Australian Rugby / RA
- Thread starter Dave Beat
- Start date
Mick The Munch
Phil Hardcastle (33)
More excited about Unicorns vs Kiwi Hawthorn this weekend
Slim 293
George Smith (75)
Derpus
Phil Waugh (73)
Combined with an expanded Rugby Championship.
Wilson
John Eales (66)
In this hypothetical full H&A away over half the teams in our comp would have exactly this with NZ still having the ITM cup. It's possible they'd axe it, though still unlikely.
It admittedly doesn't necessarily need to be post-season. Plenty of other comps around the world have some sort of concurrent feeder comp with a couple of teams backing the top level entity (NRL and AFL both have these) or a more formal and fully fleshed academy system (common in Europe). At the very least there is a pro comp a division below that can be recruited from or where excess players can be loaned to for development. A post-season comp is probably the best outcome from a cohesion perspective though, and it benefits the wallabies by providing a lower level injured players can make their way back through.
We couldn't just rely on club as we have been though - if we extend the Super Rugby Pacific season that would necessarily mean fewer weeks where super rugby players are turning out for their clubs, dropping the quality of club rugby and widening the gap. That's fine if we have a stepping stone, but it's a problem if we don't.
Wilson
John Eales (66)
Sorry, but I don't think this is a good idea at all. We'd be spinning up two teams from scratch for a 2-3 month period (and no lead in), with all the associated costs and then setting them up to fail - their playing stocks would necessarily be worse then the rest of the comp and would almost certainly be much more transient. We also don't really need to be developing a significantly larger number of players than we already are, we just need to do a better job developing the ones we're already using. Overall I think we need to keep this comp as singular in it's focus as possible, and that means avoiding polluting it with mixed models and alternate outcomes. The only way I see more Australian teams working is if it's the NRC style split teams, with both feeding back into the super rugby side, but I'm not convinced that's worthwhile anymore.
I'm not against more opportunities for the club players though, for mine the way to do that is with the Challenge Cup style system QLD ran for a few years - formalise that in the window between club rugby and this comp, run one out Shute Shield as well and maybe get a crossover game there too. There's no reason John I Dent and Foretescue Premier Grade couldn't do the same. That lets these guys put themselves in the shop window so that the best of them have a chance to get a spot in one of the Super AU squads, where they can actually build into a full super rugby contract, but doesn't come with anywhere near the excess costs.
PhilClinton
Paul McLean (56)
Regarding your potential club sides - aren't the Super Rugby teams already going to be backfilled with non-contracted blokes?
It would mean you'd be getting 4th-5th string level players running around which isn't exactly building depth - they'd just get flogged each week.
Nuggetyflyhalf
Allen Oxlade (6)
We MUST support this third tier competition. This is just the start.