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Lol, of course not - but it's pretty evident that this whole thing is just going to be a shit slinging contest with questionable relevance to the (mis)management of the Rebels in recent years, which is ultimately all that matters.

If all MacQueen has to offer as a witness is a history lesson pertaining to the Rebels' dispensation to include (up to) 10 international players 13 years ago, then I'm not sure RA's lawyers are going to be too worried.

Cash is great, but everything else about this is naaaht great. Issues people may have with Qatar itself aside, having a neutral and constant finals venue (with a garbage timezone for those outside of Europe) takes away from the spectacle a fair bit imo

I'm not really suggesting either way as I'm not certain and, as @Strewthcobber says, my understanding is it varies player-to-player (hence the 50/50 split being inaccurate) and there are other variables at play. In saying that, my presumption would be that the club pays more than RA.

I could be misinformed, but I'm not sure it's as clear-cut as RA contributing half (or the RA top up effectively doubling a player's salary)

Taking a leaf out of the players' books and drumming up his Tahs contract value ;)

Wasn't necessarily talking about the camps during finals, but wider training squads more broadly - but understand your point, just a bit surprising imo. Wobs match payments aren't what they used to be either - they were more-than-halved during covid and are yet to fully recover (no doubt still...

Surprising RUPA hasn't negotiated pay for training squad involvement tbh

I believe there is some speculation he is in some way aligned with the consortium, based on his previous coverage of the saga. This is the issue about the lack of transparency regarding personnel involved...

The Regatta definitely had Super and Wallabies matches on (using Stan) last year - it would be hugely surprising if that has changed

If the Rebels had been fully transparent about their finances there is next to no chance they would have been able to accrue the level of debt they did, nor trade insolvent for up to 6 years. Craziness to suggest otherwise.

The sole criteria when choosing the post-grand final party bus?

Chiefs probably favoured, but pretty 50/50 imo. On their night, both teams can beat anyone, but have also been prone to an off game this season.

His vision and distribution has been excellent - been involved in basically all of the Force's highlights of the half

Beale has been pretty damn hot tonight

Dan goes bang

Yep - settlement and saving face. Absolutely no real intent to engage in anything that will benefit either the Victorian or broader Australian rugby communities. Frankly it's disgusting and says all you need to know about those involved.

Not that simple when he's contracted until the end of '25 was more my point. An early release would free up cash and space in the squad, but there'd be a fair bit of negotiating you'd imagine.

Agree, absolutely a step backwards - but I recall that it was reported to be the preferred plan for expansion earlier in the year :(

Potentially - I'm very biased as I have known him and his family for a long time, but it would be a shame to see him go. I'd probably be looking at Annan instead. I know that he was very close to going to the Brumbies prior to his last contract, so imagine he'd have options despite his injuries...