Today Bill Pulver unveiled the new ARU contracting process for 2016 and beyond. The plan is centred around the ARU contracted Wallabies and specifically around players who sign long term contracts (understood to be three years).
ARU CEO Bill Pulver said
“We’ve recognised that in the context of an increasingly global market for Rugby players that we need to take a more flexible approach to player contracting,”
In addition to the contracting arrangements applying to Wallaby stars, it will also allow anyone who plays Rugby 7s at the Rio Olympics in 2016 to play rugby in Japan over the 2016/17 season before returning to Australia and maintaining their Wallaby eligibility. With persistent rumours around the Rio Olympics being a drawcard for players such as Israel Folau, it would seem there is a strong chance we could see Izzy strutting his stuff on the IRB Sevens Circuit in 2016 followed by the Olympics and a season in Japan.
Pulver went on to say that
“By adopting a flexible contracting model, we’re creating a platform for our players to experience what Rugby has to offer in Australia and abroad, all while maintaining their allegiance to Australian Rugby over a long-term period.”
Under the new ARU contracting process, the ARU will continue to manage the contracts of the select group of players receiving Wallaby top up contracts. This is somewhere around 30 players. It remains to be seen how many of these players the ARU will attempt to sign on the longer term deals. Whilst it used to be common practice for the ARU to sign players for several years, it is also fraught with danger as serious injuries and the emergence of new players can see a key Wallaby fall out of favour in a relatively short period of time.
Additionally, each Australian Super Rugby team will have the opportunity to apply the same rules to one player not contracted by the ARU. If we applied that to the current situation, that may have allowed the Waratahs to allow someone like Kane Douglas to head over to France or Japan straight after the Super Rugby season and return to Super Rugby part way through the following season without penalty.
Players will still need to be contracted in Australia to play for the Wallabies. This means that there would be no change to the current situation where players in France such as Drew Mitchell and Matt Giteau are ineligible for Wallaby selection.
In summing up, Pulver said
“Decisions regarding all flexible contracts will be made on a case-by-case basis, understanding that our key priority remains that the Qantas Wallabies and Super Rugby provinces to have a strong and deep playing pool of talent available each year.”
The full ARU release can be found here:http://www.rugby.com.au/News/NewsAr…on-approve-changes-to-player-contracting.aspx
