3rd tier is back in 2014 [Discontinued]

[turnovertwopasses]

Who me?? I hate them but - respect and admire them.

Your posts provide so much thought and wisdom I'm astounded.

I mean Bruce contributes more in one post than what you have brought to the table in your 23 posts.

Ok #Brucesson

 

[Forcefield]

I'd go Gold Coast before Adelaide, Adelaide would need to pull from NSW and QLD at the start I think.

I can't remember enough of it to repeat, but TOCC gave a convincing argument for why the Gold Coast wouldn't work.

It would be interesting to see the kind of legs that an Adelaide bid gets. If you had 4 Sydney teams, perhaps the Force/Rebels/Brumbies lending a few players to an Adelaide team would take away the problem of too many quality players in those teams. The advantage of Adelaide is that there is currently no pathway for aspiring rugby players there. Talented kids from the Gold Coast could just go an hour and a half down the road to Brisbane.

 

[Highlander35]

If we had say, a 20-25 Super player limit per team (in a 10 team comp), an Adelaide team with community support would be feasible.

 

[hawktrain]

If Uni were to get in as a standalone, where are they going to play? Can't imagine the ARU wanting to promote their flash new comp at Uni No 1. I'm not much chop with Sydney geography but would Redfern Oval be a chance? This would probably only be an issue for the first season, with Uni No 2 being redeveloped.

The other issue standing in Uni's way is supporters, will they have enough to justify a spot in the comp? I would imagine that their ability to pull crowds and make revenue for the ARU would be more important in the team selection process than how good their rugby program is (as unfair as that is).

 

[turnovertwopasses]

Nope. They must not be allowed to enter.

 

[Rugby Central]

If Uni were to get in as a standalone, where are they going to play? Can't imagine the ARU wanting to promote their flash new comp at Uni No 1. I'm not much chop with Sydney geography but would Redfern Oval be a chance? This would probably only be an issue for the first season, with Uni No 2 being redeveloped.

The other issue standing in Uni's way is supporters, will they have enough to justify a spot in the comp? I would imagine that their ability to pull crowds and make revenue for the ARU would be more important in the team selection process than how good their rugby program is (as unfair as that is).

Both good reasons against Uni. That's part of the assessment process I guess. The ground could be a movable feast at this point and as someone said earlier, Fox would probably make the call, anyway. As for support, I believe there are enough savvy people at Uni to figure out how to get crowds in if they need to.

But then again you can't fault the in depth analysis of, "They must not be allowed"

 

[Bruce Ross]

The other issue standing in Uni's way is supporters, will they have enough to justify a spot in the comp? I would imagine that their ability to pull crowds and make revenue for the ARU would be more important in the team selection process than how good their rugby program is (as unfair as that is).

I think Sydney Uni has a reasonable supporter base, hawktrain. Each year their Finals Lunch draws in excess of 900 people prepared to part with their hard-earned for a rubber-chicken meal.

I am bemused by your supposition that the most important criterion for participation is likely to be "ability to pull crowds and make revenue for the ARU". I have assumed that the gate takings would be retained by the home club and not trousered by the ARU. Is this not the case?

I am aware that our glorious leader has pronounced that his "smart, creative running rugby" competition will "pay for itself and potentially make money for the cash-strapped code." I should live so long.
.

 

[p.Tah]

I'm looking forward to February to see how the NRC pans out. I'm quite excited. There has been some criticism levelled at the process, but it is quite similar to how the A-League came into existence after the National Soccer League (NSL) went belly up. From FFA website:

In December 2003, the NSL Task Force Report was handed to the board and released publicly and so began the process of finalising the framework for the new national competition.

After four months of planning, the framework for the new national competition was finally revealed by Mr Lowy and the then newly appointed FFA CEO Mr John O’Neill and at the same time expressions of interest were called for. Eight teams would be part of this new national competition, with one team from the cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Newcastle, plus a New Zealand team and one from the remaining expressions of interest. The competition start date was set at August 2005.

