Which NRL club will be the next Super 14 side?

re above. this would allow the footballer to get around the manager, Mr 10% for a little while and no need for talent scouts. If you've got ability, or even if you haven't, you can go over and try your luck simply due to birthright and bloodlines Using Aussie players in such a fashion could start new, better quality national teams in other nations Imagine Aussie player with a Spanish or Italian background, can't make super 14, he gets automatic citizenship and can play for either of those nations, or, he will quailfy to play for Argentina as the Argies have an historical relationship with those two countries Confused ? That's only the half of it. At team level, a Pomey can Leave Gloucester, and play for an Italian club under EU rules.

Rugby will have more spectator following than RL i Melbourne and Perth due to the ex-pats from countries that play union. England NZ and South Africa as examples, also Pacific Islanders What happened if Berlusconi in Italy, known for his sports invlovement gets interested. All a player in Oz with italian ancestry has to do is front up at the door in Italy. Those Aussies who have a Euro background do not need a playing scout from France to invite them over. They already qualify to play anywhere in the EU simply because bloodlines and the immigration policy of EU nations. This means, an Italian like Giacheri, Randwick coack, qualifies to enter Italy, and therefore coach in ANY EU nation, from Greece to Britain. If an Oz player with 1 English grandparent decides to play in a gan or Italian or French competition, he can, due to EU professional working rules. We have seen this with the EPL football in England (soccer) It appears the only ones who don't qualify ths way are real Aussies, they being Anglo Saxons without British granparents, true colonial stock, and aboriginals. Welcome to the world of globalisation and immigration rules

Rickety - you have to know you have something to give it up ;) We weren't given Southern NSW, we just asked them if they wanted to play at our place one day while the rich kid on the block was down at the beach!

2. Woops - IMO the most likely solution to be successful is leveraging off the infrastructure of the Eels or the Panthers and setting up a structure that allowed the Westy's of this world to get involved. Mate, the NSWRU is Tahcentric. The precedence has already been set with them giving Southern NSW to the Brumbies.

Answers to your questions. 1. I played Rugby and Golden Oldies Rugby for Penrith over a period of about 30 years and I have first hand experience of the lack of interest the NSWRU has shown in Western Sydney. 2.

Well Rickety knees, two questions then follow from your questions: 1. If you think I work for NSWRU or ARU (in my dreams), then who pray tell is your agenda working for?; and 2. If you dont think/want the NSWRU or ARU can/will do anything in Western Sydney, then what organisation pray tell will do it? Do you know something the rest of us don't. Are you hoping for some wealthy private benefactor to rescue Western Syd rugby?:)

I guess I could answer this 2 ways. Firstly, if any RL clubs defect lock, stock & barrel, it would be for an ARC style national comp. Thus, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, North Qld, Newcastle & Canberra (that is, the non-Sydney clubs) are well placed. But looking at the structure of our neighbours (NZ & SA) & the NH, Australia might need to look at another model. In NZ there is the S14 & ANZ Cup; in SA there is the S14 & Currie Cup; In NH there is the Heineken Cup, which draws teams from England's Guinness Premiership; France's T14; Italy's S10; & Wales, Scotland & Ireland's Magners League. Australia has the S14 &, &, &, &, &..........what? It's obvious, looking at NZ, SA & the NH, we need a national comp that dovetails into the S14, in the same way that other domestic national comps dovetail into the s14 & Heineken Cup. That folks, means a domestic national comp of PROVINCIAL teams. We have 4 - NSW, QLD, ACT & WA. We could come up with 4 more on traditional lines - VIC, SA, NQ & EA (Newcastle/Central Coast). Then there's Gold Coast, which you might call SQ; & Western Sydney, which should also have a provincial type name - New England??? New South Wales...New England...get it?! Anyway, keeping it simple like, let's have a S16. The top 4 provincial teams each year from the major domestic comps of Australia, NZ, SA & Argentina qualify for the following year's S16. In other words, the makeup of the 16 teams in the S16 would change each year, anything from say 3-4 to 7-8. Just like the Heineken Cup. Meanwhile, the ARC or APC, consisting 8-10 provincial teams, would play 18 rounds of home & away matches, followed by the finals series. I'm tired.....going to bed now!

