Melbourne Rebels 2024

[Dctarget]

The Tarneit proposal, at a surface level, doesn't seem to address the underlying cash flow issue; if anything, it will magnify those issues through the loss of corporate support and matchday income that comes with shifting from the CBD to the outer suburbs. Even with $20million capital raising from investors, surely they don't want this just used to pay off debts, I'm curious where's the value-add proposition in their investment?

When you also consider that one of the main people driving the Tarneit proposal is also the father of one of the directors currently liable for ATO debt held against the Rebels, the whole proposal smells a bit off.

fuck me they can’t win can they. Being pilloried for living beyond their means, then when they propose to severely reduce their expenses by moving to an affordable venue that they would have a stake in, gather more government funding that would cost so much less than AAMI, they get roasted for that. Is that not value added?

Also regarding the father/daughter, there’s not that many influential people willing to burn millions on a rugby club in Melbourne. It’s not a shock that they would have already been involved.

I gather that everyone outside Vic have now reached the conclusion that no matter what, Rebels are unsustainable no matter the proposal.

 

[Derpus]

fuck me they can’t win can they. Being pilloried for living beyond their means, then when they propose to severely reduce their expenses by moving to an affordable venue that they would have a stake in, gather more government funding that would cost so much less than AAMI, they get roasted for that. Is that not value added?

Also regarding the father/daughter, there’s not that many influential people willing to burn millions on a rugby club in Melbourne. It’s not a shock that they would have already been involved.

I gather that everyone outside Vic have now reached the conclusion that no matter what, Rebels are unsustainable no matter the proposal.

I think, sadly, that's the point.

Its not so much that rugby in unsustainable in Vic as it is unsustainable in its current form in the entire country (world? arguably). Melbourne was in the weakest position to begin with though.

 

[Highlander35]

Ah well, 4, 4 and a half hours and we'll know.

 

[dru]

I gather that everyone outside Vic have now reached the conclusion that no matter what, Rebels are unsustainable no matter the proposal.

Utter bollocks.

Most have reached the conclusion that what is on offer has hairs all over it. There are many reasons that a Super team in Australia's largest (ostensibly) city should be sustainable. Along with, of course, plenty of challenges. There are many reasons to suggest, actually, that a team there is pretty much mandatory for a national, professional sport.

Just not on the basis of a mandate to sue RA. Let alone starting with an economic plan that doesn't seem to make a lot of sense (other than reducing problems for the former directors).

 

[Brumby Runner]

I think the Rebels days in Super Rugby might be over but there should be a continuing presence for a semi-professional side down there. That will depend on a suitable competition being set up which looks very unlikely but is probably the path best suited to all of our Super Rugby sides when the present arrangements die.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Ah well, 4, 4 and a half hours and we'll know.

Unfortunately, I don't think much of anything will be resolved today, other than if there is a vote for liquidation. There are still any number of potential hurdles ahead.

I just can't see how a court case is avoided one way or another

 

[Dctarget]

Utter bollocks.

Most have reached the conclusion that what is on offer has hairs all over it. There are many reasons that a Super team in Australia's largest (ostensibly) city should be sustainable. Along with, of course, plenty of challenges. There are many reasons to suggest, actually, that a team there is pretty much mandatory for a national, professional sport.

Just not on the basis of a mandate to sue RA. Let alone starting with an economic plan that doesn't seem to make a lot of sense (other than reducing problems for the former directors).

Do you think RA agrees with you?

 

[hoggy]

Weird take.

The Rugby World Cup Final is going to sell out wherever it is played and will be filled with a combination of die hard rugby fans and fans of pinnacle type events.

Weird take. Of course they can fill the stadium with rugby fans, yet walk two streets away from the MCG and no one would give a f---k.

So the pinnacle of Rugby Union in the world every fours years is given to a city with little or no rugby following for a couple of extra $Million, by the way how has the money grab worked out for Rugby here in 2024.

 

[dru]

Do you think RA agrees with you?

Straight to the jugular! I'm not changing a position that holds deep scepticism on that front. Right now though, it just doesn't matter. The winding up, or successful replacement of, the Rebels can't happen at the detriment of rugby in this country.

Edit: What we are hearing at the moment is RWC being a big cost so that Wallabies are not necessarily an income, that broadcast deal will be reduced with a reduction in content. We are seeing the RA step up to keep the 5th team meeting contractual obligations. My cynicism may not prove warranted.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Weird take. Of course they can fill the stadium with rugby fans, yet walk two streets away from the MCG and no one would give a f---k.

So the pinnacle of Rugby Union in the world every fours years is given to a city with little or no rugby following for a couple of extra $Million, by the way how has the money grab worked out for Rugby here in 2024.

