With the impending demise of one our Super Rugby teams all but decided, the question is now which team should go.
I generally like to be short, sharp and straight to the point so I will be.
The Australian Super Rugby team that should be cut is the Melbourne Rebels.
There are several reasons that make this decision the correct one.
The first reason being is they have not captured the imagination of the Melbourne/Victorian public, including a large majority of the rugby playing fraternity.
This is primarily due to the fact that many, many of the rugby playing and supporting fraternity are Kiwi ex-pats, people from NSW or QLD, and Pacific Islanders. They support their own teams such as the Crusaders, Waratahs or Hurricanes, for example.
Another major reason is that initially the Rebels were very good at getting involved with Victorian Rugby and local clubs in and outside of Melbourne. This all but disappeared after the first year.
The Rebels became solely focused on themselves and forgot about the rugby population in Victoria. The Conversion for Clubs was a good initiative but it was primarily run by Rabodirect, not the Rebels – they went with it as they were bound by the sponsorship agreement – but once Rabo pulled the Conversions for Clubs and eventually ceased the sponsorship there was nothing done by the Rebels to replace it.
Perhaps a sheer lack of funding was the culprit, as investment into the Dewar Shield and other comps has been minimal at best.
Further to this is that as many people have pointed out many people in Victoria still get league and union confused – it’s all rugby, they simply do not care about the Rebels. How do I know this? I lived and played rugby in Victoria for several years and my former club won Conversions for Clubs two years in a row, and I saw first hand how interested the Rebels were with it.
Another argument against their inclusion is that a couple of years ago when more local derbies and games against New Zealand teams were announced, the Rebels were very happy. Why? Not because they had more local derbies but because they stated that their best crowds were against NZ sides.
This was a short term growth strategy – relying on growing and getting exposure through fans of other clubs – more people were going to a Rebels vs Crusaders game to watch the Crusaders!
Another note to add onto this point is that several sponsors look at the Rebels as a way of getting exposure in the South African and NZ markets as opposed to Australia, again purely because the market in Australia does not watch and engage with the Rebels.
Another valid reason is that the Rebels have lost vast amounts of money over the years and have not been able to secure a major sponsor for the past couple.
If the Rebels were going to work they would have worked by now. Their recruitment has been poor with vast amounts of money wasted on ‘stars’ that were not interested in the club and the talent coming through is predominantly coming from external sources.
They have a private owner now, but they were under private ownership when they started and they were eventually handed back to VRU, who did not have the resources to run an organisation as large as the Rebels, so the ARU took over until another owner was found.
It was simple business that led the Rebels to be sold in the first place, it will eventually be simple business again that will see the ownership change again.
There are other reasons that I could list but I believe that the former are the main reasons, in my opinion, that place the Rebels at a greater disadvantage than the other teams at risk of being cut in the Brumbies or Force.
Others have suggested on this site that a merger between the Brumbies and the Rebels could be a way to save both clubs history and I believe that has merit if it is done correctly.
For what it is worth, I am actually a Rebels fan, I go to their games when I can (I now live in NSW) and I have the merchandise and I watch them whenever they play. But I am also a rugby fan and if the reality is that Australia has to drop a team than I feel the best team to drop that will have the most positive effect on rugby in this country is unfortunately the Rebels.
I have written this based on the fact that it has been decided that a Aussie team will be cut, not because I agree with a team being cut. I just hope a decision is made quickly and the decision is well thought for what is in the best interest of rugby, not money!
Lincoln Lense
Guest
Cut the Force and sooner rather than later. They are a failure to Australian rugby fans with nothing to show in over 10 years of being propped up by the code. You put their players in a different state/jersey and I guarantee you'll get a better result
Piru
Guest
There's no need to cut a Aussie team. All are better sides than the Sunwolves or Jaguares. I will say this, if the Force go, WA will have a new NRL team within a year, all the expatriate Force fans will go back to supporting their home nations and the last ten years will have come to nought. You think any of us are going to support an Eastern side against our homes? Nope, if the Force go, I'm back to wearing red and black and to hell with Australian rugby
Piru
Guest
I read this comment as The Rebs gave up another bonus point loss, as they have done since round 1.
Bakkies
Guest
It would still cost over $400 for a family of four before you look at booking match tickets, food and accommodation to go down for a match. They're dreaming to think Brumbies fans will go down for that
Nuance
Roar Rookie
Thank you
Nuance
Roar Rookie
Fingers crossed then. What do you think of that merger idea? Melbourne-based Brumbies? Wild speculation of course.
