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Australian rugby needs a grassroots national cup competition

Roar Rookie
4th July, 2015
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Perth Spirit have won the 2016 NRC grand final. (Image: AJF Photography)
Roar Rookie
4th July, 2015
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The fledgling third tier of rugby will return in Australia soon with National Rugby Championship kicking off its second season in about six weeks.

The first season certainly had some teething problems – mainly stemming from poor publicity and limited public impact. Yet the rugby itself however was entertaining, innovative and crucial for the development of rugby in Australia.

Work needs to be done on the NRC but the ARU should continue to explore other ways to grow the game.

To accommodate the NRC, club competitions have had to adjust their seasons, but this presents an opportunity to build the national profile of the game while maintaining links to grassroots clubs. The ARU could develop a national club competition.

Australian rugby is unique in the fact that city-based clubs have their own distinct history and traditions that match or often exceed those of professional clubs, particularly the newly fabricated NRC clubs. It seems this has never been properly utilised in the professional era, but it’s a strength that should be exploited.

Sydney Uni versus Brothers, Randwick versus Queensland Uni, Melbourne Unicorns versus Tuggeranong Vikings, Nedlands (Perth) versus Old Collegians RFC (Adelaide). Fixtures between the top local clubs could form the basis of a competition held in August-September which will further expand the depth of Australian rugby and increase players’ exposure to high quality matches.

There are many forms such a competition could take – my preference would be a modified FA Cup-style competition (but not including Super Rugby or NRC teams), where qualifiers from each region would progress to a national knock-out competition.

For example, the Sydney and Brisbane comps could provide four qualifiers, Canberra first grade two, and then one each from Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Tasmania and so on.

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The teams each year would be decided either by local knock-out rounds or based on the local first grade ladder. The games could be held in a mix of suburban locations and as curtain-raisers to the NRC with the final to be held prior to the NRC grand final.

Other forms might be a Champions League-style round robin competition from top ranked local teams, where qualifiers would be taken directly from first grade competitions or a national club knock-out in the same format as the FA Cup or the new FFA Cup (but limited to local clubs).

The competition would add a layer of tradition and identity to Australian rugby and provide more top quality games for the next generation of developing talent. And importantly, while the big clubs would be well represented it wouldn’t be the exclusive domain of rich clubs – the right to progress would have to be earned each year.

And in contrast to the NRC, or previously proposed national club comps, there would be no need to evenly distribute talent, change club allegiances or break old rivalries.

If embraced by clubs and backed by the ARU this could further boost the talent pool and provide a unique marketing device for rugby in Australia.

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