As Rugby Australia considers the future of Australian rugby, it is worth reflecting on three critical challenges facing the game down under.
1. How can we restore fan engagement?
To restore fan engagement, Super Rugby must deliver what fans want: to watch close matches where their team has an equal chance of tasting championship success.
By guaranteeing an Australian champion, the 2021 Super Rugby AU delivered a grand final crowd of 41,637 and average viewership 17% higher than that year’s trans-Tasman Super Rugby series.
Tate McDermott of the Reds is congratulated by team mates after scoring a try during the round one Super Rugby Pacific match between Queensland Reds and NSW Waratahs at Suncorp Stadium, on February 24, 2024, in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Close matches build excitement, regardless of whether they are of an international, club or community standard. Reflecting on last weekend’s matches, we need more thrilling bottom-of-the-table clashes like that of the Rebels vs Force, rather than watching the Chiefs’ clinical dismantling of the Brumbies.
In Super Rugby, Australian clubs struggle to be successful because there is currently an uneven playing field. In 2022, New Zealand Rugby had more than double the income of Rugby Australia. Wealthier governing bodies allows for comparatively higher player salaries, fewer top players lost offshore and better match results.
An analysis of English soccer from 1998 to 2007 shows that the level of player salaries directly correlates to a team’s championship success. It is not surprising that paying for the best players leads to better outcomes on the field. So while the Waratahs and Reds put on a show against Kiwi opposition last weekend, sadly in time this will settle back to the status quo.
2. How can we ensure competitive Super Rugby and Australian teams?
From 2026, our Super Rugby clubs should form a new domestic competition.
Far from shrinking to four teams, a domestic competition should be expanded to eight teams. This would create cross town rivalries through a second team in Brisbane and Sydney, plus the Drua and Melbourne. It could run for 15 weeks (plus a top 4 finals series) from early February to mid-May.
To ensure clubs retain access to international matches, Super Rugby Pacific should become a six-week ‘Champions Cup’ from mid May to end June.
This could be a best of 16 tournament consisting of four groups of four clubs. Each group could have one of the top four clubs from New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and the Pacific/Americas. The top two clubs from each group would go through to a round of eight knockout.
Far from diluting clubs, expanding to eight teams will provide more opportunities for Australian players to develop their skills in first class rugby. This creates a larger talent pool for the Wallabies while still ensuring top clubs face international opposition prior to the international Test window.
3. How can we restore club finances?
A fair and sustainable comp requires player salaries to be capped at an affordable level, with salaries and additional club payments funded directly from broadcast revenues.
The sustainability of clubs is a perennial problem as they are encouraged to maximise wins, not profits. Clubs often choose to spend beyond their means as it directly improves their competitiveness (see point 1 above).
To combat this, the salary cap and club payments should be directly tied to the 2026 broadcast deal, with clubs being funded 130% of the salary cap. This model incentivises RA, clubs and RUPA to work together to create a positive campaign that gets spectators and sponsors on board with the domestic competition and boost broadcast revenues.
Player costs can also be managed by targeting the best value players. For every Joseph Suaalii we pursue, we have $1.6m unavailable to invest directly in community rugby and coaching pathways. The hype from signing one NRL star does not offset the loss of missing out on signing numerous future rugby stars before they switch to NRL.
Similarly, some elite players will choose to go overseas to pursue higher salaries. Wallabies ticket revenues can continue to supplement payments for prospective Wallabies, while having five overseas players in the Wallabies ensures foreign players are not lost completely.
Far from shrinking to four teams, we must expand the Australian game to create more public attention and opportunities for players to develop and shine. The quality of domestic teams is not killing Australian rugby, rather it is flaws in the structure of the competition itself.
By facing these challenges, we can all create a strong system that benefits clubs, players and fans.
Piccolino
Roar Rookie
Agreed, we need to go to smaller stadiums but still where there are large fan bases. If this is regional and not in the cities then I'm happy with that.
HittingGapsWithNoGas
Roar Rookie
All Feb TRC games in Dunedin, Argentinian Patagonia or Hobart. NRC Magic Round to open the season at Bellerive Oval :laughing:
Ballymore Brumby
Roar Pro
Redcliffe isn't in Brisbane though... Plus its a pain in the backside to get to. Ballymore's not much better public transport wise, but at least its near town. A redeveloped boutique Perry Park shared with the A and W League is the ideal spot...
Ballymore Brumby
Roar Pro
Is that really a meaningful metric though Piccolino? A full Chipsy Wood, Rat Park or McKellar Park is going to look better than a 4/5 empty city stadium and most likely be a better gameday experience and look better on TV.
Piccolino
Roar Rookie
I hope they don't, it was SO hot watching our trial matches in Feb!
