Australian rugby is re-implementing a third tier, as ARU CEO Bill Pulver announced from Edinburgh this week that a new national competition of between eight and 10 teams will commence next year.
Club rugby tournaments around Australia will be brought forward to run concurrently with Super Rugby and the new National Rugby Championship (NRC) will run from mid-August, at the same time as the Rugby Championship.
The competition will use a two month round robin format, followed by a two week finals series.
The ARU are in negotiations with Fox Sports, meaning the competition is likely to remain on pay TV rather than be seen on free-to-air.
A tender process will be used to confirm who the sides are and what regions they will represent. Canberra, Perth and Melbourne are confirmed for teams along, with the Sydney and Brisbane heartlands.
Western Sydney will be seen as a key distinct region within Sydney.
Pulver has used the term “regional” in his description of where sides will be based. I infer this to mean that existing club teams will not be candidates for the new competition, as any side being entered must be able to gather support from a region.
Most Roarers commenting on the news were pleased to hear it; others were clearly waiting for more detail, while a vocal minority were concerned that this announcement is the death knell for club rugby.
I think it will actually save club rugby.
The Shute Shield has been dominated for too long by Sydney University, Eastwood and –although they have been off the boil the last couple of years – Randwick. Southern Districts are pushing to join that elite group, but need a few more years of strong performance before they qualify.
In Canberra, the Tuggeranong Vikings and recently Queenbeyan have been on top.
In Queensland Premier Rugby, the competition has been shared around quite well in modern times. Since 1946, however, Brothers and University of Queensland have won the premiership 20 times each and been runners up 11 and 16 times respectively.
Too often in the club competitions we have seen unfair advantages allowing the top players to be collated into a single team.
Sydney University in particular have attracted the ire of the rest of the Shute Shield competition with the fact that they only need to be in striking distance of the leaders to then dominate once their Super Rugby players return.
The club competitions are now going to have to be won by the same players that played the season. We won’t have an influx of Super players coming in for the last few matches and changing the entire complexion of the tournament.
Clubs that have been sending themselves broke trying to compete with the big boys will be on a more level playing field. If Pulver has his way this level of rugby will become fully amateur again, evening things out further.
The best players from the club competition will then get what this country has been crying out for – a concentrated competition with the non-Wallaby Super players. We’ll get a chance to see these players develop rather than having them sitting in extended playing squads.
Bench and squad players from Super teams will mix it with the rising talent and they will all be trying to make a name for themselves against the more established names in the competition.
The regular starters at Super level will be looking to distinguish themselves and push for call-ups into the national side, while Wallabies returning from injury will have a place to prove their form and fitness rather than throwing them back into the international deep end.
I’m very excited by the news. I think it is going to be great for developing talent in this country by giving the best of our club players the chance to perform at a higher level.
I think it will be great for club rugby to return to its roots of being the community-based feeder system to representative levels.
Most importantly, it will relieve the pressure on clubs that are struggling to survive under the current model.
I’d just prefer it if they get it on free-to-air television.
What do you think Roarers? I’m particularly keen to hear from those against what Pulver has proposed, as I don’t see the down side for club rugby that a few of you have claimed.
Katipo
Guest
Classic!
Crazy Horse
Guest
NEWS FLASH: The ARU is (or at least is supposedto be) about promoting the game throughout the country, not just in Sydney. My only reservation is that February / March is way too hot in many parts ofthe country for club rugby. Most grounds do no have lightng that is suitable for night matches.
BetterRedThanDead
Guest
Agreed - dunno about you Southern folk, but the prospect of a $25 ticket to a quality Saturday afternoon game at Ballymore sounds pretty damned good.
Rickety Knees
Roar Guru
Boys - just the fact that they are trying to create a legitimate third tier competition is nothing short of amazing. Only time will tell if they get right or wrong..... lets just support this as best we can
alex
Roar Pro
about bloody time
gatesy
Roar Guru
So, maybe the clubs then need to get pro-active and start organising 7's and 10's tournaments, and tours that keep players occupied for the rest of the season. There must be a huge range of activities that could be organised that would put money into Club Coffers. Let's say for example you run a Sevens tournament at North Sydney oval, the same weekend that the (local franchise) team is playing its home game, which could be played,on, say on the Sunday, after the 7' final, in the early afternoon, or somesuch. The local franchise could do a cost and revenue share -you could run a few gala weekends around the traps You could have your club teams playing curtain raisers etc against inbound touring teams, all sorts of ideas abound - just needs a bit of creative thinking around it. I believe that the clubs should embrace it and then find ways to make it work, such as home ground rotations etc
Westie
Guest
So turn your back on the biggest population in oz?
Charcoal
Guest
Agree WCR!
Eagle
Guest
This could be the best thing to ever happen to the Canberra comp or the nail in the coffin... Tuggeranong Vikings have ruined the comp with the amount of cash they are willing to spend to buy premierships, not just in 1st grade but right through. If Pulver is serious about making the club comps fully amateur and is willing to actually enforce this with real consequences for clubs that pay their players then finally we might get a comp that is fair and reasonable and allows all clubs to have their turn at the top. But if this does not happen then it will only increase the gap and player numbers will continue to dwindle. Tuggeranong will continue to pay players at club level so most of the top club players will go to them and the other clubs will no longer have the pro players coming back to help them out.
