Search results

Those clubs need to focus on participation as opposed to competing in some kind of multi tier national competition. If we were to look at a club based solution then I'd suggest something akin to what I suggested but done slightly differently with essentially the Shute Shield and Hospital Cup...

A purely club based model isn't the pathway forward as demonstrated by them not managing it previously. Far too much self interest. I mean answer me this. If Ice Hockey can organise a nationwide national league then why couldn't Rugby have managed the same at the club level as a far more...

The most logical window for this is Sept-December. So I don't see many Wallabies participating. Which means with the mix of club and rep squad you're likely to see a reasonable mix of new and established players.

Which is why both Sydney and Brisbanecwould require a 4th squad designed to capture all the best talent not invloved in those clubs. Could even be Reds/Tahs administered. I think if we're going to look at the NRC again and I think we absolutely should and to overcome most notably resistence from...

Easy fix. Run two squads out of Canberra for 12 teans and 11 games. Vikings and the Kookaburras. That should break things up a little bit.

Or. Top 3 from Brisbane and Shute Shield plus a rep squad made up of the best players from the teams that don't qualify. Plus a rep squad from each of Melbourne, Canberra and Perth. 11 teams for 10 games and finals. Hybrid model.

I know it's a trial but the close nature of them is encouraging.

Yeah, the game kept ticking at a good pace with a nice overall tempo. Hopefully things not only stay that way but as teams build more fitness and cohesion they really come into play. Could be in for a good season.

I'm an ex-prop and I want the game to flow better. Note I didn't say faster. I said flow. Which is something the games being played around scrum time impeded.

A little more info on the proposed Asia Rugby Grand League. Apparently will kick off next year and will have as many as 10 teams including a team from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Kazakhstan, UAE and Pakistan. With Taiwan and Mongolia also apparently...

Hell, yesterday at work a few of my co-workers (of whom most are RL fans first) and I were talking about watching the 7s. Three blokes and a woman. All of us were of the position that we tuned in to watch the Aussie girls as opposed to the men. To have had them play on a secondary pitch would...

Another Asian nation looking to launch a professional league. This time it's India. https://www.asierugby.com/post/l-inde-va-lancer-sa-ligue-professionnelle-de-rugby. It's from a blog post but the author is a Japan based Frenchmen who have proven fairly reliable in the past. India looking to...

I'm not suggesting that the issue of disillusionment isn't a serious problem. Because it absolutely is. But these kinds of articles are part of that disillusionment as they just look to add to the misery without offering alternatives to the current state of play. Perhaps Moore has ideas and if...

None of thise are actually fleshed out fixes. More broad statements that are easily trotted out when not actually having anything specific to address. The game has serious issues. No doubt. And criticism is fair. But he hasn't actually offered anything beyond that and certainly hasn't provided...

Certainly not the women. Many may look at the jump from $350k to $884k and think that's a pretty significant jump but considering the season is doubling thus requiring deeper squads it's really not much of a per game jump. Certainly nowhere near enough for most of them to focus 100% on football...

The delay in the CBA has really made planning and signing talent difficult for both the NRLW clubs and the players themselves. Most of them are still unsigned for the upcoming season. Which has added a degree of uncertainty. And despite the increase in the salary cap the pot still isn't that deep.

Looks likely a Miami based MLR (under the working name of Miami Sharks) will enter in 2024. The group is backed by a number of Argentine businessmen led by the founder and CEO of South American based ecommerce and payment platform Mercado Libre. It won't be short on the financial side of the...

Looks like Argentina will be playing a RWC warm up match against Spain next year. Which is good to see. Spain should be in France if not for the deception of a player and their club. Would like to see a couple more nations look to do similar.

There is that risk. To be honest a great deal of the thinking has more to do with revenue. It wouldn't necessarily need to be part of it but a full season should be a non-negotiable. Again with Tests moved to mid-week fixtures.

It's not unfortunate. It's recognising a commercial reality. Refusing to recognise and adapt to this has seen the likes of the NRL grow it's ability to remunerate it's talent far in excess of ours. And it's something many fans fail to comprehend as well. I watched far more NRL in 2022 than I had...