Omar Comin'
Chilla Wilson (44)
I always find it really intriguing that when it comes to rugby discussion in Australia its mainly linear and structured. Nation, state, region, suburb, school. We always seem to really want to stick with the same lego pieces we have had for the last 20 years and see what"new" thing we can build with them.
Is this because in the southern hemisphere everything is structured with teh cinsiosn though of the national team? Yet the successful leagues in Europe are a real mixed bag of players for all over the place. Maybe there is something in it? The french crowds turn out in huge numbers to watch mixed nation teams. In the UK there are stacks of Aussies, Argentines, Kiwis and and Saffa's playing.
This is why it's always frustrated me when people have argued that we don't have enough good players to have 5 teams (or potentially more). Instead of being in a competition with a bunch of foreign teams we could have 8 teams here with a reasonable % of players from overseas. If cohesion throughout the season is so important you could still farm the best Australian players into 3 or 4 teams and let the rest sign whoever they want.