RobC
Guest
Good point - state is another option vs clubs, though I think clubs have the edge with state support. But I don't know. - I don't have the research, scenarios and feasibility studies. - I haven't fielded the media for options. - I don't have the financial options or risk analysis. - I have not spoken and obtained buyin from key stakeholders, - Nor have I taken the time to make sure everyone important is on the same page. ARU better have done it. And not a small group who with the best intentions, are doing it based on gut feel and personal experience or bias.
Clubfan
Guest
It seems to me the Uni move to the NRC would be the best thing to happen. You would expect the Waratah's would want to keep most of their squad together and be competitive against the other SR franchises. As most come from Uni it is a natural fit. It could have a flow on effect for club rugby by some of Uni's other first graders deciding to move to another club to give them access to the NRC through another Sydney based team and further develop their careers. Time will tell. Either way Uni has out grown the Shute Shield and should be rewarded for putting together a successful club. To think the other 11 clubs can find the talent to match them at club level is one of the SRU major mistakes. Anyway other “most hated”clubs have gone on to be successful. Just look at Manly in the NRL.
RobC
Guest
I would suggest priority is to shore up and strengthen first, with an eye to expand when the house is in order. eg West Sydney, South Brisbane. Meantime, arrange and publicize scholarships for future backrowers, centres and whatever positions we need more help on - and target those markets. Once we get a few star players, others will follow.
Steve Johnson
Guest
At the end of the day, the most important question is who is going to finance this new competition if the ARU is as broke as they say they are? No money, no competition.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Charlie, Compared to the Melbourne Heart, who are the Melbourne A-League side who arent the Victory, thats not too bad - an identity as 'the club all the other supporters hate" is better than no identity at all. In the context of third tier rugby, thats the position Sydney University is in - they have become the only successful semi-professional club, so in the logic of rugby union, of course a third tier needs to be built that excludes them.
81paling
Roar Rookie
Streaming is a good idea for fans still engaged with Rugby but, I played rugby for over a decade then helped out at club level every Saturday for about 3 years but, I do not have pay TV and therefore without consciously realising over the last 10 years I have become a devoted fanatical League fan. I love to watch the Shute shield on a Saturday or even go to a game but it is so rare and therefore I no longer have exposure to Rugby. It is not that I do not care, it is that I do not know who is playing when or where and therefore I don't watch or attend anymore. Rugby has to acknowledge that every time they sign a deal with pay TV they inform the 70% of us that do not have pay TV that they are not interested in us and that is fine just as long as that is understood. Other thing from a Sydney point of view just make Uni, Eastwood & possibly Randwick 1st grade the teams for this comp making their clubs eligible to b club of Australia s it weakens their position in local comps to be club of the year which is still a really important win status for every club involved and therefore these clubs need something else to strive for, making new clubs in a struggling game will die quickly with needless expense when there are strong clubs that already exist and will probably still field teams as strong as any new club can muster up overnight.
jeznez
Roar Guru
Think that in Sydney if the clubs named in Liam's post went through that the South and more importantly the West (bigger population) of Sydney would be lost to Rugby for the foreseeable future.
jeznez
Roar Guru
Sheek, allow yourself a little hope between now and delivery. Worst case they stuff it up and post delivery we will be miserable - at least in the mean time we will have had a little hope. I think we both care about rugby enough that we won't feel any worse if they bugger it for having had some optimism before hand. We had a great old quote earlier. I am not sure if this one exists as an old quote but if it doesn't, then it should. 'Hope for the best but keep a pitchfork and a burning brand at the ready.'
RobC
Guest
Jez to address your question about support from relegated teams. Lets say if UQ didn't make the cut, I would support Brothers. If they don't make the cut, I would support Norths etc, and anyone who will get a chance to beat any NSW or ACT team. I suspect others would do the same.
RobC
Guest
I will be tuning into any Oz rugby comp on the tube, and when possible watching from the stands. What I am worried about is getting other people to do it. re pyramid: no arguments from me. We need an NRC. Only a reminder NZ etc took time and always leveraged on existing organisations, not supplanting them. re feeder: actually, I believe it does matter how feeder systems develop. My understanding is every successful feed system are based on input from established organisations. If ARU breaks this mould, I believe it would be the unlikely first, and I would be the first to salute them. re clubs, its not their fault: - NZ and SA had provincial teams with regional feeder systems. ARU joined SR using clubs as their feed system. And we did very well all things considered - Clubs were (and are) still chained to their local markets, no prospects for $ and talent development. Also ripe ground for "local warlords" and "little napoleons" - To compete, well fuelled Australian SR teams fast tracked kids, hollowing out the clubs - It worsened when success income from products club rugby (Qld NSW Brumbies of the 90s) are wasted on state expansion, instead promoting clubs into national scene. Another bi-product is Bieber/amigos. - As mentioned: ideally, a national club comp should have been established when SR was setup, perhaps using club reserve grade for local comps. Its still not too late. But if its no longer viable, then I would be more than curious to know the financial projection and risk assessment of the options.
Bakkies
Guest
Andy we are talking about park ovals here and I doubt they have the coin for drop in pitches. NZ had to go to drop in pitches at Carisbrook, Lancaster Park, Napier, Eden Park so that Super Rugby could be played in Feb but these are grounds that have been used for tests.