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Australia is desperately crying out for a provincial rugby competition. Wayne Smith pointed out in yesterday’s Australian newspaper that some of the Wallabies haven’t had a game since late August.
As many of the club teams were knocked out of the finals race, they need to fine tune their performance in club rugby.
Let’s bring back the ARC, I say, let’s bring back the ARC the rugby crowd say.
Let’s not bring back the ARC the ARU administration says.
It’s easy enough, it gives many people opportunities, not just the players, but the referees, and the coaches as well. Same teams, similar stadiums, just cut the costs.
Here are some ways.
1. Flights in and out same day, no need to fund for hotels.
2. No TMO’s – the Air NZ Cup has done it. Saves money for camera angles, saves money setting up the TMO box, and you don’t even have to appoint a TMO. That’s a saving of $20,000 at least.
3. Local high-grade referees – Use the local referees. For example, WA can use Julian Pritchard for a lot of their games, Sydney have a whole array of referees to choose from, as do Brisbane.
4. Don’t use stadiums too big. Keep them small with the potential for genuine atmosphere. Don’t use Suncorp, use Ballymore. Don’t use the Sydney Football Stadium, use Concord Oval.
5. Let’s not pay the ABC this time! One owned by Channel 10 is crying out for true local sport.
6. No excessive match payments. Pay them a little but let the players who only truly want to play. They have a opportunity to play for their local state teams.
The ARC is truly a gateway for players to turn into bigger players and earn more money, and more chances of playing for the Wallabies.
It may clash with Premier Rugby in Brisbane and First Grade rugby in QLD, but look towards the positive side, it gives the First Grade players a bigger opportunity to play in Premier Grade, the up-and-coming players will be able to play, and get a kickstart on their careers.
The second tier referees in the state unions will be able to referee at the Premier rugby games, while the first tier referees are refereeing these games, and assistant refereeing them.
I’m not calling for this competition in 2011 or later.
I’m calling for it in 2010.
It’s doable, and it really needs to be done. These Australian rugby players are calling for more on field action. The fans are calling.
Listen to our calls and we will give you our faith.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.