Sydney Stars . NRC Official Team Thread

[Highlander35]

Congratulations to the Stars on their first win. Great game.

 

[ACT Crusader]

Pretty good attacking game to watch, although there was some matador defence at times.

 

[BDA]

tough game of rugby. good stuff

 

[Dewald Nel]

Did any of you see this?(Guessing you have) Talk about TMO's making up rules on the spot...

 

[Mr Wobbly]

Did any of you see this?(Guessing you have) Talk about TMO's making up rules on the spot.

A very creative interpretation I thought. Brilliant!

FWIW, on rugby.com.au they are awarding the try to James Willan, he'd have to be happy with that.

 

[Mr Wobbly]

BTW, well done Stars! I actually found myself hoping for you guys to win.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

BTW, well done Stars! I actually found myself hoping for you guys to win.

Well done stars best game they played all season and great advert for rugby
As cracking game and was at the ground

They definitely have improved and probably shut up all the naysayers with that game

 

[Rugbynutter39]

Tmo howler is actually fantastic free press to build awareness of new NRC

 

[Dewald Nel]

Tmo howler is actually fantastic free press to build awareness of new NRC

As a South African who knows very little regarding the local Aussie rugby scene, why do you guys not have a provincial rugby tournament like we have in the Currie Cup this time of year? One where The Waratahs, Reds, Force, Brumbies, Rebels and maybe another team from Adelaide or somewhere competes? It would make some sense in my eyes, but of course I don't have all the facts and reasons.

It can't be viewing/attendance figures, surely? Can't imagine those teams attracting less viewers or attendees than the current NRC teams.

Of course, I may be missing the plot here, so please enlighten me.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Funding for the Australian Rugby Shield (and other provincial development teams) was cut due to the GFC. Seemingly never restored. More information here:
http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/community/threads/aru-making-big-cuts.3497/

 

[qwerty51]

As a South African who knows very little regarding the local Aussie rugby scene, why do you guys not have a provincial rugby tournament like we have in the Currie Cup this time of year? One where The Waratahs, Reds, Force, Brumbies, Rebels and maybe another team from Adelaide or somewhere competes? It would make some sense in my eyes, but of course I don't have all the facts and reasons.

It can't be viewing/attendance figures, surely? Can't imagine those teams attracting less viewers or attendees than the current NRC teams.

Of course, I may be missing the plot here, so please enlighten me.

I think you're missing the plot. This is the NRC.

 

[Dewald Nel]

I think you're missing the plot. This is the NRC.

In what way? In all the countries I know, their local provincial or club championship consists of their best local teams, except Australia. Pretty fair question then.

Thanks to @Hugh Jarse answering the question properly. I guess with rugby union being so relatively unpopular in Oz, money will always remain a big stumbling block.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

@dewald nel, Not so much an issue of being unpopular as concentrated in NSW and Queensland.
The game is growing in Vic, and WA by rates greater than NSW and QLD growth by all accounts, but from a very low base compared to NSW and QLD.

Unlike Safferland and Kiwiland, we really only have cricket, swimming, soccer and athletics that are "played" across all states at a competitive level. Nationally our winter football codes (Rugby, Mungoball, and Cross Country Volleyball) are a dogs breakfast.

Edit: The ACT (population 380000) under 20 rugby team would beat the South Australia (pop 1.6m), NT (pop 243k), and Tasmania (pop 514k) State (Province) Rugby teams by very very large margins.

Similarly, the Victoria Under 20 Aussie Rules team would clean up the NSW (non-import) Aussie Rules team by a large margin, and the Newtown Jets under 18 Mungoball team would do likewise to the Tasmanian State Mungoball team (if they could even find more than 13 Mungoballers in Tasmania).

 

[kiap]

In what way? In all the countries I know, their local provincial or club championship consists of their best local teams, except Australia.

There used to be two basic ways: club comps or provincial comps.

