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Is it me or is there something fishy about the timing of the starting of the National Rugby Championship?
For the last 12 months SANZAR have been trying to come up with a solution for Super Rugby, all three countries have their own agendas, but it basically boils down to this:
South Africa has to include the Kings and will only stay if they are playing New Zealand teams as well.
Australia will not give up their home derbies.
New Zealand wants to expand into Asia and Argentina to increase revenue.
After about 10 months of going around in circles, they approached their broadcast partners with a couple of scenarios and a solution was almost reached.
I believe the NRC was the compromise for Australia to give up their home derbies and this is why ARU chief Bill Pulver can sit there in front of a camera and say the NRC won’t fail, because it’s guaranteed in the next broadcast deal.
So while the NRC may be a cog in the next broadcast deal, the ARU still has to get some things right to help rugby grow NRC in Australia.
They should stick to just seven teams in the first and second year, with a plan to expand to 10 or 12 teams with in the next five years.
The first two years should have one team in Western Australia, Victoria, ACT and two teams in each of NSW and Queensland.
These teams will be owned by the states and ARU, with the rest of the teams to go to the best bidder each year after that, with a look at private ownership for new or even exiting teams.
This way you can see where the support is and place new teams in the right places.
By 2019 you could end with one team from WA, one from Victoria, one from ACT, four from NSW, three from Queensland and even a South Australian team.
With only seven seven teams in the first two years you will basically have just Super Rugby and development players playing in the NRC (this still gives your best players the chance to play against top opposition).
As these players are already contracted to the ARU all that will need to be paid is a match fee.
Then after two years you will have a better idea on TV ratings, sponsorships and crowd figures to help make a salary cap.
To get one main jersey sponsor for all teams – like New Zealand’s Super Rugby sides. It would make it easier to get $1.4 million for a guaranteed TV slot each week for eight weeks from Steinlager or Heineken than it would be trying to get a local sponsor to fork out $200,000 with maybe only one TV match guaranteed.
All matches should be played at smaller club grounds like Princess Park or Footscray oval in Melbourne, Ballymore in Queensland, and North Sydney Oval and Campbelltown sports stadium in NSW.
Stay away from the bigger stadiums unless they are going to put up a guaranteed payment to play there
Each of the foundation teams (the first seven) should start with an area, but no nicknames, those will come in time.
So Perth, Melbourne, Canberra, Northern Sydney and Western Sydney. I’m not too sure about Queensland as I have known idea about the area but they need two teams.
All teams will play in the traditional hooped jerseys – you could have Northern Sydney playing in a black and red strip and Western Sydney playing in a black and white strip. Both those sets of colours scream tradition and weren’t North’s a union club before 1905 anyway?
If you have to have names you could have the very first match of the NRC between the Bears and Magpies – that would sell papers and bring a few disenfranchised league supporters two the match and would also mean rugby had gone full circle.
It’s time for all rugby supporters to get behind an NRC team – rugby’s on the ropes and needs everyone on board no matter what.
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.