Global Rapid Rugby

[ForceFan]

This article could present the opportunity to move away from the "Twiggy Rugby" label.
Minderoo begins global search for World Series Rugby CEO ahead of expanded 2019 competition

Nick Taylor - The West Australian -Tuesday, 4 September 2018

A global search is underway for a chief executive to lead World Series Rugby into next year’s expanded competition that will see Western Force battle seven teams for a $1 million purse.

In another move Force chief executive Nick Marvin is taking on a new role with the club.
Marvin led a team from Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo group when the mining magnate bankrolled the Force and WSR after the club was axed from Super Rugby.
Marvin took charge of the Force after 11 years at the helm of Perth Wildcats and as interim chief executive at Hockey WA. He will move into a consulting role at the club.

Minderoo confirmed the moves.
“The Western Force required a strong, experienced leader for its inaugural season as the flagship competitor in World Series Rugby and the team found that in Nick Marvin,” a spokesperson said.
“As the Force takes a break after the season, Nick will shift to a consulting role."
“He will continue to shape plans for the WSR 2019 competition in the short term and, moving forward, will focus on setting the Western Force up with a community ownership structure and a strong commercial base."
“Growing the Rugby Roos junior development program will also be high on his agenda."
“Minderoo is conducting a global search for a WSR chief executive and is charging ahead with its plans for the 2019 competition.”

Marvin told The West Australian that he had been overwhelmed by community support.
“It was heartening and makes it all worthwhile,” Marvin said.

https://thewest.com.au/sport/wester...ad-of-expanded-2019-competition-ng-b88950369z

 

[chibimatty]

It's gonna be hard finding someone like Nick, he's a genius

 

[dru]

It will be interesting to compare results between this and the Reds CEO (pending) which has also meant to have been searching internationally.

In the mean time, hate to say guys but news from WSR is slow. Surely more info is due around locked in teams?

 

[RugbyReg]

Two completely different skill sets.

WSR role is a competition manager (still needs sponsorships and broadcast) with seemingly unlimited manager.

QRU CEO (not Reds CEO) is a pure sports administrator with coverage over a professional team as well. They are responsible for governing the game at all levels.

 

[dru]

Two completely different skill sets.

WSR role is a competition manager (still needs sponsorships and broadcast) with seemingly unlimited manager.

QRU CEO (not Reds CEO) is a pure sports administrator with coverage over a professional team as well. They are responsible for governing the game at all levels.

Noted, Reg. Though I would think plenty of skills are CEO role-specific rather than sector-specific.

You are right of course. I’ll still be watching both with interest.

 

[Boof1050]

I would also suggest that one CEO would have a little more coin to play with and the other trying to keep the wolves from the door. Good luck to whoever gets the Reds gig that would NOT be an easy job.

 

[Tomikin]

I would also suggest that one CEO would have a little more coin to play with and the other trying to keep the wolves from the door. Good luck to whoever gets the Reds gig that would NOT be an easy job.

But fuck shouldnt it be, its Queensland Reds, with loads of talent. It should be easier then say the Brumbies job or the Perth/ Rebels job.

Although Perth with Twiggy is probably easier. But thats juat it now

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[ForceFan]

Which mining magnate with deep pockets and a keen interest in rugby has brokered a secret meeting with Sydney and NSW rugby officials for Monday? The Cauliflower hears Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest is sending over one of his trusted rugby heads to woo Sydney rugby powerbrokers with his vision for western Sydney and World Series Rugby.

Minderoo and NSW Rugby denied all knowledge of the meeting when contacted on Thursday, but we hear it's going ahead after an approach from John Welborn, a former Wallaby and close associate of Forrest's, who has been involved in the World Series Rugby project for some time.

The meeting-that-isn't-a-meeting will raise eyebrows at Rugby Australia but the SRU and NSW Rugby Union are determined to hear Forrest - or Welborn - out.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-...gn-with-australian-rugby-20180906-p50246.html

 

[hoggy]

Which mining magnate with deep pockets and a keen interest in rugby has brokered a secret meeting with Sydney and NSW rugby officials for Monday? The Cauliflower hears Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest is sending over one of his trusted rugby heads to woo Sydney rugby powerbrokers with his vision for western Sydney and World Series Rugby.

Minderoo and NSW Rugby denied all knowledge of the meeting when contacted on Thursday, but we hear it's going ahead after an approach from John Welborn, a former Wallaby and close associate of Forrest's, who has been involved in the World Series Rugby project for some time.

The meeting-that-isn't-a-meeting will raise eyebrows at Rugby Australia but the SRU and NSW Rugby Union are determined to hear Forrest - or Welborn - out.

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-...gn-with-australian-rugby-20180906-p50246.html

Why wouldn't they want to hear him out, they know under RA the future is pretty f____d

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Twiggy offering an answer to Western Sydney which been high priority rea growth area for rugby but badly managed and neglected by both SRU, NSWRU and RA as they just don't have the answers with next to no dollars to put behind it so if SRU and NSWRU would not be rolling out the red carpet for Twiggy to listen to what he has to offer then they would have to be out of touch with what the basic rugby fan wants to see happen.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Just out of interest, how many clubs (presumably subbies?) are there west of say Westmead Hospital/Cumberland highway sort of area?

