Rugby Australia has today outlined a comprehensive offering to take to the broadcast market, from familiar domestic and international fixtures to brand new club and state-based competitions which would begin next year.
Of particular note are the proposed “State of Union” competition, a Queensland versus NSW clash with eligibility based on a player’s state of birth which is clearly modelled on rugby league’s State of Origin, and “Super Eight”, a Champions League-style competition to run at the end of the regular domestic season featuring the top two franchises from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and a single entrant from both Japan and South America. Both would be new additions to the rugby calendar.
The offering acknowledges the ongoing negotiations around what format Super Rugby takes on next year, with both a five-team Australian competition or a trans-Tasman tournament listed.
“We will do whatever is in the best interests of Australian rugby and we’ve been working hard on a variety of competition models, not just for Super Rugby but for every level of the game,” Rugby Australia interim CEO Rob Clarke said.
“We have a whole range of new rights that we’re including into this package and we’re very excited by some of that new content. At Super Rugby level for 2021, we have incorporated two options, one is a domestic-only model and the other is a trans-Tasman model.”
Rob Clarke. (Hugh Peterswald/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
While the State of Union series has been introduced by RA chairman Hamish McLennan, the rest of the proposal largely built on the package former CEO Raelene Castle took to market prior to the COVID-19 pandemic hitting and her subsequent resignation. The top-to-bottom offering included both Shute Shield and Premier Club Rugby, the rights to which Castle secured earlier in the year.
The only notable missing piece from the offering is the 2025 British and Irish Lions series in Australia, but the structure of that tour won’t be finalised after the side’s trip to South Africa next year.
There’s no mention of the NRC, already shelved for 2020 and seemingly consigned to the scrapheap for good. In its place is a national competition after the existing club competitions finish their seasons. As is the case with Super Eight the public details are light, with “short-form” the only further description of the tournament.
While the proposal will go some way to mollifying Rugby AU’s clubland critics, the new competition will struggle to have the same developmental benefits that the NRC provided, the fruits of which are only just starting to properly emerge in Australian rugby.
With the current broadcast deal expiring at the end of the year, Rugby Australia have put a September 4 deadline on broadcasters’ submissions for the offering.
That places a tight timeframe not just on potential broadcast partners, but also on New Zealand Rugby in regards to the format Super Rugby takes next year.
NZR have been bullish about their preferences for 2021, but with their model not including enough room for all five Super Rugby AU teams and Clarke unequivocal about whether RA would cut any sides (“No, we’ve been very consistent on that,” he told the Daily Telegraph today) it leaves the two governing bodies less than a month to organise a trans-Tasman competition before Australia decide to go it alone.
The full offering from Rugby Australia contains:
- The Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup for the Wallabies
- International Tests for the Wallaroos
- A ‘State of Union’ competition between New South Wales and Queensland, with players to play for their state of birth or where they played their club rugby
- An Australian domestic Super Rugby competition including five Australian teams, or, a trans-Tasman Super Rugby competition that includes five Australian teams
- A four-week Super Eight competition, to be played at the conclusion of the respective domestic Super Rugby competitions, and be a cross-over championship between the top two teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa as well as one team from Japan and South America
- A short-form National Club Championship between the top premier club teams in Australia following the completion of the respective club competitions
- New South Wales’ Shute Shield competition as well as Queensland’s Premier Club Rugby competition
- A showcase of the best schoolboy rugby in Australia
Muglair
Roar Rookie
If only I believed that RA would be correct in forming a view on the future. It will be easier for us all, including me, if the last ten years were an aberration and we can look forward to a new group of players and coaches returning us to 'rugby as normal'. Two important principles stand in that path; the past is the best predictor of the future, and on-field results will not recover until off-field administration does.
Muglair
Roar Rookie
Just hopeless. They are just brainstorming any concept that they think a TV executive who knows nothing about rugby will buy. This is not a cohesively designed package but a grab bag of different competition concepts that might interest someone. Anyone. Rugby's customers are its supporters and RA is signalling that it does not really understand what might be of interest to rugby supporters. Are broadcasters that arrogant they they think they know more than RA? Quite possibly they are, but you would be an idiot to go into partnership with someone who knows less than you do about their area of expertise. If they do sell some of these concepts then they will probably bring in private equity who will buy a share of the future revenues from those competitions. Hopefully they use the money to pay down debt rather than waste on excessive player payments or a new squad of administrators and coaches. Either the SR competition will fail (taking RA and the SR teams with it), RA and SR teams are unable to control costs within their share of the revenue, or more likely both. The private equity group will still have the rights to participate in competitions and will cherry pick the players required to make it work for them in the future. The winners will be the private equity group and the elite players who in the long run will be able to move back on to high salaries that will not be possible in the proposed RA competitions. I also suggested on these pages that Kayo should sign up all clubs in Australia to stream their club footage. A mob called Cluch TV has been doing this with free streaming via FB and it has now been elevated to the Cluch TV platform. I assume they intend to make money out of this and will sign up the vast majority of rugby players and supporters in Australia as subscribers. Rugby supporters are the customers and they will mainly be signed up to Cluch while RA and FTA broadcasters are still chasing an audience with no interest in rugby. The losers will be any creditors of RA and the states, the broadcasters who pay for stuff that will never attract the audiences they need, and players who can't make the cut for future competitions.
