John O'Neill delivers again for Australian rugby

sledgeandhammer - If you dont fall in line and stop this insubordination immediately, there is a good chance you will receive fifty lashes with the cat! Show more respect to your superiors.

Kn...s out has once again shown what a great rugby brain he has! As a mere Australian I"m always in awe of the insights our Northern forebears provide. Sometimes, the great leaps of logic are almost beyond my abilities of reason. I am fascinated to learn that the South African and New Zealand administrators don't respect John O'Neill. I am even more enlightened to learn that the new SANZAR agreement selfishly favours the Australians. And I am truly dumb struck that these same NZ and SA administrators who don't respect John O'Neill, have none the less chosen to sign up to his new 'Australian' super 15 competition? Complicated isn't it? I am also shocked to learn that signing Deans was not a master stroke. And here I was, in my naivety, believing that he was a breath of fresh air for Australian rugby. I was mistakenly impressed by the man - superficial as I am, I thought the winning culture he created with the Crusaders was something that he could bring to Australian rugby. But clearly the man is a dud, a hoax, after all the Wallabies have not even won the Tri Nations yet. And he's already been on our shores for a year! KO - I just hope Australia sits up and takes notice of your fine opinions, for too long we have been mislead.

The quarterfinals begin on October 8-9 so fitting in 10 early evening matches between Friday Sep 9 to Saturday October 1 (4 weekends) will only cause scheduling conflicts if the games kick off at 8:30pm. If they kick off at 7:30pm which will be 5:30pm EST in Australia then the matches will end before the evening kickoff for NRL finals games. That presents a nice union/league double header for footy fans.

Sam sounds like you found the link - how many weekends will there be clashes? I would guess only a couple? Maybe 3?

The semi-finals and final, all to be played at Eden Park, will be played at 21.00 (NZ time) which will be 7pm eastern standard time in Australia. The bronze medal match will be at 20.30 (NZ time). All weekend night games will start no later than 8.30pm. Weekday night matches will begin no later than 7.30pm. Of the 40 pool games. 10, including New Zealand’s game in Wellington, will be day-time kick-offs ranging from 1pm-3.30pm starts and another 10 will be early evening kick-offs. Even with the two hour time difference the pool matches played in the latter part of September will make it tight for Nine to broadcast all the NRL finals games live as well.

Justin I hadn't considered that aspect. Martin Snedden did confirm that the timing of matches scheduled for the world cup, I'll see if I can find the link and publish it.

Very interesting as it will clash with the NRL finals in the early stages but match timings may mean there is no impact...

Pip I'm not sure but it would be an improvement on the current state of affairs and would bear further investigation and feasibility studies.

Yes they have. I was as surprised as anyone given the Packers love for league but I guess their influence at the network isn't as strong as in the past.

Sam has C9 won the rights to 2011?

Sam to add to your last point - could the ARU have done what the FFA did, and link coverage of the national team with (at least) some coverage of the club comp? It's a bit harder of course because the Wallabies are on the anti-siphoning list (and probably changes the dynamics slightly). This raises another interesting question (probably moreso for Australian fans), in a strict commercial sense, is the ARU disadvantaged by the Wallabies being on the anti-siphoning list?

Agree Pip, but there are also reports that JON is pushing for rugby to receive greater FTA coverage from 2011 and beyond, whether that is live, delayed or just a highlights package is unclear. But if channel 9 has won the rights to broadcast the world cup when they've previously shown no interest in broadcasting rugby there may be competition for Foxtel which is exactly what JON would be hoping for.

Sam on that last point - if pay TV remains the only bidder (remembering that super 12s was originally created for pay TV), then Super 15s is at the mercy of Fox. That said, the rights will definitely increase because there are more games, more games means more product, and Fox will pay for that - but the value of the rights per game may not necessarily increase all that much, especially if there is no realistic bidder from an FTA. Both AFL and NRL have been FTA products for a long time, and the interest from the FTAs remains high enough to keep Fox on its toes - it could never afford to stop broadcasting one or the other because it would signal a collapse in subscriptions in one of the Northern or Southern markets. Rugby confronts a different set of circumstances domestically (but it's a supra-national competition, so has other revenue streams).

