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Geoff is a Melbourne based sports fanatic and writer, who started contributing to The Roar in 2012, originally under the pen name Allanthus. His first book, A World in Conflict; the Global Battle For Rugby Supremacy was released in Dec 2017 to critical acclaim. For details on the book visit www.geoffparkes.com Meanwhile, his twin goals of achieving a single figure golf handicap and owning a fast racehorse remain tantalisingly out of reach.
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The crude extrication of Izack Rodda, Harry Hockings and Isaac Lucas from Queensland and Australian rugby has, among other things, renewed calls from the rugby community to scrap the Giteau’s Law regulations, which restrict players contracted to overseas clubs being available for the Wallabies.
It’s an old adage that the very best ideas start off as one thing and evolve into something greater.
So what has the last few tumultuous weeks in Australian rugby taught us? Not much that we didn’t already know.
The Wallabies ex-captains’ advance being checked last week by new board member Peter Wiggs shows how difficult it is to effect change in Australian rugby.
So how did it get to this? The execution of a CEO who committed no capital offence? And, with demands being made for governance changes to Australian rugby, the prospect of more bloodletting to come?
With lockdown continuing and no rugby on the immediate horizon, we take time out this week to talk to Australia’s leading referee, Angus Gardner.
Hands up if you believed that Australia’s quarter-final exit at last year’s Rugby World Cup was due to one or more of the following reasons.
Last Tuesday, Rugby Australia CEO Raelene Castle stood in front of staff and announced that most of them were stood down from their jobs, effective immediately.
Strange times like these throw up surprising twists and turns.
Since Super Rugby was shut down last weekend there has been much discussion and conjecture around financial concerns (what does this mean for the future of the game in our region?) as well as rugby matters (how soon can games resume and in what form?)
The 1976 tender lament written by Doc Neeson and Rick and John Brewster for The Angels, nicely sums up the despair and hope for all involved in rugby as the effects of the COVID-19 virus bite deeply into all aspects of society.
No, you haven’t woken to the news that South African rugby has absconded to the United Kingdom. Not just yet, anyway.
As Rebels lock Matt Philip set himself for the final lineout of their match against the Highlanders, the intent in his eyes was clear and obvious.
Australia is currently ranked seventh in world rugby. If rugby bashing were a sport, it would rank first, with daylight second.
Super Rugby ran into colour issues in Round 2. More on some questionable away strips later, but the folly of SANZAAR doing away with geographic identification in favour of supposedly more marketable names was exposed in comical circumstances.
In March last year, a player welfare symposium in Paris organised by World Rugby looked at ways of creating a greater contest for the ball at the ruck.
On Friday night, when the Blues and Chiefs kick start the 2020 Super Rugby season, it will still be January. If that feels wrong – and it is on many counts – spare a thought for the Super Rugby coaches and their staff.
One notable absentee from this week’s Presidents Cup was the President himself, otherwise occupied at home rebutting political opponents who would prefer the trophy was presided over by a head of state more to their liking.
The highly anticipated Presidents Cup returned to Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the third time yesterday – the site of the only International Team victory in 12 attempts – with the honour of striking the first blow in anger bestowed upon USA player Justin Thomas.
It’s certainly true that the organisations that have a great culture and true alignment right through the back office, recruitment, coaching, playing group have a higher success ratio, Fin.
The funny thing is that most people know this, but then can’t stop arguing about how to go about it!
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
You obviously haven’t been around professional teams, Onside.
For all of the differences between pro and amateur, and club rugby, the fundamental thing that remains the same is that they are a bunch of guys sweating it out at training, trying to get better individually and as a team, having a laugh and enjoying each others company and making friends for life while they do it.
That’s not a myth, it’s a fundamental truth about team sport.
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
Cheers Rhys. Your last sentence is a really good one, the lack of passion and fight in too many people is a real concern. Partly its because they get worn down by all the negative press and eventually accept it as true, but it’s also a bit sad how people these days increasingly don’t figure out what it is they want and fight for it.
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
I’m sure he rates it as a career highlight too, mate! 😂
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
“What will also be interesting will be is if the player agent keeps his accreditation with Rugby Australia.”
I suspect that’s not a fight RA wants or needs right now, Carlin. But yes, he wouldn’t be at the top of the Xmas card list!
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
It’s tricky to strike the right balance but those suggested tweaks aren’t unreasonable, Aiden.
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
“You end up with a bigger pool of players to choose from”
But what competition will they be playing in at home, Joe?
If all the leading players go, there will be no Super Rugby level, professional competition. It won’t be funded. And if the replacement is a domestic club-based, semi-professional competition, there is no way young players in that will be competitive with players from other nations who are in overseas professional programs.
And it’s not just the players too. All the best coaches will go. Who will be coaching these young players at home?
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
I don’t think it’s the Love Boat, Ken…
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
That’s the piece I don’t understand, Andy. Even if this is an inevitable outcome at some point, I don’t understand why you would go there right away, voluntarily.
