Three significant boxes were ticked over the last few days, as Australia’s domestic Super Rugby replacement for the 2020 season edges closer to its yet-to-be-announced but widely accepted July 4 start date.
Late last week saw the Western Force accept the formal invitation to join the competition, which was great news on so many levels.
For one thing, the competition needed more than just the four Australian Super Rugby sides, and the Western Force coming back into the fold instantly gives the competition the feel-good factor that is easy to attach to.
Just like everyone watching the NRL is getting behind the New Zealand Warriors in recognition for the sacrifices they’ve made and commitment they’ve shown to base themselves in Australia for several months, it will be easy for rugby lovers and casual fans alike to get behind the Western Australians in a competition they will come into as clear underdogs.
And that’s an easy narrative that can bubble along nicely, just waiting to be ramped up when they record their first win. And there will be a first win, but more on that shortly.
Secondly, the competition name – Super Rugby AU – is another important, but easily overlooked step. The branding is unsurprising, given Rugby Australia’s existing ‘Rugby AU’ tag, but will serve a purpose for this year at least, as the broader SANZAAR product remains on ice for the foreseeable future.
As I mentioned last week when it was announced, the confirmation of the competition name now means there’s something sponsors and stakeholders and broadcasters can metaphorically touch and feel and form an opinion on.
10 weeks, full home-and-away, plus finals; it’s a better than solid starting point.
Even if crowds remain unlikely, if WA’s border opens again soon and the Force can start playing games in Perth, the competition takes on a proper national feel.
The Force are back. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
The most recent development was also fairly well expected. Rugby Australia and the Japanese Super Rugby Association yesterday confirming that the rapidly shrinking timeframes around quarantine and preparation time had indeed worked against the Sunwolves’ involvement.
Interestingly, the Rugby Australia statement included the note that had the Sunwolves been allowed to enter the country, they “would be required to complete a 14-day quarantine period within a hotel before they could begin training,” meaning RA obviously weren’t able to secure the same exemption the NRL was able to attain for the Warriors, which allowed them to train while in quarantine lockdown in Tamworth, in northern New South Wales.
And it’s a massive shame we won’t be able to see the Mighty Moondogs running around again this year. On top of some well-placed mail over the weekend that the Jaguares might be no more as well, it’s been a rough couple of days for the newest teams on the southern hemisphere professional rugby block.
Either way, I sincerely hope this Sunwolves news is short-term pain that hopefully leads to an increased Japanese presence in whatever form Super Rugby takes in coming seasons. There are clearly so many advantages for all parties involved.
So the only thing left to tick off is the piddly little detail of convincing Fox Sports to pay as much of their previously agreed amount to broadcast rugby in Australia this year.
Rugby Australia and Fox Sports will enter discussions with numbers at the very opposite ends of a scale, and on what side of the middle the two parties can meet will be crucial.
And it is crucial. Though there have already been mentions in reports that the Brumbies will host the Melbourne Rebels in Canberra to kick off the new competition, and with Queensland and New South Wales meeting in the other match of the opening round, none of that happens without Fox Sports coming to the party.
Rob Valetini. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
That said, there seems a consensus that we will know more by the end of this week. And to say there might be no more important week of discussions in the history of professional Australian rugby doesn’t really sound like understatement until you start of thinking about the implications thereafter.
Assuming all the balls fall into place, how the Western Force go against the other Australian sides will be intriguing on so many levels.
They won’t have put their squad together for 2020 thinking of playing at this level, but there’s no question they’ll back themselves to take some scalps.
Their dominant National Rugby Championship win last season showed that they are more than capable of competing in ‘short sprint’ formats, timing their run perfectly to thump a pretty handy Canberra Vikings side 41-3.
“We spoke about that, about what we can gauge ourselves against the other teams,” Force coach Tim Sampson said last week.
“We also had a good NRC team and the opposition teams in NRC some days rolled out teams with 15, 16 contracted players in their squad so we’ve discussed that,” he said.
That Canberra side the Force beat in the NRC Final featured twelve contracted Brumbies in the starting side, and another three on the bench. And a couple of them were arguably unlucky not to have been in Japan at the Rugby World Cup.
“We’re under no illusions we have to improve as well individually, and the staff have put a lot of effort in the last six weeks to make sure with our prep, we’re on point and we’re focusing to be the best prepared team in Australia,” Sampson said.
I love this attitude. The Force know they’ll up against it taking on squads with key Wallabies in key positions, but their attitude is simple: take us lightly, and we’ll knock you off.
And I reckon they will take a scalp or two over the ten weeks. Maybe more if they’re able to play game at home in Perth. Any team that runs out on the field thinking they shouldn’t have too much trouble against a side that doesn’t quite match up on paper will be in for a rude shock.
I wouldn’t even mind betting it happens within the first few games.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Didn’t think of that either. Another good point.
Pinetree
Roar Rookie
Jimmy - It started off as a comment from Brett, which was a fair call on if you had read the article, as the broadcasting deal was a main point in his article. There were 2 light hearted cheeky comments, which you would expect if you write a comment, which in hindsight, was not the brightest. Most people at this stage would acknowledge this mistake, possibly make a joke about not being their best moment in posting, and move on. You then took this very normal interaction, and displayed your overly sensitive reaction, which gathered a lot of support and likes from posters, including me, because even though I viewed it as a massive over reaction, I still felt empathy that you took it so badly. Now it has moved on to ludicrous territory of trying to connect a decline in rugby interest to this interaction. I'm gonna tell it to you straight, Jimmy. The only echo chamber in this situation is the echo in your own head of being a victim in a place where you are not, and if this is your reaction to every similar event in your life, this will not stead you well in life. This maybe is the most disingenuous take of being the victim I have seen on the Roar. If you had just moved on or joked about it, then no follow up replies would've been made. The so called "pile on" is your own creation of the choices YOU made :shocked:
Machooka
Roar Guru
ClassAct, what a totally bizarre comment… truely bizarre! :angry:
jeznez
Roar Guru
Where was this pile on? I've gone back and re-read the thread since you've brought it up twice now. Paulo's burn comment and TLN's feeding time comment? Geoff's detailed explanation of the rights situation and me pasting the relevant paragraphs from the article? I obviously can't speak for "all the Union lads" in the "echo chamber" but you actually seem to have more posters being supportive of you and saying don't worry about it than there are piling on?
