Roar Guru
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The Olympic games is a peculiar phenomenon. For two weeks every four years a huge array of sporting disciplines flit across and hold the…
Anyone who saw the Waratahs versus Chiefs match recently would have been surprised by the sheer force of what was described as the Palu/Skelton/Tatafu…
Sonny Bill Williams is in a curious position. Despite numerous caps for the All Blacks and years in the NRL, he is still not…
One of the curiosities of sports organisations is the inability to see how a successful model works, and then reproduce its best features. Nowhere…
There is an event that transpired over the past weeks that should have filled the powers of SANZAAR not so much with mild tremors…
In order to survive against the invasive attentions of European and Japanese rugby, not to mention the NRL, AFL and football, rugby needs to…
Rugby's critical advantage over other sports is its ability to generate long passages of building, fluid momentum that grow and grow. This includes defences…
Japan's victory over South Africa gave World Rugby exactly the perception it wanted: that rugby is growing from strength-to-strength, and that tier two nations…
In light of the fiasco playing out in the Wallaby management and squad this week and the general decline of the team, the question…
The recent concerns expressed over the practice of players being allowed to continue playing after concussions have brought light to an issue far too…
The second chapter of this somewhat slow-burning series has arrived, and with an apparently meagre theme, hardly justifying large-scale treatment. But while the subject…
This is the first in a series of articles addressing the fundamental issues the new head of the ARU, Bill Pulver, must face with…
The starting Wallabies XV for the most recent South African Test match was the following: Robinson, Polota-Nau, Alexander, Sharpe, Douglas, Dennis, Hooper, Samo, Phipps,…
Since the impressive appearance of Ewen McKenzie in Queensland, the Reds have emerged as the most successful sporting team in the state by playing…
The Wallabies' recent woes have been the result of a lack of power in the forwards and to a lesser degree in the backs,…
The purpose of this article is to suggest a way to resolve the current impasse within SANZAR over the South African desire to field…
Anyone with a passing interest in the fate of English rugby, or even rugby as an international game, should breathe a sigh of relief…
This article does not aim to describe how one team is superior to the other, to score little points, or to favour New Zealand…
The Warriors' success in making the NRL final is simply the result of a long process whereby the NRZU considers the threat of rugby…
Imagine you're a less than top notch rugby nation such as Scotland or Wales. You can beat one of the top five teams once…
There would need to be the national army involved to stop the army of league scouts.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
It’s true. One guy went to some junior game and signed him up.
Gone the best running talent of his generation.
Gone than one point in the RWC final.
One scout, one RWC lost.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
SRAU and SRP can just be played at the same time as Europe does with its domestic and international tournaments.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
It’s pretty hard to have much money when you choose to have the shortest season you can think of and therefore create the least revenue.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
All due to bad player distribution by RA.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
Indeed-seems they’re starting to spend again too.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
‘probably’. Actually they are clearly competitive this year and show there is the depth for them.
If the Waratahs or Reds play badly it’s nothing to do with player quality and bad coaching as the actual players are always good.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
Squad has improved this year.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
The windows have been moved many times and it would be very easy to as the northern hemisphere aren’t affected in this case and they would be the ones to object. There’s nothing fixed about anything World Rugby does and it can be shifted like that.
Interesting idea about playing through RC though.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
‘they pulled the plug on super rugby with SA and Arg during covid.’
SA pulled out.
Their report on what Super rugby should be in Australia was nonsense.
The same board who wrote this report are also responsible for rugby doing worse and worse in New Zealand unsurprisingly.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
That would fit the size of Auckland and there are already existing entities in South Auckland and North Harbour.
Sydney’s a pretty good comparison. 5.1 million people support 11 NRL teams. That’s 450,000 per team (although there are also AFL, A-League, Rugby teams…).
Three Auckland teams would be much more than that, around 550,000.
