Does Melbourne Rebels owner Andrew Cox believe he can become Super Rugby’s Billy Beane?
That’s just about the only way I can digest his assertion that the ARU must open Australia’s borders so he can fill his franchise with foreigners.
Bill Pulver wants to make Australian rugby great again; Cox wants to start filling up the Rebels’ trophy cabinet.
It seems a bit rich given that the ARU’s rule – that Australia’s five Super Rugby teams are allowed to sign two foreign players to their squads – was in place well before Cox took the financially-strained club into private hands in 2015.
It’s a bit like the couple that buy the inner-city terrace a few doors down from the gritty pub that’s hosted live music for years and then proceed to whinge when they move in that it’s too loud.
It’s particularly odd given the rule has been relaxed for the Rebels and Western Force, who have both been given foreign player exemptions because they’ve struggled to consistently match it with the competition’s top end since their inceptions.
In the Super Rugby era, there’s always been an element of player market manipulation given one of the ARU’s chief objectives is to produce a top-shelf Wallabies outfit.
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Nonetheless, Cox made a significant investment via Imperium Sports Management almost two years ago and he deserves the opportunity to campaign for structural changes. His proposition is arguably incongruous to the goals of the ARU, although he argues that more competitive teams will grow rugby participation “which ultimately is what everyone wants”.
So Cox believes the ARU are pulling the handbrake on franchises by severely limiting how many overseas players can be part of their squads.
“We need five teams in Australia but there shouldn’t be limits on who you can employ. We are a professional competition that is supposed to be delivering for our fans and members,” Cox said three weeks ago.
“If that means we have 50 per cent of our guys from overseas, then so be it.”
Let’s put aside the debate about what the foreign player quota should be and for now try to imagine the hypothetical in which Cox got his way: the Rebels have got a $5 million salary cap to spend amongst about 37 players in their squad, with up to half of those allowed to be foreign players.
Is his argument a red herring, designed to distract from the Rebels’ flops? They’ve finished between 10th and 15th in their six seasons since 2011. They’re winless this season, including a couple of beltings in the opening two rounds.
Or is there some legitimacy to his argument?
Where does his recruitment team look?
Let’s stay close to home. New Zealand? Who are the players putting up their hands there? Well not current All Blacks, who as it stands automatically become ineligible for the national team if they play outside New Zealand. It’s fair to say that the lure of snaring an All Blacks jersey would keep another 40 of the next-best players anchored in New Zealand.
Perhaps the type of acquisition that could prove fruitful would be a player like Jason Woodward. The fullback and winger couldn’t get a contract with any of the five Kiwi Super Rugby franchises, so moved to the Rebels in 2013.
He was brilliant for two seasons before he felt he’d pushed himself into contention to chase his All Blacks dream and returned home with the Hurricanes.
Anyone else in New Zealand? Perhaps Cox would be hoping to lure a big-name ex-All Black as a marquee signing. Spend big on someone who’s content to move on after racking up 60-plus Tests for the ABs. Dan Carter? Conrad Smith? Ma’a Nonu?
Crowds, memberships, sponsorships would surge, right? They’d win games and young Aussie players would get plenty out of it. But in reality, there’s no way the Rebels can compete with the money in Europe. It’s not going to happen. Carter’s 1.65 million euros a season would almost take up half of the Rebels’ salary cap.
Someone like four-Test All Blacks halfback Alby Mathewson gave the Force a fair bit of spark for a few seasons, but is he the calibre of foreigner that Cox is searching for? Maybe.
What about raiding South Africa’s ranks?
SA Rugby recently implemented their own version of ‘Giteau’s Law’, meaning the Springboks selectors can only select overseas-based players who have more than 30 international caps.
Like the ARU did for the Wallabies, the policy is aimed at protecting the domestic game. However, the mass exodus has been to Europe and Japan in recent years. The Rebels wouldn’t be able to compete financially for the top echelon of Springboks – players of the ilk of Bryan Habana, Willie Le Roux, Ruan Pienaar, Francois Louw, Bismarck du Plessis and Duane Vermeulen.
Jacques Potgieter at the Waratahs was a very astute signing but Sarel Pretorius and Hendrik Roodt didn’t work out. The value-for-money South Africans would be hard to find.
England? Like the All Blacks, Englishmen can’t pull on the Red Rose if they’re plying their trade overseas (unless in extenuating circumstances). So you’re similarly already looking at recruiting outside the top 70 players in England who are in or on the verge of the national squad.
There certainly seems to be a glut of classy wingers in England. Or perhaps the Rebels might like the look of some top-notch Premiership props who could dominate at scrum time.
France? The euro is way too strong. They’re having their issues financially – mostly in Paris – but the chances of enticing a Freddie Michalak to the Rebels is minimal and not worthwhile. Clement Poitrenaud got a gig at fullback this season in Durban with the Sharks, but the former French international is 34 years old.
Given the European cash is so plentiful, it’s logical to assume that not too many from Wales, Scotland or Ireland would be Melbourne-bound.
