Roar Rookie
Joined May 2019
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They used to be the laughing stock of the Six Nations. Winners of the wooden spoon 18 times in 24 years. Never escaping from…
It was the was the ultimate mix of old and new; and the greatest display of wet weather rugby we’re ever likely to see.…
So many predictions, so many expectations. The game’s greatest stage, to be graced by perhaps the greatest golden generations of its two greatest nations.…
This World Cup is a once in a generation opportunity for a mid-tier rugby nation, ranked sixth or lower in the world. First, it’s…
Rugby nations can’t truly peak for every World Cup. In any country some generations will be better than others and when those generations reach…
Gimli the dwarf and Legolas the elf assess the prospects of their their army ahead of the climactic, existential battle in JRR Tolkien’s The…
First, a burning question. Has Eddie Jones transformed his whole selection strategy based on these golden generation articles? OK that’s pretty far-fetched, but equally…
Centre Court, Wimbledon, Monday 9 July 2001. The gentlemen’s singles final between Aussie Pat Rafter and Croat Goran Ivanisevic is being held a day…
Yokohama, Japan. 7pm Saturday 26 October to 6pm Saturday 2 November 2019. For almost exactly a week, England and their charismatic Australian coach Eddie…
The “golden generation” label was made for the shiny new France team that burst onto the world stage in 2020. A decade of underachievement…
For decades the naming of the All Blacks followed the same format. In the deep dark caverns under the main grandstand of Athletic Park…
How does a rugby union in Australia build the sort of sustainable, transformational improvement that it needs? To help us find out, let’s look…
Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 1968. Legendary Lions skipper Willie John McBride stands next to his South African counterpart Mof Myburgh in the tunnel before the…
The All Blacks went back to back with Rugby World Cup wins in 2011 and 2015 - this is how they did it
We all know about the quadrennial cycle from World Cup to World Cup in Test rugby. As soon as one World Cup ends, teams…
A family went on holiday last summer and a neighbour was tasked with looking after their grandma and cat. A few days later, the…
In 2015 a disturbing trend was identified by the great Southern Hemisphere rugby powers: the English were finally producing the standard of young player…
Happy New Year, everybody! After a refreshing Christmas I’m ready to start thinking about rugby again, how about you? We’re now halfway through the…
As we all know, the current Sydney COVID outbreak, its offspring outbreaks in other Australian states and New Zealand, and the varying responses of…
If you haven’t watched the Wales versus England Six Nations match from the weekend I suggest that you hunt it down. It was full…
Thanks for keeping the sevens fires burning Hugh! Has men’s sevens ever been more competitive?
Congratulations to our men and women on their double double. Let’s hope that they can keep their run going for the two big events.
The Singapore Sevens threw up some weird and surprising results - that was except for the dominance of the Kiwis, of course
They hunted him but couldn’t catch him!
Exclusive: Wallabies star turns down mega deal overseas to re-sign with Queensland Reds
I’m nowhere near heavy enough to be a test prop 😂
Exclusive: Wallabies star turns down mega deal overseas to re-sign with Queensland Reds
Looking forward to the winner takes all finale!
Exclusive: Wallabies star turns down mega deal overseas to re-sign with Queensland Reds
That’s fair enough WE. I think it’s the combination of the two – excellence with flair.
'The real deal': Love 'em or hate 'em, the Reds are exactly what Australian rugby needs
Just one caveat to this Mugs- test rugby subsidises everything else. That doesn’t mean that overspends are ok and that you can’t increase other income of course.
Pro club rugby is the main drain on finances, along with a few big contracts for non-essential players. It’s so important not to spend too much at this level.
But everything relies on community rugby and pathways.
COMMENT: It's a disgrace rugby is heading to Qatar - but that's not because of sportswashing
You’re better off reading W Evans’ article. For starters it seems to be written by someone who actually likes rugby.
COMMENT: It's a disgrace rugby is heading to Qatar - but that's not because of sportswashing
True, you can’t fight every battle.
COMMENT: It's a disgrace rugby is heading to Qatar - but that's not because of sportswashing
NZR has had incredible success in keeping the vast majority of our best players at home when all the big markets are in the north. Also looking after them so that they can be at their best when it really matters. With our tiny market it’s the only chance we’ve got.
COMMENT: It's a disgrace rugby is heading to Qatar - but that's not because of sportswashing
Too right WE. Australian rugby needs excellence and Kiss is delivering in spades.
What an incredible record in the games that matter – nobody will want them in the quarters.
'The real deal': Love 'em or hate 'em, the Reds are exactly what Australian rugby needs
The original three team Super Rugby model wasn’t ruinously expensive. The quality was high and it pulled in big crowds. In fact it was so successful that it fooled JON into thinking expansion was a good idea.
Wasting money on and expensive league converts and extra teams full of players not good enough for pro rugby was ruinously expensive.
You’re wrong about Europe making the main comps domestic. Only two of the six nations did that. And neither of them went for the low cost Mickey Mouse league that you advocate – they had huge playing and financial resources.
