Australian Rugby / RA

[Braveheart81]

Waugh declined to comment on Jones's future as coach or whether a job interview with a rival rugby union in the lead up to a World Cup would count as a breach of contract.

He said RA would act on recommendations after a review and assessment of the World Cup campaign.

"The reality is that we were clearly very disappointing in the World Cup," said Waugh.

"And we’ve let down Australians that put the trust and belief in the environment to do well.

"It’s been disappointing and we’ve got a lot to do in terms of regaining the trust of the public.

"We need to do a thorough assessment of our performance and the campaign, which we’re in the process of doing and, hopefully, we can do that really quickly."

The perception is because our team went home too early that they are sitting there on a junket

I get that this is the perception but I also don't think it's correct. None of them are there to benefit the Wallabies. It's not like their job while at the RWC is aligned to the Wallabies team and how they perform.

Clearly attending functions with stakeholders is a significant aspect of these sorts of roles. I also don't think a lot of aspects of it are overly fun particularly when things aren't going well.

 

[Members Section]

This concept that the senior people in Rugby Australia shouldn't be at the biggest event on the rugby calendar is pretty shortsighted.

Everyone who is important in rugby is there as well as a large percentage of Wallabies fans who spend substantial amounts of money with Rugby Australia.

Did we ever find out what type of milk it was?

 

[KentwellCup>ShuteShield]

There is only 1 bloke in the country that is willing to throw cash at rugby, the only other one owned 2 teams in the usa but has gone broke

Some SS clubs pull upwards of 3 million dollars in sponsorship, thats with very little exposure. Look at buildcorps sponsorship of Sydney Uni, or some of the benefactors Easts and Randwick have. No imagine that with proper coverage. Even with Wallabies wearing their kits week in week out.

You underestimate the egos of people with cash to through around.

Get Santos or something to sponsor it. I'm sure they'll love to sportswash their brand.

 

[Wallaby Man]

Some SS clubs pull upwards of 3 million dollars in sponsorship, thats with very little exposure. Look at buildcorps sponsorship of Sydney Uni, or some of the benefactors Easts and Randwick have. No imagine that with proper coverage. Even with Wallabies wearing their kits week in week out.

You underestimate the egos of people with cash to through around.

Get Santos or something to sponsor it. I'm sure they'll love to sportswash their brand.

$3m haha. If that were the case and the fact they aren’t “paying” their players, where on earth is this money going and why are they consistently crying poor and asking for additional funding

 

[Joe King]

SRP (Super Rugby Pacific) could be a lot more popular and enjoyable if the Oz teams were really ‘super’. If we had a couple of teams as consistently competitive as the Chiefs and Crusaders, there’s no doubt Aussies would be tuning in each year. And then imagine if our third best team was at the level of the Hurricanes and building!

And if we did have some super teams on that level, I think we would all be expecting a powerhouse Wallabies, and be tuning in for that as well.

This is where the focus should be over this decade IMO—the goal should be to devise a plan and strategy specifically focused on making our Super Rugby teams better than NZs (and I say that respectfully).

If we could do that, then everything else will take care of itself: exciting SRP (Super Rugby Pacific), revenue, strong Wallabies.

If we try and do it over this decade and clearly can’t, then I think we should go domestic in place of SRP (Super Rugby Pacific) because we won’t have anything else to lose.

But there are 2-3 key changes they could make to significantly increase the competitiveness of our Super Rugby teams, and I wouldn’t want to leave SRP (Super Rugby Pacific) until we’ve tried implementing them.

 

[KentwellCup>ShuteShield]

Look I think its comes down to this when evaluating why Super Rugby has to gone sh!t:

1. Fans don't really like or identify with their super teams. There is no tribalism or connection. Half of the people who like NRL aren't fans of the sports itself. They're engaged in the tribalism behind it. Rugby needs to harness this.

A new comp with new artificial teams will not help at all. Harness our strengths and get these clubs with popular following in a comp which is the highest level. With comp like this Rugby fans will not lament the demise of the Wallabies as much cause they will care about their club team just as much. You talk about International rugby being the be and all of the rugby eco-system. Well lets work away from that.

 

[Adam84]

Some SS clubs pull upwards of 3 million dollars in sponsorship, thats with very little exposure. Look at buildcorps sponsorship of Sydney Uni, or some of the benefactors Easts and Randwick have. No imagine that with proper coverage. Even with Wallabies wearing their kits week in week out.

Lol, show me which Shute Shield club is pulling $3million in sponsorship.

Sydney Uni total revenue in 2021 was a smidgen over $1million, with less then half coming from sponsorships. Randwick cracked $1.5million in total revenue.

 

[KentwellCup>ShuteShield]

https://www.eastwoodrugby.com.au/post/the-end-of-super-rugby Ok I may have been wrong about revenues for SS clubs, but read this.

 

[Wilson]

https://www.eastwoodrugby.com.au/post/the-end-of-super-rugby Ok I may have been wrong about revenues for SS clubs, but read this.

