Sunwolves won't be a part of Super Rugby AU

But once you start that ball rolling, there is no way to know where it would have finished. Unlike what they did with the money, a separate comp would have been saleable at the time there was a market for rugby. It also would have significantly altered how a SR expansion might have played out. However you look at it, it would have been more money 25 years ago than they are putting into it now, yet the current version has certainly yielded benefits. Hard to see how a funded version at any level wouldn't similarly have and more so. Mire to the point, done right at the start it would have become part of the basis for the professional game. Everything would have grown up around it, so it is not like they would be trying to tack it on long after the event. Things would have unavoidably played out differently; we can only speculate how differently. But they absolutely had the opportunity, the money and the interest in the sport at the time to have attempted it. Hard to see how things could have turned out much worse.

They wasted money. But still didn’t have enough to invest in something like this for the duration requires

Sorry, missed the reply. That is now however, once they left it far too late. We were talking about '95 and the years that followed, especially prior to SR expansion. They certainly had the money then...must have, as they were pouring millions into Premier rugby and did so for a decade or more. Spread so thin across 22 clubs however, it was largely wasted. That could certainly have gone a long way towards funding a professional competition that was entirely Australian, below SR.

Which they have been doing. Problem is that costs money to invest in further. Because as we’ve seen, the TV value of that level of product isn’t enough to sustain professionalism.

Or, just a thought, build an NRC underneath SR. As suggested by "build an underlying professional layer to give themselves options and a second string to the bow". Could have done that anytime they liked, without reference to anyone. And done it for a fraction of what they spent trying to grow SR, possibly even making a success of expanding SR. The efficacy of it might even explain why Australia never had a partner interested in forming a different comp.

Nah. They never had the money to fund multiple teams at once. The AFL doesn’t have that.

They were too busy paying huge salaries for overpaid CEO's like John O'Neill, along with overpaid rugby league mercenaries like Wendell Sailor, Mat Rogers etc. If they had planned for that domestic comp there and then (turn of the century) it might've worked out.

To have a domestic competition RA would need 8 teams. Aus Rugby was never in a position to financially support 8 teams. How do you get there? You have to grow from something like Super Rugby. 3 to 8 teams in 1 go, 4 to 8 or 5 to 8 was never a jump Aus could support. At any point in Aus Rugby, to get to that required significant growth from the current position.

I disagree. Just as fish grow to the size determined by the container, the sport structured to supply the number of players required by the comp they were in. Only need three teams worth, then three teams worth is what they got...any more would look elsewhere or play another sport. However RA was completely free to build an underlying professional layer to give themselves options and a second string to the bow, but never did. Like having kids, the finances would have then grown around that as part of the basis for the sport. It is trying to add it on later, after you have already spent or committed all the money on other things, that is hard. At that point if you aren't prepared to make sacrifices, you will fail. But there was never some pre-ordained inevitability about the outcome, just a lack of vision, will and planning.

I agree TWAS. Being from Perth, I was baffled with the establishment of the Force, and then the Rebels. They seemed doom to fail from the start.

Maybe. But Australia never had the ability to financially sustain enough professional teams for its own competition, or a partner (NZ) interested in forming a different one.

True TWAS. But I think the outdated provincial style model was always going to have a limited shelf life. The bizarre retainment of the "play domestically for national selection" policy of Australia & NZ should've been tweaked too, to allow a proper pro comp.

No you manage to loosethem without Twiggy’s help. Maybe Twiggy might bring them back so that they can play for the Wallabies. Next year will be better as the playing group continues to develop and GRR start to establish itself as a competition. In the long run Australia is better of with WA becoming another player factory.

Super Rugby was the only realistic option available in 1995.

Yep, that appears to be the solution JD Kiwi. Australian have their own domestic competition - Australians happy. Teams from NZ, SA and the Jaguares play a Super 10 round-robin with semi-finals and final - New Zealanders, South Africans and Argentinians happy. A shorter tournament 11-12 weeks max. Then straight on to the domestic Currie Cup and NPC. Everyone wins.

Edit yes it would be funny if Japan started poaching more players from England and France. It could happen. And it would be so much better for NZR and RA to be on the inside of a comp like that. At the top of the table.

Very, very disappointing. My sincere condolences to all the Sunwolves fans. I found myself barracking for them a lot, even against my beloved REDS sometimes. Thank you to the team and staff for bri Hong such pace and panache to the competition.

NV, on The Roar people generally treat each other with respect. That’s all I ask. Hey – I actually agree with a lot in this points in this post and your reply to Micko. It would be great if there could be mutually beneficial competition with Japan and yes their clubs have lots of money. But their teams need to at least pay their own way and be competitive, or else we would be either further watering down the comp or losing money we can’t afford. If you can provide evidence that this has ever been on the table please share it, it would be of interest to a lot of people I’m sure. Edit yes it would be funny if Japan started poaching more players from England and France.

South Africans still want to play NZ... The rest just make up the numbers.

The "Australian version" of Superugby..?? Hey call it whatever you want but at the very least find your own name for your comp..