Muglair
Roar Rookie
Which timezone are you asking the question ATW? Perth only recognises three geographical regions; WA, Indian Ocean and Eastern Australia
fiwiboy7042
Roar Rookie
maybe a few of the Force players too! :-)
Emery Ambrose
Roar Rookie
Yea I read that, could see a few of those GRR teams submit EOI to NZR.
fiwiboy7042
Roar Rookie
Reports say Twiggy wants to fund a 6th NZ Super team (the GRR Bay of Plenty-Chinese Dragons hybrid) as well as the Force.
Wheelbarrow
Roar Rookie
The PI guys stay in the teams if played as juniors. If not they play for the allies. Need to be eligible for the wallabies
Jaeger
Roar Rookie
Was thinking same thing Potsie. Distribution of playing talent between Australian and NZ is key. Great to hear RA open door for NZR players to play in our teams. My concern is still Japan though. Just think there needs to be synergies between Top League and club rugby, and then the Super side of things. If right connections made Japan won't be a competitor for talent but an ally.
Jaeger
Roar Rookie
Agree. For other players, my pick would be an ANZAC Barbarians v American All Stars (USA + Argentina + Canada). Either that, or players 7's tournament?
Jaeger
Roar Rookie
Do it in three sets. https://www.theroar.com.au/2020/04/09/give-super-club-rugby-a-crack/
concerned supporter
Roar Rookie
JAMES, you say, '' IMO the only solution is for the GPS old boys to put their money where their mouth is and fund participation and development, and build from the ground up. Where are they?'' What??? And make Sydney Uni. stronger? There needs to be strengthening of Rugby in Sydney's west, namely West Harbour, Parramatta & Penrith clubs.
Kashmir Pete
Roar Guru
Natural sponsors I was thinking.
Ray L
Roar Rookie
You may not be aware of the new development programs which have been put in place by Raelene Castle and are already producing positive results. It may take another couple of years before the benefits are fully realised as the new crop of talent matures. It would be a mistake to assume that things won’t improve now that a new regime is in place. I feel very optimistic about the future of Australian Rugby.
Sluggy
Roar Guru
Only one bottle at a time. ;-)
Rugbyrah
Roar Rookie
in NRL players who were not born in QLD or NSW playing for those states include: Greg Inglis Qld – born Kempsey, New South Wales James Tamou NSW – Palmerston North, New Zealand Sam Thaiday Qld – Sydney, New South Wales James McManus NSW – Banff, Scotland Billy Moore NSW – Tenterfield, New South Wales Ben Elias NSW – Tripoli, Lebanon Josh Papalii Qld – Auckland, New Zealand Josh Dugan NSW – Tuggeranong, Australian Capital Territory Michael Crocker Qld– Sydney, New South Wales Timana Tahu NSW – Melbourne, Victoria Adrian Lam Qld– Rabaul, Papua New Guinea Peter Sterling NSW – Toowoomba, Queensland Israel Folau Qld– Minto, New South Wales Willie Mason NSW– Auckland, New Zealand Petero Civoniceva Qld – Suva, Fiji Matt Gillett Qld – Macksville, New South Wales Tonie Carroll Qld – Christchurch, New Zealand Ian Roberts NSW – London, England Brad Thorn Qld – Mosgiel, New Zealand Robbie O'Davis Qld – Kurrajong, New South Wales John Hopoate – Nukuʻalofa, Tonga Paul Bowman Qld – Newcastle, New South Wales Julian O'Neill Qld – Hornsby, New South Wales Karmichael Hunt Qld– Auckland
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
But that's players who are not eligible for the Kangaroos. It doesn't have a huge amount who are eligible for the Kangaroos but not Origin.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
How many players who play origin are eligible for Australia but not QLD and NSW? Part of the appeal is Origin is actually as high, or a higher standard than the international NRL Game. You can't just say its a big event for League so it will be a big event for Rugby. A Rugby State of Origin would exclude 25-50% of the likely Wallabies team. League Origin is based on condensing 16 NRL teams into 2 rep teams. Even if half of the NRL is not eligible, that's still condensing 8 teams into 2. A Rugby Origin would be condensing 50-75% of 5 teams into 2. You are not nearly getting the concentration of talent. Also Origin is big because of years of history. A Rugby version isn't going to suddenly have history. Unless you are trying to tap into the existing Tahs vs Reds which you will dilute.
Terry Polious
Roar Rookie
When it started almost all of the players were from NSW or QLD now a large portion are not eligible to play for either state. In the Grand Final alone there was over 10 players who aren’t eligible for NSW Yet still it’s as popular as ever. If Union wants big TV dollars it needs big events and Origin is the biggest event in Aussie sports from a viewing perspective.
JAMES G HASLAM
Guest
Good luck with this one. The broadcasters don't want to pay for Super Rugby when the Aussie teams are so bad, so they are unlikely to pay for lesser levels. Methinks there is a catch 22. Oz rugby needs better players to get more TV money. Without the TV money it can't afford the development programs. IMO the only solution is for the GPS old boys to put their money where their mouth is and fund participation and development, and build from the ground up. Where are they?
Jacko
Guest
you would hope RA has the sense to keep Twiggy in the tent EFF.