Lets hope that Melbourne gets the 2011 S15 nod next week….

It occurs to me, again, that the 5th Australian side will be decided by what makes sense for the TV coverage. If it is the Sourthen Kings, how attractive is it going to be to the TV broadcasters for 1 in 3 games every 2nd weekend of the derby rounds to be in the wrong time zone? They’ll cruel the TV rights for the Australian Conference, all so the Saafies can meet their guilt quota? No way.

Oz S14 teams are already having issues with spectators at ground or on TV, it would struggle even more if games were played in the early (late) morning. As a Tahs supporter id definitely watch a Melb v Reds or Melb v Brumbies game but no chance would i watch a Eastern Province (or whatever theyre called) v Reds or Eastern Province v Brumbies.

The Storm has a strong niche following – I don’t think that will be affected. But what it might mean is that the Storm will have little growth going forward, so the question becomes – is the current niche following sufficient to sustain the Storm into the future? (I don’t know the answer to that)

I don’t really know how the Rebels will go vis a vis the Storm’s attendances – I expect they will catch them reasonably quickly (super attendances are pretty good around the country).

One thing I can say is that in the short to medium term, the Rebels have a greater capacity to produce home grown talent (even if it is limited), but the Storm are starting to make up ground on that front.

If there’s one place in Australia where both rugbies could pursue the option of joint training programs at youth level – it’s definitely in Melbourne.

Also interesting is that union & league help each other, whether they want to or not. The RU have always had a stronger presence in Melbourne, which helped the establishment of the RL Storm. Now the establishment of the RL Storm will help the creation of the RU Rebels.

However, how this will impact on the Storm in return is uncertain. The Storm has established a niche following, which was the purpose of the exercise. Also however, their failure to develop homegrown talent must be a worry. You would think RU, with its stronger presence, ought to be able to do this sooner. produce homegrown talent ,that is.

I think the Rebels have a bright future. The Storm’s future is less certain. But of course, the Rebels are not yet over the line, although, seriously there cannot be any other choice?!?!?

Yeh, I definitely don’t see how the introduction of Union to Melbourne will do Storm any good. A few foreigners like myself go to the games and support it because they have oval balls and pass backwards! Point is the schools, universities around Melbourne have Union, and that’s the market the VRU will be interested in retaining. I don’t want to go into a debate on which code is best (don’t want to state the obvious ), but if I was a 20year old player faced with the option of playing club League and one day being included in the Kangaroos, who frankly play nobody but England on occasion, or the Wallabies with a tight international schedule – it would be an easy choice to make.

I think you will find that their support base has hardly grown in the time they have been based in Melbourne. They attract about 12g on a good day to Olympic Park and the expat support gleaned by the Styorm is significant but their patronage does not seem to have made inraods beyond that. That this is enough to sustain the code in Vic is a moot point but the Storm continue to perform extremely well despite home gates being less than flattering for a population of 4mill plus.

I have yet to see evidence of any Vic home grown players coming through to play for the Storm either, so what is happening at the GR and how is Union being added to the Melbourne elite sporting mix going to make this any easier for League and visa versa – in that respect? Again, ‘long term’ is a luxury this particular code can ill afford in my opinion but I may be proven wrong.

The key is bridging school boy levels and the elite level.

It’s a growing pain, not a step backwards. I can assure you, while The Force might have diluted the existing franchises a wee bit, the total amount of professional players, semi-professional players have increased dramatically. Give the young guys time to come into form and grow up with the current infrastructure. The Brumbies and Force are young teams, and have only been around for 1 generation. I think ARU have reached a point of go/no-go where they needed to take the risk of diversifying in ‘foreign’ WA and VIC markets, and in the long term breeding a new generation of players. They’re doing the right thing here, even though they’re not producing instant results.

The big secret here is the ARU is not as dependant on the local market for support as much as the League for instance. With global tv rights etc, them getting an even share of the profits (Compared to Super 14) they can get away with less than pleasing crowd attendance until performance picks up.

The wheel will turn! Analyst Howard signing off.

Not so with the Brumby’s who drew on almost 50% local talent in their early years however this is ironically no longer the case despite the Brumby’s being based in the Capital for more than a decade. The Union GR are looking grim for that demo but I digress. What you are saying is true of the West however and this will also be a similar scenario in making up the numbers for any Vic Super squad.

It is evident that the inception of the Force has been the catalyst for the mediocrity shown by Australias Super franchises in the S14. This was not so when it was a S12 with the Brumby’s, Tahs and Reds all featuring more prominately at the busuiness end of any given season.

Its not rocket science to ascertain that by creating yet another franchise in a non Union demo any potential elite stock will be spread thinner, while those proponents of top down growth talk up the GR growth that we can only hope will slowly ensue; the question is can the game in Oz afford the luxury of waiting around for this to take place, I happen to think not.

Finally, are Australians really going to embrace a team of imports as you have alluded to in support of any Vic Super side, because that’s what this franchise will ultiimately have to present as if it hopes to be competitive while not leeching off the two strong Oz nurseries of Sydney and Brissy.

As I have already stated, expansion here continues to see Unions growth promoted very much on the back of expat P.I’s and Kiwis and of course Saffas in Perth all of which are non Union demos. I just happen to have always seen this as fraught in planning to sustain a game of small status in such a competive market place.

Far better to grow the game from its historically strong cultural enclaves by focusing on the domestic potential of Sydney and Brissy and perhaps even Canberra, however I believe Union has lost it’s devoted for very good reasons in that heartland which has seen Leagues resurgence and Australian footy’s new found growth.

If the Vic bid gets up, they will find players (Pacfic Islands, Argentina, SA, NZ, League and most importantly Local Rugby players). I don’t think there will be a discernable drop in player quality. The hidden gems in club land will finally gtet to prove their worth on a bigger stage.

The pool of available Australian players will be spread so thinly that any vague interest Union may attract initially in Melbourne will all but expire unless they plan to stock this team totally with Kiwis; then why not since that’s where the support will primarily come from and that is also how the game continues to survive here, i.e. on the back of NZ expatness.

The Australian Super dynamic will be a farce in any expanded comp and probably top heavy since the organisation that commands the biggest corporate clout will in turn attract the cream of the crop.

Not worth the $$ in my oppinion

Seek I look forward to a S18 one day…

I don’t know any South African supporters or Ex-pats who think it’s a good idea! And I know a lot