One of the curiosities of sports organisations is the inability to see how a successful model works, and then reproduce its best features.
Nowhere is this truer than the domestic rugby model in New Zealand, which has cultivated the most successful team in the professional era.
John O’Neill spelled out the virtues of mirroring the opportunities afforded by multiple teams; the playing numbers of New Zealand and Australia were similar (and in South Africa are greater), but the difference at that stage was the numbers of teams available to realise those numbers: “You have to create the capacity and the playing numbers will come through,” the former ARU chief said in 2012.
This is certainly critical to increasing the number of elite players who appear through such opportunities, but it neglects a fundamental element of the New Zealand system. It is not simply the number of teams in play, but the distribution of talent across the teams that differentiates the models and their effectiveness.
At present, South Africa and Australia are hamstrung by the issue of player hoarding. Two or three franchises are allowed to hog the vast majority of the talent in the country, leaving the other teams quite weak. A full draft system would spread the players around more evenly, but weaken the top teams and threaten their ability to compete and win.
This is where the subtle brilliance of New Zealand’s special kind of draft becomes evident. It is not a full draft. Indeed, it is quite remarkable how writers on the subject seem unable to distinguish between a full NFL or NBA-style draft, which produces teams of equal strength, and New Zealand’s much more limited draft, which allows the strong teams to remain strong but spreads the unused extras to the other teams, improving them in the process.
In fact, most rugby writers tend to respond to the idea of the New Zealand draft as a full draft, and all arguments against it are based on that misunderstanding.
New Zealand’s draft is partial, not whole. Each team is allowed to ‘protect’ 24 players in each new phase while the rest are spread evenly around the other teams. This means strong teams get to keep the cream they produce, while the excess is passed to those that need it.
That excess is critical. A few players on the very edge of the squad make little to no difference to strong franchises, but can make significant improvements to turn weaker teams into competitive ones.
The key idea here is that, when players are stockpiled en masse in strong franchises, they are simply not used at all and often never even penetrate the squad, so their loss does not affect the strong team they leave.
Whole legions of players fester in academies or unplayed on the very edge of the squads. Given the chance, they might lead other teams to victory. Their departure would simply have no effect on a Waratahs or Stormers, a point that only New Zealand seem to have understood.
The partial draft gifts the strong sides the cream of their local produce, and even in a partial draft far more of it than they can use.
The issue is summed up in the case of Nemani Nadolo, who spent a complete season at the fringe of the Waratahs squad, where Drew Mitchell and Lachie Turner held the starting wing positions, and had to leave the country to play a good level of rugby.
And so one of the best wingers in the world was lost to Australian rugby.
With New Zealand’s partial draft, Nadolo would have been playing at the Western Force, making the difference between narrow loses and narrow victories, and a few other similar players would have made it a competitive team.
The NRC in itself will create or develop another team or two’s worth of high-quality players over the next decade, as would the Currie Cup if it had more teams. Yet this is no good if the talent produced is simply hoarded by the Waratahs or Brumbies in 50-man extended squads.
Avoiding this is precisely why New Zealand chose the partial draft in the first place.
There are other problems associated with weak teams like the Kings and Force, notably the refusal to hire better quality Australian and South African coaches working in Europe in favour of local insiders. That is the other part of the solution to the weak teams – appoint quality coaches from Europe, such as Brian Smith or Steve Meehan.
Such coaching appointments would help, but the weak teams would at least be competitive if they had greater access to better players. This is quite achievable through the partial draft.
It is also obvious. In Franz Kafka’s The Trial, Joseph K is told by a priest, exasperated at his inability to understand the obviousness of his predicament, “Can’t you see what’s right in front of you?”
New Zealand are the dominant team in the world. They use a partial draft. Surely Australia and South Africa can realise it’s a system worth adopting.
Knickradamus
Guest
Hey OB, So the initial 32 man Squad is made up of current Contracted Players, new signings external and signings from within the provincial affiliates (note this isn't the draft). This needs to be completed prior to the Super Rugby selection process (this is the draft). Anyone selected in to a Super Rugby Franchise wider training group is contracted to the NZRU for that super rugby season. This contract has a starting base of NZD40,000. On Kaine Hames being contracted by the Chiefs. I've gone back to the NZRUNZRPACBA and if he is not contracted to another Super Rugby franchise the chiefs can offer him an NZRU Interim Contract to play for the Chiefs for a specified time frame. Covering Injury is grounds for an Interim contract.
Taylorman
Guest
Yes Eagle...And it took the Crusaders for him to suddenly decide to 'apply himself'. Or after several yearsand clubs are you saying that it was 'coincidental' that the club that has a big reputation in getting the best out of players from other franchises just happened to get him when he was feeling 'up to it'...hmmm. My point was there is a difference between having potential and realising it. And the Crusaders were the only franchise to do that.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
Of course not-it was more a plea than a realistic hope.
