One thing I find interesting about these discussions is the apparent age difference between those on either side of the debate. Now obviously this is speculative, and generalised, but when talking about domestic v TT (both here and irl), those that advocate for a solely TT comp seem to be a fair bit older than those that want a domestic comp/domestic + TT. Perhaps the old blokes have more positive memories of TT Rugby compared to those of us that are younger?
What I can tell you is that as someone in their mid-20’s, the association people in my age group have with Union (and Super Rugby in particular) tends to be overwhelmingly negative.
Even amongst those that are Union fans, most don’t have many good memories of Super Rugby. The one that comes up all the time Is the 2015 Tahs win. 2011 might as well be ancient history. One, maybe two, positive memories of our main professional competition in the past decade is pretty fucking terrible.The primary emotions associated with the competition seem to be failure, disappointment and eventually apathy. It’s no wonder nobody below the age of 45 is interested.
Interestingly, the only time I’ve seen people get around Union was during Super AU. I actually had non-rugby fans wanting to go to a game of their own accord, which I can genuinely say I’ve never seen before in my adult life. That’s completely dropped off again two weeks into TT.
Now this is all obviously pretty anecdotal, but what I'll finish by pointing out that it’s near impossible to get non-Rugby people (i.e. a large part of the Australian population now days) interested in the sport when our premier professional competition involves Aus teams getting blown out week after week. It’s just an objectively shit way to spend your Friday/Saturday night.