to get back to working positively for their stakeholders.

Plenty more, I think, is required, but kudos where it is owed.
 

WorkingClassRugger

David Codey (61)
Western Force/RugbyWA out of administration, some other big changes:

-Rugby Australia has forgiven RugbyWA debt
-WA Govt has offered guaranteed other long term debt
-Rugby WA has again taken ownership of the Western Force naming rights and IP.
-RugbyWA will remain at the RugbyHQ facilities
-Future Force Academy will remain operating
-Twiggy has provided $2million grant for general administration of RugbyWA, The Future Force Academy, Women’s Rugby and Junior development.
-led by Force Legend Matt Hodgson (Hodgo), Minderoo has also committed specialist management and high- performance resources to help us rebuild, rearm and prepare for our next taste of professional Rugby.

I'd like to read into these developments as positives regarding the IPRC as well. Hopefully we won't be disappointed.
 
T

TOCC

Guest
So more from it,

Twiggy has ensure RugbyWA maintain their home HQ, Future Force will be revived and spots open for 3 female rugby players to train full time.

NRC team to be renamed the Western Force, with the aim to have the team involved in invitational tournaments throughout the year.


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Gnostic

Mark Ella (57)
I have only just caught up with the Rugby news, but I have to say I hope that Twiggy gets the shits with RA and burns the whole edifice to the ground in some Corporate Armageddon, so we can really get a clean slate. The way things stand I have zero faith that anything at all will change with the management of the game in this country unless this happens and IMHO unless it does I think if Pro rugby still exists in Australia post 2019 it will be watched by less people than used to show up in the worst days of amateurism.

In a way I hope RA plays hard ball on endorsing Twiggy Rugby that way they give him no choice but to admit defeat and walk away or declare war fully, in which case I would expect and hope to see criminal charges for multiple people for various "corporate deals" that have been done over the past few years.
 

dru

Tim Horan (67)
^^^
@Gnostic, I have moments like this too - plenty of them. Once I let the red mist fade though it's hard to see how a scorched earth approach will benefit. No that doesnt make what we have any better.

The sad thing is that I honestly believe that it will come to a head anyway. The shrink to Greatness philosophy "demonstrated" we can only maintain 3 teams. Unless something changes that will out sooner or later. Broadcast fund must surely dip at the next stage and the Super concept must surely be under the pump at the next negotiations.

ARU have pretty much guaranteed that we are a minor party at those discussions.
 

kiap

Steve Williams (59)
If only we had a chairman like this Lynagh guy – a top bloke. Some article snippets:

IPRC: Michael Lynagh puts reputation on line for Twiggy

The Australian: December 9, 2017
WAYNE SMITH

Michael Lynagh is not only one of the headiest players to have pulled on the gold jersey for Australia but also one of the most measured. Even after all those years as a commentator for Sky Sports UK, he still carefully weighs up everything he has to say about rugby …

So he does not lend his name lightly to a project as daring as Forrest’s IPRC. Initially his involvement extended no further than smoothing the way for Forrest and his team to meet the movers and shakers of World Rugby, the likes of Bill Beaumont and Brett Gosper. Since then, however, his participation has grown, to the point where he is helping to negotiate with Rugby Australia, albeit it from London.

In the process, he has become the most articulate and persuasive of spokesmen for the IPRC. I confess to being sceptical of the project, along with virtually everyone else involved in Australian rugby, but Lynagh is so reasoned and thoughtful that it’s at last sounding not just doable but desirable …

So the day of decision is fast arriving for Rugby Australia. Indeed, it is upon them. If the IPRC is to be up and running in time for a February 2019 start date, running in direct opposition to Super Rugby which was, curiously, Australia’s and SANZAAR preference, then it must be approved by next week in order to give Forrest’s people time to arrange franchises, teams, coaches, playing rosters, stadium, sponsors … you name it, in fact.

This is a competition being built from scratch. In fact, it may already be too long delayed, with a player such as Matt To'omua re-signing with Leicester when arguably be could be have been a prime target for the IPRC, which in turn could have released him to the Wallabies for the 2019 World Cup.

Click here to view embiggened graphic.

J7U9uBy.png


(cont'd in next post)
 

kiap

Steve Williams (59)
(cont'd from last post)

Lynagh is sympathetic to the fact that RA has had a lot on its plate this year and is in the process of changing its chief executive. But he also is mystified. “When somebody comes in and says he wants to start up a new competition providing first-class rugby to the people of Western Australia and, by the way, wants to help out Australia by bringing players back from overseas or preventing players from going overseas, and wants to help with grassroots, schools, coaching — all sorts of things are possible — you’d think that the red carpet would be rolled out, with trumpets blaring.”