ClarkeG
Guest
haha very good :-) but again you avoid the question. The answer is no one can stop them.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
The military, or the divine.
kingplaymaker
Roar Guru
True biltongbek, you just hope on some fundamental point they would get enough basics right so that failures elsewhere aren't as disastrous. 5-8 Super teams. 10-14 team national competition. Partial players draft in both. Quite simple three point plan.
Boomeranga
Guest
Sydney is home to 14 pro football clubs though (twice the number as NZ with a similar population) so imo a straight per capita comparison doesn't work so well. Melbourne is impressive to me In that they have 15 clubs but still regularly draw enormous crowds. It sounds like going to the footy is still a central plank of Melbourne culture where it has ceased to be so most other places.
Wal
Roar Guru
Yup was the highlight of hte year when the Age group selectors would do the rounds of club matches. I would love to have played for Canty.
Wal
Roar Guru
Tigranes the entire population of NZ is less than Sydney, Chch has less than 10% of the population of Sydney so 10,000 to a game is like 100,000 as the same %age of population turning up to watch in Sydney. This becomes more eveident as the number of home games has steadily increased each year as the competiton has expanded. Last years teams played 8 regular season home games compared to 2005 when they played 5-6. In a city of 300,000 or just over 100,000 in Dunedins case those extra 2-3 games makes a difference to the crowds.
Boomeranga
Guest
I think you're right. Every AFL trade period involves young blokes trying to be traded home, be it back to Perth or Melbourne or Adelaide. There have been big names leave big clubs as well, like Judd and Dangerfield this year.
Old Bugger
Guest
Ummm - hang on. If the 32player squad is chosen in the first draft then that becomes the squad for the comp duration. The wider training group is exactly that - a training group as part of the 2nd draft and in all likelihood, none of these selections will ever see, game time. The only draft that matters is the 32players. Now, where do the so-called selections outside of the draft, get offered any contract, as you mention in your last sentence, to play when the roster has been filled?? Case in point - the Chiefs have just announced a contract to Kaine Hames as LH prop to cover for the injured Pauli Manu. Hames was a Highlander last year and injury curtailed his season and the injury, I understand, kept him from regaining a contract this season. Now, he's a free agent and the Chiefs have hauled him in. As an aside - gees, its a lucky break for the Chiefs since Edmonds, is now out of the Landers for the season. None of the wider training crew were even considered.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
Tman, how often do you see, hear, or read about a player not understanding how good he had it until an injury or incident or something sets them on the right path? They then pull their finger out and train and apply themselves as they always should have. Train how countless people have tried to get out of them for years. But were unable to. That is Nadolo to a tea. His talent was well known. But he had no desire to apply himself. It had all come too easy as a youngster due to his size. But professional rugby is a different kettle of fish. You can only keep a player on your roster for so long based on potential talent alone, if you aren't seeing a player that cares. But 7 years of being a journeyman moving from club to club whilst overseas perhaps made him realise that he had something to give but if he wanted to actually be somebody, he needed to apply himself. Welcome to the Crusaders. No speculation here Kpm. Sheikh has it right.
ClarkeG
Guest
kpm who will stop them.
Bakkies
Guest
'Was meaning in terms of being close to your family and being able to visit regularly and easily.' As a Super Rugby player that wouldn't be at home much if they stayed in Brisbane
Bakkies
Guest
He had a different name back then and didn't train well
Bakkies
Guest
Ralph was a world legend
Knickradamus
Guest
So I read and reread the NZRU/NZRPA collective bargaining agreement and there is in fact a draft.... of sorts. Any player with a Provincial/Wider Training Group contract automatically goes into the Super Rugby Selection process. NZ So it's a 2 parter, firstly the NZ super teams finalise their 32 man squad from their 'Home Super Rugby Players'. AND THEN NZ Super teams select 5 players from the draft to become their wider training group, with preference going as follows, Home Super Franchise > Super Franchise player has played for before > Player Preference. Provincial Players can make themselves eligible or not for the Super Rugby Selection Process. Home Super Franchise is determined by a few things, Provincial Affiliation Being drafted twice by the same franchise Being contracted by a franchise for 4 consecutive years Outside of the draft, Players and Franchises regardless of provincial affiliation are free to talk contracts.
Sheikh
Roar Rookie
I think it was always acknowledged that he had potential, the problem was that his attitude at the time lead many (at both the Force and Waratahs) to believe that the potential would never be realised. Even 2nd time round at the Waratahs there were rumours of a poor attitude (although possibly caused by sitting on the bench). It only seems to be when he reached the Crusaders that he amended his ways and blossomed into the player he always could have been. Why did it take moving to the Crusaders for the change in attitude? That would be an interesting question for a sports psychologist to get to the bottom of!
Taylorman
Guest
Not really getting it are you. If his potential was known at the time he would have been placed above Mitchell and Turner because right now he is better than both. So on that basis, it couldn't have been known that he was as good as he is now.
richard
Guest
No worries Boomeranga.And we also lose a lot of these kids to European rugby as well. The realities of the modern,professional world I'm afraid.