Super Rugby General Chat

[Dismal Pillock]

LOL@ this idiotic random mouthguard technology. Players are going to start slyly tucking the things in their socks in the last 10 mins to avoid getting hit with a totally random HIA ffs.

 

[Wilson]

LOL@ this idiotic random mouthguard technology. Players are going to start slyly tucking the things in their socks in the last 10 mins to avoid getting hit with a totally random HIA ffs.

Next minute you're off for an hia for kicking the ball to hard

 

[TheHaydog]

5/6 attendances reported for Round 1

Chiefs vs Crusaders:16,119
Rebels vs Brumbies:4,000
Force vs Hurricanes:7,855
Highlanders vs Moana:12,496
Reds vs Waratahs:14,593

Average attendance of 11,012

Just missing Blues vs Drua

 

[Steve_Grey]

5/6 attendances reported for Round 1

Chiefs vs Crusaders:16,119
Rebels vs Brumbies:4,000
Force vs Hurricanes:7,855
Highlanders vs Moana:12,496
Reds vs Waratahs:14,593

Average attendance of 11,012

Just missing Blues vs Drua

Have to wonder if Reds should play at Ballymore - given they own it, more money to them in a season where cashflow will be King.

 

[Wilson]

Have to wonder if Reds should play at Ballymore - given they own it, more money to them in a season where cashflow will be King.

It's not there yet, capacity is capped at 8k and the Eastern stand still needs to be redone. Additionally there is nowhere near the capacity for corporates, which as I understand is significant earner at Suncorp. When the Eastern stand is redone there will be room to take some in season games back to Ballymore, but the bigger games like Reds v tahs are almost always going to be at Suncorp.

 

[zer0]

IIRC the Blues attendance at Whangarei was mentioned on the broadcast being ~12k. cbf listening through the whole thing again for a timestamp though.

 

[Yoda]

Good article and maybe it starts in Super Rugby?

A boring product trapped by pedantic rules: Why it’s time rugby joined the entertainment game

The game is going backwards economically because, aside from episodic scintillating moments like the first half of France-South Africa in the recent World Cup, it’s become lousy entertainment. Here’s how to fix it.

www.smh.com.au

 

[John S]

Good article and maybe it starts in Super Rugby?

A boring product trapped by pedantic rules: Why it’s time rugby joined the entertainment game

The game is going backwards economically because, aside from episodic scintillating moments like the first half of France-South Africa in the recent World Cup, it’s become lousy entertainment. Here’s how to fix it.

www.smh.com.au

Almost reads like another NRL apologist saying we should dumb our laws down.
**EDIT: originally wrote "rules"**

 

[Adam84]

I wouldn't label John Wylie as an NRL apologist, he is held in pretty high regard across sport and finance sector.

He has chaired the Australian Sports Commission & MCG Trust for a number of years I'd say his comments carry a bit of weight as someone who isn't directly vested in Rugby, or the NRL.

I cant disagree with anything said in that article, i think some of his comments are right on the money, he isn't just complaining about rugby but highlighting why it needs to change some parts, and what needs to be done to achieve that.

What World Rugby should do is establish a game development and modernisation commission, with an independent chair. This commission should comprise game legends, referee and coach representatives with a balance from the northern and southern hemispheres, plus broadcasters and some of the private equity investors who’ve taken positions in the game surely seeing the commercial potential in an improved game product.
Their mandate would be to recommend to World Rugby and fans worldwide a new slimlined rule book governed by a set of simple overarching principles designed to make rugby more entertaining without abandoning basic principles of the game that have stood for generations.


There’ll be a presidential election at World Rugby later this year. The recommendations from this commission should be up for public debate before then. Rugby fans deserve to hear presidential candidates’ views on these matters before someone is anointed behind closed doors. While the number of countries with a seat at the table makes change difficult, the sport needs to heed the lessons of the Australian market. Reform and modernisation of the game product is desperately overdue, to improve the sport’s economics and broad market appeal in an ever-more cutthroat sports entertainment industry.

 

[PhilClinton]

Yeh just read the article and it's actually very good. I think the approach of 'outcome we want is X so what changes would we need to reach that outcome? Provide 10 possible improvements and lets workshop them' is smart.

The ball in play statistic is a pretty damning one and I feel there are some easy things we could attempt. For example for years fans have suggested the game clock is stopped during scrums and scrum resets but I don't believe it has ever been tested at any level of the game?

 

[Wilson]

I wouldn't label John Wylie as an NRL apologist, he is held in pretty high regard across sport and finance sector.

He has chaired the Australian Sports Commission & MCG Trust for a number of years I'd say his comments carry a bit of weight as someone who isn't directly vested in Rugby, or the NRL.

I cant disagree with anything said in that article, i think some of his comments are right on the money:

I think his idea of the game as a whole taking a more proactive approach in deciding what the product looks like and how it moves forward is a good one, though the committee he describes sounds like an absolute shitshow.

I think his assessment of where the game currently stands is pretty wide of the mark though, particularly the role the quality of the product has played in Australia. Decline here has much more to do with poor administration and a lack of investment in development (particularly of coaches and referees) leading to an overall decline in quality and competitiveness. Also the way in which he completely writes off just about all kicking pretty wide of the mark, when that tactical battle is a key piece of the game and the entertainment it offers. That's the major issue with his complaints I think - while he sites ball in play time from AFL the article itself reads like he think Rugby should just be more like league, rather than embracing it's own identity and setting it's own path.