Reading various reports on different websites about the Super 15 expansion it's clear that of the three member countries SA and Australia in particular are feeling much happier and satisfied with the result. The views reported from NZ echo sentiments expressed by myself and other Kiwi contributors namely that it's not evident what tangible benefits are going to be realised for NZ rugby following this expansion and there is some disquiet about how the finals format is going to work. I think a lot of the bravado from the Aussies and the predicted fall from grace for Kiwi teams is premature. The premise of LAS article is that JON and his team has delivered benefits for Australian rugby with this outcome, which is correct. The challenge remains for Australian teams to deliver the results expected as a result of that outcome. Rusty's summation of the teams that have qualified for the finals in the history of super rugby shows that after 13 years there is still a lot of work to be done in Australia. So to quote Morpheus from the Matrix "I can only show you the door, it's up to you to walk through it" One obvious benefit for Australian rugby that has been overlooked in the various threads is the extra rugby that will be played in Australia. More games for the players to play and the public to attend more home matches. This is a good thing and at least the conference concept allows more home games to be played within each country, it also allows greater scope for teams to make a late run towards the playoffs, even if you start the season with an opening ledger of four losses. It will also make it harder for the frontrunners to stay ahead of the pack with the length of the season. The 15th team will be based in the Australian conference and we won't know the location and makeup of that team until SANZAR announces their decision in December. Putting aside the question of player talent available, a fifth team will provide an additional pathway for Australian players aspiring to play for the Wallabies and that's a good thing. Where and how those players will be found is the responsibility of that union with the assistance of the ARU and good luck to them. I've been critical of the suggested options only because history hasn't supported those arguments but the landscape will change when the Super 15 begins in 2011 and playing down under may be more of an attractive option for players currently signed to European clubs. The ARU are pushing for SANZAR to change the eligibility rules to allow players to move freely between the Super teams without sacrificing their national jerseys but NZ has definitely said no to that request at this stage. So the three foreign players rule will be the maximum allowed in Australia which will narrow the scope for teams recruiting players to expats, NRL players and those players that have yet to represent their country of birth or origin. So regardless of its location the majority of the playing squad will have to come from locally based players. Of all the points discussed OJ has raised the most relevant one. This expansion cannot be regarded as a successful and necessary venture unless NewsCorp or whomever bid for the rights at a higher price with the existing format. The latest bidding wars between the networks for the rights to broadcast AFL is the type of result SANZAR should be aiming for - more money for the same product.

Billo, pity the Rebels in the ARC aren't still running. They could have built off that. They were the biggest cost in the ARC, given tehy were starting from scratch. Hopefully they won't be reinventing the wheel completely given this dry run.

Billo, They will get more money because there will be less worthless SA games in the early hours of the morning. The big plus for the conference system is that there will be only 2 games a season for Aus teams that are played in unfavourable viewing hours. Therefore statistically ratings should increase dramatically, if only because a higher ratio of Aus/NZ games to SA and not an actual increase in viewers. All the same it is much more attractive to broadcasters.

Good work, Skip. Very, very good. Sheek, I'm not sure how you could conclude that I didn't know that O'Neill had taken a 'break' from rugby? I offered a response that I don't think the plan is that useful, that it won't solve Australian rugby problems on a micro-level nor a broader level. The reason that I persisted in saying that it isn't my issue is that I couldn't be bothered to contend with this childish 'hero worship' as Ohtani so succintly puts it that seems to surround O'Neill. The same logic being put forward about this man and his great new work is the same logic that was being applied to the ELVs. It's like swimming up stream. The NZ Roarers were underwhelmed by the ELVs much like they are about this new agreement. It is only the Australians who are getting the bunting out and celebrating the 'golden era' that LAS referred to the other day. The only person to seem to recognise this attitude is Craig, and good for him. I don't think that the signing of Deans is genius because Deans has achieved nothing yet. It's a ludicrous statement to suggest that it was a masterstroke to sign him until he goes on to achieve tangible success.

JON has produced a neat solution in a number of ways, but without a TV deal in place the solution isn't yet complete. It will be interesting to see the sort of deal that SANZAR can negotiate. Far more rugby is being offered to television, but I can't see a big increase in the TV contract, so the money will have to stretch further. On the other hand, the emphasis on Conference games, and the reduction in long trips should reduce the overall costs of the competition, although only marginally. It means that rugby will be the first major sport in Australia to have Conferences, which I think is an exciting development, but it will need some selling to a possibly sceptical public. And the cost of establishing a new franchise in Melbourne, if that is what is going to happen, will be challenging, both in terms of marketing and in terms of costs. By 2011 the Storm will have been in the new rectangular stadium for a year, and they may have built up their support. I'm not sure whether that will help or hinder the new rugby franchise, but there won't be much scope for mistakes in recruitment and performance. Having said that, JON has the ability to produce better deals than anyone might have expected, and I wouldn't be too surprised if that happens again with the TV deal. Rugby has allowed other codes to steal its thunder in recent years, but this could be the start of a revival.

Finally someone has got it. Sam your a scholar mate, its the make up of the finals matches that is the biggest question of all not who. Surely it wouldn't look good and highly unlikely to have a conference winner not be inside the top six what would this then say about the legitimacy of the finals? I was simple trying to make the point that the Conference winners aren't necessarily going to come in 1,2 and 3 on the overall table. It will make things very interesting to know how SANZAR would deal with the situation that I have highlighted. Because if i was a Crusaders fan I'd be pretty peeved however if I was a Bulls fan I would be thanking my lucky stars and claiming that this was the best system ever. While going for the dollar SANZAR still have to maintain the credibility of the tournament and it being the premier rugby competition in the world