We already have a fantastic club rugby system in Australia – let’s leverage that for our 3rd tier.
There would be two divisions.
Division 1 (Cup):
– Top 6 Shute Shield
– Top 4 Hospital Cup
– Canberra rep team
– Perth rep team
Division 2 (Plate):
– Bottom 6 Shute Shield
– Bottom 5 Hospital Cup
– Melbourne Rep team
Each division has 12 teams, of which there are two pools.
Division 1 is playing for the Cup, Division 2 is playing for the Plate.
Each pool of 6 is contains a mixture of the clubs throughout the Division.
You play everyone in your pool once. There shouldn’t be anymore than 2-3 interstate matches per pool.
Based on this years ladders. The pools would be as follows:
Pool A – Division 1:
Easts (Syd), Randwick, Norths (Syd), Brothers, UQ, Canberra
Pool B – Division 1:
Rats, Gordon, Manly, Wests (Bris), Souths (Bris), Perth
Pool A – Division 2:
Uni, Eastwood, Souths (Syd), Melbourne, Bond, Easts (Bris)
Pool B – Division 2:
Two Blues, Hunter, Wests (Syd), GPS, Norths (Bris), Sunnybank.
Finals:
Top 2 from each pool play off in a semi-final. Winners progress to the final.
Total of 7 weeks.
Promotion/relegation is done based on the ladder of the respective competitions. Perth/Canberra remain in Div 1 and Melbourne remains in Div 2.
This model isn’t perfect, but at least creates immediate fan engagement and tribalism at a reasonable cost. Additionally you could shrink SS from 18 rounds to 16 rounds. This will help keep lower grade players engaged (shorter season and less time commitments).