… [The] organisation which has, potentially, the most to lose out of the IPRC is RA. If it gives its blessing to the competition, it could be the ruin of its Wallaby selection criteria — with rugby going down the road of soccer, where all the good players head abroad. It could also leave Sydney’s Shute Shield and Brisbane’s Premier Rugby open to crippling raids as Forrest potentially attempts to fill out his playing rosters.

“Clubs are all worried about us stealing players,” said Lynagh. “We don’t want to do that. We don’t necessarily need to do that when you look at all the players who are available, in Europe, in Japan and in the islands. Ultimately we’ll try to make it (the IPRC) equal to the best Super Rugby. But look at this year’s competition. Some of the games between lower-ranked sides (think, for instance, the game between the Force and the Kings) were exciting, even though they weren’t of the standard of the Hurricanes playing the Crusaders.”

… Australia could bury its head in the sand where the player drain is concerned, but for how long? The loss of 350 players, mainly to Europe, has decimated South Africa and the Springboks — and Australia could follow …

Long term, the IPRC could become the basis of a post-2020 arrangement after the Super Rugby broadcast deal expires. If South Africa does move north, the way would be open for New Zealand, with its five teams, to join Australia — with the Force reactivated — and Forrest’s five teams in Asia. “At the moment, that’s not our initial goal but it certainly is a prospect,” said Lynagh.

… The real test of RA’s commitment is whether it is prepared to come to commercially realistic terms about the length of its commitment. If Forrest is to go to the expense of pushing through this competition, he deserves a long-term “lease” not one that’s going to expire in five years’ time, or worse, when the SANZAAR broadcast deal expires in 2020.

“If you had a lease on a flat for only a year, you’re not going to spend $60,000 on a kitchen, are you?” he asked.

Lynagh has watched from afar as Australian rugby has gone through its annus horribilis but now he believes RA can begin to turn the game around.

“They’ve been in bunker mode and I think they are still in that mode with us. RA needs a good news story and this is a good news story. As long as we are all mature and document things properly, we can make this work. We know we have to prove ourselves to Australia. I wouldn’t have got involved if I didn’t have that as one of my primary motives.”

Full article: clicky (firewalled)
 

Gnostic

Mark Ella (57)
^^^
@Gnostic, I have moments like this too - plenty of them. Once I let the red mist fade though it's hard to see how a scorched earth approach will benefit. No that doesnt make what we have any better.

The sad thing is that I honestly believe that it will come to a head anyway. The shrink to Greatness philosophy "demonstrated" we can only maintain 3 teams. Unless something changes that will out sooner or later. Broadcast fund must surely dip at the next stage and the Super concept must surely be under the pump at the next negotiations.

ARU have pretty much guaranteed that we are a minor party at those discussions.

I used to honestly believe that things could be turned around, up until the start of 2017- end of 2016. Things are now so dire financially and nearly all growth excepting 7s has been killed off in the pro game I can see no way forward but for a cleaning of the decks. The facts of the matter are that outside of the few true die hards that post on such forums as this there is little to no interest in Super Rugby and the Wallabies brand has been severely tainted as well. Add to that the total lack of esteem that the management of Rugby is held in, from the RA through to all the Super clubs and there is basically nothing left to build on. The foundations are rotten, in terms of trust and engagement. Now add to that the political Banker/Lawyer type deals that we have seen at nearly every Franchise and people rightly in my view see professional Rugby management as corrupt and a insiders feeding trough. As I said, if we continue as we are with the current structures it won't really matter as I expect the Pro game to collapse in the next few years, but what little support is left will go with it, I would hope to preserve that to build a new foundation for a new structure. Twiggy Rugby may well be a good idea, and it could well form the start of the new structure, but it will not if it gets associated with and falls under the control of the corrupt current management structures, which seems to me to be the sticking point for the RA to give their "endorsement".
 

I like to watch

David Codey (61)
FANTASTIC!!!

Cannot believe how long it has taken for common sense to take hold and for ARU to get back to working positively for their stakeholders.

Plenty more, I think, is required, but kudos where it is owed.
Kudos is not due to the ARU in any part of this process.
You don't get kudos for ceasing to be destructive.
 

dru

Tim Horan (67)
Kudos is not due to the ARU in any part of this process.
You don't get kudos for ceasing to be destructive.

Completely understand this. However would we prefer they had continued belligerence?

Smart move would have been for the old board to remove itself and let a new board start afresh.

I’m just happy to see progress no matter how belated or beligerent.
 

Rugbynutter39

Michael Lynagh (62)
Completely understand this. However would we prefer they had continued belligerence?

Smart move would have been for the old board to remove itself and let a new board start afresh.

I’m just happy to see progress no matter how belated or beligerent.
Was reading in the Australian article quoting Brett Robinson on iprc and pending discussions today. Language very positive about getting resolution and considering iprc as gateway to post 2020 broadcast deal on assumption South Africa decides future is in Europe. Re 5 oz sides, 5 kiwi sides and 5 Asian sides to possibly form new super 15 comp.


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