It’s time now for Andrew Forrest to back off with his campaign to smash the ARU over its decision to axe the Western Force from the 2018 Super Rugby tournament.
Justice David Hammerschlag’s ruling to dismiss the Western Force’s appeal against an arbitration ruling in favour of the ARU is about as forthright and legally watertight as you can get in these cases.
It makes no sense for the health of rugby in Australia for Andrew Forrest to brief lawyers, as he has apparently already done, to seek leave to appeal Justice Hammerschlag’s ruling in the High Court of Australia or NSW Court of Appeal.
The effect of such an appeal will be to leave the Western Force players who will now be made offers by other Super Rugby franchises in a bind about whether to balance their playing futures and an understandable loyalty to their club on the outcome of a legal challenge that may not even be heard by the High Court.
RugbyWA needs to accept that for the time being (and this is an important consideration) the Western Force is no longer a Super Rugby franchise. It needs to tell Andrew Forrest that he should call off any High Court challenge.
We don’t know enough, either, about the plan to set up a new six-team rugby competition in the Indo-Pacific region, with a Perth-based team being a participant.
On the face of it, this looks like a top-of-the-head plan.
Would World Rugby endorse an entrepreneur setting up his own rugby tournament?
Where would he get the officials from if World Rugby and, indeed, the ARU decide not to ratify such a tournament?
What benefit would such a tournament be, anyway, to the development of the rugby code and local players in WA?
A much better plan for Forrest and RugbyWA would be to concentrate on ensuring that the Perth Spirit remain competitive in the NRC.
(AAP Image/Justin Chadwick)
From the foundation of building an NRC powerhouse in Western Australia with the Perth Spirit, RugbyWA would be in the position that the Force will come back into Super Rugby sometime in the future, especially if Andrew Forrest is prepared to put substantial amounts of money into the project.
The experience of the Lions is important to note here. This team was dropped from Super Rugby and has returned to become the leading South African franchise after its administration, coaching, selection and marketing policies were revamped significantly.
At some stage, this could happen with the Western Force if – and this is the crucial point – Andrew Forrest and RugbyWA play the game the right way.
The right way is to build RugbyWA into such a powerhouse that its inclusion in the Super Rugby tournament is a necessity for both the ARU and SANZAAR.
As an interim measure, RugbyWA should put a proposal to the ARU that the Melbourne Rebels include RugbyWA input from players and at least one “home game” in Perth for the conjoined franchise, against a South African side, each season.
All the New Zealand Super Rugby franchises include a grouping of a number of unions. There is no reason why this system shouldn’t be used, in a smaller way admittedly, in Australia, starting with the Melbourne Rebels (to be re-named The Rebels?) and RugbyWA.
As for the stoush RugbyWA and Andrew Forrest are in against the ARU. They need to understand that, for the best outcome to emerge from the whole sorry mess, the matter has to be taken away from the courts.
The reality is that for the time being, the Western Force is out of Super Rugby.
The best response to this shattering outcome is for Forrest and RugbyWA to rebuild rugby in Western Australia so successfully that the case for the Force to come back into Super Rugby is overwhelming, even for a reluctant ARU.
Tooly
Roar Rookie
Andrew Forrest and the Force didn't start this blue and they are entitled to get square with the ARU and with NSW and QLD . The other unloved the Rebels and the Brumbies are potential starters in the new competition grab them and let NSW and QLD play with themselves , they are at least good at that . There is no comparison between SA who could all opt for Europe and one club in WA the Force except that they are close to Asia and Eastern Europe . Andrew Forrest is too smart to be involved with these idiots .
Harry
Guest
The root cause of this problem remains the reality that Melbourne does not have the infrastructure and support to justify a Super Rugby team - it never has and thats despite millions being pumped in (or wasted) by the ARU. Until this is addressed and the Rebels either cut or merged with the Brumbiesn or the Force this ridiculous situation will continue. Appalling stewardship of the game from the ARU.
gatesy
Roar Guru
...or the old Indian joke: .." You say I know f**k nothing, but I tell you ... I know f**k all!.." ARU?
Olly
Guest
As I said, the Forces greatest achievement in their 12 year history is convincing the ARU to bail them out when no company or person was willing to. Not one WA company, government or person saw any value in saving the club....Not One The Perth market is small compared to Melbourne, the biggest sporting market in the country with huge sponsor, merchandise, TV etc opportunity.
scottd
Guest
Performance KPI's delivered by the WARU: Grassroots development - tick NRC performance - tick Growth in player participation - tick Financial capacity - tick Delivering new Wallabies - tick Governance - tick Clearly none of the above are what is required for a SR franchise.
Ex force fan
Guest
Spiro, with all respect the ARU and you have no right to tell Twiggy or the Force where we should spend our money. If we destroy the ARU in the process it is an added bonus. If the rugby IPL can pay more than the Wallabies to attract international stars to hype up the competition then the ARU may not to revisit their decision or even reschedule their games.
Ex force fan
Guest
Have you done the financials for the Rebels? An organization that never ever produced a surplus. There is no return there and no prospect of one in the future.
