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The World in Union

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Joined August 2021

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Jacko, you’ve actually reinforced the difference between competitive thinking and collaborative thinking. The results that your comment focuses on are AB success and the Saders being world beaters. This is competitive thinking which is a good thing, except when discussing how to improve the appeal of Super Rugby. The results that collaborative thinking focuses on is Super Rugby fan support, i.e. fan support for the whole Super Rugby comp and each team within it (not just the Saders). To make Super Rugby the best it can be, NZ and Aus need to collaborate. Of course this shouldn’t compromise AB success which is the main NZ concern. Understandably therefore it’s hard to make the switch from competitive thinking to collaborative thinking.

Super Rugby draft? Let’s not be so hasty

Simon, my view is the opposite of yours and I really don’t want to get into a lengthy debate because this is why I limit my comments on the Roar – it’s like groundhog day, going round and round and not reaching agreement, so we just have to agree to disagree. I am happy with RA’s direction. Australia in isolation is a poor rugby nation. The only way to uplift ourselves is by leveraging off rugby’s international strengths and especially our Kiwi neighbours who have international brand appeal. Ultimately I’m hoping that international club rugby gets its act together so that top tier rugby players can earn 10x what league players can earn. We will always struggle to compete with the money in Europe and Japan but if international club rugby can take itself to another level then the whole rugby world including Australia will benefit from that albeit not in the way that some people may want.

The Wrap: Contrasting semi-finals set the scene for an epic Super Rugby Final

Sorry mate, can’t see it happening. Japan is not a good example. I think in Japan it started the other way around. The comp started based on corporations competing with each other. I don’t think the corporations viewed it as a way to get value due to increased market power. Japanese rugby is changing now but ironically the corporate influence in diminishing. In Australia, Westpac wouldn’t get any extra value by having a team called Westpac Western Harbour so why would Westpac choose to be a sponsor? More importantly, and I suspect you’ll beg to differ, a local broadcasting deal would be worth very little because broad market appeal just isn’t there for rugby in Australia. Perhaps your proposal could have succeeded in 1995 when professional rugby was an exciting concept (and League and AFL hadn’t saturated the market), but that ship has sailed. That’s not to say rugby can’t claw its way back but it would take many years and the corporates are not going to enable it to happen, rather they will jump in when rugby offers market value by being popular enough.

The Wrap: Contrasting semi-finals set the scene for an epic Super Rugby Final

Thanks Simon, we definitely agree on one thing – it is critical to have international stars (mostly Australian!) playing in our local comp.
Having said that, I’m afraid I’m still with your critics who can’t see corporate Australia getting behind a local rugby comp. I bet that Gerry Harvey doesn’t care that his company sponsors rugby – I suspect he did it as a favour to Channel 9 as part of his NRL support. Channel 9 did take on rugby from Foxtel but that’s because they desperately needed content to attract subscribers to Stan. I’m not so sure that Channel 9 would have taken on rugby if Stan had already been more established. As long as the Wallabies can compete at the top level, there will be a decent following that will attract corporate sponsors, but for the tiers below the Wallabies no matter what form the tiers take, rugby only has a niche following so there’s not enough value for corporates to sponsor it. As good as your proposal is, I don’t believe corporates would look at it and say it’s a game changer and make them willing to throw millions of dollars at rugby. I know you think you’re being visionary and ultimately will be proved correct when RA grabs your idea in a few years time – I hope you’re right!

The Wrap: Contrasting semi-finals set the scene for an epic Super Rugby Final

Simon, your proposal is great in theory. You’re getting pushback because no one believes that corporate Australia would invest anywhere near the amount required to own the various clubs, no matter how good the proposal is on paper. Let me ask you this question: do you think your proposal would work for other sports struggling to compete with AFL and League? Soccer would be the prime example, similar to rugby in its current Australian market position despite its international strength. Could soccer implement your proposal to grab a much bigger piece of that $1 billion broadcast revenue? If not, why not?

The Wrap: Contrasting semi-finals set the scene for an epic Super Rugby Final

Skelton won 3 consecutive lineouts around the 70th minute mark that were key to La Rochelle closing out the game.

Five things we learned: Brumbies bottle top two hopes, Eddie's must-pick for Wallabies

Mugs, this would be a long debate, and you’ll see this as a cop out…after a long absence I got re-energised to get active on the Roar 3 weeks ago. I can now feel that the negativity is getting to me again so I need to take another break. I’m really enjoying my rugby and I’m comfortable with the direction we are heading, so what more could I want? 😁

Exclusive: Bombshell twist as Wallabies star heads West to start domino effect in pointer to centralisation

Joe, there could easily be as many “must be the only one” people (like you, me, Chester B, etc) as McLennan haters. If you are honest and that lowers people’s opinion of you then those people aren’t worth knowing.
Here’s what I posted on another article this morning where someone claimed that RA have not had a strategy this century:
RA under McLennan do have a strategy. The issue is that many people don’t like it but that doesn’t mean there’s no strategy. The thing is we all have bias. RA’s poor record prior to McLennan, coupled with McLennan’s media antics, lead to many people seeing everything that RA do with a jaundiced eye. I’d like to think I’m objective but maybe I’m seeing things with rose tinted glasses except that I have no motive to do so. I agree with just about everything that RA/McLennan are doing to pull rugby back into relevance in Aus. It’s actually not easy to make this statement on the Roar but someone has to say it!

