Good point Russ, and I think a lot of your ideas have legs sheek.

Aussie cricket needs a good shake up and some of these ideas are really pertinent.

You’ve obviously put a lot of thought into this, sheek, but there are a couple of holes.

– Supertests attracted poor crowds, and weren’t a success. Otherwise they would have been adopted, like a huge number of other WSC innovations.

– re. point 13, impatience is a poor reason to hastily rush into a major shift in the laws of Test cricket.

– Single session tickets doesn’t make any sense. If you bought a ticket to the first session, why would you leave? Unless there is a veritable army of stewards checking every spectator’s ticket, the plan falls apart. Imagine at grounds with general admission, like Perth and Adelaide, if every patron just bought a single session ticket, the ground’s capacity would be oversubscribed three times over. So this idea, while a decent one, is wholly impractical and impossible to implement.

I really like the idea of streamlined domestic cricket, and scheduling Tests to accommodate the top drawer players participating in the SS.

Towser I agree that sensible recruitment from smaller leagues is more effective than throwing cash at fossils (best example is the perennial underperforming aloisi amongst a host of other flops, elrich at wellington, etc.)

but the question is, did an untried manager have the right to embarress a player whose wage packet and achievements – including many performances this year – warrants much greater respect. As you say towser, this is an imbalance that undermines the league at the moment.

Mick, i dont dislike the NQ – to avoid the spoon in their first year is a good acheivement. but ferguson is a plodding tracksuit manager who has assembled a squad of Sydney and adelaide rejects, and relatively, Fowler deserves better.

Ferguson (or Postecoglou) might be short term winners but these issues will certainly erode unity in the dressing room, and it will be these kinds of merry go round gaffers who get punted if they lose the trust of the players.

Apaway, the answer is in the question – ian ferguson is not alex ferguson. the reason slater and bosnich backed fowler was because his stature in the a-league affords him more respect than he was shown. as a manager, ferguson has not earned such respect.

Rooney, Giggs and Owen sit on the bench for a large squad of world class players competing in a 38 game league season, two cup campaigns and continental football, under the most prolific manager in English history. Fowler sits on the bench for an a-league side running second last full of sydney fc rejects amidst only a 27 game season for an untried manager.

if the a-league wants to continue attracting top notch players it would help if no name managers pulled their finger out and treated greats of the game with the regard they deserve.

As Mr Kistic alluded to, Australia does have a change strip and has done for about 7 years now.

So mjg the issue isnt that Australia ought to have a change strip – they do. Rather, the issue is whether they ought to have worn it this series.

I don’t know what its called, but the Sevilla anthem in football is excellent.

Its also hard to beat the Irish hymns (Fields of Athenry, Let the People Sing, etc.) blasting out of Celtic Park in Glasgow on a European night.

*the whole world is interested, pardon me

Good points, Grant. But regardless of competitiveness (and I agree 100% with your comments regarding German atmosphere, I myself am packing up my bags and heading from England to Germany next October for the world-renowned atmosphere), Germany is not widely known globally. Liverpool-United is the world’s derby, the whole world is interesting…there are dozens of derbies around the world with superior atmosphere/history, but this is the preeminent fixture in the preeminent league. Regardless of what people say about the Prem, its global exposure is superior to that of any other, and Liverpool and United are at the forefront by virtue of their success (Colin I agree 100% with you on this point people love this rivalry because of the respective club’s success).

Duff, maybe the world is full of gloryhunters but that doesnt change the fact they tune into this match regardless of the quality/passion/history of others. I’m not saying best/most passionate derby, nor am I defending the merit of the undisputed global supremacy of the Prem. I’m saying this fixture is the biggest game in the world’s most popular league (whether the fixture is worthy of such attention, probably not, but truth is that is does enjoy such exposure)

Just relaying the broadcasted facts.

Executive Koala if you dont like the Premier League, and you think any praise for it is cheerleading, no one is forcing you to read this article. You can read all the articles on the Spanish and Dutch leagues on this website…despite the fact they are fewer in number because the Premiership is unmatched in its global appeal, precisely the point of my articlle.

Jason, in response to your question, I think the English selected Cowdrey for his noted talent against pace; to add a bit of calmess and experience to what was an otherwise green top order being torn apart by Lillee and Thomson. In this respect I think the selection worked because he did, indeed, survive valiantly (as noted by sheek) against such a fearsome pace attack. I think it was Tony Greig in the ABC doco ‘the Chappell Years’ who mentioned that Cowdrey could sustain such physical punishment in the form of blows to the body because he had a personalised layer of polystyrene foam which he cut to fit his body to protect his torso, allowing him to bat through the barrage he was presented with.

This is a fantastic article.

This Aussie side, I think, was the best of the Chappell era, the side we all think of when talking about 1970’s cricket, the team that produced so many of the great stories still recounted today.

Lillee and Thomson at their absolute peak, Doug Walters hitting Bob Willis for 6 on the last ball of the day for his 100 in a session in Perth, and if you’re a Pom, Tony Greig signalling his own boundaries to the bowlers on his way to a century in Brisbane.

Classic!

Thanks, scoop.

That doesn’t diminish the unparalled exposure the game enjoyed compared to any other regular club game on the planet.

n.b. I’m not arguing this is the best derby in the world, I’m saying this is the world’s favourite rivalry, the most popular, etc.

I think the three derbies/rivalries you mentioned, Alan, are all superior in my eyes, but do not enjoy such global interest or overwhelming star power.

But not in global saturation or quality of player.

Good point Brett.

I agree that any club who mismanages its finance to the point of extinction is indeed betraying its fans.

