I agree its unlikely but would be good. I might be biased but I do think Wests will be there and be a force come finals time. The good thing for them currently is they keep picking up bonus point losses, Obvoiusly want to be winning, but on the table they are effectively 2 wins one with bonus point rather than 1 and 3. The fact they have played pretty poorly thus far, and still could very easily be 4 from 4, I think once they get it together they will start putting some good wins together. Just hope they can get it together sooner rather than later
QLD Premier Rugby 2025
- Thread starter Coleman Rees
- Start date
My Arsenal
Allen Oxlade (6)
That was a red card for sure. Brothers player played the man in the air - no play for the ball as the Stan replays suggest.
Yes heard from a good insider that kohan herbert is one of those men that are off to Japan!! huge loss for the boys! But well deserved as rugby AU has no hope at securing great talent.
Interested Viewer
Allen Oxlade (6)
I would be surprised if anyone went to Japan in the next few weeks as the season over there is almost done
MoneyBill685
Larry Dwyer (12)
Kohan Herbert is an absolute gun. Shame he couldn't get a shot at the next level in Australia. Definitely good enough to get some decent coin with contracts in Japan and US.
I remember last year when he filled in at inside centre and he was still just as good.
Stand out every week for souths. And im not a souths supporter.
I put him as no.1 openside in the comp.
PhilClinton
Paul McLean (56)
Once they've got their contract signed for the 25-26 season, they'll likely either formally be asked to stop playing club rugby during the Japanese league off-season or decide themselves to not risk injury if their contract isn't fully guaranteed.
That is why we'll be seeing the guys with new Japanese contracts start to wind down over the coming weeks and at the very least won't be available for the back end of the season and finals.
Japanese pre-season games start in September with new players usually reporting for pre-season training duties starting in Japan around July.
On the flip side - any players who haven't been given a renewed contract for next season could end up coming back and filtering into their club teams over the next few months.
noknowledgeatall
Sydney Middleton (9)
So disappointing to see Qld Prems and Sydney Shute Shield become transit lounges where blokes just fill in time between other options.
Why cant we get them to be semi-professional ( ie a few $$$) to bring back the prestige they both once held in world rugby.
Why cant we get them to be semi-professional ( ie a few $$$) to bring back the prestige they both once held in world rugby.
You got some extra cash mate?
I would love to see this if it was somehow possible.
The league set up for QCUP / NSW Cup seems like a great example of this being effective for player recruitment/ retention/ development.
Why is it not as easy as just mirroring what they do? Is it the income from the leagues clubs that is the main difference?
noknowledgeatall
Sydney Middleton (9)
Basically yes.
Those clubs set up "off farm" income streams by having clubs and pokies.
Means they don't have to rely on chook raffles, player subs and digging into the pockets of their core support group all the time.
Sunnybank is the only club that had the foresight to build a business that generates a cash flow for them.
Wests and Brownie have set up Sylvan Road with paying tenants ( and a future refurbishment possibility for pokies/club)
Brothers has the draft plans together for something out at Albion.
Once enough people agree that the old model isn't suited to what the future needs I guess we might see some change, if not we will become obsolete and a feeder system to the rest of the world.
We have the strongest junior development and schools program in the country but don't have a venue for them all to move into.
noknowledgeatall
Sydney Middleton (9)
While we rely on deep pocketed benefactors to carry the game it will continue to stagnate.
Have to change our thinking to building it into a sustainable business in its own right.
oldrugbytragic
Stan Wickham (3)
Slightly off topic but we also seem to be throwing huge money at our top tier. Joseph Sualii didn't come back to union because he loves the game. It had to be for the money. I am not sure but it seems to be a business model that is essentially flawed. We pay a player more than the NRL are willing to pay in a business that generates a small percentage of what they do.
First piece of the puzzle is to build our Super Rugby teams to a point that they are self sustaining which negates the need of our suburban clubs to underwrite them. This in turn could provide clubs with more money to build their own businesses. Trying to build from QPR clubs up is a much more difficult prospect. Most clubs are a bit like ordinary families right now. They're so busy getting by and scraping bill money together there isn't the cash or mindset to expand or build.
Whilst the B&I Lions will be a cash boost for the game, there won't be much benefit in club land. Hopefully the ARU can make some good decision with the extra dollars that actually have some benefit that trickles down to the grass roots. I would love to see the Reds take games back to ballymore and build it back to be the great suburban ground it can be.
noknowledgeatall
Sydney Middleton (9)
PhilClinton
Paul McLean (56)
Private investors in NSW paid the majority of JS salary to come to the Waratahs and Wallabies - none of that money would have ended up being filtered into club rugby. Those same investors need to be convinced to throw that money at club rugby instead of SRP (Super Rugby Pacific) and the Wallabies.
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PhilClinton
Paul McLean (56)
As someone who enjoys a bet on the horses and dabble on the brickie's laptop on the weekends, I definitely won't call out the moral issues of flooding our clubs with pokies but I will highlight the below...
Can you imagine the community outcry if GPS or Easts tried to put a full blown pokie clubhouse in the middle of their suburbs? Ashgrove house prices within 5km of the pokified GPS would plummet. I am not even sure it would be legal regarding the zoning permits.
In my local area (Red Hill/Ashgrove/Bardon etc.) all of the bowls clubs have actually removed pokie machines over the past 5 years and replaced the space with kid friendly setups to draw in crowds and their revenue has increased substantially.
I agree - the chook raffles aren't sustainable to keep our clubs afloat in the long term, but surely the investments need to be made in useful community infrastructure similar to what Wests have already done.