The 14-17 games only count for Super Rugby. Players are also expected to line up for lower teir provincial or club sides if they aren’t selected for international duties. Thanks for correcting me on the amount of games played in Europe. 20-25 seems quite reasonable.

It is more difficult, should that stop it from happening? Triumph over adversity is as much a part of rugby as goalposts and post match beers.
Australian teams have been able to field international players in the past, Cipriani, Delve, Potgeiter are just some examples so it can be done.

Hi riggers thanks for the article, you’ve given us a lot to think about. I will have to believe you on the figures, usually the only figures that interest me are summed up by the song baby got back by sir mixalot.
My thoughts on the business side of rugby are pretty simple know your audience and give them what they want. Everyone wants a competitive competition, and I don’t doubt that a draft and talent sharing would deliver that. My question is do Australian fans really want to see their sides propped up by All Blacks? Or do they just want to bring in some international players to improve competitiveness while rugby Australia improves local development. I think it is the latter. I don’t think it matters if it’s Daniel Braid winning a premiership for the Reds or Potgeiter winning for the tahs what matters is getting the right players for the club and ensuring that buying talent is only short term, the long term goal has to be making and retaining talent.
As I have said there is a lot to like about talent sharing on both sides of the Tasman, however if either party does their own risk reward check and decides against it, that decision doesn’t hamper the other party.

I’m not so sure that players from the North wouldn’t want to participate in SR. Clubs would need to use a little brain power and figure out who to offer contracts to.
Perhaps a player that is from or familiar with Australia that’s getting a little older and would rather play 17 games a season than the 30+ games required in Europe. A player like this could pass on their experience to younger players while possibly building a future for their family in Australia. That would just be one example.

I know what your saying but I thought Giteau was in the US not Japan.
I like the idea of including Japan in some form of greater pacific competition. You are correct that the potential audience and sponsorship opportunities are there. However it is worth remembering that both the Japanese League 1 and Super Rugby Pacific are only 1 year old. I think that both sides of the pacific need to get their act together before approaching any kind of expansion. Cheers it is always good to read new ideas.

It would be more difficult, but challenges shouldn’t be a barriers for achievement. Talent swapping between Australia and NZ would solve a lot of problems. And it would seem that it would be option A for rugby Australia but if that doesn’t pan out then option B is required

I agree with a lot of what you are saying, however I don’t understand why NZ has to change its policies. If Australian teams need to import players to be more competitive why can’t they import them from other countries, as there is an entire rugby playing world out there? I would start with South America, Kenya, Namibia and Eastern Europe. Surely a few Los Pumas spread across Aussie teams would improve the standard.

I agree there are potential positives for both nations, but if NZ aren’t interested then there are other options.

Cheers for the article matth, great read. I read that Redcliffe State High School have qualified the top high school competition again this season. And Scott Murray, the man in charge of their RL program is in the head coach of the Redcliffe Dolphins at QRL level. This would certainly streamline the development of local talent for the future and lead to something similar to the Panthers’ model sooner rather than later.

But, the warriors would be a powerhouse so swings and roundabouts.

It’s definitely an area to work on.

While I also wish IF the best at Tonga, I don’t think his form in Japan has been balanced. He has had a few highlights for sure and definitely has benefited from Otere Black’s accurate boot but still looks pedestrian in defence.
The Shining Arcs heavy loss to the Sungoliath last weekend is a good example of this. An IF highlights package would show some good trys and great hit ups against good defenders like DMac. But it won’t show him watching Tevita Li and other backs speed past him and score.
He is still a great athlete but his game is not rounded enough. All that being said I look forward to seeing him score those trys for Tonga.

Don’t feel bad, there’s still Tim Tszyu.

For what it’s worth, and my opinion ain’t much, I think that the correct decision was made. I would have liked to have seen him at the Dolphins considering he did his league apprenticeship at Redcliffe before earning a Bronco call up. But he is one of the brighter spots for the tahs ATM and given his age he will improve on all facets of the game if he takes advantage of his game time at super level.

Ask anyone in Penrith, the Shute shield is more interested in cutting teams.

I agree, South Africa is a unique situation . I think that the best for them would be to play in an expanded 7 nations as well as the RC and sit out test windows. This would result in 12 tests against the 6 best teams in Europe and 3 best opposition in the Southern hemisphere every year, all for silverware. Skipping the July tests would give them an off season.

To be clear I have been and still am a fan of super rugby. But having a more national focus could be on the cards in Australia.
It is worth remembering that when RA were looking for a TV deal they stated that they were working on a national club competition as well as a state of origin.
Just because talk has gone quiet doesn’t mean it has ceased.
Such competitions could be created to compliment Super Rugby or replace it.

Yeah I watched it, It definitely had that tense big match feel to it with some bright spots.
It was a shame to see the wallabies lose after their run of form, the Scots have been a bit of a bogey team over the last few years. I am keen to see how the Wallabies bounce back against the old foe.