HittingGapsWithNoGas
Roar Rookie
I wonder if we’ll ever see the global calendar alignment push us to have TRC in Feb Mar at the same time as the six nations. I know there’s been talk of that. In that case I’d like to see an NRC start in Feb, get Wallabies back in March, leading into a later SR season (so those SR squads become basically rep sides picked on NRC form) and then that leads into a Sep-Nov test window.
HittingGapsWithNoGas
Roar Rookie
If we were going to do a broader 8 team national comp as our top club tier, there’ll be a spreading of the talent but should all be similarly competitive domestically. If this was to replace SR, I’d be keen on an Origin style series to concentrate top players and still build that much needed cohesion element. And instead of going club v club for the Champions Cup component of it, why not synthesise all competing nations into regional rep squads and have them compete similar to the tri-series they did in Super League back in 97. Aus City, Aus Country (so everyone is eligible), NZ South, NZ North, Pasifika and South America. That way the cohesion box is ticked and you’re less likely to have a big talent mismatch between competitions (ie Chiefs v Peñarol)
HittingGapsWithNoGas
Roar Rookie
I think this is a great idea. You could split the feeder clubs in Sydney so that everything west of and including Sydney Uni falls into the Western Sydney camp. Realistically, if you’re serious about playing pro footy, you’re already in the city playing for a Shute/Hospital etc club, so for the sake of getting the most of our resources, the teams should all train together at the SRP facilities so that there’s a system in aid of developing players up the chain. Apparently the QLD teams did this well last NRC but the NSW teams didn’t. Love the idea of the Drua eventually but would be useful to avoid international flights in our cash strapped state. Maybe there could be a local Fijian side based in Brisbane or the Goldie. They always have good support, but maybe Moana shows it doesn’t work unless it’s based in the home nation.
AndyS
Roar Rookie
Not really. Just means there are five times as many players in each percentile. But if the top 80% are hived off to more lucrative sports, it would still equate to comprising five times the number of the bottom 20%. . Not entirely the case, but certainly a general effect when there are 35 other professional football teams in Australia that aren’t Union (and excluding soccer).
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Aus does have a 500% larger population. That helps.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
I see best results from a domestic comp from late Aug to Oct and SR from Feb to June as NZ has with its NPC and SR. I dont trust RA to run anything tho sadly.
hog
Roar Rookie
We should have gone domestic 20 year ago when some money was available. Now the game is broke thanks to Super Rugby, but to grow a tree you need to plant a seen at some stage. So lets start planning.
Piccolino
Roar Rookie
I agree, this is exactly what we need. TBH I think we are basically in agreement on everything. The only difference is whether a single tier plays domestically with the top teams playing int’l clubs (cheaper but Au teams will be less competitive with NZ as not all the best players will be playing) or separate tiers play domestic or vs int’l club (more expensive but more competitive vs int’l clubs). Given how poor RA and Au club finances are, the domestic comp needs to stand on its own which they have previously struggled with. I think the former has a better chance of success, but I certainly see both sides.
Piccolino
Roar Rookie
Yes agreed. Far more Australians play AFL and NRL than New Zealanders so it obviously affects our talent pool more, but they do impact the NZ talent pool also.
Piccolino
Roar Rookie
Yeah, this discussion was prompted by RA considering next steps with/without the Rebels. As they do this, they should be thinking what the end goal is for when the SR agreement ends in 2030.
Piccolino
Roar Rookie
Yeah agreed. This discussion was prompted by RA considering next steps with/without the Rebels. As they do this, they should be thinking what the end goal is for when the SR agreement ends in 2030.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
I think if you look at the basic figures of RA adding a 10 team NRC you see another 150 contracts at the lower end, 10 head coaches, 30 assistants, 10 CEOs, 100 rugby vollunteers, an extra 150 families and friends that are now watching their kid or friend etc. This is the area for producing more players, more coaches and more assistants around rugby clubs at a pro level. You also get probably another 30 refs moving into the pro sector. A mush from my perspective.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Spot on. The need for an NRC is desperate right now. But not instead of SR...
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Mate you need to realise that the NRL has scouts at NZ school rugby and signs around 20 school juniors a year. They have so much coin they dont actually care if these players succeed or dont. Also I see that the Bronco's womens team just signed an womans ABs player to their squad and many womens teams have Kiwi rugby players in them. Its like the NRL cannot produce decent talent of their own.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
If RA adopt a domestic comp only and reneg on their contracts then Id say no one will agree to their wants around what everyone else should do just to help Aus out. RA helps no one. Never has, and has been quite the opposite too often and been very derogatory to NZR many times inc lying about backing NZRs bid for the WC hosting rights and for taking the duel hosting rights off NZ in 2003. What goes around comes around. Karma.