Australian Rugby / RA

[Rob42]

The article its announced on is read like he’s rejecting $3m from RA to take a smaller deal in the NRL, whereas RA and numerous other sources have said it’s been dramatically less than what Souths are offering. For anyone that still believes there isn’t inbuilt rhetoric towards the game, they just need to have seen how this has been reported all week from the usual stooges

But jeez, wasn't it great fun to rage against the incompetence of RA again for a day or two, based on FAKTS!! from NewsCorp?

 

[KOB1987]

The Twitter has finally jumped on it. Note it's the rugby insiders reporting it, not the NRL ones. LOL.

LATEST: Rugby insiders says Schoolboy sensation Joseph Sua'ali'i has received an upgraded and extended deal to stay in the NRL. It’s now a 4 year deal worth over $2m with Souths. He is expected to sign it on the weekend.
@9NewsSyd
@NRLonNine
2:30 PM · Jul 27, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

 

[Braveheart81]

Rugby Australia should start selling a service where they can play along with NRL contract negotiations, announce they are interested and in talks and then take a cut of the upside when the player re-signs with their NRL team.

 

[papabear]

A lot of hype for a bloke who hasn’t run around yet.

Tbh I’m not sure 500k per year is the best use of your salary cap on an unproven commodity but who knows maybe he turns out great for whomever.

 

[Up the Guts]

One headline said Sua'ali'i was set to "backflip on rugby deal," does that mean he is backflipping on a backflip and is that counted as a double backflip? Either way, all the headlines have flipped him an even better deal. Disappointed we're missing out on both he and Koula but I reckon they'll be back at some stage.

 

[Dan54]

One headline said Sua'ali'i was set to "backflip on rugby deal," does that mean he is backflipping on a backflip and is that counted as a double backflip? Either way, all the headlines have flipped him an even better deal. Disappointed we're missing out on both he and Koula but I reckon they'll be back at some stage.

I think it shows why you take anything in the papers about rugby etc with a rock size grain of salt!! Someone has been playing silly buugers, again!!!

 

[louie]

NRL have just been played. Upping the money when it was clear there wasn't a rivalling offer. I would hate to them trying to negotiate with any NRL player right now. Deals shouldn't be up in the current situation.

 

[KOB1987]

NRL are going to bend the rules, looks like the clincher. Still well below the RA 'offer' though haha.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/nr...to-play-for-souths-early-20200727-p55fws.html

 

[fatprop]

A lot of hype for a bloke who hasn’t run around yet.

Tbh I’m not sure 500k per year is the best use of your salary cap on an unproven commodity but who knows maybe he turns out great for whomever.

"If" those numbers are correct, you will want a lot of value for a unit in the backend of his contract

Essential you are buying a talented 2yro race horse, so much can go wrong

 

[KOB1987]

nowhere close to a done deal though by the sounds of it:

ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys (the horse racing guy) says the game will consider changing their rules to allow South Sydney youngster Joseph Sua'ali'i to play in the premiership as a 17-year-old should he decide to reject the advances of rugby union.
Sua'ali'i has been at the centre of a lucrative tug of war between Souths and Rugby Australia. He is yet to make a final decision but amid initial concerns that he may turn his back on rugby league, there is now a growing sense that the pendulum has swung back towards the Rabbitohs.
Should Sua'ali'i stay, V’landys (the horse racing guy) said the game may revisit the rules that prevent anyone making their first grade debut before they have turned 18.

“One thing I have noticed with rugby league is that the rules are too prescriptive,” V’landys (the horse racing guy) said
“In any corporate governance model you have to have discretion because you are going to face challenges like Covid. And if you don’t have discretion, and you don’t have the agility, you will fail.
“So we will look at all the rules to give the commission the power to make decisions on their merits. That is one rule we will look at.”
The change would need the support of the Rugby League Players Association because it is part of the collective bargaining agreement.
“But all rules have to be flexible and they have to meet all challenges before the commission and the management of the NRL,” V’landys (the horse racing guy) said.
“Some of the rules don’t allow us to do that. That is one thing about the commission — we will make change when it is necessary.
“We will look at anything that is for the benefit of the game. So we should look at all cases on their merits. We should not have blanket rules that stop you from doing things that are for the benefit of the game.”

 

[dru]

Rugby Australia should start selling a service where they can play along with NRL contract negotiations, announce they are interested and in talks and then take a cut of the upside when the player re-signs with their NRL team.

I like the cut of your jib, sir. Please contact Mclennan and offer your services immediately for the current TT negotiations.

