Roar Pro
Joined July 2015
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Just a passionate sports fan who will watch almost anything, play almost anything and have an opinion about almost everything!
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I consider myself an eternal optimist and a rugby fan. This has proven to be a tough combination over the past 12 months. I…
Super Rugby is the greatest rugby tournament, outside of internationals, anywhere in the world. This sentiment harks back to before I even had a team…
There is a lot of anger in Australian rugby right now as state turns on state in a fevered attempt to bolster their case…
It is difficult to see exactly how the current Super teams saga will end, but no matter which team is cut or however the…
Australian Rugby finds itself in a deep hole right now, undeniably of its own making. Rugby is being damaged every day that the ARU…
That sounds like an interesting watch, I will have to find it.
Regarding the fullback comment, I recall seeing something similar in the Scotland game when the Scots made a break through the middle straight out of a ruck. I think it was the break that Hooper ran down. Watching the replay I remember noting that Folau was off to the side of the break and just kept jogging towards our now broken defensive line without even attempting to turn and chase. I put it down to lazy defense at the time (still do), but it could also be a desire to stick to rigid defense patterns despite the attack not matching expectations.
Nathan Grey wants defensive love after signing Wallabies extension
This is what I saw over the last three games. It is almost as if we went out expecting a victory similar to what the ABs did to Samoa and were shocked when the opposition actually matched or beat them.
Time to support our Wallabies
“Pointless and stupid to be offloading on Chieka when he’s clearly the best and only coaching option Australia has.”
I am sorry but I call bullsh*t on that. There are many very good coaches running around world rugby at any one time and certainly many of them would jump at the chance of steering the Wallabies. Without doing my research, Stuart Lancaster was doing quite well with England before making some major mistakes under considerable pressure at their World Cup, if he has learnt and grown from those mistakes I wager he would do alright in Green and Gold. There are certainly other options out there.
Time to support our Wallabies
I agree that the “He is the best man for the job” line is brought out too often and is rather defeatist, tacked on as it usually is to a list of his latest failings as a coach.
If the coach isn’t coaching well, then you look for a different coach. This is a completely different issue than the varied and multiple changes that need to occur in Australian rugby.
For the statement not to be defeatist, you would have to truly believe that there is no other coach in the world right now that could do a better job than Chieka is doing. I would say that recent evidence suggests that would be a difficult argument to make.
TELL US: What are the positive signs for the Wallabies?
Nick, if Timani is still not at full fitness, would you rate Ross Haylett-Petty as a closer like for like replacement than Higgs? Showed a lot of potential this year I think and has played a fair bit of 8 over the years.
I would have Isa Nasaraini in the squad the moment he becomes eligable though. Its a pity Mafi is otherwise qualified as well!
The Wallaby back five has taken five steps back
But it is not an exit if there is ongoing support. That liability remains at least in the short term. Any future liability beyond this would lie within the terms of the sale contract.
Pulver not going anywhere after ARU EGM
The question was “what was your desired outcome of the meeting”. I was simply answering the stated question. I can only speak for myself.
Pulver not going anywhere after ARU EGM
To my mind it is best to remain in Super Rugby for now but work like hell to make the NRC a viable alternative in 3-8 years time (based on broadcast deal cycles). That way we would have more power at the negotiating table as any threat to leave Super Rugby would not be as empty as it is now. Let’s not cut off our nose to spite our face.
Pulver not going anywhere after ARU EGM
The continued argument is that if we don’t cut a team then Aus rugby will become insolvent. I am sorry, but I have yet to see an argument that convinces me that this is the most likely outcome and that there is NO OTHER way to stave off this outcome.
To get in ahead, no I do not have an alternative nor could I properly as I am not in possession of all the facts, but also it is not incumbent on me to put up an alternative as I am not the one suggesting the change from status quo. If the ARU believe this is their only remaining option, then they could gain my grudging support if they had shown that all other options had been explored and would not work and if we do not make this change then the game will go insolvent. They have far from convinced me of either of these points and so I oppose the action. Regardless of which team is in the firing line.
Yes I am aware that there are significant issues with the status quo, but I still hold the opinion that other methods are available to avoid the total ruination of the game in Aus.
Pulver not going anywhere after ARU EGM
That becomes a chicken and egg argument then though doesn’t it? Do the extra funds allow Vic to produce more elite juniors which in turn justifies paying them more than other states which then allows them to produce more elite juniors? Sounds a bit like circular reasoning.
Pulver not going anywhere after ARU EGM
The poor financial results are hardly a new situation though. Bail outs of various clubs has been a regular occurrence. To admit that they have let things get so dire that the only option is to cut a club is itself grounds for Pulver to stand down. It is literally his job to avoid this type of scenario.
Pulver not going anywhere after ARU EGM
TWAS, I acknowledge that the CEO is only one part of a complex political machine but to say that changing the CEO changes nothing is a bit of an overstatement. My main point is that there is no hope of a change in direction while Pulver remains as he is in too deep now. Expecting an about turn from Pulver ir Clyne now would be too much to ask. If however a new CEO came in and stated that five teams was the preferred model and backed it up with a workable strategy to achieve this, then I don’t believe it is beyond thinkable that the board would change their minds.
