mst
Peter Johnson (47)
The Force (even with Pocock, Sharpe and Gits) never got above 7th position. Amongst other reasons, the main one was that they can't get top talent over there - too far from the centre of rugby in Australia. Talk to anyone involved and they'll tell you that's THE massive problem.
Clearly, making money isn't the strong suit for of ANY Super rugby teams in Australia. So if it's about player dev, the argument is foregone: NSW creates about 50% of the semi/pro level players in Australia and yet there is only one Super team there. The Force could only survive with the the players who came from NSW/QLD.
Those making points about having two AFL teams in Syd or Bris and it not working totally miss the point - would the AFL, NRL or any other sport ever have had just ONE team in their home market (Melb for AFL) but instead dotted basket cases around Australia first?
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING?
We may have fucked ups few years back with this decision, but that's no reason to perpetuate it now
I find it interesting that you use references like "home market" which is more of a historical reference if I am correct in the assumption of it being NSW. What metric is the qualifier for the term?
Also you make a comparison to the AFL "home market" of Melbourne where they, over time, have exported clubs to other markets (Bris & Syd) to ensure the existence of teams, and re-badged and moved other within the "home markets" to stop having the basket cases in one basket. They have clearly demonstrated that thinking along traditional lines is flawed and will not sustain the game or clubs. Even the A League had to distance itself from its history to free itself.
The real question that needs to be answered is what to do now. Off the top of my head with little though IMHO round up some clubs in Western Sydney, mash them in to a mini union to work cooperatively with some ARU development funding, and give them a fairly talented NEW NRC club that they can brand, develop and try and entrench in the Western Sydney market, If it establishes a sufficient footprint in 3 years you can revisit the Force issues or establish another Super Rugby team.