NRL is dominant in Sydney and rugby in Auckland. Makes perfect sense.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
Yes Kerry Packer and Twiggy have never been involved in revolutions before indeed.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
Perhaps rather than the Rebels going because of cost it’s time for the shortness of the season going.
Millions in broadcast, so crowd and sponsorship revenue are thrown away each year with a season half as short ad the northern domestic tournaments and only a little more than half the NRL’s.
More the RC and November tours back a little and you can then play Super rugby through the July tours and for a few weeks after, generating millions.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
I meant actually moving the tours late in the year to Europe not the tours from Europe.
I think they could be moved easily enough because the North (who would be the obstacle) don’t get affected much.
It doesn’t matter much to them when in November a tour begins as it’s still far from their Six Nations and half a year from the end of their domestic tournaments.
The obstacle has been that because of the inbound June now July tours it’s hard to play Super rugby through them and after because you need a few clear weeks for the end of Super rugby season. But move RC/tour of Europe later and there are some weeks.
Doing so creates tons and tons of money. You can add about 7 or 8 weeks to the Super season as you play through the tours and after, which is a massive increase in the home crowd revenue for each franchise and a huge boost in TV value as you’re offering so much more product. Could be enough alone in one measure to turn the situation around financially.
By the way the four point plan above is a minimal thing to make some difference.
The only thing I’d add is that you price any future Super teams with the broadcaster, add in private equity and sponsorship then see if it will pay. Could be Adelaide, Western Sydney etc…badically get it priced.
And any new team in Australia needs one in New Zealand to keep strength similar, two more in Auckland first.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
Of course, nothing stopped RA using the New Zealand distribution model plus the Rebels’ existing dispensations and creating an impressive team.
But no. Let them have an import or two and see what happens. Losing. Same system with the Force.
The NRL and AFL are far wiser with creating strong expansion teams.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
So here’s the final wrinkle to this bad non-distribution deal.
Players leave rugby altogether.
In fact two left the Waratahs this week. Many go abroad because they can’t get anywhere in the Waratahs/Reds squads, or told flat out they’re not going to play for years (Angus Crichton). So they end up in Europe or overwhelmingly in the NRL.
Thus, not only could better distribution of what’s kept at the Waratahs and Reds strengthen the weaker teams, but players who are lost to the game altogether would be retained.
Therefore enough talent to keep the 5 teams isn’t just about distribution, but tied to that retention of large amounts of talent in the game at all. Young players getting nowhere in Waratahs and Reds wider squads without a distribution alternative means massive loss of talent to league and abroad.
Note that to stop complaints by the big old three, the NZ system was only a partial draft, so they could still keep the 22 of their choice.
A full draft would always be difficult and on the basis of the New Zealand case unnecessary.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
By all accounts they won’t exist soon to be making anything.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
Actually they have some kind of reduced version of it.
But actually that proves the point. The system kept the talent well distributed until the weaker areas could build their own professional development and identification of talent more. After that it wasn’t needed in its fullest form.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
The director in 2019 said that the crucial money was 6 home games and they could never be reduced.
Just imagine doubling that number by the way….
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
If that were the case, given that they had no income for some of those Covid years, it would imply a massive increase in income.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
Yes, but the Covid years are about minus 4 million.
The team was on the road for two years, then no one wanted to spend on live rugby and crowds were still delicate, and they couldn’t build a growing support base during this time because of this.
Impossible situation.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
There’s something so strange about the wilful disregard of obvious problems.
There’s no money but the season’s incredibly short so can’t make any money.
Keep the season the same length.
New Zealand has a great distribution system for talent.
Ignore it.
Super AU final brings in 40,000.
Cut Super AU.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
The pandemic would have knocked off millions each year.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
They would also be right. Force and Rebels are in a lower rung of value according to their ruler.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’
Then why tie yourself to a competition model where the teams are likely to lose?
In the NRL/AFL/A-League the Australian teams always win.
The Wrap: Rugby Australia gaslights Rebels staff and why ‘I Can’t Go For That’