It's been discussed before but those numbers are a fantasy, they ignore the massive increase in admin, coaching and staffing costs associated with an extra 13 professional teams and assume without much basis that there is both a near endless pot of sponsorship dollars to compete for and that stan would happily stump up many, many millions more for this proposed competition.

 

[noscrumnolife]

we won’t have super rugby anymore if all our top players are overseas.

Correct Reg, and that's why I think we should do it. Super Rugby evidently does not suit Australian Rugby. We have multiple clubs with 100+ year histories in this country. They are the lifeblood of our game. Yet we spend the money generated by the Wallabies on failing organisations with no connection to the people or tribalism that facilitates good domestic competition.

I'm not a Randwick person, so don't jump on me here. But like it or not, Randwick is a bigger brand in World Rugby terms than the Force or Rebels. Sydney Uni is the oldest club of any football code in the country. 70% of our playing base is focused on the Shute Shield and the Hospital Cup. If the game had been professional from day dot and not hamstrung by amateurism enforced by fuckwits for the first 150+ years of existence, these clubs would be the vehicle around which Rugby Union was built.

Spending the money on properly professionalising the club game is not feasible with Super Rugby. But it would be if Super Rugby didn't exist. And if we allowed our talent to access the salaries and opportunities they deserve overseas, we would retain our top-end talent.

 

[KentwellCup>ShuteShield]

I don't know it might be a pipe dream, but honeslty even if the quality is way lower. I'd kill for clubs to be highest level of rugby in australia. Would make the wallabies woes way less painful, as I could just look to a team I actually cared about as opposed to the waratahs.

 

[Wilson]

I don't know it might be a pipe dream, but honeslty even if the quality is way lower. I'd kill for clubs to be highest level of rugby in australia. Would make the wallabies woes way less painful, as I could just look to a team I actually cared about as opposed to the waratahs.

See, that sounds like a waratahs/NSW problem with fan engagement, I care a hell of a lot about the Reds and even with super rugby's missteps I still look forward to their season separate to whatever is going on with the Wallabies.

More to the point an elevated club competition like the one described would be liable to ruin the Shute Shield and Hospital's Cup as they currently stand, without doing much to draw in anymore fans for those teams. The strength of those clubs is in community, playing at a professional level would risk splitting them from that.

 

[Slim 293]

https://www.eastwoodrugby.com.au/post/the-end-of-super-rugby Ok I may have been wrong about revenues for SS clubs, but read this.

Ah, I remember this article... it's fantasy stuff.

Has John taken a few head knocks?

Let me get this right...

Instead of 5 teams... 18! And the crowds will "swell" because - rugby good?

 

[KentwellCup>ShuteShield]

Look I might be being dramatic. I still like the waratahs. But super rugby are glorified wallaby selection games at the moment. I'd even rather if the NZ teams were NPC teams. That would give the comp a more tribal feeling.

 

[KentwellCup>ShuteShield]

Ah, I remember this article... it's fantasy stuff.

The top SS clubs, if they played in the highest possible level of rugby in Australia could expect 8-10k crowds I'd say.

 

[noscrumnolife]

See, that sounds like a waratahs/NSW problem with fan engagement, I care a hell of a lot about the Reds and even with super rugby's missteps I still look forward to their season separate to whatever is going on with the Wallabies.

More to the point an elevated club competition like the one described would be liable to ruin the Shute Shield and Hospital's Cup as they currently stand, without doing much to draw in anymore fans for those teams. The strength of those clubs is in community, playing at a professional level would risk splitting them from that.

I bet your bottom dollar if Randwick, Eastwood, Brothers, GPS etc. had the opportunity to play in a national club competition and retain the players who they develop from age 5+ in some instances, with a share of television revenue, they would jump at it. It's not like the lower tiers would just disappear from the game altogether. They would remain community clubs, because they have identities which have been established over generations (i.e. tribalism, the golden goose our domestic game has been chasing since 1995 and has not been able to develop).

There is as much turnout at a John I Dent game as there is at Brumbies games these days. What does that tell you about where Rugby people's passion lies? Why would we not lean into that?

Would this require some tough decisions to be made, such as leaving some clubs behind? Yep probably. But tough decisions are required in times like these. And persevering with a structure that evidently does not work (Super Rugby) is not a tough decision. It is the easy way out and the definition of insanity.

 

[KentwellCup>ShuteShield]

I know for a fact. IF Easts where elevated to the top level. Their main sponsor built would chuck money at it.

 

[Braveheart81]

Some SS clubs pull upwards of 3 million dollars in sponsorship, thats with very little exposure. Look at buildcorps sponsorship of Sydney Uni, or some of the benefactors Easts and Randwick have. No imagine that with proper coverage. Even with Wallabies wearing their kits week in week out.

Easts had $613k of sponsorship revenue in 2022 and $542k in 2021.

 

[Adam84]

I bet your bottom dollar if Randwick, Eastwood, Brothers, GPS etc. had the opportunity to play in a national club competition and retain the players who they develop from age 5+ in some instances, with a share of television revenue, they would jump at it.

No one has ever disputed that certain Sydney SS clubs would jump at the opportunity for self glorification…

 

[KentwellCup>ShuteShield]

Australia soccer is going thge same route with their National Second Division.