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The idea of combining the rules of rugby league and rugby union to create a hybrid version of the codes is absurd and it needs not to happen. The debate over which is the superior code has raged since 1908. Each has its flaws as much as each has its strengths.
But comparing the two is utterly pointless and irrelevant.
The two codes are vividly divided by their place in the social order, historically speaking anyway.
Rugby union, the game played in Heaven, was largely associated with the upper classes of society, while league was more common amongst the lower classes of the social order.
The division, though, could soon be diminished as the hybrid game “could soon be a reality”, with a trial match being held at Brookvale Oval in Sydney next week. Manly rugby league great Noel Cleal has even gone as far as suggesting that the hybrid concept will one day be played at the professional level.
But this is fact: the hybrid game simply would not prosper in Australia.
Australians love their sport, some may go as far as saying sport is their religion, but there is no room for another code in a country which already has three thriving systems of rugby/football – those codes being union, league and AFL.
Football will inevitably soon become a fourth as it continues to grow relentlessly around the nation.
If the hybrid concept was to go professional, one has to ask the obvious questions: where would the players come from? Where would the matches be played? And so on.
Former Wallabies fly half Mark Ella, who has helped create the hybrid rules, insists the aim of the hybrid concept is not to replace either league or union. But to be taken seriously as a professional sport, the hybrid game, from its inception, would need to boast professional players.
This would require league and union professionals to switch to the hybrid brand of rugby.
This needs to be considered.
Australia has five Super rugby teams and 16 NRL teams. 110 players make up five Super rugby game day teams and 272 players make up 16 NRL game day teams. The combined total of players is 382.
If the hybrid game went professional, a 10 team competition would be viable. Five Super rugby teams, 16 NRL teams and 10 hybrid teams would then make up 31 teams within Australia’s union/league realm.
Divide 382 players into 31 teams and you get 12.3 players per team.
Such a figure is not enough for any of the codes to field a full team. Fringe players could make up the numbers, but the inclusion of such players would take away from the quality of play, something nobody wants to see.
There are simply not enough players in the professional realm for hybrid to go professional without replacing either league or union. It is safe to say that neither code will ever be replaced.
Furthermore, there is no room for the hybrid game to be played in the Australian sporting calendar.
Stadiums around the nation host Super rugby, NRL and AFL fixtures during the winter months and A-League and cricket fixtures in the summer.
It is thought the fusion of the two codes could end the debate over which is the superior code. But the debate does not need to be settled as rugby league and rugby union, to an extent, define our nation in their own unique way.
Australia’s rugby realm thrives on its own and needs not be tarnished by the inception of the hybrid game.
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