Players' Association backs push for ARU special meeting

Exactly. The ARU are in a two way arm wrestle and potentially could loose both wrestles.

And that means what? Just because no one puts their name to it dosent mean it's false.

@TWAS, a sold out Lions tour tells me that rugby supporters value rugby's traditions. A Lions Tour is a gift from the rich heritage of rugby's amateur days. Test match rugby and tours, the bread and butter of the amateur days, are great things. They ought to be nurtured. But thanks to the ARU and Sanzaar, Bledisloe tests in Australia no longer sell out. Wallaby home tests no longer sell out. No one knows where SR teams come from, or how the ladder works. Super Rugby matches are played in half-empty stadiums. How many did the Brumbies get to the only Australian finals match last year? Please find the figure for me, and tell me if it's good enough? TV audiences are in terminal decline. Audiences do not give a toss if 'rebels from somewhere unspecified' play 'kings of somewhere unspecified', at 3am. As the TV audience dwindles, how will that work out for Sanzaar and the ARU come broadcasting rights negotiation time? Rugby in Australia needs a new plan.

Well the aru is saying nothing and seem to have back tracked on their original intent - The Force are saying something and backing it up with court action if required - given they were a party to the contract and no doubt have a copy - surely what they are saying and their actions are against the background of the provisions of that Contract...- hardly hypothetical - and we know which side has change its plans, delayed decisions, back tracked, and how can you say you take no side - you are the master / mistress of the aru disinformation campaign... you and your colleagues in the media group...

The ARU have no credibility and a proven record of incompetence. It doesn’t look like they have any good ideas either. Replace "ARU" with "The Force" and that statement would be entirely accurate too. Prior to 2010 you could have used "QRU" also. If you blank out about 4 years you still can in fact.

The ARU have no credibility and a proven record of incompetence. It doesn't look like they have any good ideas either. The ARU media policy: It is better to keep silent and appear a fool then to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Sure, we don't know for certain what is in any of the contracts and I concede that if a cut is going to be made it will be based on the weakest contract or the easiest payout. It is what is done with the void afterwards that is important, and we as supporters need to know our future as well. If they don't figure it out and soon, the ARU will start to get packages filled with burned Wallabies jerseys and Foxtel will be hit with subscription cancellations on mass.

And the professional tour is hardly different to the annual EOYT's that the Wallabies, Springboks and All Blacks do. Or the June tours the NH nations do for that matter.

That Brits love travelling to support a major event.

My view is that we don't know what's there, so take neither side on this matter. Hardly hypothetical.

And the ARU seem to think they can cut them. That view would be based on their knowledge. So we know nothing other than each side believes they are right.

Well twassie if the Force are saying it is based on being guaranteed to 2020 that view would be based on their knowledge of the Agreement - for you to say otherwise is (aru based) arrogance. You say you know nothing about the agreement so their position stands as it is based on their knowledge of their Agreement - yours does not so it is a nothing comment designed to further obfuscate and excuse the aru position.. ... or lack of... So your view is the hypothetical, glass houses - stones..

Interestingly, this year, all the buzz and anticipation in rugby is about the B&I Lions tour of NZ. Stadiums sold out months in advance. This is a product from the amateur days. What does that tell you?

Collectively we know nothing. None of us have any idea what clauses are included in the Alliance Agreement for example. Or what the details of it actually are. But you are happy to take the view that it says the Force are guaranteed until 2020, based on the Force saying they are. But you don't even know what basis they have for this. The collective "we" does not know better. They are just rambling on based on legal positions that are all hypothetical.

He has an aru media research team behind him beavering away in the back office.

I was about to blow the whistle on that cynical comment, but you might not be far off the mark. They need to factor that into Cox's payout. (Or to the WA government's)

This is a forum of opinion, ideas and free speech. I respect your right to disagree. In my opinion the ARU are not managing this situation well, and we can't assume that they have any idea what they are doing, so, like out of form players, we should look to alternatives to win the game. The collective "we" know enough about the contracts with the the franchises to know that there would be legal problems. Why didn't the ARU take the time to have a lawyer read them before agreeing. As to the damages to the Force and the Rebels and most likely the Wallabies while they sit in a holding pattern, this is unforgivable. So given that the ARU are failing and that the collective "WE" know better, why shouldn't "WE" suggest ideas as well. Maybe, just maybe, this forum gets read by someone in the ARU tasked to fix this mess. You are rumored to be an ARU plant to calm the masses, if you are, take some ideas back to head office, throw them against the wall and see if any of them stick. If they don't, explain the genuine barriers, bring them back here and we will fix them, free of charge and for the benefit of all rubykind. The ARU and SANZAAR should be bouncing around ideas like these anyway. If the are not, they should be sacked. If they are, they should make it public to quell the mob. It will go a long way to convince us to put down our pitchforks and torches. I think the players group are asking for this too.

The domestic derbies happen in NZ and SA as well, so structurally there is little change. SA are dropping 2 teams so i would think they would be well on-board with the idea. I can't see the Kiwi's complaining, they will win it anyway, SANZAAR can suck it, they need to be part of the solution as well this is, after all their mess to clean up.

But that doesn't mean they will grow to the critical mass needed. You know what can help you achieve big % growth? Having a small based to grow from. If we think it is sustainable then great. But there's a chance it may also stay ACT size. I'm all for the concept of 5 teams because the more Australian rugby the better. But not the claim that cutting one is cutting a future powerhouse based on their growth rates now.

Yet WA and Victorian Markets are growing... There has to be a better way!

SA has greater loss of talent issues and economic issues which are affecting them much more. We are struggling because our teams are (for example around the Reds success we actually saw improvements briefly). Having the two biggest bases (QLD and NSW) struggling is diabolical for Aus Rugby in that regard.