Nicolai
Guest
TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOUR OPEN LETTER!! REBELS gone, I'm gone!!!! My support and money will go back to the STORMERS and Springboks -- NOT another AUS team!!! Why will I support a team that I have NO connection with - that is what REBELS provide to me -- connection to the Wallabies!!! I do have a connection to STORMERS thou -- was born just outside of Cape Town 55 years ago!!!
Republican
Guest
......38% NRL players and growing are Kiwis ........so I have read...........
Republican
Guest
.......just mentioning this because it is important in the context of growth. The diaspora that is attracted to the code in Melbourne and Perth is derived from this cultural group almost exclusively. I would go further and say this is also the case across the nation but perhaps less in the heartlands of the game while League is also more dependant on the group as well, with 38% of the NRL represented by Kiwis alone. I suggest that the code does not represent multi cultural Australia which is its achilles heel. This deceptively inflates the true state of the game in terms of offering home grown names for the Rebs. It remains an intensely cloistered code in Melbourne culturally speaking to my mind. No offence intended.
Republican
Guest
.....cheap flights with Tiger are now available between canberra and Melbourne, while flying takes you in a straight line to Melbourne across the high country, rather than going north to head south by road only takes 45 mins.
Republican
Guest
.......to move them to Melbourne would be just as harmful.
scottd
Guest
I stand corrected mate :) In WA that is an afternoon stroll
col in paradise
Guest
agree totally...well written
col in paradise
Guest
yep..as a Brumbies man I don't mind that as a option.....strengthens both the Super Rugby and the NRC..which is where the ARU has to focus more..and maybe some free to air arrangement if they want to grow the game...sometime you got to spend (revenue) money to make (revenue) money..one thing Canberra and Melbourne have in common is beating Sydney at anything !!!!
col in paradise
Guest
they should be cutting the Sunwolves...but that is definetly about the money - no real reason they should be in the Comp from a standard perspective..and although I love Argentinian rugby also wonder about gtheir inclusion if costs and the draw are the main problems facing the competition..aslo its virtually a National side so what's the point....lets play more actual Tests against them instead of having them in the Super
Nuance
Roar Rookie
There's quite a few people on here - including this author - saying they are a Rebels fan but agree it should be THEM being cut. That's an oxymoron - one cancels the other out. You can't be both! I agree with a couple of other comments that we are all lying down and taking the fact that an Aussie team must be cut as a fait de compli. Limp as wet lettuce IMO. It should be the Sunwolves & Jaguares that go. Treat it as a failed experiment and move on. The Sunwolves could actually greatly dent the appetite for rugby in Japan pre RWC and the Jag's play like the ball is covered in stinging nettles. Why is it up to us to 'globalise' the game anyway? It was their inclusion that forced the utterly incomprehensible conference system in the first place. The dagger to the heart of Super Rugby. Rugby in Australia can only recover with a strong Wallabies team. A team that beats everyone else and pushes the ABs hard and even wins once and a while. The only way to enable that is to have the best pool of players possible for Cheik to choose from here in AU. Axing teams has the absolute opposite effect. Forcing even more offshore to become ineligible. Madness! So the Kiwis are uphappy at the lack of competition for their teams. I can tells ya. There's something they hate more than winning. That's LOSING! So why further cement the lack of success for the Wallabies against them by throttling our Super pathways. ********************************************* I've done an Open Letter to Bill Pulver & the ARU as a blog post yesterday if of interest > https://thirtysummers.com/open-letter-to-bill-pulver/
gatesy
Roar Guru
I'm with you, there, Sheek.
Bakkies
Guest
'However as the closest team to the Melbourne market the Brumbies could make some use of that ' Close as an you have to drive 8 hours to get to Melbourne. Still the cheapest way to travel from Canberra to Melbourne. Flights are exorbitant in cost despite less than a hour flight time. Why would Brumbies fans purchase season ticket memberships? Canberra is nowhere close to the Melbourne market. In the words of the great Daryl Kerrigan to the people who suggest the Brumbies play games in Melbourne, 'tell em they're dreaming.'
Browny
Roar Rookie
I think it's widely accepted now that the Big Bash does very well for television, hence the planned expansion for more teams, games and content.
Browny
Roar Rookie
The best numbers I could find was that the average home crowd for the Brisbane Lions in 2016 was 17,074 while the Queensland Reds had an average of 16,605. The Reds may draw a bigger home crowd occasionally but the Lions actually bring more people per game and substantially more per season considering they have eleven home games per season, ballpark of 41% or 55,000 people. I haven't gone delving for TV numbers but I imagine they echo a similar trend, if not greater. Brisbane has a reasonable (all things considered) supporter base in Melbourne from the clubs pre-merger history as the Fitzroy Lions. http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ta-brisbane-lions?t=A&h=H http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/australian-super-rugby-crowds-down-but-television-ratings-up-in-round-one-20170302-gupe74.html