What about Argentina? Tomas Cubelli was a standout for the Brumbies, and he mostly signed because he’s often the No.2 halfback for Argentina and was potentially going to be starting on the bench for the Jaguares. No doubt Cubelli’s signing was shrewd, despite his serious injury this pre-season. Like England, maybe the value in Argentina is in the tight five – particularly the front-rowers.
The best region I’d say for value recruitment is the Pacific Islands. A lot of Fijians, Tongans and Samoans have come through the Australian and New Zealand Super Rugby systems to play for the Wallabies – Henry Speight, Sefa Naivalu and Taqele Naiyaravoro – or All Blacks – Malakai Fekitoa, Seta Tamanivalu, Waisake Naholo and Sitiveni Sivivatu.
For nations with relatively tiny populations, we all know the huge talent that springs from the region. Their best are nearly always their outside backs.
So maybe it’s possible. It’s more than a little rudimentary but throw in some Argentinian and English front-rowers, toss in a few tough up-and-coming Taranaki locks, add some (more) Fijian flyers and you’re getting close to your foreign quota.
If given the chance, Cox and the Rebels could play a kind of Moneyball and attempt to pull off what Beane did at the Oakland Athletics with an inspired scouting program. Their current five-eighth, 22-year-old Kiwi Jackson Garden-Bachop, is already perhaps a testament to their resourcefulness.
However would that be enough to turn the Rebels around?
Crowd numbers, memberships, corporate support and sponsorships are much more likely to take off with big-name recruits, but the top-tier players in the global player market are either committed to their national teams or banking pounds and euros.
So being able to pump up the Rebels’ squad with 50 per cent overseas players without those top-shelf foreign marquee signings and expect a sizeable improvement is, to me, far fetched. There’s too much risk before you get the Potgieters and Cubellis.
Let’s not build a wall, but the biggest asset for the Rebels and indeed all of the Australian Super Rugby clubs is still the lure of the Wallabies jersey. It looks likely Australia will be down to four franchises shortly anyway. Then we will make the Wallabies great again!
Zero Gain
Guest
Nicholas gives figures that represent the market power of rugby in Australia. It shows clearly that we cannot compete for international top quality players in terms of $. So we shouldn't try to. We should acknowledge where we stand and develop our own domestic competition using the SR teams as the basis. A strong domestic competition at the top of rugby in this country would be hugely successful. Get out of SR. NZ are dominating to the extent that it is now a waste of time to be involved. Every loss hurts the game in this country. We have four strong codes to contribute players to, not one. Our rugby landscape will never be the same or even similar to NZ. There are plenty of Kiwis on here with all the answers (and a few regulars with a good boot to the guts while they do it). We should ignore them and go our own way. As if there could really be any other solution.
Zero Gain
Guest
We develop players for four codes, not one.
baz
Guest
Imported players works well in the big bash it increases the knowledge base of the younger players as well.
Kevin Higginson
Guest
Totally agree, but who is going to pay, as the unions have a different agenda,con that they need own players to develop. The only way this wil happen is if the 5 unions create a private company with special funding from WR, for PI players. The big issue is how the competition is seen. Is it a top level competition that gets great viewing figures, or is it a development competition for SANZAAR unions. If it is the latter,Then it should just be a Champions League type comp,cwhere teams qualify from own domestic leagues. If it is the other, then the unions need to actively look for private investment to bring in the funds to keep the best players in the competition.
FunBus
Roar Rookie
Haven't you heard, HE? Not only is Melbourne the 'sporting capital of the world' but the cultural, culinary, and social centre of the universe. It is the shining city on the hill that us poor benighted poms and other Europeans can only dream of reaching. Every day there are heart-rending scenes of poor, desperate immigrants trying to strap themselves to the fuselage of aircraft bound for Oz from London and Paris.
NaBUru38
Guest
Australian and New Zealand teams should be allowed to sign any number of Pacific Islands players, without requiring them to change nationality.
Old Bugger
Guest
You still didn't answer the issue about what happened once Fitzy and the ABs, re-signed with the NZRU. Your explanation, skirts around the issues that were dominant at that particular time - will the '95 ABs and Boks follow suit with all the '95 Aussies, who had signed. The time in question was who, were in SA, for the RWC comp because, all this signing action, was predicated on what would be the outcome of, those signatures from the BAs and the Boks. John Kirwan...hello - he wasn't even a member of the '95 AB team. Sorry but you are barking up the wrong tree, on this matter.
Nicholas Bishop
Expert
Nick you will be glad to see that Lancaster has extended his deal with Leinster till 2019. I work with him Bakkies, so I'm fully aware of the options - believe me his stock is high and there were a number of attractive possibilities in both hemispheres. Atm we are more concerned that the work we have done on the game with Wasps this afternoon pays off :)
soapit
Guest
they arent no 1 in league any more. that little blip has passed and have lost now three in a row after their historic high
soapit
Guest
in fact it is (was) 38% of nrl players have polynesian heritage. australia would have fair claims to a fair chunk of that.
