Last week The Sydney Morning Herald reported that ARU chair Cameron Clyne hinted that if the ARU was legally unable to axe an Australian Super Rugby franchise, he would resign his position.
Clyne’s reasoning was that he couldn’t see how Australian rugby is to sustain five Super Rugby teams.
This strengthens a suspicion that I have held for some time, that Clyne has never really been committed enough to do this job. An individual as accomplished as Clyne should not be throwing his hands up and saying “I’m out of ideas” after only a year and a half in the role.
Only Clyne knows the truth as to his level of commitment, but if he isn’t 100 per cent committed to making Australian rugby great again, he should resign. Regardless of whether or not the ARU succeeds in cutting a team. That way another leader who is willing to do the job can be found.
Despite Clyne’s apparent view that a five-team ARU would be unsalvageable, there have been other good ideas about how Australian rugby might dig itself out of this quagmire.
Another SMH article that jumped out at me recently quoted Owen Finegan describing the recent Scotland victory over Australia as being an example of a “champion team defeating a team of champions”.
It is a wildly used philosophy, but Finegan deserves great credit for highlighting it in the Australian rugby context at this time. Because despite the availability of some extremely well paid ‘champion’ players in the Wallabies, Reds and Waratahs, none of those teams are performing very well.
In fact, the Brumbies and Force, who this year had rosters that were quite bereft of big, established names, came first and second in the Aussie conference this year. These two teams exemplified the ‘champion teams beat teams of champions’ philosophy.
They were well drilled in the non-negotiable basics of rugby of defence and set piece, while playing with superior passion than Queensland and NSW. These are things that the players of those teams can be proud of, but even more so the coaching staff who made the difference.
This all begs the question, if paying ‘champion’ players like Israel Folau, David Pocock, Will Genia, Michael Hooper, Bernard Foley, Karmichael Hunt and Quade Cooper big dollars isn’t working, why are the ARU, Reds and Waratahs still doing it. Why aren’t they concentrating on hiring and training good coaches?
(AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
In a recent article, Peter Fitzsimmons eloquently stated what Australian Rugby’s response should be to players who demand salaries which the code cannot afford (without compromising the grassroots rugby).
“If the Australian game can’t afford you, so be it. We’ve still got enough cash to shout you a taxi to the airport,” he wrote.
Given we know that top players are now earning up to one million dollars a year, what if the ARU and Super teams put a figure on Fitzsimmons’ suggestion and said to the top players ‘If half a million dollars a year plus endorsements isn’t enough for the privilege of playing rugby for your country, then see you later’?
Given that axing a Super Rugby team is estimated to save about $6 million a year, surely capping salaries for the top players in this fashion would be getting close to saving a similar amount?
In practice this approach reminds me of the Bledisloe match in Brisbane in 2012, when Robbie Deans’ injury ravaged Wallabies, captained by soon-to-retire Nathan Sharpe, took the All Blacks to an 18-all draw. A Wallabies supporter made the comment on the way out: “The All Blacks should have flogged ’em, they were a bunch of no names led by a has been”. So clearly the Wallabies can still do well if well coached.
As such I’d rather send out teams with the likes of Sean McMahon, Liam Gill, Jono Lance, Dane Haylett-Petty and Joe Powell than Folau, Pocock, Hooper, Genia and Foley. As long as the bloke in the glass box had superior coaching smarts to our current crop of coaches.
Of course, the star players would be more than welcome to stick around if they were prepared to take the haircut, but what is certain is that Australian rugby can’t continue to compromise every other aspect of the game to keep them here.
So there you go Clyne (or whoever replaces him), Aussie rugby doesn’t have to be a basket case if we keep five teams, it just requires you to be open to different ideas.
Personally, the mantra ‘champion teams rather than teams of champions’ is the idea that I hope Aussie rugby takes on sooner rather than later.
Jock Cornet
Guest
Let's face it if you can't tackle you ain't a professional. Qc, KB and Folau are terrible
Pete
Guest
Great article, I couldn't agree more and the experience of most people who've played the game would support your theme.
Bakkies
Guest
They won't have leverage if the players walk.
You could just have said, another example, but yeah.
Of course, always a 1 up by a New Zealand team, lets scratch the achievement of Ackerman and his boys ;)
Kashmir Pete
Roar Guru
Dustbin One of the wisest teachings: 'suspend assumptions'...checked your IQ lately? Cheers KP
Paul D
Roar Rookie
With facts like that you should apply for the role of Media Advisor in the White House
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
Cornflakes are orange and crunchy. Your statement is a diversionary tactic to obfuscate the argument and has as much relevance as mine above. Fact: The Tahs got extra money to buy/keep talent.
piru
Roar Rookie
Nick Cummins has never been known for his football again, incorrect.