I can offer easily more than one beer in compensation.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Would help if we had an agreed competition Waratahs are part of and what that looks like to entice Joseph

I am probably resigned to losing him and hopefully pick him up when rugby got its shit together when he is coming to end of his four year contract with Souths as a 22 year old

 

[KOB1987]

This tweet is from Loig mouthpiece Danny Weidler. Some of the comments are gold:

LATEST: In one media conference Peter V’landys (the horse racing guy) says he will allow 34 year old Sonny Bill Williams to play with two contracts and consider a rule change allowing 16 year old Joseph Sua'ali'i to debut in the NRL before he turns 18. Vintage Rugba Leeg. @9NewsSyd @NRLonNine

 

[RugbyReg]

this making shit up as he goes along will come back to bite him soon. May work in Melbourne with the AFL because the media their pray at the alter of the game. The league media aren't quite as smitten

 

[PhilClinton]

NRL got the drop on the other codes by being the first to start up post COVID and V’landys (the horse racing guy) has been hailed as a hero for that. It’s almost as if now he doesn’t want to lose that aura of power and is ready to change rules as he sees fit to keep the NRL in the headlines.

 

[KOB1987]

I don’t follow the league media, but looking at the comments below the tweet above, a lot of (what seems to be) rusted on league fans are putting the boot into him and the direction league is taking / the current state of the game. I saw an article earlier that said the weekly viewer numbers were down 1 million from the season reboot, but in fairness I don’t know how it reconciles with the usual numbers. Ironically, the position we are in to have to design a brand new competition could be a huge opportunity.

 

[Blackadder]

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sp...r/news-story/e6e5ec3e374e24237a4d1f84d296b8f4

Comp update rumours

 

[dru]

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sp...r/news-story/e6e5ec3e374e24237a4d1f84d296b8f4

Comp update rumours

Quoting a paywalled article with no input on what the article is about, is pretty poor.

 

[Blackadder]

Quoting a paywalled article with no input on what the article is about, is pretty poor.

Sorry I was able to read it without paying.

Rugby Australia is ready on Wednesday to sit down with New Zealand Rugby and map out a 2021 trans-Tasman competition but, conversely, it is also moving to create an alternate domestic series in line with hints of interest from broadcasters.
NZR and RA had a cathartic blowout earlier this month, with current and former All Black coaches venting their spleen over spats that went back, in some cases, almost 20 years, while Australia responded with unexpected vigour, effectively telling the Kiwis that if they could not negotiate with them as equals, they would quite happily go it alone.
“That’s happening now, that’s in train now,” said RA interim chief executive Rob Clarke.
“We believe in our market and with the commercial support we have a sustainable domestic competition with the potential to expand in time is a relevant one to pursue.
“That said, we are keen if the New Zealanders are more open-minded to a partnership approach to explore with them what a trans-Tasman competition might look like. And I believe me might be able to resolve some of the concerns they have if we are able to sit around a table and talk it all through.”
Both countries will be forced to play a heavily domestic-based competition next season if they cannot reach a compromise. Super Rugby Aotearoa has been brilliant to watch but it must be taking a heavy toll of NZ players at its current ferocious level of intensity.
What must be addressed is the current imbalance in standard between NZ and Australian teams if the competition was to proceed with five franchises apiece.
Australia has proposed to make positions available in its five teams to excess Super Rugby-standard players from NZ, in the hope that the NZR relaxes All Blacks eligibility rules to enable all Kiwis to be considered for selection, irrespective of where they are based.
“It’s a concept we have already floated with them but so far we have not had a formal response,” said Clarke.
The NZR initially announced its intention to run an 8-10 team competition, with between two and four places reserved for Australia, with teams required to lodge “expressions of interest” which the Kiwis would then vet.
That did not sit well with Australia, given the relative strengths of the two economies and the fact the two countries have enjoyed a longstanding equal relationship pre-dating the creation of SANZAR in 1995. Relations were also strained by NZ making a grand production of creating room for a Pasifika side in its proposed competition, despite the idea also being strongly supported by Australia.
Still, that all falls into the “let bygones be bygones” category as far as RA is concerned, although its preference is for the Pasifika team, and perhaps a Japanese franchise to delay their entry until 2022.
While Australia is planning for talks with its Anzac partner, preparations are proceeding in parallel for an extension of the Super Rugby AU competition next season.
Fox Sports have released the audience numbers from the third round which showed that a total of 75,000 people watched the Waratahs-Brumbies while another 65,000 tuned in for the Reds-Force. Fox also revealed their streaming numbers, indicating 32,000 viewers overall watching on Foxtel Now, Go or Kayo.
The figures are down five per cent on last year, a relatively modest fall given that the SRAU competition was launched with zero fanfare, reduced live audiences and in the midst of a global pandemic. Certainly it suggests a 2021 domestic competition could have some appeal to broadcasters.
Meanwhile, news that Waratahs captain Rob Simmons is in advanced negotiations with London Irish has prompted RA to press ahead on possible reforms to the Giteau Law. As a 100-cap Test veteran, Simmons is already eligible for selection from abroad.
Wayne Smith The Australian

 

[RebelYell]

Quoting a paywalled article with no input on what the article is about, is pretty poor.

I don't understand why people in 2020 are still not paying for journalism. Apologies in advance if you pay for oher subscriptions and not The Aus, but the constant posting about paywalls on this site astounds me