I realise that this is a long shot option but as I still believe that we should retain five teams, long shots are about all that is left right now.
Pulver not going anywhere after ARU EGM
If the Australian rugby is in such financial pressure then why was nothing noticed or mentioned earlier? Why is cutting 20% of our professional presence the ONLY way out of this mess? I do not know the answer but I know the devastating impact cutting the Force would have for WA rugby and I get the sense it would be the same or similar in Victoria if the Rebels get cut. I therefore refute the proposition that cutting a team is the option of least consequence.
Pulver not going anywhere after ARU EGM
Agreed that a new CEO will not be a panacea that will magically fix everything, but with the current ceo so invested in the current process, the only realistic hope of a change in direction will be with a change of ceo. So for those of us still holding out for 5 Aus super teams, a new ceo is our only real chance of that happening.
Pulver not going anywhere after ARU EGM
No. We have every right to fight for our team. If you want the debacle over with, offer up your own team.
Pulver not going anywhere after ARU EGM
Obviously the desired outcome was agreement with the first two propositions (which didn’t happen) and maybe agreement with the third (which did). The desired outcome was some kind of change in direction, not steady as she goes.
Pulver not going anywhere after ARU EGM
This is flawed logic that has been addressed many times over. Expanding to Perth and also Melbourne has not hurt the heartland but has encouraged growth outside the heartland which if persisted with will benefit rugby in AUSTRALIA in the long run.
Pulver not going anywhere after ARU EGM
No expat here. Born and bred West Aussie. I consider myself as passionate a rugby supporter as anyone, which I feel my contributions here and elsewhere will attest to. If the Force get cut I will find it incredibly difficult to follow a different team and if I do it wont be an Australian team. I may simply follow soccer instead.
Pulver not going anywhere after ARU EGM
Yes he is only one person, but he is the figurehead and leader. The buck stops with him so to speak and the manner he has conducted this culling affair is more than enough in my mind to force him to depart.
That said, I am not foolish enough to think that replacing Pulver or even the entire board would magically reverse the direction of Australian rugby. What we need is root and branch reform, which is difficult to see happening given the amount of vested interests that would need to hurt their personal power base for that to happen.
Bill Pulver's job on the line at ARU EGM
Absolutely!
I haven’t yet had the privelage to meet TPN but I have never heard anyone say a bad word about him!
I hope they both stick around with the Force for a long while yet!
Former Force captain Matt Hodgson announces retirement
Why should the balance be better with four teams? What is actually solved at a base level? Europe still have more money to offer than us but we will have 30 less professional places to offer, so I would expect more Aus players will try their luck offshore. How does it improve the quality of the teams beyond the very short term (which is still a debatable point)? How does this ensure the continued solvency of the four remaining teams? Especially given that we will likely get a smaller cut of the SANZAAR pie at the next broadcast deal due to having fewer teams in the comp.
It is at best a very short term elixir, not a cure for Aus rugby. I fear we will end up in a worse position than we are now.
RUPA and player welfare - it's time to rise up and represent
As I said, mental health has been raised and it was appropriate that it was raised by the people that raised with concern for those affected. I dispute your claim that it is being used as a bargaining chip.
My initial point there was that the way in which you have raised mental is as bargaining chip to be used against the clubs to convince them to drop the legal action.
It is not the fact that the clubs have threatened legal action that has delayed this process, it is that ARU did not do their homework properly before initiating the “cull”. It was obvious that any club threatened with extinction was going to fight in whatever way possible, likely through the courts if the option was available, so the ARU should havr foreseen that from even the most basic due diligence. The initial plan of the ARU failed which skeweres their initial timeline, them they went silent.
The delay and the uncertainty is entirely the fault of the ARU.
RUPA and player welfare - it's time to rise up and represent
The issue with the pathway as I see it is what happens to the players when they reach the top of the club part of the pathway, i.e. when they look to be selected into an NRC team. At this point their options start to expand away from Aus rugby. The NRC has limited places available but a good enough club player would also attract attention from league, Japan and Europe. All of which can offer greater monetary incentives. So many will still stay as the chance to work through the NRC into a Super squad and then the Wallabies is still an attractive idea and career goal for Aussie kids, but a number of players will choose to take the opportunity to maximise their reward from what is a limited playing life and fair enough too, so they should.
The answer (probably oversimplified) as I see it is to increase the size and professionalism of the NRC so we can offer more players an alternative to looking overseas or to league. We wont be able to match salaries with Europe, but that same potential reward of playing for your country coupled with a greater monetary reward would be enough to keep a greater amount of the talent coming through in the game in this country than we currently are.
The issue here is how to grow the NRC so that it is able to provide more professional or at least semi professional places for Aussie players without going broke and disbanding like the ARC before it.
State of Union in Australia