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Joined December 2021
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The Roar Rugby Project aims to document the challenges and opportunities facing rugby at all levels across the nation, drawing on Roarers’ experience as…
The Roar Rugby Project aims to document the challenges and opportunities facing rugby at all levels across the nation in the following articles. We…
The Roar Rugby Project aims to document the challenges and opportunities facing rugby at all levels across the nation in the following articles. We…
The Roar Rugby Project aims to document the challenges and opportunities facing rugby at all levels across the nation in the following articles. We…
The Roar Rugby Project aims to document the challenges and opportunities facing rugby at all levels across the nation in the following articles. We…
The Roar Rugby Project aims to document the challenges and opportunities facing rugby at all levels across the nation. We are looking to Roarers’…
Rugby Australia is not supporting community grassroots rugby and consequently lost touch with its supporter base, resulting in falling revenues. The Roar Rugby Project…
The Roar Rugby Project aims to document the challenges and opportunities facing rugby at all levels across the nation by tapping into the breadth…
The Roar Rugby Project, which we're launching today, is a forum, with a series of discussion articles intended to engage the numerous positive and…
I don’t think you can look back at the Sunwolves. SANZAAR decided it would be good for them to have the Sunwolves, I assume they did not ask JRU. I can’t help but think we had a bit of a replay in 2021.
JRU will do what they need to do to climb the world rankings. Provided they do not lose control of their players I think having a certain number playing in the competition at any one time will be beneficial for them.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
I absolutely believe we need two competitions. SR AU was a little above NRC standard and I think would have really suffered in status following TT and the BC.
We need a new higher standard and globally attractive SR competition.
Total alignment to this point 😂
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
Whether we borrow money or go down the PE route, it is a one shot deal.
One opportunity to redesign professional and community rugby.
I don’t believe standing back and allowing Japan to build the #1 professional competition in the Pacific, which would take five years, and be reliant on Aust/NZ losing their best players to it, is the answer.
This is not thought through but we start next year with a 12 team competition, which is a good number. 5 teams owned by RA, 5 by NZ, one by Fiji (sort of, Aust Govt has supplied some funding), and one by ? (not sure how MP is, how it is structured etc).
RA/NZRU have to agree on the future and design the appropriate system of contracting which will be new.
They could do that now, in 2023 or 2024, but also open positions to international players, from Europe, and including US, South America, Canada, Japan, China etc. They might be development players or established players.
For Japan, it would make more sense to have a number of their best players playing in such a competition. Similar for other emerging nations.
As the competition builds then the clubs can be sold off to overseas owners which will start to bring the travel into it. Challenging but by then it should be established and profitable.
Internationals would be arranged to benefit NZ and Australia rather than just be worked around cross over with the European season.
For the domestic side it then allows RA to focus on NRC and community rugby.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
I read that article somewhere, maybe a contributor flagged it on the Roar.
I think for the same reason, private school concentration in rugby.
A possibility, but also my initial response was that it is happening in rugby because good players outside the system often end up on scholarships, and the coaching and facilities are a world away from anything else.
The response is pretty simple, you have to focus on broadening recruitment and development. In my opinion RA has largely abandoned it, and is consciously letting the public schools do their thing.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
Letting top players go north and finding a way to keep them playing as Wallabies is the poverty option, and there is no prospect under the RC/SR model of that changing.
Just reading Geoff’s book and he makes an observation that international supremacy in soccer is transitioning to the nations with top leagues where their players play at home, not abroad. He identified this as a looming problem for SA and eventually Australia and NZ. SA winning the RWC would seem to defy that, but there has been concern in SA that it might not be sustainable.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
Coward 😂
You started it, I expect you to finish it.
I might float a more developed idea out there in a few weeks time. I should have had the chance to talk to a few people smarter than me by then.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
I think this has been my approach (most of the time 😱 ) and I enjoy the game more. I tend to approach replays with curiosity rather than outrage.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
True, thankfully they stayed away from my series. However, I think there are a lot who would like to know. It becomes a very fascinating part of the game.
I also think that fans would be better off reading the GMG as a handbook for watching the game, as opposed to wrestling with the laws.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
The PE structure is not an equity investment (RA is a breakeven company, at least when it is successfully operated).
A hedge fund like transaction, where RA’s commercial assets are sold to a new company which the hedge fund/PE owns X%, and receives X% of the total revenues of RA.
