As the magnets continue to be shuffled around different whiteboards in different countries to work out if and how and when a resumption of professional rugby might be possible for this year, attention is also being cast forward to see if workable solutions for 2021 can also be found.
‘Ambitious’ is the word often used as a prefix for the phrase “plan for 2021” at the moment, mainly because when it comes to next season, the unknowns so overwhelmingly, excruciatingly outweigh the knowns.
There is currently more chance making cooked pasta stand rigid in a pot of boiling water than there is of knowing how 2021 will play out.
Every one of the SANZAAR partners is working on solutions for their part of the landscape, and though self-interest is generally bemoaned when it comes to rugby, self-interest is pretty much all anyone has at the moment.
It’s this ‘what can we actually do?’ thinking, coupled with a reasonably well-grounded assumption that international travel won’t be available for some time and will be cripplingly expensive when it does return, that fuels the inevitable discussion about resetting and reformatting Super Rugby.
The increasingly possible ‘trans-Tasman travel bubble’ concept makes competition between New Zealand and Australian teams all the more palatable.
Where to for Super Rugby? (Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images)
Hence, the conversation goes off in that direction, and excitement builds or concerns grow accordingly.
Which then prompts statements like we saw from SANZAAR a fortnight ago, which amounted to “yeah, we know there’s plenty of talk, but we still have commitments for the next decade, so there…”
It’s hard to contemplate what these partnership commitments through to 2030 are even worth now, never mind how achievable or feasible they are. The broadcast deals already in place from next season will almost certainly have to be re-worked. Maybe even scrapped and done again.
And as funny as CEO Andy Marinos’ statement that, “all such reports (of alternate competitions) are merely speculative and have no basis to them” was, it’s worth noting the Sydney Morning Herald’s report last week of SANZAAR’s plan for separate domestic comps being played in 2021 in the three original partner countries.
The top two teams from each comp then coming together for an eight-team finals series, the report outlined, which would also include the top two teams from the Japanese Top League, which is set to be played at the same time next year.
Clearly, all reporting of such comps is speculative and has no basis. Unless it’s a SANZAAR idea.
But, to give the governing body some credit, at least this was a sign that some logical forward thinking has taken place. There’d been precious little evidence otherwise to that point last week.
So while on one hand, SANZAAR and the member unions are attempting to come to grips on whether the contracts they currently hold will be worth anything near what the number of the pages say, and whether they’ll have the ability to hold onto the players they so desperately need to create a viable rugby product going forward, on the other hand, those same players are making decisions themselves.
Worryingly, they’re not waiting around to find out what the future holds; they’re controlling their own future by looking after themselves.
The South African Rugby Union, in trying to find ways to urgently cut costs, gave players a three-week window within which they could cancel their current contracts with immediate effect. The window ended last Thursday, and it’s claimed some decent names.
Centre Johnny Kotze is on his way to Japan from the Bulls, outside back Dillyn Leyds is heading to France from the Stormers, Malcolm Marx is heading back to Japan from the Lions, and flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit’s future remains up in the air, with conflicting reports suggesting he has both opted out of his Stormers contract to take up a multi-million Euro contract in France *and* extended his stay at Newlands.
The Stormers and Lions both lost a number of players, though skipper Elton Jantjies won’t be one of them. The Sharks, too, came through the three weeks largely unscathed, managing to hold onto both Lukhanyo Am and Makazole Mapimpi, with the latter reportedly knocking back huge offers from Japan.
Australia lost Kurtley Beale and Luke Jones to French deals this week as well, both rumoured from the start of the season. And reporting around their departure also seemed to indicate that Rebels lock Matt Philip will follow them to France.
Au revoir, Kurtley. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
Equally worrying is yesterday’s developments in Queensland, where Reds trio Harry Hockings, Isaac Lucas, and Wallabies lock Izack Rodda where told not to bother coming to training after their manager advised the Queensland Rugby Union that they were unwilling to accept a reduction in pay, despite the recently negotiated player-payment reduction agreement in conjunction with the Rugby Union Players Association.
All three are said to be ‘exploring their options’, which quite probably involve deals overseas. The three are managed by the same RUPA-accredited agent who oversaw Samu Kerevi’s defection to Japan. It’s a hell of a ballsy move when every one of your 190 colleagues have accepted their part and got on with the job of getting ready to play again.
The irony in all this would seem to be the continued strengthening of the Top League in Japan with the recruitment of yet more foreign players, coming at the same time they may or may not be having discussions about linking up for a Super Rugby finals series, which would put them up against the very teams they’ve been plundering for several seasons.