But I guess what I’m asking for is a bit of ‘short term pain for long term gain’; sustaining some short term losses (which, granted, may be unrealisitic in the current climate) in order to boost the overall appeal of the code. I think I read that it costs Wests Tigers 100,000 to put on a match at Leichardt (it may have even been slightly more). If the code in general is more attractive to broadcasters (and it is my opinion that League will be more attractive to broadcasters if the game returns to its traditional suburban roots as opposed to alienating fans by playing at homogenous stadiums at inconvenient times), the NRL could negotiate a far better TV deal and support this shift back to all suburban grounds. Admittedly, this shift would be costly in the short term, and the financial support may not be possible from the NRL.

But as a previous poster said, there is nothing wrong with pipe dreams 😛 Even just in moderation, I think the fans deserve to see some effort being made to respond to their demands. Even if it was just a few games more at Campbelltown every year it will at least symbolically express the fact that the NRL is listening to the needs of its supporters. Its promising to see Todd Greenberg is looking into maybe hosting 2 games a year in future at Belmore, and it will be a huge releif to see the Big Red V back at Kogarah this year. All improvements on last year!

Apoligies, Stevo was a hooker (I should have done my research before posting!), clearly inferior to Mal Reilly in terms of your team.

Maybe we can stick Stevo on the bench 😛

Mike Stephenson (the bloke with the broad Yorkshire accent you now hear saying “T-R-Y” on the Super League broadcasts from the UK) played a few seasons for Penrith in their early years – probably played his best footy for GB and in England but a worthy nomination for half back.

Thats a fantastic starting XIII, though, especially the terrifying front row.

Good read, some brilliant ideas.

Day time Grand Final and the single governing body (esp. the single governing body, an issue of immense importance) are mandatory.

Sarcasm noted.

I agree Gallop has always known what supporters have been demanding…this is no scoop.

What I’m arguing is that it might be these unique economic circumstances that prompt him to actually make changes, as now more than ever the NRL needs to boost the ailing appeal of the code.

Haha top article, but its a shame you’ve given the Rabbits fans some ammunition for Sunday’s big derby! Up the Chookies!!

Granted, my argument is a bit of a pipe dream – it seems likely that the NRL’s decisions will remain dictated to by the broadcasters because of the huge News Corp stake in the NRL itself (a shareholding upon which the NRL is reliant).

However, the wishes of News Corp (i.e. inconvenient night time fixtures) diminish the appeal of the code and therefore diminish the quality of the product that News has a vested corporate interest in.

What I am calling for is a return to several of the values that make people love League – basically, convenient daytime fixtures in suburban grounds – despite their conflict with the current wishes of News, and their broadcasters. Essentially, this article is a critique of the short sightedness of the NRL’s compliance to News, and the demands of News itself, because it was killing the product. The resulting heightened appeal surely makes League in general, including League on TV, more attractive to the broadcasters.

I think this is supported by the latest TV deals of the AFL and NRL respectively. NRL gets bigger ratings on TV, but AFL gets more bums on seats. Who got the bigger deal? The AFL.

A more appealing NRL – one staged in suburban grounds in daytime hours – shoulds concurrently boost TV numbers, and hence increase the amount the broadcasters are willing to pay for the rights (there is a whole other story regarding the conflict of interest between an NRL half controlled by News negotiating a TV contract with the News-controlled broadcasters).

But, granted, News is here to stay. But if they want people to buy their newspapers and watch games on TV, they need to make the product more attractive by comprimising some of their current demands which are alienating supporters.

I’ve been a season ticket holder of the club for 10 years and I can’t see the Roosters coming even close to winning it. The points raised are all strong, but you could mount an equally strong case for every club – and such is the beauty of the NRL, every team has a chance of winning the comp at the outset.

I dont’t think the Roosters undoing will be the copious amounts of footballing quality you highlight, Alan – they have rep quality players right across the park. Rather, it will be the tendency to physically peter out, both at the end of matches as well as the back end of the season in general. The football that the Roosters occasionally provided in 2008 was excellent – thoroughly convincing victories over both Melbourne and Manly at the SFS will attest to this. However, this momentum was unable to be sustained in the later rounds because the players were not physically up to the challenge – the match away to Cronulla painfully highlighted this fact. As well as these sporadic match-long lapses, the side developed a dangerous tendency to fall in a heap in the dying stages of matches, never more evident than the squandered lead in Auckland in the second week of semis.

I don’t think the Roosters can reproduce the quality needed to win a Premiership until their physical condition allows them to turn up for 80 minutes every week. Maybe a revamp of staffing is needed, with the mythic Ronnie Palmer still steering the strength and conditioning ship after 20 odd years – time for a shake up, perhaps, but of course retaining Ronnie as the legendary drinks provider he is!!

I hope I’m wrong, Alan, and I will read your compelling argument throughout the season when I start to lose faith that the Chooks have what it takes. Nothing would make me happier than seeing Fitzgibbon bowing out (maybe) the way he deserves with the Premiership trophy in October.

I always thought that the old method of selection on away tours was the most effective – the skipper, the vice-captain and the tour manager would decide the XI amongst themselves. Surely there is no one with greater insight into the balance of the side, the areas of strength and deficiency, than the captain and his assistant, with the tour manager adding a degree of objectivity. Although this would raise the question of impartiality, as Spiro points out, Jamie Cox being SA’s high performance manager must surely raise eyebrows with regard to the same issue. I’m in total agreement over distractions, also – however the captain, vice, and manager engage with every delivery of every match by virtue of their roles within the team. Maybe this system is not ideal, but an improvement, in my opinion.