Oblonsky‘s Other Pun
Roar Guru
Jacko, it unfortunately doesn't shock me in the slightest either that a great player can make a poor coach or that a former great player is promoted above better coaches as soon as they retire, based purely on their playing history. Having grown up playing tennis, and now coaching tennis myself I have seen it from both sides. As a player and coach I have seen better and more experienced coaches fired or moved sideways/downward to accommodate former players who were moved straight to head coaching positions as soon as they started coaching just because they were in with the old boys club. As a player I experienced it first hand and let me tell you, it really isn't good for your abilities when you have a great coach who is doing a good job with you and then, suddenly, the next day you're being coached by some bloke who used to be a professional but is hopeless at coaching and communicating. Often, the better the player was the worse they are at coaching. This is because the very good players often possess abilities far in excess of their students, therefore, the things they suggest are simply not achievable by their students. Another big part of coaching is communication, and this is something that new coaches really struggle with as well - how to communicate something you know intuitively to people who may not realise. That being said I have seen coaches improve before my eyes and hope Larkham will do the same. I still maintain that the Wallabies are attacking well under Larkham, and I think he is doing significantly better with the Brumbies this year than he was last year when you consider the pool of players he had last year and the players he has this year. I agree though that he hasn't had to ply his trade for long enough.
Bakkies
Guest
Due to the exodus of Welsh capped players to England and France the regions have been forced to blood youngsters. It will serve Wales in good stead. Ospreys have been competitive in the league bar last season. They just haven't had been able to get the job done in Europe. Leinster have shown to the Ospreys that you can do it in Europe with a batch of youngsters coming through. Dan Biggar has played close to 200 games for the Ospreys at the age of 27 and scoring over 2,000 points. Sam Davies is heading down that road too. He has already racked up over 90 appearances and 500 plus points at 23. The lack of buying in stars has given more opportunities for these players in such a key position. Nick you will be glad to see that Lancaster has extended his deal with Leinster till 2019.
Bakkies
Guest
The Boks along with the Wallabies did sign with WRC. Tiaan Strauss, Garrick Morgan, Pieter Muller, John Kirwan, Marc Ellis, John Timu, Vaig'aa Tuigamala signed with league clubs while Lomu was showered with helicopter rides to join them. In Wales Scott Quinnell, Alan Bateman, Alan Tait, Scott Gibbs and many more had English Super League clubs. John Smit's excellent interview with Francois Pienaar is up on You Tube. Pienaar states that the Transvaal players were talking about a strike and weren't happy with the conditions they were playing in. Louis Luyt was a big player in forming the professional Super 12 and Tri Nations under the Sanzar umbrella.
Whakaata
Guest
Maybe it's time to start looking at allowing more Australian players to play in the Mitre 10 Cup teams, or even admit a couple of teams to the competition. Although this would cause huge issues in its own right as undoubtedly NZ Provinces would have to disappear for it to happen. Although I could not see the likes of Northland, Hawkes Bay or Southland, for example being too excited about relegation to the Heartland competitions to accommodate Australian teams. if it were to happen it could be a good vantage point to test the waters on the reality and viability of a TT comp.
Whakaata
Guest
I love the rules that the NZRU has in place, it keeps NZ rugby strong and that is their ultimate and No1 aim.
Whakaata
Guest
I totally disagreee. Why has Australia not developed any players in 20 odd years of Super Rugby? Why should the NZRU change their rules to save the bacon of the ARU who has screwed them at every opportunity in recent years. 2003 World Cup and 2011 World Cup are two prime examples. The NZRU and the All Blacks are a very fine tuned organisation and team, the best rugby team on the planet and they have been for arguably 100+ years, There is a reason why the All Blacks and Kiwis are so successful and that is because they have a solid support base from grassroots right through to the top tier. It is laughable at best that Australian fans want to keep five teams yet want to fill up to 50% of those teams with foreigners. Here's an idea cut a team regroup and play some decent rugby on the pitch. Why should NZRU weaken their stocks to save Australian rugby AGAIN...
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
To be honest sheek, the English football team has not been let down so much by lack of available talent on the pitch but more by it's consistently shocking choice of management over the years. Maybe Eddy's next assignment .....
jay-c
Guest
If the alternative to dropping an aussie team is filling one with 50 % foreigners then they can at least try it until the next broadcast deal. Australia cant support 5 teams, there is simply not enough quality players to go around. I'd be happy to see this tried, but the only viable option after that is a merger.
Animal
Guest
Watching the highlanders intercept try against the rebels and all the performances of australian franchises so far the richie mccaw documentary should be compulsory viewing for all australian players. Hard to say this but his attitude and responses are instructive.
Old Bugger
Guest
Yeah - the competitiveness is a bit of the same in both codes where the winners of late, come from a handful of countries, if that.....but, 50 odd years and still counting, is a long, long time between drinks for the England football side, won't you say...??