Australia have done a bit of both in the past. They have now gone the way of England/France with a national club comp - as opposed to the NZ/SA way with a national provincial comp.

With the advent of professionalism, the two ways have almost merged into one anyway. The old days of "provincial" teams being representative selections from only within their own province are gone. They are essentially now clubs by another name because they recruit players from anywhere and everywhere.

Of Australia's 6 states, 2 are traditional rugby states and they are the biggest sources of players. They are both comparable in area in South Africa (one of those states is nearly twice as big as that country). So it makes sense to have more than one team from each of these states.

Whether the teams in the national comp are called "provinces" or "clubs" is largely semantic. You either split the large traditional state "provinces" into smaller provinces or just have several "clubs". Call it what you want.

Anyway, New South Wales Country and Queensland Country have had their own teams for over 100 years. They also played in the Wallaby Trophy, which was the Australian national provincial comp in the 70s. For business reasons, the teams with those names in the NRC are now run by a private consortium and the umbrella state governing body respectively.

There is rugby history behind the sides in the NRC even if their present guise has had to be formed anew for the professional era.

 

[qwerty51]

In what way? In all the countries I know, their local provincial or club championship consists of their best local teams, except Australia. Pretty fair question then.

Thanks to @Hugh Jarse answering the question properly. I guess with rugby union being so relatively unpopular in Oz, money will always remain a big stumbling block.

It's the same as the Currie Cup and ITM Cup.

The Melbourne Rebels are the Melbourne Rising
The Western Force are the Perth Spirit
The ACT Brumbies are the Canberra Vikings

 

[Hugh Jarse]

IMHO the Sydney Stars made a strategic error when they registered for a NRC licence. I suspect that they anticipated that they would get access to all the ex Sydney University players who were playing as professionals around the various Super Rugby Franchises.

Many of their former players at the Waratahs were off limits due to Wallaby duties. Additionally the large number of former Uni players at Rebels, and the occasional one at Force or Brumbies, who were not on Wallaby duties ended up on the roster for the Rising, Spirit or Vikings respectively rather than "making their way home" to play for the Stars.

The 2014 version of the Stars was left with the Uni Shute Shield players and other aspiring Shute Shield players who were not selected for their "local" NRC team.

The Corporation (Stars) are not mugs and one suspects that they will not be as naive this season. With the Sydney Uni Shute Shield team struggling a little, they are going to need to supplement their reliance on current Sydney University and Balmain Subbies club players with some astute (and early) recruits from elsewhere if they want to be truly competitive.

They are going to need some serious talent injections for 2015 NRC, particularly in their front row, second row and inside backs.

 

[Train Without a Station]

I think you're off the mark HJ. They didn't completely rely on this. For example the one game I watched them play I was informed their hooker played for Easts. They have been completely open to other players it seems.

 

[Braveheart81]

Arguably the Stars would have been fine last year if they weren't missing Dennis, Latu, Betham etc. who all spent most or all of the NRC injured.

I doubt they thought they'd get players back from the Rebels etc.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Maybe I was a little strong in my assumption above, and they were missing some potential game changers from the professional ranks through injury but injuries are a fact of life, as is a pro player delaying minor surgery until the end of the Super Rugby season.

When is Slippery Pete off to the NH? Assume he will not make the RWC squad, nor be wanted by Leicester until after NRC.

While Dennis and Latu would be useful additions to Stars ver 2015, they still need some horsepower at #1 and #3, (If Ryan and Tilse are the answer, who are their bench fatties ?) and the inside backs.

 

[Train Without a Station]

While Dennis and Latu would be useful additions to Stars ver 2015, they still need some horsepower at #1 and #3, (If Ryan and Tilse are the answer, who are their bench fatties ?) and the inside backs.

Did they not have both of them and Weeks in 2014?

Between them, add in Latu, Dennis and McCutcheon and you have 5 Super Rugby players in your starting pack.