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Australian Rugby / RA

dillyboy

Arch Winning (36)
Not sure what thread this best fits in but how do we make rugby relevant again?

Thought it was sad to see this on the today show - one of rugby's traditional best nurseries getting airtime to support origin (and can't remember when I last saw them mentioned in the general public in relation to rugby)

Hate to quote myself but this is the content I'd rather see Terrace producing!

 

Tomikin

David Codey (61)
Look mitigation he fell into it, and his playing league. So 10 in the bin and he has to buy him a beer and a bj later.
 

sunnyboys

Bob Loudon (25)
Just back on the “where to for Super Rugby”… which seems to be something talked about every year since about 2010.

we can’t afford a third tier because our participation in the second tier is too bloated. It’s an expensive level of rugby to fund. And it is sending Australian rugby (and I don’t mean RA - but it includes them) to the wall financially.
The hard truth is that there are only two cities/markets that warrant a Super Rugby team. And yeah it sucks for people to think about that if that’s not the city they live in.
To assist with expense management we need to separate the contract process for “international category” players - those that play in international comps, so Super Rugby or Tests.
Below that level - should be a Melb team, the force, the brumbies, and then probably a QLD city and country, and the same from NSW. These players are “domestic category” and have a max pay level well below international category.
Then we might be able to afford to fund the game. Most of the money comes from tests. We need to work out how to make it go further without cutting out too many pro jobs and killing the development path.

and a comment on the timing of comps in Australia. Super Rugby is the closest thing pro rugby has to a traditional “footy season” - and it really is way too short to fill that description fully. Asking fans to buy into a comp starting in Aug/Sept or similar is a massive ask and basically accepting limited interest.

I’d run the third tier from march to august - home and away - over before finals start in afl/nrl. And it adds content to sit along side Super Rugby content - which with only two teams participating becomes very light. It would run longer than Super Rugby - so providing that “footy season” feel but not trying to be meaningful yet starting in August.

anyway… we need to stop thinking that every city that can cobble together a rugby comp is entitled to a Super Rugby team. There are a lot of Super Rugby players who would benefit a lot from coming through those third tier teams.
 
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runningrugbyrules

Larry Dwyer (12)
Yeah just posted in the origin thread.

Will want to sort that shit out before coming over!
I think Sauaalii has been extremely overrated in his league career to date. I’ve worked for two NRL clubs and it’s a common opinion. However what League coaches don’t understand is as a No.15 in rugby in the era of 30+ box kicks every test match, having a 6”5’ player like Sauaalii who can leap and safe under the high ball he’ll be invaluable against the Lions and at the RWC.
 

eastman

Colin Windon (37)
However what League coaches don’t understand is as a No.15 in rugby in the era of 30+ box kicks every test match, having a 6”5’ player like Sauaalii who can leap and safe under the high ball he’ll be invaluable against the Lions and at the RWC.
I understand your point but you don’t pay $2m a year for Freddie Steward. You pay that much for Izzy Folau.
 

LevitatingSocks

Bill Watson (15)
I think Sauaalii has been extremely overrated in his league career to date. I’ve worked for two NRL clubs and it’s a common opinion. However what League coaches don’t understand is as a No.15 in rugby in the era of 30+ box kicks every test match, having a 6”5’ player like Sauaalii who can leap and safe under the high ball he’ll be invaluable against the Lions and at the RWC.
Having our version of Toulouse Blair Kinghorn would be nice but I'm not holding my breath
 

Marce

John Hipwell (52)
However what League coaches don’t understand is as a No.15 in rugby in the era of 30+ box kicks every test match, having a 6”5’ player like Sauaalii who can leap and safe under the high ball he’ll be invaluable against the Lions and at the RWC.
Folau was good under the high ball but he wasn't good reading the defence system. Always got exposed to attackers. It's a tricky position TBH
 

runningrugbyrules

Larry Dwyer (12)
Folau was good under the high ball but he wasn't good reading the defence system. Always got exposed to attackers. It's a tricky position TBH
Understand but Folau didn’t play match rugby if any before he switched, and it showed. Sauaalii played rugby for years
 

KOB1987

John Eales (66)
Yeah look, I'm not all that up to speed with what the league illegal tackle criteria are, but watching the average game they seem to be clearly less stringent than ours. As far as I can tell that is Sua'ali'i's first disciplinary issue, no doubt the adrenalin contributed, and the other factors like about a foot difference in height and that Reece was slipping sideways. It was certainly reckless but I wouldn't call it deliberate or malicious. I'm pretty sure that for anyone coming from league one of the first things they would work on is tackling technique. If Sua'ali'i'i is a flop I doubt it's going to be because of either his tackling or discipline, it's good to see a back with some abrasiveness TBH.
 

eastman

Colin Windon (37)
Yeah look, I'm not all that up to speed with what the league illegal tackle criteria are, but watching the average game they seem to be clearly less stringent than ours. As far as I can tell that is Sua'ali'i's first disciplinary issue, no doubt the adrenalin contributed, and the other factors like about a foot difference in height and that Reece was slipping sideways. It was certainly reckless but I wouldn't call it deliberate or malicious. I'm pretty sure that for anyone coming from league one of the first things they would work on is tackling technique. If Sua'ali'i'i is a flop I doubt it's going to be because of either his tackling or discipline, it's good to see a back with some abrasiveness TBH.
I understand you’re his biggest advocate, but saying this is his first disciplinary issue is blatantly incorrect. The guy has been kneeing people in the head for a couple of years now.
 

LeCheese

John Thornett (49)
Qatar and WR (World Rugby) (World Rugby) nearing an 800m gbp agreement for hosting the Nations Championship.

Near enough to $50m every two years for Australia if it's all shared out equally

Twitter update re The Telegraph
Cash is great, but everything else about this is naaaht great. Issues people may have with Qatar itself aside, having a neutral and constant finals venue (with a garbage timezone for those outside of Europe) takes away from the spectacle a fair bit imo
 
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