There’s nothing to be gained, and with some of the other markets pulling back as a result of the pandemic, with a Lions tour and a World Cup on the (admittedly distant) horizon, it isn’t impossible that Australia could make it through the next few years relatively intact.
It’s like if a fire starts in the front bedroom of your house. Do you just walk away and let the whole house burn down, or do you try and fight it and save 80-90 percent of what you have? Surely you don’t walk away until it’s absolutely hopeless?
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
Don’t believe everything you read in the papers, Muglair.
Harrison enjoyed direct access to Raelene Castle and had numerous meetings with her. They were considered to have a good relationship until he chose to run with the rebels.
The door was also wide open to the ex-captains. They elected to run their campaign through the media.
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
The fact that salary information got released to Jessica Halloran only confirms how Australian rugby dodged a bullet when the board rebuffed their budding chairman, Don.
We also need to be careful when quoting absolute numbers about context and detail. Halloran used $1m because it sounds like a high number. But Tange for example has been with RA for over two years. Add Matiske and suddenly the total amount paid to both over their full terms doesn’t look so ludicrous.
Remember too, this is the same writer who also claims that RA has “blown” $500m over the last four years, when that number is simply their total expenditure.
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
You’re welcome, Class Act. Let me know where to send the invoice.
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
No doubt Sheek, probably the biggest scourge in professional rugby was/is this mad race to fill up the calendar, in pursuit of more revenue.
Everyone is at fault – players, managers, administrators, owners.
Not just rugby too, most sports are no longer seasonal, but year-round concerns. The 2020 PGA Tour starts 3/4 way through 2019. The cricket calendar is chockers, with players having to be paid not to play in certain comps. Tennis ground itself into the dirt with a mind-numbing weekly schedule.
The most notable exceptions are the NFL and AFL. Because they are dominant domestic sports they can generate enough revenue without having to compete against others in the same space.
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
It does. I know it’s been suggested that it wouldn’t be worth him risking playing for lower wages and the potential for injury, but really… at his age, and the fact that he’s still developing, how can it be a good thing that he now has to sit out the whole winter?
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
The ‘Ballymore Three’ does have quite a sinister ring to it doesn’t it, robbo?
I’m not sure that they were prepared for that kind of backlash, although given the mood of the nation and all other players accepting the salary reduction, if they weren’t they should have been.
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
Hi mz,
re the three players, it all depends on where you come from. If you play rugby to maximise your earnings potential while you can, Picone looks to be doing a great job for his clients.
If you value the team aspect – and for most professional and amateur players, the biggest thing players get from the game is the shared experience of working hard at training and the highs of winning on the field and the camaraderie and life-long mateship that comes from that – then Picone looks to be doing his men a disservice.
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
Hi Frank, to believe in that model, you have to believe that the Wallabies won’t be disadvantaged by no longer having the players tested against NZ and South Africa’s best, and being better as a result of being assembled from all around the world, a week before a Test window.
And/or you have to believe that the Wallabies won’t be disadvantaged by picking players from a national club competition.
I’m not a buyer for either of those, sorry.
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
Good point about the structure of the global season Sinclair. If a better structure can be put in place then it certainly opens up the possibility for more co-ordinated sabbaticals, that allow players a payday overseas, and to still participate domestically.
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
Depending on how things go with Japan with respect to the RC and SR, Don, if and when the dam wall finally bursts, that’s not an unreasonable mid-point.
Keeping players in the same time zone, a shorter flight away, and in the same competition is definitely preferable that having them slog it out for 11 months a year in France.
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
Yes mate, that was a night when it wasn’t worth sitting up late!
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
Dead right, Greasegun.
I remember talking to Steve Tew about SANZAAR, and he explained that with NZ, Aus, SA and Argentina filling the top 4 places at the 2015 World Cup, that was vindication of their strategy, and proved that Super Rugby was the best competition in the world.
He was right of course, if that were the only measuring stick.
That success has come at a cost, and while it is true that fans want success at World Cups, they also want a coherent, transparently fair, user-friendly franchise competition.
I believe that SANZAAR can have both, but collectively, the nations have lacked the courage and foresight to enable that. And now they lack the money…
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
Yes that’s always been a big positive for the game, back when it was amateur and the same for professional. The ability for a player or coach to travel and experience the world by playing rugby in a different culture is something that we should always treasure.
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist
Understand the reasoning Ross, and agree that if the salary gap becomes too wide, (as in South Africa’s case this was brought on the by depreciation of the Rand), then players are going to go regardless.
My argument is that there is a lot of speculation about solvency, but the fact is, RA don’t actually know how much (or little) money they have got. RA is still working with their SANZAAR partners to put together a viable competition. If it turns out that that isn’t possible and they can’t offer decent salaries, then sure, the market will work itself out and Giteau’s Law will have to go by the wayside.
But they can drop it if and when they need to. There is no benefit (and in fact only harm) from dropping it sooner than is necessary.
The Wrap: Giteau’s Law must survive, but with a twist