I just find it baffling why so many people are so negative towards this idea. For years, the biggest problems identified by all the independent reviews we have commissioned have been:
- Don't play enough games
- Lose top end talent to League
- Lack of identity in the Super teams failing to mobilise fanbases
- Lack of investment in the grassroots.
A club based professional model delivers more games, is built around club identities which have been around for 100+ yrs and directly invests in the grassroots. Allowing our best players to play under the best coaches, with the best talent and access the biggest salaries overseas solves the top-end talent problem.
I am all ears for arguments against based on sound economic principles as to why it may not be feasible. But the vast majority of responses I'm hearing aren't that. It's just hand-waving whataboutism.
Again, I keep coming back to this point: if Rugby Union had not kept itself in a state of amateurism for most of its existence, club-based competition would be the model around which it was built (see: AFL & NRL).