Where to for Super Rugby?

[Joe King]

"I think the competition is stupid at the moment," Mehrtens said onFox Sports' Super Rugby: Kick & Chase.

"There's no way, in 10 years' time, that we're going to be looking at a competition that covers three massively distinct time zones.

"Our best thing is to go just within this time zone here. It makes it a lot more logistically easy to manage for the teams and players.

"You fly overnight, a 10-hour flight to Japan, you can handle that because the time difference is not massive.

"In Asia and Australia and New Zealand and the (Pacific) Islands is where the future of this competition lies for us.

"The sooner we can get there the quicker we can develop it and the better."

Speaking on the same programme, former Wallabies captain and hooker Phil Kearns felt an independent commission was needed to regulate the competition.

"Whenever anyone's got a vested interest they are not going to do what's in the best interests of the game, they are going to do what's in the best interests of their province," he said.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/...tens-has-no-time-for-stupid-super-rugby-setup

If NZ want Oz to cut a team and have a finals system that allows for the most dominant teams to make the finals, despite where they come from (with the assumption that NZ will have a representation that reflects their dominance) then the concession from the ARU's perspective should be that NZ and Oz form a trans-tasman conference, including Japan. And SA and ARG (+ whoever else) are left to form a seperate conference, with the two conferences only meeting in the finals.

 

[No4918]

What about (if the comp is only a 14 week round robin) we play a smaller domestic competition after the Super season has finished. The 4 remaining teams play a 6 week (each team twice) domestic competition in place of the NRC? 8 weeks if you add the proposed Fijian team in the NRC.

I thought less complicated was the way to go. You want a round robin Super Rugby series, then a new comp for Aus teams after the finals, then NRC. Really?

 

[Dan54]

If it does become a 15 team comp, I hope it somehow that everyone plays each other once, that takes you back to a fairly even comp, bugger this conference crap where it easier to get wins in one conference than another!

 

[Benaud]

If the current 15 team rumours are correct, is it a certainty the Kings, Cheetahs and Force are gone? Or are there any other serious contenders?

 

[KOB1987]

Speculating about this until May shouldn't harm the game in Australia

That's the thing. If it's crap then someone needs to say so. If it's true then the ARU needs to have a presser and say so.

 

[Rebels3]

I thought less complicated was the way to go. You want a round robin Super Rugby series, then a new comp for Aus teams after the finals, then NRC. Really?

We need local content in Australia. Having a 14 week season means we have 3/14 games are local. Plus minus the slight change in roster and putting a geographical name in front of it, isn't that essentially the same as what the Currie Cup is + a few teams with 0 chance of winning?

 

[Inside Shoulder]

If the current 15 team rumours are correct, is it a certainty the Kings, Cheetahs and Force are gone? Or are there any other serious contenders?

is it Groundhog Day?
there are 31 pages addressing, posing and readdressing this (or these) questions

 

[Benaud]

is it Groundhog Day?
there are 31 pages addressing, posing and readdressing this (or these) questions

Not really. Most of it relates to other things (why we should have more teams not less, who's to blame, screw the kiwis, how the draw should work, etc). The few discussing which teams to cull were also mostly before the 15 team announcement from NZ this morning.

On the 3 teams to go if the report is correct, while the Kings are the only ones named, I can't see any way the other 2 won't be the Cheetahs and Force. Which leaves us with the Sunwolves in our conference! There's a small win. Unless of course they scrap the conference system altogether.

 

[Twoilms]

If it does become a 15 team comp, I hope it somehow that everyone plays each other once, that takes you back to a fairly even comp, bugger this conference crap where it easier to get wins in one conference than another!

I really don't understand why Kiwi's are so outraged by the concept. You still inevitably have a majority of your teams in the final every year. You still win fucking everything. It's kind of irritating when you lot get indignant that something doesn't perfectly cater to your needs while the rest of the rugby world (our rugby world anyway) fades into non-existence.

 

[No4918]

So the few leaks are leaning heavily to a 15 team comp. Exact format and teams to go may not come out until next month. SARU are apparently the big issue (I know, who would've guessed?).

http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/t...s/news-story/c1c21c40b19998f36e6d85e330d306d0

Time to kick them out................... Not sure I think it's a good idea this time round. Might be time to look to the next agreement in 2020 and ask some very tough questions.

