this thread is called the Sydney Shake Up....you are all probably unaware of the SRU Constitution which was passed unanamously a couple of weeks back by all clubs in attendance. Note Manly did not attend.
Within the constitution is the provision that all 12 current clubs remain in the competition for the next 3 years. So despite what Growden wrote today (check the article under the title First Grade Concerns..
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/u...-on-kiwis-under-high-ball-20120816-24bg0.html) the 12 clubs are here til atleast the end of 2015.
We talk about shaking up the comp. We talk about Tahs standing up to the players and telling them which club they should align themselves with. We have even talked about the good old Labor Party argument of restraint of trade.
To shake up the comp, I personally would LOVE to see nothing more than a genuine attempt, and I mean genuine, from both NSWRU and ARU to promote the competition. We constantly hear how the Sydney Comp is the Premier Club Rugby Competition in Australia.yet it doesn't even have a major sponsor. Funding has been cut to it by ARU. The media promotion of the competition from NSWRU is minimal at best and only improves, albeit slightly, once the Super 15 has finished.
2 things need to change in my opinion to shake the comp up.
- they need to limit the amount of juniors and school players heading to the Varsity. In fact, they need to restrict the amount of players playing for clubs from without their home district.
Now before the Varsity apologists start throwing grenades at me, hear me out. What Uni have done to grow themselves in the last 20 years is simply nothing more than extraordinary. But I think it is akin to the growth rugby league had in the 50s and 60s and in particular the St George Dragons. We are all aware of their superb run of continued premierships, but at the time, NSWRL had the foresight to recognise that that dominance was killing the competition. They also had the balls to do something about it. Pity the same has not been recognised and acted upon by our code's administrators. But when you have old boys in the highest rugby position in the land, we all know nothing will ever change without their express approval. Shame.
The beauty of the NRL is that in any given year, 8 clubs are a chance of the making the grand final, with about 4 who would be considered as genuine contenders within that 8. So at the start of the year, everyone's side is capable of doing something special. The students have long expressed thir desire to play in a strong and viable competition. They have threatened many things over the years, but deep down, I believe they are happy in the Shute Shield. They have thrown down the challenge to all other clubs to catch them. Uni are clearly the benchmark. The problem is, the only way clubs can catch them is to throw money around to try to do achieve similar success. Every other club does have access to scholarships, or college fee grants without throwing a bit of money around themselves. So it is an uneven playing field. I can hear Bruce Ross already typing a show me and prove it response! So limit the transfers from outside the district. The points cap can be 'rorted' through applying discounts etc. And despite what others believe, I dont think it is having the desired effect. Unless Uni lose all 3 Colts grand finals, I dont think the PPS argument is a worthy one. So limit the player movement, pick a number, it might be 8 players across 3 grades of colts or whatever.
2. Rugby has NEVER taken the game to the people. Never has, never will...unfortunately. The promotion of the competition is completely non existent save for the efforts of the clubs getting local paper coverage. Our local paper doesnt even have a rugby column! Shaking up the competition, by promoting the hell out of it, is something that has never been tried. Now is the time to do it
