Adam84
Rod McCall (65)
Hence why it’s more important then ever to maintain a level of quality in the remaining playing stocks, I generally believe it could cause serious frictions in the playing group if RA suddenly flips on their policy, and overlooks players who reneged on lucrative overseas deals to remain and play in Australia. At the expense of player/s who may or may not be any better at test level.Wait and see I guess. I think player retention in Australia is a ship that has sailed for the time being and instead the focus needs to be giving our national team the best possible chance of being in the spotlight.
Fans in Australia have already disengaged with the Super Rugby product as evidenced by viewership figures and attendance of games. Post-RWC there has traditionally been an exodus anyway, which I imagine will further dilute the playing stocks.
No use speculating now about what will happen in 12 months time but I reckon it could go either way, a lot probably rides on the outcome of this years performances.
I don’t think Australia should just give up on player retention, nor believe the ship has sailed. Stan/9 still pay $30millon a year for that ship, it can always get much much worse.