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[wamberal]

Just out of interest, how many clubs (presumably subbies?) are there west of say Westmead Hospital/Cumberland highway sort of area?

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Where is Pfitzy when you need him???

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Irony is Twiggy outlining his vision for WSR and Western Sydney...and as far as vision for Western Sydney RA outlined I can't say I have seen anything very concrete on that in terms of clear action plan....

At same time I don't enjoy bagging RA and would like them to be successful as our national body but also as part of them being successful is leveraging what critical players like Twiggy has to offer as clearly other well funded parties with innovative ideas should be embraced.

A-League and Frank Lowry as case in point as to what a successful partnership can deliver.

 

[Tomikin]

West Sydney Islanders.. means it could have Australians in it as well since its an Island. But alott a certan number of players from the Pacfic islands.

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[RugbyReg]

Is Twiggy’s vision just a team playing out of there or development infrastructure as well?

 

[kiap]

Just out of interest, how many clubs (presumably subbies?) are there west of say Westmead Hospital/Cumberland highway sort of area?

Do subbies blokes subsidise themselves?

Is Twiggy’s vision just a team playing out of there or development infrastructure as well?

Good Q. I believe a baseline is required.

How much is NSWRU/Tahs/ SRU/ARU putting into W. Syd development programs?

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Is Twiggy’s vision just a team playing out of there or development infrastructure as well?

Fair question but to date Twiggy's plan shown much more depth behind just teams playing - so lets wait and see - as also the reports were was looking at bailing out /supporting Penrith being re-established.

But yes very good question but I think Twiggy offers a lot of depth behind his plans for development etc so I am somewhat hopeful here and indeed believe best player to be involved in the Western Sydney question.....

 

[Strewthcobber]

Do subbies blokes subsidise themselves?



Good Q. I believe a baseline is required.

How much is NSWRU/Tahs/ SRU/ARU putting into W. Syd development programs?

Its a genuine question as I have no idea - is there a rugby community already up and running out west or is there a wholesale coordinated effort required to build on Twiggys investment?

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[kiap]

Its a genuine question as I have no idea - is there a rugby community already up and running out west or is there a wholesale coordinated effort required to build on Twiggys investment?

There must be development officers covering the area and so forth, at a minimum, to go with clubs. Someone on the ground there would be best placed to answer, short of trawling through statements and reports. An interesting Sydney comparison would be the West compared with the Rest.

Clearly the Twiggy Forrest involvement is a fair distance from existence, as the SMH reporting of the "non-meeting" meeting makes plain. I suspect a West Syd team in WSR would have a lot more hurdles to get over than the other purported locations for this comp.

 

[kiap]

Conditional progress on a WS team for WSR.

Interesting that the journo is still referring to WSR as a "rebel league", i.e. it ain't really approved.

​

Castle approves Twiggy's $4m plan for western Sydney, with a catch​

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By Georgina Robinson​

13 September 2018 — 6:38pm​

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A $4 million funding boost for rugby in western Sydney is a step closer to reality after Rugby Australia gave a conditional green light to Andrew ''Twiggy'' Forrest's bid to put a World Series Rugby team in the city's west.​

​

A high-level meeting between Rugby Australia chief Raelene Castle and her counterparts at NSW Rugby and the Sydney Rugby Union on Monday agreed to move to the next step of discussions with Forrest and his World Series team, who are proposing to fund a team in the region as part of their eight-team vision for the international rebel league.​

​

It is understood correspondence has been sent from RA offices making the development official, but that one of many conditions of further engagement is that Shute Shield players be off limits.​

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With the NSWRU in the middle of finalising an action plan for the talent-packed but under-represented region, RA is mindful of protecting the state's player pathways.​

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"World Series Rugby have come to us to discuss some expanded plans for World Series Rugby in 2019 and beyond and Rugby Australia continues to see the benefit of this competition and its value to the game of rugby in the Asia Pacific region," Castle said.​

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"We are in a deep dialogue with Minderoo [Forrest's company] into how we can work together to support the competition, with respect to the importance of protecting the Shute Shield, Queensland Premier Rugby and the player development pathways on the eastern seaboard."​

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It is a significant development in the World Series saga. Forrest's vision for the western Sydney team, which will join teams in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Western Force, is understood to have a heavy Pacific Islands influence.​

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Fairfax Media understands his representatives have already approached Tonga, Fiji and Samoa to gauge their interest.​

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The model proposed will see Minderoo run the competition, fund 16 marquee players in each team, contribute $1 million in prizemoney for the winner but not own the teams themselves. That raises the question of who will underwrite the teams and provide medium-term security to players and staff.​

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Read more:​

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https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-...tern-sydney-with-a-catch-20180913-p503md.html​

From this story it looks like an identified six of:

• 2 x Japan
• Hong Kong
• Singapore
• Western Force
• … and a PI side playing for the "East Coast non-Elites", i.e. their west.

… all existing sides (except the last) and therefore already owned. The W Syd question is what involvement Tonga/Fiji/Samoa might have.

The hurdle will be who starts up such a team - investor needed. It also tends to suggest there won't be PI-based teams. As we've always known, sustainably funding a pro team playing out of the islands is difficult. Looking at the NRC, its also potentially problematic for the structure of the comp, so limiting the eastward spread could be required.

Largely a non-Australian comp.