 

[Yoda]

I think his idea of the game as a whole taking a more proactive approach in deciding what the product looks like and how it moves forward is a good one, though the committee he describes sounds like an absolute shitshow.

I think his assessment of where the game currently stands is pretty wide of the mark though, particularly the role the quality of the product has played in Australia. Decline here has much more to do with poor administration and a lack of investment in development (particularly of coaches and referees) leading to an overall decline in quality and competitiveness. Also the way in which he completely writes off just about all kicking pretty wide of the mark, when that tactical battle is a key piece of the game and the entertainment it offers. That's the major issue with his complaints I think - while he sites ball in play time from AFL the article itself reads like he think Rugby should just be more like league, rather than embracing it's own identity and setting it's own path.

Wilson. With all due respect I think you are wide of the mark. The game has become boring. I remember as a Tahs fan going to the SFS back in the day to a full house between Tahs v Brumbies and Tahs v Reds… the play was more exciting and had big name players ….
Im not sure how to fix it but this article tries to suggest a solution. Money would flow if you fix the product. Many guys I played with, who were great rugby players and supporters post their careers, don’t watch the game now … what does that say….

 

[Yoda]

Almost reads like another NRL apologist saying we should dumb our laws down.
**EDIT: originally wrote "rules"**

I think the article is anything but written like an NRL apologist. Rugby needs tweaking and Super Rugby needs something to stop the spiral downward. I personally would bring back rucking but that will never happen because everyone has gone soft. It would keep forwards in the ruck to drive over ball and give backs space instead of those useless pick and drives going nowhere…the cameras would stop aimless kicking of players so don’t bring that up.

 

[Wilson]

Wilson. With all due respect I think you are wide of the mark. The game has become boring. I remember as a Tahs fan going to the SFS back in the day to a full house between Tahs v Brumbies and Tahs v Reds… the play was more exciting and had big name players ….
Im not sure how to fix it but this article tries to suggest a solution. Money would flow if you fix the product. Many guys I played with, who were great rugby players and supporters post their careers, don’t watch the game now … what does that say….

Has the game become boring or has the quality of the teams you're watching declined? I can't speak for your experience as a tahs fan but I've been going to watch the Reds for decades and while there are laws I'd tweak and changes I think we should make I don't see the game itself as being responsible for that decline. Not when there's so much exciting, enterprising rugby on offer around the world. Certainly I don't think the problem is "too much kicking", in my experience it has almost always been aimless and ineffective kicking that is the problem there.

 

[PhilClinton]

I think here in Aus it's a bit of chicken and egg scenario and narrowing down the real issue as to why the professional product isn't engaging isn't black and white.

Agree there is a skills decline which is impacting the quality of games. But there is also a degree of frustration with games being 'over-reffed' - as evidenced by Tahs fans complaints over a decision on Saturday night and some narrative around overuse of the maul.

I watched both the Friday and Saturday Aussie derbies with large groups and the consensus was both games were a step down from what we saw from the kiwi teams in terms of skill and creativity (much more so in the Friday game).

 

[Slim 293]

You can go back to times in the past when Australian rugby was more popular, we had more recognisable players and our teams were doing better, but the laws back then promoted more negative rugby and the game wasn't really any better or entertaining than it is now.

I don't think the kicking duels are any worse than what they were 15 years ago.

 

[elementfreak]

LOL@ this idiotic random mouthguard technology. Players are going to start slyly tucking the things in their socks in the last 10 mins to avoid getting hit with a totally random HIA ffs.

So we'd rather just have players getting head knocks at the bottom of rucks that are missed that could lead to concussions? As much as it disrupts the flow a bit, I'd rather see rugby take head injuries seriously unlike other collision sports.

 

[John S]

I think his idea of the game as a whole taking a more proactive approach in deciding what the product looks like and how it moves forward is a good one, though the committee he describes sounds like an absolute shitshow.

I think his assessment of where the game currently stands is pretty wide of the mark though, particularly the role the quality of the product has played in Australia. Decline here has much more to do with poor administration and a lack of investment in development (particularly of coaches and referees) leading to an overall decline in quality and competitiveness. Also the way in which he completely writes off just about all kicking pretty wide of the mark, when that tactical battle is a key piece of the game and the entertainment it offers. That's the major issue with his complaints I think - while he sites ball in play time from AFL the article itself reads like he think Rugby should just be more like league, rather than embracing it's own identity and setting it's own path.

Yeah, I think that was my take on it to which probably coloured my comment.

 

[Yoda]

You can go back to times in the past when Australian rugby was more popular, we had more recognisable players and our teams were doing better, but the laws back then promoted more negative rugby and the game wasn't really any better or entertaining than it is now.

I don't think the kicking duels are any worse than what they were 15 years ago.

The game is a worse spectacle than it was. It is rarely entertaining compared to AFL, NRL, NHL and Football. Ball in play is getting less. People aren’t going to games and not signing up for pay tv. What else do want to show you the game needs to be tweaked? It’s bloody dying. Let’s see how the crowds pan at the ‘Super Round’ in Melbourne? I’m going.

 

[Dctarget]

The game is a worse spectacle than it was. It is rarely entertaining compared to AFL, NRL, NHL and Football. Ball in play is getting less. People aren’t going to games and not signing up for pay tv. What else do want to show you the game needs to be tweaked? It’s bloody dying. Let’s see how the crowds pan at the ‘Super Round’ in Melbourne? I’m going.

80% of what you said is wrong.

Spectacle is better, ball in play has increased drastically. The game isn't dying, rugby in Australia is.