John R
Roar Guru
I went to high school with Ma'a, and no one ever thought he would ever amount to much aye, in terms of rugby success that is. Massive hungus, and always dropped the ball. To the point he was nickname Ma'a Ba'a fingers. If anyone from out first 15 was going to make it, it was our halfback Pemerika, but lo and behold, a couple of years out of school, and Ma'a is in the Hurricanes, and goes on to become a 100+ capped All Black! Wee bit of a random story, but hey there ya go.
bill
Roar Rookie
these two posts are the best on the string - not an ARU descision, and the right one - I loved (LOVED) super rugby in the Cau Cau days, stuck with the Reds all the way through the dire years and then Boom we won it - but lets be honest when I was a kid the Reds where the best provincial side in the world (with the Cru) since the brumbies, force, and rebels its been a slide. cut a team, improve the 4 sides that remain AND THEN do the whole champion team thing.
Markie362
Guest
I actually think nonu is an anomaly because he grew an extra leg when playing for all blacks
Gary Russell-Sharam
Guest
Could not agree more with this article. It cuts to the chase. I've always had the opinion that some wallabies are paid too much. Perhaps a results orientated payment scheme should be instigated, that might sort out the wood from the trees. I'm firmly behind Fitzsimmons' comment. There is a plethora of talent in Australian rugby that just do not get the opportunity to play at the top level with imports league crossovers and others blocking the way. Draw from within and take the long term view not the short money hungry way that is endemic throughout the top echelon of rugby. Scrap Super Rugby and go to a home and away comp with NZ and Pacific Islands. The conference system is the most pathetic system ever thought up. When all is said and done who cares now who wins. Most rugby followers are now contemplating NRC or watching to see who is going to make the league finals.
ken
Guest
^ Barrett couldn't win the BIL`S series though.His Horrendous goalkicking cost the ABS.
Marto
Guest
Sage @ When Dingo Deans kept selecting PAT " CRASH TEST DUMMY:" McCabe at 12 ( Especially in the 2011 RWC) you would expect Dingo to be hammered by many, and rightly so.. Now Pat was a lovely bloke, but fair dinkum he was an ok winger at best, nothing more ..
Hoy
Roar Guru
Thanks Sheek... perhaps poor was not a great word for Mowen, but Mowen was not first choice in the team by any stretch. Fact is, Mowen was a smart player, but strikes me as hardly the type that you would go through the pits of hell for. It is odd that they named him captain, but then refused to give him a national top up, forcing him offshore. A bit of a shame, because he probably was the smartest captain we had since Mortlock, but that also doesn't make him a great captain. Think about Moore... Possibly a good captain... but you know what bugs me? After the Irish night out under McKenzie, Moore was there saying the leadership group let the squad etc down... he was part of that leadership group, and if he was a natural leader, he would have pulled them into line. He had been there, as a strong silent type for a long time, and surely should have had standing within the group at the time? The issue seems to be no one wants to take ownership for professionalism. You would imagine it would take a strong leader to stand up to people like AAC, who I believe is/was part of a closely protected niche group. So they let the standards go... Pocock is an interesting one. I don't think he was a great captain of the Brumbies. He didn't handle refs well for some reason. Sure he stands up for things in the community, which is certainly commendable, but I think he also probably isn't the fire and brimstone captain that I think we need right now to pull everyone in and improve standards. But then looking back since the 2007 World Cup, apart from Sharpie, I can't think of a truly world class captain that we have had. A decent Leader with set standards and one that others will go the extra mile for.
John R
Roar Guru
I wouldn't be surprised if the ARU tries to drag the axing of the fifth team out until around then, would give them major leverage at the old negotiation table.
John R
Roar Guru
Classic scene. Classic scene alright. That warden was a real piece of work!
Jumbo
Guest
I think a better example would be the highlanders and their road to champions under jamie joseph. And still the culture is strong.
Slane
Guest
I'm not a Rugby person. I was born and live in Victoria. I don't really 'get' the rugby codes but can enjoy and appreciate them as the contest/spectacle that they are. I work in sporting memorabilia. I design and create the things people hang on their walls to commemorate their favourite players and teams. So while I would never try to criticize the way the Wallabies or our Super Rugby teams play, I feel absolutely qualified to speak about the popularity of the SR franchises and the SR competition itself. Super Rugby is a shambles. It is trying to be too many things: club comp, international comp and feeder league all in one. The teams aren't local enough to inspire passion in local fans whilst simultaneously not being elite/international enough to inspire the nation to get behind them. One only has to look at the failure of our state level Cricket competition to see that there isn't a market for a provincial competition in this country. Make Super Rugby a combined national club competition with New Zealand and watch the turnaround. Australia supplies the money, NZ supplies players and passion. We can create a club based competition that people care about that also exposes our(Australian) players to the best (NZ) players in preparation for representative international games.