Quite how SANZAAR as a governing body manages all this is anyone’s guess.
Just as they and their member unions try to reshape a competition that will ensure the best players in our parts of the world want to continue playing at home, the players themselves are making decisions early.
And it seems the foreign devil you know looks way better than the unknown local devil you don’t.
Mark
Guest
Absolutely Aus should never have gone to 4 let alone 5 teams - I have explained this a billion times This ruined Super Rugby This and the stupid conference system Conferences are OK if done correctly They weren't - I have explained this a billion times Aussies havent a clue how to run a comp - if anything NZ and SA should team up and leave the whining Aussies out of it - ever since John "the bestest greatest ever most brilliant administrator of all time" O'Neil ran the show Aus rugby has been going downhill - he was the root cause
Mark
Guest
Not quite But without SA there is no SANZAAR and without that there isn't the International Competition that is so attractive to overseas markets (where the bulk of the money comes from) And I wouldn't believe a thing written on Stuff - esp by Cully - a clueless no nothing who just tries to stir the pot NZ understands all too well the importance of SA
Mark
Guest
So you're quite happy to destroy rugby in the SH and cede all power to the NH unions and all future success SANZAAR is the reason we keep most of our players here SANZAAR is the reason we win most of the time at international level Without SANZAAR there is no money - there is no SH rugby worth mentioning But you keep looking back 50 years No wonder Aussie Rugby is stuffed
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
But was he stable?
Bobby
Roar Rookie
Jacko. True but he's not happy and wants to join a team and a coach he respects. Rarely do unhappy players play great rugby.
Micko
Roar Rookie
This naïve rubbish about the "system" needs to stop! There's nothing magical about NZ's "system"! It's a relatively small international sport which NZ has a major advantage in, as it's not only the biggest football code in the nation, it's the biggest sport in the nation full stop! NZ therefore has a massive advantage here with drawing their best athletes towards the sport, which promotes a high quality competition within NZ itself, something other nations struggle to do, as the sport isn't desirable or held in prestige. You now see a former giant like the West Indies struggling at cricket, but why? Because cricket has lost prestige and desirability of newer generations in the Caribbean, with the youth turning to other sports like athletics, soccer and basketball...cricket has dropped right down the queue. This means that the best athletes aren't necessarily going towards cricket like they used to, leading a gradual decline in the standards of local competitions in the Caribbean, and thus a decline in the standards of the international players representing the West Indies itself. And all those "Tongan" players learnt their trade in the NRL Jacko! :happy:
Jacko
Guest
Micko you seem very confused. the EPL and NRL dont discriminate on nationality....Neither does SR whether it be in NZ, SA RA or anywhere....You are confusing these CLUB or Franchise comps with INTERNATIONAL tests.....Do the kangaroos care about Tonga? Tonga kicked their butts. And most of those players are from NZ....You are 100% wrong about Sr not allowing different nationalities into their comp and there are English, Aus, Many PI nationalities and plenty if Fiji players...the list goes on...that play SR in NZ. You constantly rubbish the very system that makes NZ a constant top 3 side but would be loving it if Aus could be as successful and is it really NZs job to make other nations able to compete with them? England, Ireland, Wales even Scotland have all made major progress as has Japan and Fiji so why is Aus going backwards? Simply put they cant get the best from the systems provided....So lets force others to change what works because YOUR nation cant be successful under their own steam? Sorry its RA that is failing...They are where the changes need to come from....And Castle had it heading in the right direction with her systems around U20 and below but along came the 10 ankers and its off on another useless expensive change for no real reason......If Aus wants success it needs to look inward...not blame everyone else who is doing fine...
Jacko
Guest
Why bother moving somewhere else in Aus? Wont they still have to take a pay cut?
Jacko
Guest
But if they stay in Aus rugby wont they need to accept the pay cut? Or are you saying the RA negotiators will give these 3 their full wages to play at a different franchise but still drop the wages of all the other 187 players?
Matt
Guest
Not sure I agree regarding the difference between the NPC at Super teams at that point. Even in the late 1980’s talent was getting drawn into the 5 major unions plus North Harbour who were picking up players overlooked by Auckland. The Auckland team of the mid late 1980’s was as dominant as any in rugby history. I recall them absolutely mauling Ireland around that period. I instead think that the South Pacific comp in particular was seen as a warm-up comp for the NZ teams so perhaps the results reflected this.
Rugby Tragic
Roar Rookie
Settle down big fella :happy:
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
Sure thing Carlin. Plenty of firepower amongst the backs and just enough up front to give em decent ball.
