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Joined February 2024
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Rugby Australia (RA) has just released its 2023 Annual Report, posting a $9 million loss and revealing an equity of negative $13 million. Back…
As Rugby Australia considers the future of Australian rugby, it is worth reflecting on three critical challenges facing the game down under. 1. How…
Well reasoned Heffler.
One thing I grapple with is RA paying for the semi pro tier and how to engage fans and leave them feeling they get more from a domestic comp, rather than feeling like it is inferior.
I actually think there is merit in a fully professional, 6 team home and away domestic season (Oct to Apr with minimal NRL overlap and night matches over the summer heat). Make this the premier competition.
SR can then be a 2 month, single round end of season tournament (top 2 go into a final) with 3 Au and 3-5 NZ teams.
Domestic SR matches can be billed as rugby’s state of origin (perhaps teams of NSW, QLD and rest of Aus). Therefore SR is icing on the cake, rather than domestic being just something lesser.
It gives more player pathways funded by tv revenues while aggregating players into more competitive SR teams against NZ.
SR wouldn’t be significantly shorter than it is now, and even if it is often two NZ teams in the final, we would now also have an origin series and a domestic champion.
Does the failure of the Rebels prove that rugby has no business in Melbourne?
Having one cashed up team and the remainder under a salary cap would make SR pointless. They would simply canabalise the best players and erode the competitiveness and crowds of existing teams.
That said, sports are nearly always unprofitable so if you want to pay more for player salaries you need either a wealthy owner willing to make a loss (like in League One) or you can leech off pokies (like NRL). I’d cross off the latter and I don’t see why Japanese firms would invest in strengthening AU rugby over Japanese rugby.
So we remain where we are.
Don't set fire to the Rebels, let a Japanese conglomerate build a Trojan Horse out of them
Russ
I think many would agree we need to fix Australian rugby’s on-field results and financials. I see these as critical issues myself and have recently written about it.
I also think many would agree with your solutions of reviewing and implementing a more sustainable comp structure, cutting admin and players costs so clubs and RA don’t go broke, revitalising coaching and player pathways etc.
Unfortunately for a cynical public (myself included), the focus on a spill was always interpreted as a power grab, distracting from your message.
And given your small sample, publishing the results of your survey again distracted from the core message (I seem to be the only one here who saw your article and completed the survey. Too bad only 76 others found it…).
To their credit, the board has made some improvements in boosting community rugby spending, centralising high performance etc.
More is clearly needed, and I hope you continue to advocate for this.
While governance isn’t perfect, for better or worse members have chosen not to change it.
Governance is a means to an ends. With the AGM passed, the only path is to work with the board to deliver the performance and financial change we need to see. For the sake of rugby in Australia, I wish them good luck.
Where to now for Rugby Australia? Survey that reveals fans' staggering levels of pessimism
As Nick said, “there is no such thing as an easy Kiwi side, and beating them can be as much a mental battle as it is a physical one.”
I think it is hard for any team to stay mentally focused and physical every week when losing. Once you feel the other side is better, it can be self fulfilling.
This is the biggest change in the Reds this season. You can see Kiss has done a great job in giving the team genuine belief that they can be the best, and as a result they fronted up to every NZ side. I’m not sure the Brumbies truley have that same belief against NZ and it shows.
Australia's SRP sides may have fallen at trans-Tasman hurdle - but three signs point to a closing gap
Playing in Qatar is worthy of discussion but this article is a load of rubbish.
COMMENT: It's a disgrace rugby is heading to Qatar - but that's not because of sportswashing
I agree, not too focused on how you aggregate teams but I still think the principle of starting fresh with a new tier above what we have now to compete with NZ is preferable to making a new tier below, if we want both SRP and NRC/SR AU to be financially viable.
Rebels face more hurdles despite $25m rescue plan, call on RA to show support and reveal hand as court battle looms
I agree and I also think we can make NRC marketable.
I think there is a difference in perception by having 3 quality teams (could use state of origin to aggregate them NSW, QLD and other) in a SRP tournament vs NZ/Fijian teams (10 week, single round against teach team plus final), above a fully promoted, 6-8 team 16+ week domestic SR AU comp.
SR AU would have a lower, more sustainable salary cap but by leveraging current SR clubs in SR AU, there is an established fan base, many of which could be sold on the aggregated, more competitive teams against NZ as a bonus on top.
This could be more financially viable than marketing SRP (with maybe 4 teams) above a loss making NRC with limited fan base.
Similar outcome but potentially more viable.
Rebels face more hurdles despite $25m rescue plan, call on RA to show support and reveal hand as court battle looms
The financial viability of the Rebels has always been tough and they have been poorly run. Given the consortium appears to be an existing director and their father, it will be that much harder to make it stack up if paying the tax debts, fines for trading while insolvent, likely legal bills etc…
Again it is disappointing though. The western Melbourne model was innovative and could have been good. NRL teams all rely on secondary income (pokies or rich owners) and the Tarneit model offered this through land value uplift.
Rebels face more hurdles despite $25m rescue plan, call on RA to show support and reveal hand as court battle looms
Agreed. But I haven’t heard mention from RA about either option…
Rebels face more hurdles despite $25m rescue plan, call on RA to show support and reveal hand as court battle looms
While disappointing, I think we are going to 4 teams.
ATO reportedly said there is no legislative basis to waive the personal liability for the Rebels directors.
