Australian Rugby / RA

[HooperPocockSmith]

I don't see how a club model that replaces Super Rugby would work. Sure, we can elevate the likes of Syd Uni, UQ, Brothers, Eastwood, Randwick and Vikings to professional status, but what happens to Uni-North or Western Sydney?

 

[Goosestep]

The end of Super Rugby?

This article was written by John Murray. John is the immediate Past President of Easts Rugby Club and he was the co-founder of Club Rugby TV. He was responsible for the spectacular success of the 2017 GF at NSO (when we played in the 2nd grade GF). His day job was as a stockbroker.. The...

www.eastwoodrugby.com.au

Not sure where the original article came from. But courtesy of John Murray, former Easts President.

My thoughts - 18 would be a bridge too far. It's interesting to see the numerical breakdown. Though, it's probably an over-simplistic analysis.

He’s got the right idea but yes 18 too many to start with .. maybe 8

 

[Goosestep]

I don't see how a club model that replaces Super Rugby would work. Sure, we can elevate the likes of Syd Uni, UQ, Brothers, Eastwood, Randwick and Vikings to professional status, but what happens to Uni-North or Western Sydney?

Noone cares about rugby in western Sydney now anyway .. ( and there isn’t a super rugby team there as it is)

… you want to develop an attractive professional club model first, actually get some interest in the game .. then expand

 

[DevilDog]

‘You always buy an asset, not a liability’: V’landys takes swipe at rugby

As Rugby Australia made a $1.6 million offer to lure Roosters forward Angus Crichton to the 15-man game, V’landys (the horse racing guy) fired back when asked about the prospect of the NRL buying out the struggling code

www.smh.com.au

You gotta be kidding me! On top of all the crap news this week, we get this drop on us. Ok, sure, he's a good player, had a union background, but surely dropping this lure in the water is just going to bring the sharks circling, rather than the intended target. Who in their right mind would leave a lucrative NRL gig for the circus that is Rugby in Australia?

Absolute fucking madness!

Sack the lot of these fucking FRAUDS in the boardroom

 

[DevilDog]

I read that McLennan is still banging his NRL player drum as of yesterday. Rich guys think they just have to throw good money after bad, even better if it's not theirs.
The simplest thing to do would be to ensure the talented school kids are kept in the fold, at the moment we seem to have no idea who they are.

There's idiots in here who think throwing money bag after money bag after money bag is gonna bring the fans back

WELL ITS FUCKING NOT

 

[Tomthumb]

There's idiots in here who think throwing money bag after money bag after money bag is gonna bring the fans back

WELL ITS FUCKING NOT

What is?

 

[stillmissit]

‘You always buy an asset, not a liability’: V’landys takes swipe at rugby

As Rugby Australia made a $1.6 million offer to lure Roosters forward Angus Crichton to the 15-man game, V’landys (the horse racing guy) fired back when asked about the prospect of the NRL buying out the struggling code

www.smh.com.au

You gotta be kidding me! On top of all the crap news this week, we get this drop on us. Ok, sure, he's a good player, had a union background, but surely dropping this lure in the water is just going to bring the sharks circling, rather than the intended target. Who in their right mind would leave a lucrative NRL gig for the circus that is Rugby in Australia?

Why the hell would Rugby look at this for 1.6m, their income is going to drop through the floor and still McLennan is spending like the labor party.

 

[Braveheart81]

Why the hell would Rugby look at this for 1.6m, their income is going to drop through the floor and still McLennan is spending like the labor party.

Because a large chunk of it most likely isn't coming out of their pockets.

Potentially none of it is coming out of RA's pockets.

 

[stillmissit]

Noone cares about rugby in western Sydney now anyway .. ( and there isn’t a super rugby team there as it is)

… you want to develop an attractive professional club model first, actually get some interest in the game .. then expand

We had an opportunity 20 years ago and now rugby is dead in Western Syd apart from one maybe 2 private schools.

 

[Wilson]

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?

The hand waving nonsense around the numbers he presents is mind boggling. He completely ignores the base costs required to run each team (like the wage bill that needs to be serviced for a squad of ~40 players and ~5 coaches and all the associated administration staff), the struggle we'd have in finding players and staff to fill 18 teams, and then just decides Stan would be happy to honour any existing broadcast agreement after a seismic restructuring of the game.

Just fairy tale stuff. It's exactly the sort of "the Shute Shield will save us" thinking that has been such a big part of our inability to move forward this past 2 decades.

 

[stillmissit]

Because a large chunk of it most likely isn't coming out of their pockets.

Potentially none of it is coming out of Rugby Australia's pockets.

Is this one of the private investment firms that has been discussed?