Peter, Peter, Peter Sunday is screen free in my household. So I Just read your comment this morning and it was very amusing. You had me going for a minute, I actually thought that you were this ridiculous and your new comment is the icing on the cake, ie relating your frustration to my late posting despite not responding to my comment for 12 hours, just magic. I am sure that you will have a lot of fun with this anti social social media comedic character, and I look forward to your future posts.
I quite enjoyed that you wrote a particularly crazy and reaching post about authoritarianism only to end it by telling me that I absolutely cannot rubbish your character’s perspective, I will rubbish what I like thank you I thought this was a free country, ok I will leave the comedy to you.
Your ability to create a character that takes simple statements and either misquotes them or completely creates new narratives based on what your character wants to say despite having nothing to do with the origional comment is brilliant.
No where did I say that elite sports is separate from social issues or politics, I simply said that the Wallabies should choose the best players and that grass roots should be improved to expand that base. You took that, ignored it at somehow used this as a base to turn me into some sort of well-meaning naive. Just a side note If I were you I wouldn’t use a recent examples of socio-political elements in sports, I would go for a deeper cut. Considering you had the example of Ali right there, this was a great man actually targeted by the US government because of his faith and use of free speech. He was only drafted after publicly converting to Islam and when he refused the draft on ideoligical grounds they actually tried to take his freedom from him. This would far better prove your political and Authoritarian arguments. However it would also show that punishments and political interference has actually decreased rather than increased so I will leave that with you to use how you see fit in the future.
I also enjoyed the attention to detail in character in the way you often use the world political, an adjective used to describe government policies and their impacts, when you actually meant social. Chef’s kiss to that.
Speaking of Government initiatives you bring up one of my simple comments that racial quotas are wrong, which completely aligns with my previous arguments of nations should just select the best talent and create lots of it. You correctly aligned the use of quotas with authoritarian practices, but your character’s support or derision for quotas is left somewhat ambiguous with the ‘who needs quotas’ line. Your character makes allusions to their socio political beliefs without outright stating them, just a brilliant send up of a spineless antagonistic character.
Perfect to form was your use of misquoting, my article clearly said the perception of elite private school types has alienated the Wallabies from the general public. Your character clearly agrees with the sentiment that this perception is harmful but your character would never agree with me so some tension must be manufactured. So your character makes it look like I am calling Wallabies public school types despite this clearly not being the case, as I genuinely want to remove this perception.
Possibly my favorite part of the bit was when your character asked me a question, answered it for me, then made a moral argument against that answer. Proving that you are brilliant in winning an argument against yourself, and present an opinion that nobody in anyway was questioning in the first place, that’ll show the snow flakes not even Peter can mess with Peter. And FYI I absolutely would not have chosen KB his is a great Wallaby story.
You then doubled down on this with your second post, where you had ample amount of time to read my origional comment, chose not, and highlighted your misquote. So no, I will not be providing any examples; as I said this is a perception that I do not wish to promote.
In your second post you then called the national team the Australian Rugby squad, a term that I never used and then asked if this or the Wallabies is the correct term. Which is amazing considering your origional post was about the dangers of Authoritarianism, you now want me to tell your character what to say. Brilliant way to manufacture tension for more comedy no doubt. Call them what you like, support or don’t support them if you like it’s a free country, which is why I am free to call out rubbish like people actually believing that the Wallabies are less popular because of census results. Since DR has taken the reigns the general attitude amongst my family members, fans at work and my local have been positive. If your character’s experience has been different, well that’s their problem.
I believe I have comprehended your comments in the funny tongue and cheek manner in which you have presented them. If however I am wrong and you are deadly serious and offended by anything that I have said then feel free to remain offended or don’t I would never tell another person how to feel. Cheers

I tried to let your comments go, but they’re rubbish and when I see rubbish I throw it in the bin.
You may have lost interest in the Wallabies but that’s you, in my experience interest in the national team has grown owing to good results.
I completely disagree with you in regards to teams having to reflect the greater population as you so carefully phrased it. That’s what the South African government wants to do to the Boks, it is wrong for them it is wrong for us. The answer is simple play the best team. Improve grass roots to get the best team.
If anything has alienated the Wallabies from the greater population it has been the perception of rugby union being a game for elitist private school types. If interest in the national team is to grow the pathways need to be improved for all and let the cream rise to the top organically, this will improve results and interest.

Cheers Mick, sorry for the late reply.
I was just pointing out the Authors perspective of NSW cup being purgatory despite being the 3rd or 4th most elite rugby league competition in the world. And I say that with sincerity as I am a QRL fan myself.
I remember the Super League war well, in fact it was about this time I started following the state league and you are correct there is a lot to the northern eagles story.
I completely understand what it must feel like for Bears fans to believe that their team should be competing in the top comp but not being able to accomplish this.
As a rugby league fan I hope that the bidding for the 18th team is as competitive as at was for the 17th and that the Bears as well as all other bids put their best foot forward.

But the article said that they were in purgatory, or is that just the new sponsor for 2022?
I heard that pre-lock-down teams like the Bears and Newtown were getting a bit of a cult following in Sydney. Great news for the game if true.

Yeah if it were to split it should be even. One conference could be the ARL with The 4 western Sydney teams (Panthers, Eels, Bulldogs, Tigers) and Manly, Newcastle, Canberra, Storm and a new club. The other could be the North Eastern Rugby League NERL With the 4 QLD teams (Broncos, Cowboys, Titans and Dolphins) as well as the 4 east Sydney teams (Dragons, Sharks, Roosters and Souths) plus the Warriors. Just a thought. or split it into Super League vs ARL. However I don’t see the need for conferences just yet though.

You think that’s bad, you should see what the opposition did to him during ruck and maul time. They were built tough back then.

He wasn’t wearing it, probably why he is making sense.

My heart goes out to the Kefu family no one should have to experience that. But good on them for seeking professional help and letting the world know it. Hopefully others suffering will follow their brave example, too many suffer in silence.