Rebels 2017

[Highlander35]

Particularly if everybody is properly committed to "Better as 5", (as they bloody well should be!) I'd imagine that's exactly what happened.

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[Mr Wobbly]

I would think that Tim North would have had a very close look at the arbitration case arguments. He's be in a good position to form an opinion about the likely result.

 

[GoMelbRebels]

I would think that Tim North would have had a very close look at the arbitration case arguments. He's be in a good position to form an opinion about the likely result.

It depends on the motivation for this. It could be, with the arbitration decision imminent, the transfer has been pushed through in the event WA Rugby win and the ARU circle their wagons around the Rebels. It offers protection.

 

[Mr Wobbly]

It depends on the motivation for this. It could be, with the arbitration decision imminent, the transfer has been pushed through in the event WA Rugby win and the ARU circle their wagons around the Rebels. It offers protection.

Yep. Seems very likely.

 

[amirite]

Yeah it was clear from the start that Cox was the weak link as Tim Norths prev comments indicated and as this w/ends events have shown.

More power to the VRU for removing the risk. How ever you look at it Cox has exited as best he could, and fair enough, whether it was for goodwill or who is to say he wasn't compensated financially to some degree by friends of VRU.

Anyway you are imo now in a much better position, and imo he has not been very good for you, not the VRU's fault but imo more likely Rob Clarke and the ARU's fault.

Correct. Whilst I'm sure Cox is a fine bloke and businessman, he was looking to run a Super Rugby franchise and was not interested in the external distractions that go along with it. That meant that during his ownership the Rebels quickly went from having their best year of community rugby engagement (2015) to their worst (2016).

Obviously Cox took over mid-2015 if my timeline is correct, but the mechanisms were already in place and continued until his first full year (2016).

They have a lot of work to do to win the public back, but are in the best possible position to do so. Hopefully they execute.