I quite enjoyed the Tokyo RWC final

 

[JRugby2]

Weird take. Of course they can fill the stadium with rugby fans, yet walk two streets away from the MCG and no one would give a f---k.

So the pinnacle of Rugby Union in the world every fours years is given to a city with little or no rugby following for a couple of extra $Million, by the way how has the money grab worked out for Rugby here in 2024.

As opposed to the rugby union heartland that is Homebush?

 

[Slim 293]

In a failed argument against hosting a RWC final at the MCG, Hoggy is unwittingly making a strong case for not having a professional team in Melbourne...

 

[Braveheart81]

Weird take. Of course they can fill the stadium with rugby fans, yet walk two streets away from the MCG and no one would give a f---k.

So the pinnacle of Rugby Union in the world every fours years is given to a city with little or no rugby following for a couple of extra $Million, by the way how has the money grab worked out for Rugby here in 2024.

Meanwhile do you think the general atmosphere in Sydney would be substantially different?

 

[hoggy]

Meanwhile do you think the general atmosphere in Sydney would be substantially different?

You would hope so, NSW is supposedly the biggest rugby state in the country.
But go for it grab the cash and give it to Melbourne to play at the MCG possibly the worst stadium to watch a game of rugby in.
Give it to a state that 2 years before said stuff you we can't even be bothered having a professional rugby team in our town and a population that would struggle to remember the score two days after the final.
I know what I just unwittingly figured out.

 

[Braveheart81]

You would hope so, NSW is supposedly the biggest rugby state in the country.
But go for it grab the cash and give it to Melbourne, to play at the MCG possibly the worst stadium to watch a game of rugby in.
Give it to a state that 2 years before said stuff you we can't even be bothered having a professional rugby team in our town and a population that would struggle to remember the score two days after the final.
I know what I just unwittingly figured out.

If you go out on a big rugby night in Sydney (let's say a Bledisloe Cup game) you can go to a pub showing it and lots of people will be there to watch it. You go to a pub just down the road that isn't a sports pub or pass by people on the street and no one gives two shits about it.

I would say the same existed back in 2003 and we were both playing in the final and it was in Sydney.

I've sat a row from the top of the MCG for a sold out Bledisloe Cup game. It was an excellent experience. You don't go to these pinnacle events primarily because you're after a great view of the game. You go for the experience.

If there's 16.5k more tickets available to sell in Melbourne it's worth a bunch more than a couple of million dollars. Money isn't the only deciding factor but I think you're massively overrating the difference in the game being hosted in Sydney vs Melbourne.

 

[hoggy]

If you go out on a big rugby night in Sydney (let's say a Bledisloe Cup game) you can go to a pub showing it and lots of people will be there to watch it. You go to a pub just down the road that isn't a sports pub or pass by people on the street and no one gives two shits about it.

I would say the same existed back in 2003 and we were both playing in the final and it was in Sydney.

I've sat a row from the top of the MCG for a sold out Bledisloe Cup game. It was an excellent experience. You don't go to these pinnacle events primarily because you're after a great view of the game. You go for the experience.

If there's 16.5k more tickets available to sell in Melbourne it's worth a bunch more than a couple of million dollars. Money isn't the only deciding factor but I think you're massively overrating the difference in the game being hosted in Sydney vs Melbourne.

Okay maybe your right and I am overstating the difference from Sydney to Melbourne, but right now your two heartland rugby states in NSW & QLD are under siege from rival football codes and struggling to stay relevant.
To take the biggest event rugby has and give it to Melbourne instead of one of those heartland states at a time when the game is barely surviving in it's core heartlands IMO is a massive risk.
Money no doubt will be deciding factor, but as you say it's not everything.

 

[Jimmy_Crouch]

The millions on tv don't care about the views from the seats.

 

[Braveheart81]

Okay maybe your right and I am overstating the difference from Sydney to Melbourne, but right now your two heartland rugby states in NSW & QLD are under siege from rival football codes and struggling to stay relevant.
To take the biggest event rugby has and give it to Melbourne instead of one of those heartland states at a time when the game is barely surviving in it's core heartlands IMO is a massive risk.
Money no doubt will be deciding factor, but as you say it's not everything.

I don't think it moves the needle where the event is located though.

The atmosphere in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane will not be any different on the night of the final based on where the game is actually being played.

The overwhelming majority of rugby fans won't be at the game regardless. It's a massive event and half the people in attendance won't even live in Australia. Pubs and houses will have just as many events wherever the game is located.

 

[Dctarget]

Also half the fans will be international, as a travelling fan I'd rather a sports event in Richmond rather than Homebush or Brisbane.

 

[KevinO]

Whispers nobody rejected the DOCA agreement