chibimatty
Jimmy Flynn (14)
I would love to see some sort of melding of the tribal elements of the Shute Shield and Qld Premier, along with the provincialism of the "minor States"
Something that includes the traditional clubs, allowing them to regain a significant place in the developmental order again, while including a team each from other rugby centres with the player numbers, like WA, Victoria, ACT, Newcastle, maybe Illawarra.
I suppose what I'd be advocating, would be something like the old NSL, a league made up of Australia's biggest State premiership clubs, then adding provincial teams for a national game. This time however, rather than being hampered by the old ethnic rivalries soccer had, it would instead be built on the traditional club rivalries with the added provincialism and city vs country element thrown in. The competition would have to be rationalised in some way though, either by restricting the number of teams through participation criteria, or by making it a qualification process mid-season, similar to the current rugby league Super 8s divisional play-off splits in English Super League.
I guess the underlying problem might be the retention of players, but this might be the bitter pill Australia has to swallow. What could be done, however, is that we could then hold some sort of three-team provincial championship, bringing back the overseas-based players in with the domestic players as a selection for test match rugby. Could a sub-contract or loan system be put in place, so that overseas-based players must play provincial football in order to be selected for the Wallabies?
Something that includes the traditional clubs, allowing them to regain a significant place in the developmental order again, while including a team each from other rugby centres with the player numbers, like WA, Victoria, ACT, Newcastle, maybe Illawarra.
I suppose what I'd be advocating, would be something like the old NSL, a league made up of Australia's biggest State premiership clubs, then adding provincial teams for a national game. This time however, rather than being hampered by the old ethnic rivalries soccer had, it would instead be built on the traditional club rivalries with the added provincialism and city vs country element thrown in. The competition would have to be rationalised in some way though, either by restricting the number of teams through participation criteria, or by making it a qualification process mid-season, similar to the current rugby league Super 8s divisional play-off splits in English Super League.
I guess the underlying problem might be the retention of players, but this might be the bitter pill Australia has to swallow. What could be done, however, is that we could then hold some sort of three-team provincial championship, bringing back the overseas-based players in with the domestic players as a selection for test match rugby. Could a sub-contract or loan system be put in place, so that overseas-based players must play provincial football in order to be selected for the Wallabies?