Carlin
Roar Rookie
Thats really true JN. Was surprised with Am and Mapimpi. I do wonder if part of their decision is they can sense some good things happening at the Sharks. Based on what they showed earlier this year they look like a very good outfit.
Barry Crocker
Guest
Apologies Brett, BM is just a shorthand not an intent to offend. Just checking that the original comment about Twiggy from yourself still stands? “it’s very rare that anything he does (or gets headlines for) is out of the goodness of his heart…” Great that you've acknowledged something positive Twiggy has contributed towards. Like I said, he's not the Messiah & doesn't claim to be either. As for beef, I've got no particular axe to grind with you personally (other than some condescending comments you made a few weeks back perhaps, but whatever). Recently there just seems to be numerous articles which rely on other largely unsubstantiated articles for information, very little of which has any basis in fact as it relates to what is genuinely possible with SANZAAR etc. When added to the '10 Captains' or 'News conspiracy' it's all quite tiresome & sees many hypothesizing (if not arguing) over the same scenarios which simply have no hope of occurring. My hope was that someone (e.g. you or similar) at the ROAR had genuine access/insight into the interrelationship of all the actual agreements including costings etc. Other than a few tidbits, seems that hope was in vain. Sorry but back to work now...
Brett McKay
Expert
I'm way late to this, but nevertheless amused. Listing those three examples wasn't an attempt to ridicule Andrew Forrest or the Minderoo Foundation; merely illustrating for JD's question above that all is often not what it seems when it comes to his public announcements. This isn't even a criticism. Andrew Forrest is very clearly a smart man and very obviously one of the best negotiators in Australia. And good luck to him. Minderoo have in fact led the way in helping the South Coast of NSW get on with bushfire recovery when government assistance has become woefully slow-moving. So it was entirely unsurprising to see you somehow take issue with all this, Barry. You've been quick to presume to know my motivations and how I think in the past, even failing to take in little details like context and common knowledge. I still have no idea why you have this beef you do - you won't answer the question - but you do and have done on all of my recent columns. But, you know, whatever floats your boat. And I reckon the fact you won't address me by name or reply to my posts says plenty about you, too...
Jimmy
Roar Guru
Rugby Australia needs to kiss the feet of SANZAAR at the moment, because as it stands RA offers no money, no fans and no rivalry to the other Unions. So being part of the most convoluted partnership in all of sports is Australia’s only hope at the moment of retaining professional Rugby Union at present, even though the evidence suggests Australia can’t sustain two professional Rugby competitions.
Barry Crocker
Guest
Your "facts" aren't necessarily truth, importantly the absence of information & context is what leads to misjudgements about scenarios. Now you refer to his generosity not being as reported, & that somehow it's Twiggy' fault for the reporting... You should be writing to the reporters & clarifying anything you feel was amiss in their articles. To say that "it’s very rare that anything he does (or gets headlines for) is out of the goodness of his heart..." is quite a damning indictment on his character from someone who most likely has never met the man. Granted that knocking 'tall poppies' is an Aussie sport, at least he's given $2 Billion out of his own kick to assist others across society (or negotiate accessing the stock & PPE deal at a fraction of the market cost at the time for the Aust Govt, another point conveniently left out). Juxtapose that against the $0 donation you've given (or me) to the Rebels or RA for a sport you seem to love during these difficult times. Make your own judgement by all means, not just by using selective reporting or ROAR comments though...
Ex force fan
Guest
Have we not learned from dropping the Force in 2017? Our Superugby teams may be marginally better for a season of two, however as we expose less players to top level professional rugby less players will develop to be considerred for the Wallabies and competition for Wallaby spots will be weaker. We already dropped to #7 in the world in mens rugby, how far must be drop before we see the folly of the concentration of talent. This is the opposite to what New Zealand did where they distribute their talent better among their 5 Superugby teams and allow more players to compete and be ready to fill All Black spots. We have more players than New Zealand, however do not have the Tier 2 Mitre 10 competition, the national footprint or the quality of coaching to compete successfully. Fix the problem - develop a national footprint, improve NRC and coaching. There is no short cut to success, stop looking for dumb quick fixes.
Micko
Roar Rookie
A lot of their players would presumably have to take substantial pay cuts.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
No. Most of what I refer to is merely verifiable fact. The majority of my comment is about the actual reality of his contributions. Now if most of the misconception is just press spin, then why do you care about the actual facts being presented? The only reason you can take opposition, is if you don't like the misconception being disproven. The only opinion in there is a hypothetical one - which I've only noted to point out Brett has done nothing like that. So I'll go back to what I've asked and you've avoided answering. How is pointing out that Forrest's generosity isn't as reported, an attempt to ridicule him?