And so in Australia the twin power-drunk dogs (ARU and SANZAAR) are being dragged along, bumping up and down behind an old ute looking to replace its drive train with something better.
The problem is that the driver doesn’t realise it is not the drive train, but the drunken dogs that are holding the ute back.
Loaded with men of business success and corporate ambition, SANZAAR was always about creating itself to be the Southern Hemisphere Master of Rugby, spreading the rugby gospel far and wide bringing in Argentina and Japan.
Assuaging their egos, the suites – with their secrecy and sense of entitlement – created the cognitively challenging and unwieldy Super 18.
SANZAAR proceeded with indecent haste and, it would appear knowingly built their strategy on a house-of-cards. Only New Zealand – from the very outset – were able display the very sound rugby infrastructure (that underpins the World Champions). Australia and South Africa not so much.
The house of cards is now unravelling into a legal and financial mess.
In the scramble to plug the holes of poor infrastructure, the ARU proceeded with the soft option of a ‘top down’ growth strategy wasting millions on rugby league recruits. They ignored the grass roots of the game in the process – which is at the core of today’s open dissent of the Rugby Clubs of Australia.
This dissent was exacerbated by Bill Pulver’s ‘clubs pissing funds up against the wall‘ throwaway line – a galling display of corporate elitism by Pulver.
It is time to take a deep breath, cut the ARU and SANZAAR adrift and allow each region to form its own competition by dividing into the Pacific and Atlantic Super Competitions.
Pacific Super Rugby could incorporate all current Australian and New Zealand Super Rugby sides plus Japan and a Pacific Island Side – a Super 12 where each side would play each other twice (home and away). With a traditional final four leading to a grand final and if that happens to be an all New Zealand show – then so be it.
The competition would benefit by not having to travel to South Africa and Argentina. Each team would have greater revenue from a guaranteed increased of home matches, providing supporters with regular product and creating the desired tribal culture in the process.
As a matter of priority the ARU is replaced by the Australian Rugby Commission (ARC). The ARC ceases the grants system. Funds are only received by team success leaving market forces to determine the financial viability of each Super Rugby franchise
The ARC’s mandate must be to promote a grass roots sustainable rugby program, to ensure Super Rugby franchises only receive team win bonuses from the ARC, to adopt a central player contracting system, develop a player draft system, build public accountability, establish business transparency and see that SANZAAR is consigned to history.
Murray Olds
Guest
True Train, but where do Wallabies start? At the junior level...I have 25 years experience of being a dad, coming up with boys playing juniors up to grade in Sydney, and that's the guts of the rugby community. These people are in despair, and have no faith in a bunch of elitist suits in St Leonards. The current stand-off over culling a team is beyond a disgrace...incompetence and arrogance in equal measures.
Old Bugger
Guest
Twas Now that, is the most straight-forward statement I have ever seen since, this unfortunate culling episode began.....reliance is not, dependant upon sustenance.
cinque
Roar Rookie
Agree in part, real head in sand stuff. Putting 5 Oz teams against 5 NZ is ignoring the reality on the ground, which won't change overnight. It would be like having 5 Japanese teams. S12 home/away round robin is too long at 22 rounds (Which needs some byes) If you want to include an Islander team while ditching the Saffas, S10 is the way to go. 5 NZ + 3 OZ, + Jap + Islanders.
Ramage
Guest
Tell me how it can be brought back into our time slot if teams are bases in NZ RSA Japan and Argentina. Isn't your request somewhat simplistic I can imagine SA teams playing morning games to fit in with OZ time frames lol
Peter N
Guest
Its you who has missed the point. The article said South African teams can play in a different competition which will reduce travelling costs and means that we don't have to watch games in the middle of the night. I agree with the article totally. However I would cater more for the real Rugby fans. Move the Melbourne Rebels to the North Sydney Bears playing at North Sydney Oval and Brookvale Oval. Change name of the Brumbies to GWS Brumbies playing at Canberra and Parramatta Stadium. Change Waratahs to East Sydney playing at Alliance and Cronulla. Put on free to air TV.
Ramage
Guest
I believe the SARU is looking at trying to get the two franchises dropped from Super Rugby into a NH competition whilst the others stay in Super Rugby..