 

[Highlander35]

Is this one of the private investment firms that has been discussed?

There's almost certainly a reason it's the Force and not Brumbies/Rebels.

 

[Braveheart81]

Is this one of the private investment firms that has been discussed?

Put it this way, if Twiggy or some other Western Force benefactor needed to get to $800k a season to sign Crichton they pay him $400k a year from the Force salary cap and donate $400k a year to the Australian Rugby Foundation to pay his Rugby Australia contract.

I have no knowledge that this is what has happened here but I'd be highly surprised if it isn't.

 

[Goosestep]

Just fairy tale stuff. It's exactly the sort of "the Shute Shield will save us" thinking that has been such a big part of our inability to move forward this past 2 decades.

Wwwwhhhhaaaattttt ? The ONLY thing that has been ignored on the last two decades HAS been “the shute shield” and club rugby ..

Rugby has been completely Super Rugby-centric since the late 90s… and we can’t forget the dumpster fire which was the NRC which screwed up club rugby even more …

Only now are people realising the damage which has been done to the grassroots !

the

 

[stillmissit]

Put it this way, if Twiggy or some other Western Force benefactor needed to get to $800k a season to sign Crichton they pay him $400k a year from the Force salary cap and donate $400k a year to the Australian Rugby Foundation to pay his Rugby Australia contract.

I have no knowledge that this is what has happened here but I'd be highly surprised if it isn't.

Thanks BH, I assumed it was McLennan going crazy

 

[stillmissit]

Wwwwhhhhaaaattttt ? The ONLY thing that has been ignored on the last two decades HAS been “the shute shield” and club rugby ..

Rugby has been completely Super Rugby-centric since the late 90s… and we can’t forget the dumpster fire which was the NRC which screwed up club rugby even more …

Only now are people realising the damage which has been done to the grassroots !

the

Don't know who you follow GS, but my old club is going pretty well with good support for most home games. They did come within a hair of going broke due to a CEO who spent big on players who disappeared the moment the money got tight and left the club with nothing. Some of my old mates all rolled their sleeves up and saved it.

 

[John S]

Wwwwhhhhaaaattttt ? The ONLY thing that has been ignored on the last two decades HAS been “the shute shield” and club rugby ..

Rugby has been completely Super Rugby-centric since the late 90s… and we can’t forget the dumpster fire which was the NRC which screwed up club rugby even more …

Only now are people realising the damage which has been done to the grassroots !

the

Brett Papworth - is that you?

 

[molman]

Put it this way, if Twiggy or some other Western Force benefactor needed to get to $800k a season to sign Crichton they pay him $400k a year from the Force salary cap and donate $400k a year to the Australian Rugby Foundation to pay his Rugby Australia contract.

I have no knowledge that this is what has happened here but I'd be highly surprised if it isn't.

I assumed this is exactly how it was happening in much the same way as Jospeh Sua'ali'i. Without a private equity deal or a financial restructuring to somehow inject some funds, RA isn't exactly sitting on a large cash reserve to splash around - it doesn't take a CPA qualification but a little back of the napkin maths to get a fair idea of the current financial position.

Some players like Micheal Hooper drop off the books, so there will be some realignment of where they are directing their top-ups moving forward.

It'll be interesting to see what occurs with players like Wright, Gordon etc.. who I believe are currently receiving RA top-ups.

 

[Goosestep]

Brett Papworth - is that you?

brett papworth > Sean Maloney

 

[KOB1987]

The code is on life support both financially and in terms of interest in this country so it’s pretty clear what the strategy is. With a Lions tour and a home RWC coming up, borrowing a truckload of cash to throw at the juniors isn’t going to achieve much if we get flogged by the Lions in half full stadiums and then get thrown out of a home World Cup in the pool stages again. That’s game over for rugby union in Australia.

The strategy is obviously to build a strong Wallabies with plenty of household names in the team, to maximise the revenues from both live crowds and tv audiences. Having the NRL players potentially in the side generates interest from their fans, so it’s kind of like buying spectators. Key to all of this of course is the need to win, or at least put on a good show. Then, with a massive war chest built up and a lot more interest from kids in particular the code can be rebuilt from the ground up.

The media, the loig media in particular, are doing a good job of making it appear that RA are ignoring the grassroots, because everyone knows that long term that is what is going to make the code strong again. It’s a chicken and egg scenario, but we’ve only got one shot for the code to survive so they have to do things arse about to maximise the opportunity that is ahead of us.

Incidentally I heard on Triple M this afternoon that apparently the plan is to get a high profile NRL player for each franchise, but I don’t know where they got that mail from. If that’s true there are 3 more to come.