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Australian rugby's third tier: the options

Roar Rookie
4th February, 2013
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Roar Rookie
4th February, 2013
84
1180 Reads

It’s back in the media again, Australian rugby’s third tier. Most Australian rugby supporters agree that we need it, but no one can agree on a model. We need to ask ourselves, why do we want to develop a third tier?

The general consensus is that the step up between club rugby (4th tier) and Super Rugby (2nd tier) is too large and a third tier is required to develop players, coaches and referees.

Let’s take a look at some of the models that have been proposed:

The created franchise model
This was the model undertaken with the launch of the ill-fated Australian Rugby Championship (ARC) in 2007. Eight teams from NSW, Qld, ACT, WA and Victoria were created from scratch.

It was designed to give rugby a fresh start, however the power clubs in Sydney understandably were threatened by its creation and never embraced it. It was disbanded after it ran $2million over budget in its first year and was forecast to lose $8million over the first two years.

Despite this, if Super Rugby didn’t exist, I believe this model would have been successful. However, it wasn’t so let’s not revise this model again.

The Club Rugby Model
This is the model supported by influential Club Rugby stalwarts such as ex-Wallaby Simon Poidevin. They want a National Club Competition between the top teams from the Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra club competitions to play each other.

Advocates of this model believe it is the most cost effective. We already have the teams, the fans and the tribalism. We already have the infrastructure. We just need to implement a national competition with promotion and relegation.

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In theory I love it. However the purpose of the third tier is to develop talent. That means concentrating the talent into a small number of teams so the best are playing the best regularly (that’s why the ARC was good in theory).

However, we have players in 12 Sydney Clubs, 10 Brisbane Clubs and 7 ACT Clubs. The talent isn’t concentrated, it’s scattered. At least at the start, the best won’t be playing the best.

However, further down the track, they will. The top players will gravitate to the more successful clubs and the these clubs will become more and more successful.

The less successful clubs will eventually drop off the radar and probably move down to Suburban rugby.

Would this be good for rugby? I don’t believe it would be. Club rugby is critical for the grassroots. Sydney needs the twelve team competition with all the lower grades and colts representing areas across the city, north to south, east to west.

I’m sure it’s the same in Brisbane and the ACT. Club rugby is the lifeblood of the game.

We need to find a way to better foster the game at this level, however I believe this model will have the opposite effect. Although I like the idea of a competition with these 100 year old clubs I don’t believe it will help the game in the long run.

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Enter teams in the ITM Cup
I love the ITM Cup and would love Australian teams to play in it, but the player development issue is Australia’s problem, not New Zealand’s.

The Kiwis have only just found a way to make it financially viable, they don’t need to add flights to Australia and increase costs. Let’s send players there to play in the Kiwi teams if need be but let’s leave their competition alone.

The University Model
This model was proposed by the Rugby Union Players Association (RUPA). There has been enough debate on this model on the Roar already so I won’t spend too much time on it.

I like it because it’s unique in Australia. It utilises the existing infrastructure of the Universities and leverages their brands. However it’s an U/23 competition and although this will develop the younger crop of players there are plenty of late bloomers in the game, especially the tight five.

I think this concept of the University model is a great idea and should be investigated, but not as a third tier option.

The Academy Model
Until recently, all the Super Rugby franchises had academy sides. These were semi-professional players who trained with the main team. They provided an opposing side to train against, they knew the plays, they knew the culture of the organisation.

When a member from the senior squad was injured they could easily step up and fit into the senior team.

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When the ARU set up the National Academies (Brisbane and Sydney) they stopped funding the Super Rugby academies. This has been a disaster for the Australian Rugby sides during the extended Super Rugby season and has impacted on the Wallabies as well.

Some of the Super Rugby sides have reinstated a pseudo academy to help them develop their own players.

I believe the ARU must reintroduce funding and allow the Super Rugby sides to bring back their academies. They should then use these academies in a competition for the third tier.

We have five Super Rugby academies, we could include the two national academies and for something a little different I want the Waratahs to set up an ARU funded satellite academy in western Sydney to develop the game out there.

That provides an eight team competition. If the ARU academies and the Western Sydney Waratahs Academy aren’t suitable, bring in the Pacific Island teams and give them competition before the Pacific Nations Cup.

The competition should begin with the start of Super Rugby in February and run for 10-12 weeks.

This allows the players to return to club rugby and play the majority of the season. This is very important for both the players’ development and the sustainability of grassroots rugby.

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I would even support the further development of the National Club Competition at the end of the season. All club seasons have to finish on the same weekend and then the top sides from Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra meet over the next couple of weekends before the national grand final.

I believe the academy model is the only real suitable option for the third tier. The infrastructure is already available, the brands are well known, it directly benefits Super Rugby and it has the least impact on club rugby.

It also ensures Victoria and Western Australia are included and our U20 players get high quality match practice in the various academies before they head off to the Junior Rugby World Cup.

I believe this is the only model that will get the backing of the majority of the stakeholders across the game and finally bring us the much needed development competition we need.

Bring it on! Over to you, Mr Pulver.

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