Browny
Roar Rookie
Eric, I think that just pushes more people away to Europe, Japan and the UK where not only will they get paid 3 to 4 times more they will also have security in their contracts. This isn't so much about the top line guys as it is about the up and comers. If you're a fringe Wallaby do you take $80k PA plus performance incentives or do you take the $750k over 3 year deal you're offered elsewhere? For the incentive based approach to be financially appealing the KPI bonuses would have to be huge where you can at least reach the equivalent Pound/Yen/Euro offer otherwise you're going into a deal with substantially more risk for less reward.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
You realize he never said anything about your local junior club? He is talking about 12 Shute Shield clubs that try and run elite programs.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
It's not a binary option - Either works or doesn't. It could perform much worse. Of course it's trickle down. The top level is the only part of the game that makes money. So without it performing the best the ARU can get it, there is no money for the bottom. People need to stop talking about Soccer. It's irrelevant. It was the highest played football code here even in 2000. It just struggled to harness that soccer support for Australian domestic soccer. Rugby is nothing alike and has a similar competitor to fight.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
I think the salary cap has risen from $4M in that time to $5M. So there's $5M in Super Rugby team salaries. Then there's Wallaby salaries...
Murray Olds
Guest
Bill Pulver's offensive, elitist comment sums up what's wrong with Australian rugby now (remember, this is a country that's won two World Cups, and dud nations don't win World Cups)...the people slagged off by Pulver are the very people who created the climate that led to that success. Clubs...they grow the junior players, they run the BBQs and the water...they put the pads on the posts and mark the lines...The so-called big business gurus currently running the game would lose the keys to the gear shed. Dopes.
Uncle Eric
Guest
Seriously though TWAS, is all the money being spent on code hoppers and 'elite' players really working? Based on this year's performances one would have to say no. What we have at the ARU is essentially a gravy train for the select few and the rest can go to buggery. Money spent on growing the game at grass roots will, increase the number and quality of players, bring along more supporters and in the longer term improve Rugby as a serious sport in this country. The trickle down approach has failed disastrously, it's time the ARU recognised that and called for a whole scale review of the code a la soccer in the 90's, or whenever it was.
ScottD
Roar Guru
exactly what was $3m and $51m TWAS? Salaries or funding to SR clubs? I didn't think the salary cap had moved much in that time and if it's the funding to SR teams who has it gone too?
Train Without A Station
Guest
Wish for something easier to achieve than the Rebels staying injury free mate. Maybe world peace!
Deano
Guest
@Unanimous "It is missing critical features of a successful league – no equal access to players, no competition wide salary cap, strange sharing of revenue, a short season, an interupted season, no coordination of marketing, matches at all hours of the night and day, strange competition format, national top ups concentrating talent in some teams, etc." I've seen people miss the point before...but not this bad. Super rugby is an INTERNATIONAL competition-- how on earth could there be "equal access to players"? How could there be a "competition-wide salary cap"? The countries have different currencies, the cost of living is different. A "short season". The season is longer than it used to be; there are Test matches and domestic competitions to also fit in. "matches at all hours of the night and day." I admit you've stumped my there. Maybe SANZAAR could persuade the South Africans to play their matches in the morning for your convenience?
Ramage
Guest
This conference system was pushed by former Oz CEO O'Neill and unfortunately accepted by SA & NZ. He claimed Australia by playing each other twice in the preliminary rounds would bring in greater crowds and help OZ rugby. We have seen that the level of OZ Super teams has fallen and so much that there is no real interest apart from rusted on Union supporters and the fact the Oz teams have not had success on the field there has been a further fall off in support. The introduction of this conference system has been a disaster and once again O'Neill's judgement has been found wanting. We now have a competition where one Sth. African conference does not play any Oz teams and the other any NZ teams. Oz teams get a home play off no matter how far down the table they appear. This is a joke and Australians know it.
Steve Wright
Guest
That's all in accord with the Liberal? Party in power? in Canberra at present.Incoherent lunatics in charge. Poor old rugby.
Train Without A Station
Guest
It's not a solution. We would just lose all decent players. How would you like it if your employer left your salary up to the performance of not just you, but also 22 other people?
Unanimous
Guest
It's not an Australian idea. It's standard practice for group and conference systems. It's even part of the world cup. I don't like it either, but if you don't know where things come from don't talk please.
Unanimous
Guest
There would be zero any teams left.