Bruce Ross
Ken Catchpole (46)
The AFL has set up in the non-traditional Aussie Rules states a Second Tier competition which has some features which could be adapted to create a viable Third Tier competition for Australian rugby.
The NEAFL competition operates across Sydney, Brisbane, the ACT and the Northern Territory. It includes the reserve sides from the Sydney Swans, GWS Giants, Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast SUNS. The rest of its teams are club sides from the two major cities and the two territories.
In Australian rugby the reserve teams from the Super franchises only play a very limited number of games, largely against one another, and do not have the opportunity to participate in a regular ongoing competition. At the same time there are serious imbalances in playing strength between the Premiership clubs in both Sydney and Brisbane.
Both of these problems can be addressed by setting up a new Third Tier competition, which might have the imaginative working title of the 3T competition. Each of the Australian Super franchises would enter their reserve sides in the 3T. Then existing clubs would be invited to apply to be included. It can be anticipated there would be at least one application from the ACT plus a number from both the Sydney and Brisbane Premiership ranks. The club applications would be assessed on the basis of defined criteria.
Let us say that in its first year the 3T would consist of 10 teams, 5 Super franchise and 5 club sides. The competition format would consist of a single round of 9 games followed by a 2 week finals series. Importantly 3T would run concurrently with Super Rugby and the Sydney and Melbourne club competitions. Games would be played either on Sunday afternoons or as early fixtures to Super games.
The Super franchises would use players from their own contract or training squads plus players recruited only from those clubs in their city which were not themselves involved in 3T. This would provide a pathway for players from all clubs to experience high level competition.
Clubs involved in 3T would still have to fulfill their normal Saturday afternoon obligations, meaning that they would have to have sufficient playing strength to field an additional team. The fact that their best players would be involved in 3T would serve to diminish some of the present disparities in playing standard within the Sydney, Brisbane and probably ACT competitions.
Players involved in 3T would continue to live in their home cities thus eliminating the need to pay relocation and accommodation expenses. Franchises and clubs would be free to make their own decisions as to what remuneration, if any, their players would receive. Ideally 3T should be conducted basically as a pre-professional competition.
The main cost involved in mounting 3T would be air travel for teams playing interstate. This could be funded from sponsorship income plus a grant from the ARU which will be the ultimate beneficiary from the new competition.
There might be difficulties initially in gaining TV coverage of games but this is likely to become a relatively minor problem in the near future. The NEAFL competition already makes use of live video streaming and the rapid emergence of other forms of new media will greatly diminish the existing operators’ control over what is broadcast.
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The NEAFL competition operates across Sydney, Brisbane, the ACT and the Northern Territory. It includes the reserve sides from the Sydney Swans, GWS Giants, Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast SUNS. The rest of its teams are club sides from the two major cities and the two territories.
In Australian rugby the reserve teams from the Super franchises only play a very limited number of games, largely against one another, and do not have the opportunity to participate in a regular ongoing competition. At the same time there are serious imbalances in playing strength between the Premiership clubs in both Sydney and Brisbane.
Both of these problems can be addressed by setting up a new Third Tier competition, which might have the imaginative working title of the 3T competition. Each of the Australian Super franchises would enter their reserve sides in the 3T. Then existing clubs would be invited to apply to be included. It can be anticipated there would be at least one application from the ACT plus a number from both the Sydney and Brisbane Premiership ranks. The club applications would be assessed on the basis of defined criteria.
Let us say that in its first year the 3T would consist of 10 teams, 5 Super franchise and 5 club sides. The competition format would consist of a single round of 9 games followed by a 2 week finals series. Importantly 3T would run concurrently with Super Rugby and the Sydney and Melbourne club competitions. Games would be played either on Sunday afternoons or as early fixtures to Super games.
The Super franchises would use players from their own contract or training squads plus players recruited only from those clubs in their city which were not themselves involved in 3T. This would provide a pathway for players from all clubs to experience high level competition.
Clubs involved in 3T would still have to fulfill their normal Saturday afternoon obligations, meaning that they would have to have sufficient playing strength to field an additional team. The fact that their best players would be involved in 3T would serve to diminish some of the present disparities in playing standard within the Sydney, Brisbane and probably ACT competitions.
Players involved in 3T would continue to live in their home cities thus eliminating the need to pay relocation and accommodation expenses. Franchises and clubs would be free to make their own decisions as to what remuneration, if any, their players would receive. Ideally 3T should be conducted basically as a pre-professional competition.
The main cost involved in mounting 3T would be air travel for teams playing interstate. This could be funded from sponsorship income plus a grant from the ARU which will be the ultimate beneficiary from the new competition.
There might be difficulties initially in gaining TV coverage of games but this is likely to become a relatively minor problem in the near future. The NEAFL competition already makes use of live video streaming and the rapid emergence of other forms of new media will greatly diminish the existing operators’ control over what is broadcast.
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