By June of 2004, 20 submissions had been received and a month later 12 consortiums sent in their final bids for the eight spots. Three bids were received from Melbourne, two each from Sydney and Brisbane, one from each of the remaining preferred cities, plus a bid from the Central Coast of NSW.

Over the next three months, each bid was carefully reviewed and on the 1st November 2004, the eight successful bidders and the major sponsor were revealed, for what would be known as the Hyundai A-League.
The eight successful franchises were: Adelaide United, Central Coast Mariners, Melbourne Victory, Newcastle Jets, New Zealand Knights (since replaced by Wellington Phoenix), Perth Glory, Queensland Roar and Sydney FC.

With Fox Sports already signed on as the official broadcaster, the Hyundai A-League had already achieved many objectives its predecessor had failed to do in its dying years.

However the hard work was only just beginning for the clubs and the FFA, as they only had nine months to get everything together in preparation for the anticipated August start in 2005.

I would love us to have a Country team, a team from Adelaide etc but we have to ensure this is viable first up. The failures of the Gold Coast FC and North Queensland Fury and the near collapse of the Newcastle Jets nearly sent the A-League under. We need to start small and build on it.

If we have a team in Adelaide we run the risk of repeating the mistakes we had with the a Rebels in the ARC. As we all know, the Rebels team of 2007 in the ARC was very expensive. Flights for all teams to travel to Melbourne increased the costs. This is exactly what will happen again with a team based in Adelaide, who want to take games to Tassie and the NT. If I'm not mistaken the ARU is paying for flights and accommodation. We can ill afford those additional costs at this point in time.

Let's build it small to start with. Eight teams first up. It worked for the A-League who later expanded to 10 teams. Bring in Adelaide, Newcastle only if the competition is a thriving success. Even the financially strong NRL and AFL are cautious about expansion.

 

[Rugby Central]

I think Sydney Uni has a reasonable supporter base, hawktrain. Each year their Finals Lunch draws in excess of 900 people prepared to part with their hard-earned for a rubber-chicken meal.

I am bemused by your supposition that the most important criterion for participation is likely to be "ability to pull crowds and make revenue for the ARU". I have assumed that the gate takings would be retained by the home club and not trousered by the ARU. Is this not the case?

I am aware that our glorious leader has pronounced that his "smart, creative running rugby" competition will "pay for itself and potentially make money for the cash-strapped code." I should live so long.
.

Without making any outrageous assumptions, I doubt any of us would live so long.

I think the crowds will come regardless. Forget the fans who pay the cash for rubber chicken, judging by this and many other threads, there are significant numbers willing to pay to see uni get smashed. I could make some All Black reference here but Uni just aren't that good

I think the biggest issue, not isolated to Uni, is the ground. Nobody except Balmian and West Harbour currently have decent enough home grounds to make this work on television

There's a hundred options to address this, but I'll wait and see what the ARU/Fox come up with. I doubt any club in this competition will have a "home ground" advantage.

 

[Dave Beat]

If there are 4 NSW teams I'm sure Uni will be one of them, if there are 3 I hope the are part of a JV and not standing alone - I hope there are for 4 NSW teams.

Supporter Base - one of a number of boxes Manly would tick if they put up a tender to stand alone, and sound reason why i hope Nth Hbr play their games at the "neutral" Brookie Oval. TV, Corporates, Sponsorship, Playing Pitch, Parking, Public Transport - can tick allot of boxes.

Uni's supporter base - I'm sure Bruce's mate who gets dressed up in the yellow Blazer could russle up a crowd - yeah that's right Tummy's BFF. At the moment UNI (if they get in) are the only team with a supporter base so they are one step ahead.

Uni's ground - their current ground i don't rate for the 3T, and i think cricket will pose a problem - what are the options?

I think the first 2 years we should build on our strengths, implementing a team from Adelaide might show love and provide good feelings - but this needs to succeed before that sort of touchy feely stuff starts, plus it would bring additional cost. (and after typing this P.Tah kindly said similar)

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

If there are 4 NSW teams I'm sure Uni will be one of them, if there are 3 I hope the are part of a JV and not standing alone - I hope there are for 4 NSW teams.