This basically sinks the DOCA. I don’t see the consortium progressing if the directors are paying an $11.6 million tax debt.
What I would like to know is if RA has a bigger strategy than simply culling teams. Firing 20% of our professional players is not a plan for sustainable growth.
Rebels face more hurdles despite $25m rescue plan, call on RA to show support and reveal hand as court battle looms
What is the business model in the UK? Do clubs have to stay financial or do they rely on wealthy owners?
They may get pulled into the same problem as Au, with clubs going broke paying high player salaries to not lose them to other comps.
Waratahs set to lose two up-and-comers ahead of Suaalii's arrival as NSW Rugby announce $4.8m loss
I see your point.
I still lean towards expanding SR AU with a shorter SRP at the end, over having SRP followed by NRC because:
– SR AU will be of a higher standard given they will be professional rather than semi-pro. It allows a higher level of training and resources.
– SR AU would be cost recovered.
As I said below, I think both approaches add an extra tier but it is a matter of how you structure it. That said I do agree funds could be found from replacing the current pathway system, and I like the community focus with NRC that is hard to replicate in a professional tier.
From World Cup glory to a financial precipice. Where did the $48 million go?
Yeah agreed.
Already AU teams basically play home and away domestic matches and a single match with each NZ side. It wouldn’t take much to restructure this to have a domestic comp and SRP single round comp. Then expand the domestic portion from there.
From World Cup glory to a financial precipice. Where did the $48 million go?
Yeah, in The Age:
– Notes taken of the meeting by the sources reveal ATO representative Craig Moreland explained the tax office rejected the proposal as there was no legislative basis to waive the Rebels’ directors from the $11.6 million tax debt for which the directors are personally liable.
Rebels' Super future hanging on creditors' Friday vote as Rugby Australia set to go against plan
Yeah. In The Age:
– Notes taken of the meeting by the sources reveal ATO representative Craig Moreland explained the tax office rejected the proposal as there was no legislative basis to waive the Rebels’ directors from the $11.6 million tax debt for which the directors are personally liable.
Rebels' Super future hanging on creditors' Friday vote as Rugby Australia set to go against plan
Yeah. In The Age:
– Notes taken of the meeting by the sources reveal ATO representative Craig Moreland explained the tax office rejected the proposal as there was no legislative basis to waive the Rebels’ directors from the $11.6 million tax debt for which the directors are personally liable.
Rebels' Super future hanging on creditors' Friday vote as Rugby Australia set to go against plan
Yeah I think it would need to be longer than that. Perhaps with 3 Au and 3-5 NZ teams it might be they play each team once plus a final over 2 months. Domestically they make a big deal over the NSW vs Qld match.
Doesn’t have to be exactly this but the point is Au fans can watch a full home and away domestic season (Oct to Apr with minimal NRL overlap) and the trans Tasman series is icing on the cake.
Fans get more, rather than feeling like they lost something from a domestic comp.
But it has more opportunities for player development than we have now.
This SR portion isn’t significantly shorter than SR is now, and even if it is often two NZ teams in the final, this is also the same as now.
From World Cup glory to a financial precipice. Where did the $48 million go?
I think that is a level of detail for a proper RA strategy for the future of the game. 😊
From World Cup glory to a financial precipice. Where did the $48 million go?
Yeah, your comment just shows there are models to grow the game sustainably if a proper strategy is undertaken.
Your propsal is similar to the Rebels consortium: Rebels and Western United in Tarneit boosts the value and returns for the owners’ 100,000 sqm town centre and housing complex. So returns on the land can subsidise the teams.
From World Cup glory to a financial precipice. Where did the $48 million go?
Yeah that is fair.
TBH I think it would be somewhere in the middle, we would lose more top players that we can’t afford but there would also be a general uplift in player quality that would wash through to SR.
From World Cup glory to a financial precipice. Where did the $48 million go?
TBH I think everyone is wanting a similar thing: an extra tier.
In how we do this, I think there is a difference in perception by having 3 quality teams (I propsed origin as an aggregation model but not wedded to it) sit as an exhibition tournament vs NZ, above a fully promoted domestic comp. As an analogy, NRL is marketable despite having numerous youngsters and lower quality than Origin.
I think this is more financially viable than marketing SR (where people want to go back to 3 teams) while NRC is seen as a loss making lower tier.
By taking out the Wallabies early season you can soften the jump up to SR AU for new players.
Similar outcome but potentially more profitable.
From World Cup glory to a financial precipice. Where did the $48 million go?
Haha yes. Double negative.
From World Cup glory to a financial precipice. Where did the $48 million go?
I think not wanting to lose face over running away is the only reason RA are still in SR.
And yeah I liked his article. My chat with Harry in the comments of that article tightened my thinking for this one.
From World Cup glory to a financial precipice. Where did the $48 million go?
Agreed, but I will add cost cutting in the right areas is needed to invest in others.
Cuts to admin costs and high profile player contacts will go a long way to funding the areas you mention.
The insurmountable problem facing Australian rugby in a doomed rivalry with New Zealand
Really it is a starting point for negotiation of the SR model post 2030. But having a viable domestic comp to fall back on gives a stronger negotiating position with NZR than now where we have only local club rugby without SR.
Initially it could be a short SR AU as you propose below, but continuing it past new years allows wallabies to return in the back half of the season, increasing quality, revenues and engagement.
Does the failure of the Rebels prove that rugby has no business in Melbourne?