Your model would have simply resulted in a huge player drain to Murdoch’s new Super League clubs which were newly cashed up and hungry for players. It would have destroyed Australian rugby at a time when it was the best in the world.
https://www.afr.com/companies/how-rupert-murdoch-tied-up-rugby-union-19950911-kax1n
Rebels face more hurdles despite $25m rescue plan, call on RA to show support and reveal hand as court battle looms
There wasn’t KP. They had to cut off nearly all their funding of community rugby just to pay for five teams. You need to live in the real world.
Rebels face more hurdles despite $25m rescue plan, call on RA to show support and reveal hand as court battle looms
Looked like a quality game controlling 10.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
McReight has had a brilliant season… I was also impressed by the Force 7, is he considered to be a contender to be Fraser’s backup?
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
He chose three teams because he didn’t have the resources for any more. You can’t escape that reality.
You’ve forgotten that those teams were very popular in those days when quality was high. It was those foolish decisions that reduced quality and ruined Aussie rugby.
And of course NSW, QLD and ACT are
their entire heartlands!
Rebels face more hurdles despite $25m rescue plan, call on RA to show support and reveal hand as court battle looms
I think it’s pretty unfair to dismiss his contribution to their hugely improved scrummaging which has been a weapon in some wins. LSL and Lancaster have been brilliant, Dangunu and Proctor pretty useful too.
Rebels face more hurdles despite $25m rescue plan, call on RA to show support and reveal hand as court battle looms
The NRL is bigger competition now but rugby would still have its lucrative niche as Australia’s national team if it had kept up its quality in the community, its coach development and its pathways. That’s what the new regime is trying to tackle and it’s the only way rugby can become relevant again.
League didn’t rip up your market, JON, Pulver and co did. No community spending ruined your core fan base and choosing quantity over quality meant the casuals lost interest. Losers don’t build a bandwagon.
Rebels face more hurdles despite $25m rescue plan, call on RA to show support and reveal hand as court battle looms
When are you going to get it into your head that pro club level rugby is a money pit the world over? You keep on obsessing about growing when the lesson from South Africa and Australia is that more clubs just leave less money for everything else. South Africa has gone back to the four it can afford (and only three are getting crowds over 7000) and Australia has wished for years than it could. England has cut three clubs and Newcastle has halved its wage bill. French clubs have lost hundreds of millions over the years.
Keeping the five clubs has kept us at the top all this time. Nobody of potential test quality has ever left NZ because of a lack of clubs. Some have left because the European economy is bigger so they can get higher wages, but not that many and one of the reasons why we can afford to pay our All Blacks good salaries is that we don’t waste money at pro club level.
Rebels face more hurdles despite $25m rescue plan, call on RA to show support and reveal hand as court battle looms
Without him they wouldn’t have such a good scrum which is a huge part of their relative success. He’s carried exceptionally well too.
Rebels face more hurdles despite $25m rescue plan, call on RA to show support and reveal hand as court battle looms
The French league has hundreds of millions of dollars in accumulated deficits.
League didn’t devour your markets. You abandoned them by destroying the national coaching programme and cutting community rugby from 15% to 2.4%. Rugby became relevant in Australia by being excellent and would have remained relevant if it hadn’t thrown away what made it excellent.
If the Reds and Tahs kept so much talent they’d have been consistently near the top of the table. Instead they just had fleeting visits.
Rebels face more hurdles despite $25m rescue plan, call on RA to show support and reveal hand as court battle looms
Every club tournament in the world has lost money over the years. Including the ones with long seasons.
It was the expansion of Super Rugby that destroyed Australian rugby and weakened Super Rugby. More teams means more financial losses and weaker teams. And you want to repeat the mistake.
And it wasn’t the number of teams limiting the length of the comp. There’s always been at least 12, the same as England. Who have lost hundreds of millions over the years.
Rebels face more hurdles despite $25m rescue plan, call on RA to show support and reveal hand as court battle looms
That problem was never that there wasn’t enough players. It was the Crusaders and Blues hoarding players that the likes of the Highlanders needed.
We couldn’t afford more teams and more teams would have weakened the comp.
Rebels face more hurdles despite $25m rescue plan, call on RA to show support and reveal hand as court battle looms
If they aren’t good enough to get a good contract with those clubs they aren’t good enough. Having more teams so that the quality was low enough for them is a waste of money Aussie rugby can’t afford.
Rebels face more hurdles despite $25m rescue plan, call on RA to show support and reveal hand as court battle looms
There are four times more kiwis playing pro rugby overseas.
Rebels face more hurdles despite $25m rescue plan, call on RA to show support and reveal hand as court battle looms
Mugs, the catastrophe that is how Australian rugby has been mismanaged would be an excellent PhD for someone.
Integration is indeed the key word and, for example, ripping up a world leading national coaching programme and letting the states do what they liked has proved disastrous. Even the new proposals aren’t fully tackling this, although they are an improvement on what’s gone before.
I don’t think it’s realistic to expect pro club rugby to be profitable – nowhere has managed that – but you can control costs and market it better. Australia did this very well until at least 2002 but cutting community spending to pay for big money league converts and extra teams simply beggars belief.
COMMENT: It's a disgrace rugby is heading to Qatar - but that's not because of sportswashing