Rebels push O’Neill for new signing deadline
By Melissa Woods, 16 Feb 2010 Melissa Woods is a Roar Pro
Melbourne Rebels chief executive Brian Waldron will plead for the new Super rugby franchise’s player signing deadline to be brought forward when he meets Australian Rugby Union boss John O’Neill on Wednesday.
The former Melbourne Storm CEO, who started with the Rebels earlier this month, said the organisation was still taking a “conciliatory” approach to negotiations with the ARU over the deadline despite reports they were considering legal action.
However he said the owners of the Rebels, who are the only privately-funded Super rugby Australian franchise, had a right to “protect their interests”.
Upon handing over the Super 15 licence to the Rebels in early January, the ARU imposed a May 31 deadline before the new franchise could sign Australian-based players in a bid to avoid a repeat of the pillaging of other Australian sides when the Western Force joined the competition.
The deadline is making recruitment difficult for the newcomers, who are still to land their first signature.
Eager to avoid a “stoush” ahead of his first meeting with O’Neill, Waldron played down the possibility of legal action.
“Being new into the chair from my point of view I’ll be taking a very conciliatory approach to the ARU,” Waldron said.
“There are certainly some issues that we have but at the end of the day we want to work with the ARU to make sure that we’re highly competitive.
“We don’t want to be doing anything but working through our concerns with the ARU.
“We don’t see any need in having a public stoush about it.”
Waldron said he hoped to convince the ARU that it would be in the code’s best interests if Melbourne were as competitive as possible, hence the need for a new transfer deadline.
“To be successful, as the Storm and the Melbourne Victory have demonstrated, you need to be highly competitive so I’d anticipate the ARU will assist us, on a fair basis and give us every opportunity to be competitive like the other provinces.”
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Gatesy said | February 16th 2010 @ 8:06am | Report comment
It seems to me that these non-signing deadlines could also be counter-productive to what the ARU seeks to achieve.
There’s no doubt that the Rebels are out there talking to agents and must have some sort of organisation taking shape. The non-signing ban (or whatever it really is) just, it seems to me, increases unhelpful speculation, gives agents opportunities to talk up other players prices and is a distraction, any way. Players read the newspapers and websites, just like anyone else. Who wouldn’t if you were a player who was trying to realise his worth in the market.
I would think that the ARU ban is fine in normal years when you have your franchises in place, as ultimately you want a settled competition, but if you want to bring a new group into the competition, have it competitive from the outset, penetrate one of the most sophisticated sporting markets in the world, if not Australia, and plan your business then surely that first year could be an exception. While the Western Force recruitment drive was a bit of a saga, there were probably other forces at play, such as the decline of the Reds which had already begun and the fact that there were no provisions for marquee players and overseas players in place.
The process is now a little more understood, and I would think that the ARU could lift the restriction and let the franchises go hell for leather for a couple of weeks.
Then maybe the press could start to focus on reporting the real aspects of the game. I’d suspect that lots of press releases coming from agents speculating for the next 4 months makes for the temptation toward lazy journalism.
Anyone disagree…?
Gary Russell-Sharam said | February 16th 2010 @ 9:00am | Report comment
I am in total agreement Gatesy, you put it quite elequently, what a silly plan this was by the ARU. Handicap the new franchise while giving an advantage to the existing bodies is not my idea of fair play. As you pointed out the playing field has changed since the Force caused a bit of disruption, so I would agree that the ARU need to rethink their limitations on the “rebels”. The ultimate aim is to have 5 franchises operating on an equal basis, why start off on the wrong foot?
formeropenside said | February 16th 2010 @ 9:06am | Report comment
Well, they could always sign up their local players rather than poach players developed by other States…oh, right. I forgot.
Andrew Sutherland said | February 16th 2010 @ 5:48pm | Report comment
LIke the Storm, the Rebels will teach the presumptuous established states a thing or two about development. It will take the other states’ rejects, turn them into champions and then watch the other clubs come a-poaching.
Gatesy said | February 17th 2010 @ 9:29am | Report comment
Yep – the Brumbies did it and they had Rod McQueen, as well
Justin said | February 17th 2010 @ 9:37am | Report comment
Well the local players they have produced are all at other S14 teams, fair dinkum
Hansie said | February 16th 2010 @ 8:38pm | Report comment
I’m with Gatesy and Gary. We’re already seeing players say that they want to sort their futures out soon, which means the Rebels don’t get a shot.
Loftus said | February 17th 2010 @ 6:03am | Report comment
You probably meant ‘other countries’ rejects?
Wavell Wakefield said | February 19th 2010 @ 4:28am | Report comment
(Cough Cough) Unfortunately Andy Goode is off the Rebel’s radar. Someone beat them to it.
rugbyfuture said | February 19th 2010 @ 10:29pm | Report comment
Wasps confirmed CIPRIANI move to MELBOURNE!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/feb/19/danny-cipriani-wasps-melbourne-rebels
AndyS said | February 22nd 2010 @ 5:36pm | Report comment
Looks like the ARU has folded on the signing restrictions on the Rebels. Apparently they can now sign from Round 5…..big roll-over and tummy tickle from the ARU!
Justin said | February 22nd 2010 @ 5:58pm | Report comment
Hey AS, where did you see that?