Ex force fan
Guest
Well done RahRah. I amalso sick of dole blodgers attacking those people that took a risk and tasted success in life. A real bad case of jealousy and toll popppy syndrome.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Guest
Gatesy, I may be wrong but it wasn't Mark Twain. I think it was Einstein. Mark Twain did say however: "It's not what a man doesn't know that gets him into trouble. It's what he knows for sure......... That just ain't so." Still pertinent in the current discussion.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Guest
Punishment? Nuh. An eye for an eye if practiced enough leaves everyone blind. The current ARU board may have made mistakes (like letting Cheika 'select') but they did not: - make rugby a non FTA code - declare that rugby not be put into public schools - decide that the western Sydney demographic had little access to the code (well Ealesy and Pulver phoning it in from Mosman may not be ideal) - spend all the money - send Saanzaar on an expansion binge. Try as you might you cannot blame the Board for the historical problems in Australian rugby. No doubt every one of them loves the code and wants to serve it. Talk of 'punishment' is absurd (unless we are talking about All Black cynical infringements). We need a grown up to do a SWAT analysis and get the code on FTA ...........yesterday.
RahRah
Roar Rookie
"Too many to mention", what an incredibly pathetic response Waxhead, you certainly haven't altered my suspicions of your post. I've been associated with the mining industry since 1987, and I am well aware of the highs and lows of Twiggy Forrest. Some his own doing, some not. To compare him to Nathan Tinkler is patently ridiculous as the two both personally and professionally are like chalk and cheese. If we are talking naivety, it is displayed in spades by people like yourself who think that major projects such as FMG and the technological failures of the Murrin project before it, come to fruition without problems and some form of "maneuvering". If you are so aggrieved by the mans supposed "bad behavior", perhaps you might like to forgo the financial benefits that these projects bring to an entire nation. What smacks of desperation are people like you who vacillate between ever changing sets of criteria in order to try and justify a quite clear and obvious pantomime enacted by the clowns of the NSW/QLD ARU. Nothing Forrest has done is worthy of your condemnation as being a fit and improper individual, maybe you have something against giving vast sums of money to charity?
markie362
Guest
They turned down 50 mill the peanuts
13th Man
Guest
I would love him to include a Western Sydney team to stick it right up the EARU
garryowen
Guest
From the behavior by the Clyne methinks the ARU will stop any attempt by WA Rugby to continue to use the name WESTERN FORCE as they claim the ARU bought that name when they paid for the club!!!!!
double agent
Guest
Not sure about Singapore and Malaysia but I do know Rugby is quite big in Hong Kong.
waxhead
Guest
@RahRah stop being so naive in your desperation and start doing a little reference checking on people. Reference background checking - just like we all get before we're offered any job. Do some objective background checking and you'll find many dark skeletons in Twiggy's large cupboard. I'm not gonna list them all here - not enough space. But its a basic responsibility of any governing body for anything to do comprehensive background checking on anybody making financial offers or wanting partnership. In Twiggy's case we'll find he's not a fit and proper person. Nor was Tinkler but the naive AFA gave him a club licence anyway and it was a total disaster for everyone.
olly
Guest
Asked for a criteria......that just sums it up. Criteria = be the better financial opportunity out of the two. Dumb financial deal = Continuing to fund a 12 year old team with the greatest achievement being able to convince the ARU to bail them out when not one single person or company was willing to help them at all. 10 year ROI = Invest in the biggest sporting market in Australia or Perth that at the 10 year need to be bailed out by the ARU or go bankrupt causing the ARU to breach the sanzar TV deal obligations..... Don't get me wrong, I would love to see the force still playing and 5 Australian teams doing well but that did not happen.
Nipper
Guest
so they should be good little boys and go back and play in their own sandbox, build up their NRC team, until maybe just maybe, the ARU may deign to allow them back in? Well, they won the NRC last year, so there's that. They're already way ahead of schedule according your plan, Spiro. And, what do they need to do to be granted re-entry, besides come on bended knee? Finances, performance, Wallabies, grassroots development? Who would know, as your friends in the ARU never told any of us what the criteria were. Your condescending suggestions to WA's way back into the ARU's good graces are insulting and will no doubt be disregarded. It's a sham and a con job, plain and simple. The sooner you can face up and admit that, the sooner you can begin advocating for meaningful change - starting with sacking the entire ARU board, renegotiating the SANZAAR contract and readmitting the Force.
Akari
Roar Rookie
While rugby is still a minor sport in India, it has been growing especially since it's revival by locals and expats since the 1995 RWC. It needs substantial investments to grow and could get even more stronger with a little help from the Indian Diaspora that are either playing or involved in rugby in both hemispheres. That's where the real sleeping giant is as far as rugby is concerned and they were playing rugby in Kolkata and Mumbai since the 1870s..
andrewM
Guest
I like the idea of promotion/relegation between Twiggy's comp and Super Rugby. It would be delicious to see a Wallabies-laden Tahs outfit sink to new depths. Maybe that Ignominy will finally make them play to their potential