Roger - in hindsight let me ask that question again - are you employed by the ARU?

Roger - I have obviously struck a raw nerve - are you employed by NSWRU?

How about the Melbourne Sunny Bills? Is Nasser Khoder really Osama Bin Laden in disguise? Is this the Al Qaeda revenge for helping the yanks in the Iraq war? http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/sonny-bills-mentors-a-slippery-customer/2008/08/01/1217097487832.html

I thought that the ARC showed that Australian rugby players who aren't in the Wallabies wouldn't mind playing more than six or seven high quality games a year... Whoops - don't mention the war ;) Interesting to see Scott Staniforth (sp) echo those thoughts exacty on the news last night!

Here you are big Kev http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24099716-23217,00.html , Non Aussies to be allowed play Super Rugby! This will allow more money to go to Aussie players ( as imprts paid separately, and also means 8 places in current teams will be filled by imports, thus spreading some existing talent to Melb...and later West Syd.

I think the concept of aligning the Western Sydney Super Rugby side with the PI region is good, given the demographic of the region. How? Simple. At current only players who are "Australian" can play for an Aus Super 14 side. Simply give the new side dispensation to have 5 players from Fiji/Tonga/Samoa (who are not Australian qualified) to be contracted to the side. They will continue to play international rugby for their countries. Sound good? Solves the problem of player strength and also giving PI players an option to play in a SANZAR comp.

Rickety knees - what JON wants he gets, and I was only suggesting some leadership re :West Syd from ARU. Your statements are very non specific (even though ref to Westy's admirable intentions is great). Enough with the empty rhetoric. Yes a Super rugby team should go into Western Sydney BUT no, it shouldnt be the NEXT Super Rugby Franchise in 2010 (scope of blog is the NEXT team not whether a team should ever go there!). My reference to development in Western Sydney is an interim measure that is essential if a team is to go in West Syd in say 4-5 years. Lets remember that Sydney sporting teams are driven by tribalism, and if anything, the ARC shopws you cant just drop a new team in an area in Sydney without a grassroots following.

Rickety Knees, I guess the Western Sydney side could also take jurisdiction over country NSW as well, similar to the Brumbies and Southern NSW (well at least the Central West, which has a pretty decent comp). Who knows, if it gets up and running, within 10 years, the cross city derby could be played at ANZ Stadium infront of 50,000 - 60,000 people?? I only hope the ARU is reading the Roar and observing whats going on.

Roger - the NSWRU is all about the Tahs and the Tah base of the eastern suburbs, the inner west and the north shore and they don't manage that particularly well. You are not going to get much of a result from anybody that has to get dragged kicking and screaming. Compare this to a bloke like Westy - who has passion, insight and is driven to achieving a good well thought out result based on first hand knowledge and a ton of experience. Sorry IMO it is a no brainer. New S14 in Western Sydney requires a new managwent team

Rickety Knees - far from it actually. I want the ARU to push into Western Sydney and drag NSWRU with it, kicking and screaming if it likes.

Roger - you offering more of the same that has not worked in the past. You are asking the NSWRU to actually do something for Western Sydney - sorry mate I can't see it happening. The NSWRU have given up Southern NSW to the Brumbies. They should devolve into just looking after the Tahs and a new (agenda free) S14 body should manage Western Sydney. This would provide new energy, new vision and grow the game in an area screaming out for it.

Don't disagree Rickety - they are on average the most successful, exciting and skillful of all of the provinces and would go great guns down there with a rich tradition and strong brand (all of the things Victorian's love). It's just that they are a Canberra and Region side. End of story. It's like saying - Gee Collingwood would really open up the Darwin market for us. So yeah - a couple of games a season in an extended season down south, sure. But moving the squad would disenfranchise a pretty strong rugby region, not to mention insult a relatively huge number of fans (per capita) who have helped build that tradition. Which is probably why it will happen! ;)

Cosmos - I reckon that the Brumbies playing out of Melbourne would have no trouble getting 30,000-40,000 playing at Telstra Dome.