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Everyone, it’s time. We’re taking on too much water and must abandon the Super Rugby ship before it’s too late.
The proposed 18-team Super Rugby structure with uneven pools, teams from four continents and less local content than now is a joke. It would be a gluing together of mismatched interests with more resemblance to the Frankenstein Monster than a coherent sporting competition.
This is not the structure Australian rugby needs to reverse its 10-year decline in popularity.
A new Trans-Tasman competition with potential links to Asia would be ideal, but the New Zealand Rugby Union has scuttled this in a desire to play South African teams in round robin matches.
I say let them. A New Zealand and South Africa competition is absurd and will not work, but if they’re determined to go in that direction we should leave them to it.
The Australian sports broadcasting market is many times more valuable than the New Zealand and South African markets combined. It’s time we stopped compromising our interests and launched a new competition built to suit the Australian market and support the growth of rugby in our country.
That means more (and all) games played at ideal times (for crowds and TV ratings) and more teams based in major population centres. Rugby union is currently getting killed in Australia by the other codes because they produce so much more quality content week in, week out.
The way forward would be to partner with broadcasters (including either Channel Seven or the Ten Network – free-to-air is essential) from the beginning on a new eight or ten team Australian competition. It would contain the five Australian Super Rugby teams and at least three other teams selected after a tender process.
These teams might come from private consortiums – ambitious National Rugby Championship clubs looking to step up as professional entities, teams from Asia or the Pacific, perhaps even a renegade New Zealand team. We should keep an open mind about where teams come from. The most important criteria would be that their financial backing be solid and committed for the long term.
People will say Australia doesn’t have the player depth for that many teams, which is true. Fortunately, the global player pool is large, and there are good players from a number of countries who struggle to get professional opportunities due to protectionist recruitment policies.
The solution would be to increase the import quota for each team, and not just for young uncapped players the Wallabies can potentially poach after three years. More international diversity in each squad would give this new competition a global feel without the need to fly over the Indian Ocean.
There is no doubt that going off on our own would be a risk, but the potential benefits are substantial.
Australian rugby would produce significantly more content valuable to broadcasters, and would have control over its scheduling as the other codes do now. At least one or two matches could be shown on free-to-air every weekend, while an NBA style digital pass subscription could provide access to all matches online.
The certainty of scheduling would also mean big annual events could be created around special occasions like Anzac Day and Easter.
When the New Zealand Rugby Union ultimately come back to us with their tail between their legs, we could in time create a competition to rival the NRL and AFL. This would secure the future of a sport that is currently reliant on the success of its national team. A team that only plays six games a year in Australia and only once, or at most twice, in each major market.
Super Rugby in its current form, and especially in its proposed new form, is like a chain around the neck of Australian rugby. Future freedom is risky, but a single day of freedom is worth more than a lifetime in chains.
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.