RA only goes broke once it spends all of the initial funds received and cannot operate profitably on (100-X)% of the revenue. At that stage the PE will effectively have 100% control of the assets; brand names, logos, income rights etc.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
He went offshore early to Italy, played in Japan, and also played RL. Coached Italy and Japan.
He just seems to think in the bigger picture compared to other players who were All Blacks, then ex All Blacks playing in the big competitions.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
I read your recent one which was the week before mine. It was your comment then about writing some more which caught my attention.
The first article was pretty good as far as focussing on the referee’s role being different from what everyone thinks. I think there just needs to be more education around how the game is refereed, as opposed to how over 99% of fans think it is.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
English cricket is probably a fascinating case study. It has been professional from way before when I was born, although “professionals” were looked down upon back in the days when there was “amateurs” too.
With traditionally 17 county sides (I think, and there are a few more now I think) they always had a compressed season with three day games. That is perceived as a problem depending on whether England is winning or losing. 😂
The decay of the underlying community/amateur world seems to be a common denominator. I wonder if even amateur soccer in England is not what it was.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
We definitely need a large injection of cash, and I do not think it should be PE. However we need to go a lot further than just releasing NZ players into Australia, we need to build a truly world class competition in the Pacific, I think.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
Joe, see my post to World. We cannot turn inwards and shrink.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
I do think the answers lie with the ‘minor’ states. The traditional states need to see their own markets through the eyes of the minor states.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
We make it tough because we are not great ones for hard slog. Convicts, bushrangers, gold diggers, corporate spivs … Experts with other people’s money.
The principles are simple. Transparency and accountability, it is actually not that hard. To your post I think this is where the ‘optimism’ is coming from. All is not lost.
I am not agreeing with you that much World 😂 Thanks for re-engaging.
Just talent sharing with NZ in the current structures lowers the average talent per team of the NZ sides and increases the Australians, but leaves it lower than the NZ standard which is what we need to be a world class competition. It also opens a whole can of worms on contracting, but does not solve the fact the current structure is unattractive or profitable.
What I am thinking about is ‘start from scratch’ how would you structure a world class competition better than EP and Top 14, and be wildly profitable.
The Pacific includes Asia (Japan, China) and the Americas (Canada, US, Arg and emerging SA countries) and the islands. A majority fo the best players and the world’s wealth.
What would you do if you were starting with a clean slate?
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
Is that half deaf or the apparent “don’t f*&k with me” demeanour?
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
I think the whole world missed the mark with the transition to professionalism.
We got clobbered because we are more exposed to NRL/AFL and did not understand we had those players because of the 1975-1995 rugby coaching and development systems.
I really recommend the “Long Read” extract of Geoff’s book which explains how we all got that transition wrong.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
Sadly FTA does not pay the bills. The free coverage of Cluch in 2020 was priceless and I am still frustrated rugby did nothing constructive with it.
Or even thought about it, I suggested the same thing here in 2019. What surprised me was the sheer quality of the pictures from suburban grounds. Not to mention the superiority of match day experience through an open mike, instead of commentators.
In 2021 Cluch entered agreements to broadcast games with Subbies and others and I think it was $8/mth with nswrugbytv.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
Thanks Geoff, got just about as mild a dose as possible.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
Technically its not Monday, and it was only an “almost” …
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
I was looking forward to going up to Bowral. It would have been fun to watch some live rugby.
Tahs are smokies, will be a completely different team compared with 2021, and will have something to prove.
To be honest I have not been this optimistic for a while. Not as optimistic as 2014, but definitely more so than 2013 and 2015. Otherwise pessimism has reigned since the McKenzie years.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
I felt it safer to go with the vernacular. If I said ‘8 captains and a few undecideds’ it may just have confused people.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
Thanks Colvin, I am amongst the lucky ones, little or no illness. The worst was the run down part, like the flu, you sort of don’t register until you are over it, or really sick.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap
A lack of money was not the problem Captain. 2015 delivered record money.
I think rugby has to feed itself, it is not a charity. Hancock is supporting Olympic athletes who train virtually full time with a basic wage.
It does not stop RA doing the hard work to think creatively why a billionaire should put their hand in their pocket to support rugby.
I will be very surprised if any would support professional rugby for the sake of it. Forrest is supporting the game from juniors up I think, and will see community value in that.
The Roar Rugby Project Part 9: Almost a wrap