Jimmy
Roar Guru
I read your article, just made an honest mistake, and you chose to belittle and your echo chamber piled on me instead of either ignoring me or kindly correcting me, and you wonder why Union is losing fans in the thousands, because you as media alienate instead of educate.
Rob9
Roar Guru
None taken at all RR. Us Reds and Wallabies fans tend to have fairly thick skin :silly: (not that it was really required in the first place). Cheers
Geoff Parkes
Expert
No. We're taking a bit of liberty ozinsa in thinking that Peter V'Landy's will do all of the spadework in the NRL, and then, by the time the rugby Tests are on, people will be allowed into stadiums. All highly speculative of course.
Red Rob
Roar Rookie
The potential is there, the game’s administrators just have to work out how to sustainably tap into it (without relying heavily on being a championship side forever). Rob9 I agree. The 'high horse' crack was directed at others rather than you, but I didn't make that clear so I apologise for any offence caused.
Rob9
Roar Guru
No high horse or even illusions around what Australian rugby is. Of course it’s a comparatively minor player on Australia’s landscape. But as mentioned just above, if it’s ‘done well’- the evidence suggests it can be so much more than it currently is. Assuming you’re a Reds fan- you’d be aware that when the game has managed to capture the interest of fringe and new supporters, the Reds have had seasons where they’ve outdrawn the Broncos. The potential is there, the game’s administrators just have to work out how to sustainably tap into it (without relying heavily on being a championship side forever).
Red Rob
Roar Rookie
Despite the hurdles and the relative youth of the pro game there, WA junior, school and club systems have produced about 20 of the 175 players that will compete in Super AU this year. (10 playing for the Force, 10 in other Super squads). Should we really ignore the area producing 11% of our pro players? All so that we can better compete against NZ? Quite right jeznez, I'd say that's the main hope for Aus rugby, and it's why I was against chopping the Force (although if they hadn't been chopped then, whether they would have survive any longer now under the current financial crisis is a big 'if'). We are not going to see any substantial growth from the current eastern seaboard private school sector. It might even shrink in that sector.
Davos
Guest
Brett, How about trUmPs USA -- 1,881,205 ( 108,059 Deaths ) Ranked number 1 So much winning ?
TonyH
Roar Rookie
Settle down lads!
TonyH
Roar Rookie
Lucky bugger!
sheek
Roar Guru
Hog, RA cowardly changed their name from ARU after culling the WA Force. I wonder if the High Performance Unit (HPU) will change their name, appropriately, to the Low Performance Unit (LPU), & accept half, or third pay of what they're on at present?
jeznez
Roar Guru
Think there is a little from both camps here, sure although our nation is larger we don't have the engagement that there is in NZ. https://www.sportcal.com/News/FeaturedNews/39963 This article gives a pretty good basis for comparison looking at viewer numbers for the 2015 WC final. Match on in the early hours of the morning for both nations (3am, Sunday morning NZ time). NZ had 1.2m viewers vs 800k in Oz. But to categorise the game as mainly played by private schoolboys on the north shore and eastern suburbs is pretty old hat. Rob9 has done a good job showing how that is off the mark these days. Our third largest player base in Perth doesn't fit that narrative. Despite the hurdles and the relative youth of the pro game there, WA junior, school and club systems have produced about 20 of the 175 players that will compete in Super AU this year. (10 playing for the Force, 10 in other Super squads). Should we really ignore the area producing 11% of our pro players? All so that we can better compete against NZ?
Red Rob
Roar Rookie
Mate, apologies for annoying you. Sydneysiders I know tell me rugby is mainly for private school alumni, strong in the eastern suburbs and along the north shore and north beaches, pockets elsewhere. JD, no need to apologise, you are largely right. ‘You’ve never had the player depth or committed fan base beyond certain parts of Sydney and Brisbane and some country areas.’ That statement is pretty right. Many Aus rugby fans like to get on their high horse about it, but it's a minor sport in Aus with very limited geographical and socio-economic penetration into the mainstream. The argument that Sydney and Brisbane are a large proportion of the Aus population glides over the point that it's a minor sport there too.
Rob9
Roar Guru
No annoyance whatsoever JD and apologies if that’s how I’m presenting. Rugby can play the clear second fiddle to league if ‘done well’ in Sydney. It’s home to the largest suburban competition in the world- I don’t think it’s a fair assessment to suggest that ‘rugby simply isn’t part of the culture’.
Purdo
Roar Rookie
:laughing:
JD Kiwi
Roar Rookie
Mate, apologies for annoying you. Sydneysiders I know tell me rugby is mainly for private school alumni, strong in the eastern suburbs and along the north shore and north beaches, pockets elsewhere. They have always been adamant that for most Sydneysiders, rugby is simply not part of the culture. One thing I do know for sure is that sport is a culture thing - you watch what your family and friends watch. That is very hard to change en masse. That is my logic. Sorry if I am misinformed. Honestly, I want Australian rugby to be strong.
jeznez
Roar Guru
assume the same reason we haven't, the virus. Think per the chat between Brett and the others it's largely to do with the state of where their various players are vs the timing of getting the comp up and running