 

[Slim 293]

Not really. Most of it relates to other things (why we should have more teams not less, who's to blame, screw the kiwis, how the draw should work, etc). The few discussing which teams to cull were also mostly before the 15 team announcement from NZ this morning.

On the 3 teams to go if the report is correct, while the Kings are the only ones named, I can't see any way the other 2 won't be the Cheetahs and Force. Which leaves us with the Sunwolves in our conference! There's a small win. Unless of course they scrap the conference system altogether.

Well, there's of course the Rebels and the Brumbies being floated around too, and the Force aren't necessarily the obvious choice........

 

[zer0]

I really don't understand why Kiwi's are so outraged by the concept. You still inevitably have a majority of your teams in the final every year. You still win fucking everything. It's kind of irritating when you lot get indignant that something doesn't perfectly cater to your needs while the rest of the rugby world (our rugby world anyway) fades into non-existence.

Must be down to our innate sense of fair play.

 

[wamberal]

I really don't understand why Kiwi's are so outraged by the concept. You still inevitably have a majority of your teams in the final every year. You still win fucking everything. It's kind of irritating when you lot get indignant that something doesn't perfectly cater to your needs while the rest of the rugby world (our rugby world anyway) fades into non-existence.

How long have you been around? The buggers have never in recorded history failed to take every legal and illegal advantage that helps them win. And I am talking about a long, long time.

 

[KiwiM]

I really don't understand why Kiwi's are so outraged by the concept. You still inevitably have a majority of your teams in the final every year. You still win fucking everything. It's kind of irritating when you lot get indignant that something doesn't perfectly cater to your needs while the rest of the rugby world (our rugby world anyway) fades into non-existence.

Aside from the fact as a Blues fan we missed out on the playoffs last year simply due to the Conferencing system... the system doesnt help the integrity of the competition.

As an example, the Brumbies were average last year... but got a home quarterfinal.... and nobody showed up for it in Canberra, which says to me the public saw through it. You want the competition to be organic where home finals are earned on merit, that attracts the crowds and the interest.

 

[dru]

I think we should merge all the Australia teams into one and base it in Alice Springs, because that's pretty close to the centre and fair for everyone to get to.
Rather than the points table being based on winning, I think it should be alphabetical order. Therefore let's name them the Alice Spring Aardvarks. Hard to beat a team with a double 'a. Guaranteed a finals position each year with that name. Winning.

Completely stupid idea.

OBVIOUSLY it would have to be an Australian animal. Aardvark pfft. Try the Alice Springs Agile Antechinus(es) - and there's your double A. Of course the male antichinus dies at the end of the one season it lives.

 

[half]

They also started with a salary cap of $1.6m which has risen to around $2.7m now (with some excpetions) over 10 years - and that's for 26 players playing 27 games.

If we could set up a comp as good as the A-League, how many players would we lose paying that sort of money? (Aus Super Rugby salary cap is $5m)

The A-League structure as a model has many parts to its make up. Not the least is a far greater separation of powers between the various stakeholder groups.

Today FFA who IMO have done an amazing job to date are being lampooned by key stakeholders for if you like sitting on their hands and not pushing for growth fast enough.

So much so that the A-League clubs formed their own group, there union is very vocal, and their fan base unforgiving of FFA if its through they failed in some way.

There second tier clubs i.e the Eastwoods are pulling together.

While I concede your comments pertaining to salaries, however FFA unlike the ARU don't have total control, which is allowing other voices at the table.

Outside the Rebels the ARU control the other teams and the state associations are weak.

We could do a lot worst than take some parts of the A-League model. Essentially those bits that would be good for Rugby.

 

[KevinO]

Any ideas how fans can protest at games this weekend to show support of 5 Australian teams remaining?

Sent from my LG-H850 using Tapatalk

 

[Twoilms]

Any ideas how fans can protest at games this weekend to show support of 5 Australian teams remaining?

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I suspect the preferred method of protest is to not show up.

 

[Rebels3]

Any ideas how fans can protest at games this weekend to show support of 5 Australian teams remaining?

Sent from my LG-H850 using Tapatalk

Turn up to your local team and show them they can attract an audience. That's the only way.

 

[Rebels3]

I suspect the preferred method of protest is to not show up.

I seriously hope any team looking to stay in the competition doesn't think is an effective method. It would basically add ammunition to the case of being cut