Roar Pro
Joined January 2009
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Covering Rugby. Favourite Rugby Moment: Watching Kurtley Beale kick a goal from almost 50m out near the sideline to win Australia the match against South Africa away.
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I'm very pleased to report that I managed ten from ten tips correct for last weekend's tour games with most of the margins close…
The end of year rugby tour games continue this weekend so here's a few brief previews and quick tips to get us rolling. Ulster…
Over the weekend, Japan and the USA had home games against traditional rugby heavyweights, something they don't get often. Japan hosted the Welsh and…
One of the most discussed issues between Australian rugby fans is the lack of a third tier. Many ideas have been suggested, such as…
By the numbers, rugby looks strong. Australia are ranked second in the world, with 297,389 players. However, in terms of territory, rugby in Australia…
The last two weeks in North America have been enormous for the sport of rugby with Italy and Georgia touring to battle the United…
The 2012 Shute Shield is almost here, and if the 2011 season is any indication (remind yourelf of the amazing final, apologies Uni fans)…
Eastwood have clinched the 2011 Shute Shield premiership by defeating Sydney University yesterday afternoon after 100 minutes of play, bringing Sydney University's grand final…
The 2011 Shute Shield Grand Final between Eastwood and Sydney University at Concord Oval is less than hours away, and is shaping up to…
The Shute Shield finals have arrived, and six teams have a chance to win the 2011 Shute Shield Premiership. In order of ladder finish…
The Canadian national rugby team have come from behind to beat main rivals the USA 28-22 in front of 10,621 fans at BMO Field,…
Write it down: September 15, 2011. Two major world nations and old rivals, the United States and Russia, will go head to head in…
Eastwood extended their undefeated run this season to 13 by dismantling Sydney University 22-7 on Saturday afternoon at TG Milner field. It was a…
Football competitions like to have their own origin-based rivalry. Most notably, State of Origin in the NRL, England versus the Exiles has been successfully…
The 2011 Shute Shield rugby competition has produced some exciting matches and big upsets. Six rounds have now been completed and we are approaching…
For the past few weeks, there has been a bit of buzz amongst the rugby league online community about a possible televised, fully professional,…
Scenario 1 which Sheek mentioned is the way to go except I also don’t agree that there should be 12 Sydney teams.
I don’t think rugby in Australia has enough support for a third sector like in NZ and RSA. If you really want to, the cheapest and best way is to develop the Shute Shield. Take the similar steps of development that the NSWRL took to expand and become national (though arguably it isn’t national yet!) There are already clubs there with a century of history and are known by outsiders like Randwick and Eastwood. Don’t waste time and money trying to build support for newly manufactured clubs even though that would be the best step to take if you don’t want a Sydney based national comp.
A simple solution to rugby's third tier
Yes about 28,000 which would be considered a successful crowd for the season but really poor on previous seasons. Enjoyed attending the game but really wish Waratahs fans would get more vocal, I even heard a chorus of “brumbies” but nothing coming from the majority waratahs folk.
Too few will watch Tahs go to Waugh with Brumbies
Is it true alot of Sydney FC’s supporters come from the Eastern Suburbs? Moving to Parramatta would kill off alot of those fans but who knows might create new ones in doing so.
Should Sydney FC move to Parramatta?
Nice article. Perhaps then the rebels should be called the Victorian Rebels? Great to see you have realised the difference between Storm (NRL) and Rebels (Super Rugby). Must have been hard to hard to understand the rules of rugby coming from an AFL background.
Rebels can do what the AFL can't - unite Victoria
Yeah it’s a fair point, I’d imagine only very few supporters from each club would make a journey. Which brings out another point of discussion, where would the match be held. North Sydney Oval would probably be the most central location for supporters but too big.
North Harbour versus South Harbour for Sydney Rugby?
I said it was “successfully brought back” which I think was a fair statement just by reading thoughts of English fans. The game was very tight going down to the final minute when the exiles were able to get the victory. This should stir some extra interest for future games. There is even talk of making it a 2 or 3 game series.
I was more talking about origin based rivalries then just local derbies but they do highlight the interest they bring from people just by pitting 2 close geographical locations against eachother.
North Harbour versus South Harbour for Sydney Rugby?
Sam el Perro,
The Exiles vs England match is more of a “manufactured” rivalry. I am aware they have had England vs Other Nationalities in the past but I don’t think any feeling would be leftover from that. I watched the game on Monday morning and they ran a video package pre-game, that would be an example of manufacturing a rivalry but absolutely with SoO there was already a pre-existing rivalry and history for the concept to help it gain popularity and is part of the reason why state of origin is so succesful but there is no denying that the media has had a big role to play in fueling the rivalry to the extent it has today.
Of course, it was never in my thinking that a SPR origin based competition would be in the “big league” of rivalries. It doesn’t matter how small a competition is there is always value in having large rivalries. Not expecting national attention but would like a match thats gets all SPR fans interested. Obviously not expecting 80,000 at ANZ but would love to see a vocal 5,000 turn up like the Manly vs Warringah rivalry often attracts.
Daryl,
I’m usually a fan of putting these type of matches as curtain raisers as I like to see larger crowds and prestigious venues to give the match more value but I still like the idea of playing such a clash at a small and vocal suburban ground in front of fans who are actually there to see the rivalry played out.
North Harbour versus South Harbour for Sydney Rugby?
The only concern about a 2nd Brisbane team is dividing too much of the Broncos support. Melbourne Victory the season before Melbourne Heart came in were averaging aprox 20,000 then the latest season they averaged 15,000, a large drop, however it must be said Melbourne’s crowds have been dropping for last few seasons but not so dramatically.
NRL expansion is all in the numbers
The Philippines is a team to keep an eye on. They have won their division and have been promoted for the last 3 years and now find themselves in the 2nd division. Yet they do not feature in the IRB rankings.
Time for a rugby expansion rethink
Competitions like these can really grow when there are only 2 major football competitions in the country. Unlike Australia with NRL, AFL, Super Rugby and A-League. Too many competitions for the amount of people.
The continual growth of French club rugby
Yes, unsurprisingly the issue regarding end of season imports has arrived. I agree that imports should be spread out more evenly. It’s dissapointing enough that we go through all these rounds of competition only for certain team’s chances to totally turn upside down thanks to imports who just turned up at the business end of the competition. However I do think it’s fantastic for Shute Shield popularity and crowd support when these top profile players make appearances but If you’re going to have imports don’t let teams have disproportionate amounts. (eg. Randwick and Uni)
Speaking of imports it would be fantastic to see Stirling Mortlock playing for his old team Gordon again.
Shute Shield snapshot after six rounds
Tru Tah and Michael C,
I believe that that the NRLUS are trying to become friends not competitors. On their official site there is an article with some comradery overtones between the 2 sports. Also the NRLUS is looking to be run in the NFL off season. But of course it still doesn’t mean they will not be viewed as a competitor but becoming a strong niche would be more of an aim.
And Michael, I agree somewhat that Australian football might go well because it is something new different and innovative but it’s TV value is poor, it doesn’t do the game justice, it has a name associated with a foreign country, nobody knows a thing about it so for that reason it still is waaay behind both types of rugby in potential.
Rugby league to have a crack at the US market
How about Concord Oval?
I went there yesterday to watch West Harbour vs Gordon in Sydney premier rugby. Was a great ground to watch from, very close to the action and enough seats for a Sydney FC crowd. Bus stop right near the front and about a 10-15 minute walk from Burwood station. The location shouldn’t be too far for most Sydney FC fans.
Should Sydney FC move to Parramatta?