Supporter Base - one of a number of boxes Manly would tick if they put up a tender to stand alone, and sound reason why i hope Nth Hbr play their games at the "neutral" Brookie Oval. TV, Corporates, Sponsorship, Playing Pitch, Parking, Public Transport - can tick allot of boxes.

Uni's supporter base - I'm sure Bruce's mate who gets dressed up in the yellow Blazer could russle up a crowd - yeah that's right Tummy's BFF. At the moment UNI (if they get in) are the only team with a supporter base so they are one step ahead.

Uni's ground - their current ground i don't rate for the 3T, and i think cricket will pose a problem - what are the options?

I think the first 2 years we should build on our strengths, implementing a team from Adelaide might show love and provide good feelings - but this needs to succeed before that sort of touchy feely stuff starts, plus it would bring additional cost. (and after typing this P.Tah kindly said similar)

I'd have no issue with an Adelaide (Central Australia) team from day one providing that they can prove that they can cover the addtionally costs their inclusion would entail.

But only if they can prove they can cover the costs independently beyond.

 

[B Frank]

Shute Shield is now the 4th tier. It used to be the 2nd 15+ years ago. What will happen to it? What should they do? What will happen to those clubs who arn't in the NRC?

 

[Quick Hands]

Oh dear, ive offended another 150 game uni stalwart

No, a Manly player, coach and supporter for the past 45 years. I'm just trying firstly to work out what if any logic applies to your posts and secondly what you are on about.

 

[Quick Hands]

But then again you can't fault the in depth analysis of, "They must not be allowed"

It's a bit like Cato finishing every speech with 'and Carthage must be destroyed', without the preceeding speech. Just go straight to the mantra.

 

[Dave Beat]

No, a Manly player, coach and supporter for the past 45 years. I'm just trying firstly to work out what if any logic applies to your posts and secondly what you are on about.

His posts are starting to bring a smile to my face.

 

[Quick Hands]

His posts are starting to bring a smile to my face.

Next he'll call me an All Black supporter.

 

[Highlander35]

Shute Shield is now the 4th tier. It used to be the 2nd 15+ years ago. What will happen to it? What should they do? What will happen to those clubs who arn't in the NRC?

They'll continue to play in a competition that becomes consistently more Semi-Professional/Amateur as it should have been all across the world since the advent of professionalism.

 

[Quick Hands]

I am aware that our glorious leader has pronounced that his "smart, creative running rugby" competition will "pay for itself and potentially make money for the cash-strapped code." I should live so long.
.

Less than a month ago the Pulveriser was telling us that it would run at a $5 million loss in the first year with decreasing losses until it broke even in about the 4th or 5th year. Are Foxtel putting $5 million plus into this?

Flying teams and support staff in and out of Perth every week for 2 months will be a significant expense, before we even get to ground hire, advertising/promotion (I assume that they will promote it properly this time, unlike the unlamented ARC), player/coach/hanger-on payments, hospitality for assorted ARU types & sponsors and various admin costs that go with running any competition.

As for "smart, creative, running rugby", this would seem to be in the eye of the beholder. Will teams that decide to play a forward based game be shot at dawn?

 

[Quick Hands]

Shute Shield is now the 4th tier. It used to be the 2nd 15+ years ago. What will happen to it? What should they do? What will happen to those clubs who arn't in the NRC?

When the Northern Sydney JV was announced, the Manly board sent an e-mail to members. They basically said that the 4 clubs would be in the JV at 3T level, and that Manly would continue to focus on running a successful club at SS level and develop local juniors.

Clubs that have no involvement in 3T either as a stand-alone or JV would continue to do what they have always done, play grade and colts on Saturday afternoons and support local junior village clubs.

Under this model however, neither super nor test players would play any rugby at SS level, unless they were maybe resuming after a long injury break.

 

[turnovertwopasses]

Next he'll call me an All Black supporter.

Manly are just as bad- buying blokes left right and middle