McLennan treading fine line between ringmaster and clown with snarky rants when rugby needs more from chairman

Mugs, with due respect, RA under McLennan do have a strategy. The issue is that many people don’t like it but that doesn’t mean there’s no strategy. The thing is we all have bias. RA’s poor record prior to McLennan, coupled with McLennan’s media antics, lead to many people seeing everything that RA do with a jaundiced eye. I’d like to think I’m objective but maybe I’m seeing things with rose tinted glasses except that I have no motive to do so. I agree with just about everything that RA/McLennan are doing to pull rugby back into relevance in Aus. It’s actually not easy to make this statement on the Roar but someone has to say it! 😱
(By the way, I do agree that RA should have the integrity to talk themselves up via their own press releases)

Exclusive: Bombshell twist as Wallabies star heads West to start domino effect in pointer to centralisation

BlouBul, if you’re in Aus then you need to change your name to BlueBull 😛
I presume you still support the Bulls. May as well pick a SRP team to support as well – Drua would be a good option!
The only reason Rob Simmons is the most carded player in the Premiership is because Adam Coleman has been injured or suspended for so many weeks, otherwise Simmons would be the second most carded player 😂

'It'd be a disaster': Outgoing All Blacks coach clashes with successor as tensions build

Short term and long term fixes are both needed, simultaneously. Improving the grassroots, pathways and national coaching will take years so while it is imperative, we just can’t wait. The draft may well be a short term sugar hit but it will work. If people believed that improving the grassroots, pathways and national coaching will actually happen then it would help people to accept short term fixes like the draft. RA needs to spend as much time detailing how improving the grassroots, pathways and national coaching is going to happen, starting now.

RA chief's radical draft plan to revive Super Rugby, including Wallabies free to play for NZ clubs

“Why don’t Aussie sides go more aggressively with some foreign recruitment”
JN, it simply comes down to money. I agree that we should be targeting “cheap” South African tight 5 players but at the moment we seem to source enough of those players from NZ and they probably aren’t expensive either. These fringe SRP/URC players from NZ/SA definitely add value to our teams but realistically they probably allow us to lose against NZ teams by 10 instead of 20. To go head to head with NZ teams, which is really what is needed to revatalise SRP, we need more international quality players which of course is a massive money challenge. McLennan has stated several times that we need to get Wallabies back from overseas to play in SRP – I wait with baited breath to see how we are going to do that.

'It'd be a disaster': Outgoing All Blacks coach clashes with successor as tensions build

Fair enough Jacko, we all do what fits in with our lifestyle. Luckily I am able to get up in the morning and watch European rugby “live” just by making sure I don’t see results beforehand – no Internet browsing or news watching until I’ve watched my rugby. No more staying awake in the ungodly hours of the morning for me. OK, there may be exceptions – if the Wallabies were playing in the world cup final at 2am then I may have to watch live! Sadly, I think my sleep is safe 😂

'It'd be a disaster': Outgoing All Blacks coach clashes with successor as tensions build

Brendan, I think the problem we have nowadays is that SRP is not popular enough so we can’t get a broadcaster to pay for more than the current 14 rounds plus finals. I’m sure international broadcast rights have diminished significantly in value too. There’s only one answer – get SRP back to elite status, although we’re now up against the elite European comps that weren’t so flash 25 years ago.

'It'd be a disaster': Outgoing All Blacks coach clashes with successor as tensions build

“Wouldnt that also effectively reduce the number of players the Wallabies have to choose from?”
Yes Jacko, I agree with much of what you’re saying about Aus demands being ridiculous. I’d suggest however that this is meant to be a short term fix for long term gain. Unfortunately the short term timeframe could be way too long and the long term may never come – fingers crossed for both Aus and NZ that this doesn’t happen even though this is what many fans (like you) expect to happen!
For what it’s worth, here’s my view of the long term vision. Victoria and WA grow their grassroots so that the Rebels and Force can mainly pick homegrown players (there’s also much work required for NSW and Qld to grow grassroots). Over time, Aussie teams strengthen and Super Rugby gains again in popularity, leading to much larger broadcast deals which also benefit NZ. Sounds great, doesn’t it? 😁

'It'd be a disaster': Outgoing All Blacks coach clashes with successor as tensions build

All good Jacko 👍 (although you’re not quite correct when you say you don’t know any players in the UK/French comps – there are quite a lot of Kiwis playing there!)

'It'd be a disaster': Outgoing All Blacks coach clashes with successor as tensions build

BlouBul, why only follow rugby in your timezone? I guess you’re lucky in that you’re in the same timezone as Europe so most of the rugby you want to watch is in your timezone anyway. I watch quite a lot of European rugby (mostly minimatches and highlights because there’s so much) so I just make sure I don’t look at sites like the Roar if I don’t want to see a result before I watch a game. For example, wake up Sunday morning, watch English Premiership minimatches, then look at the Roar 😊

'It'd be a disaster': Outgoing All Blacks coach clashes with successor as tensions build

Jacko, your comment surprised me so much I had to respond. The thing I find interesting about the Roar is that there are people with diverse opinions so that allows me to test my own opinions and assumptions. No one is right or wrong because our opinions are our own.
My assumption has been that if you’re a rugby lover then you’ll watch your own team and also watch any other quality rugby that you can fit into your schedule. I won’t speak for JN but he seems to be a rugby lover like me so he follows a lot of comps around the world, as do I. Clearly my assumption is incorrect – I will no longer assume that all rugby lovers watch their own team and also watch any other quality rugby that they can fit into their schedule 🏉

'It'd be a disaster': Outgoing All Blacks coach clashes with successor as tensions build

How about David Gallop? He ran rugby league and he ran football in Australia so he knows both sides of the fence – what it’s like to run a leading code but also, more importantly, how hard it is to compete with the leading codes. I wouldn’t go for anyone with just a league or AFL background because they only know what it’s like to be on the winning team.

Revealed: Why Rugby Australia boss resigned four months out from World Cup as replacement emerges

Sounds great Simon, I agree it definitely requires thinking outside the box. In Australia, it also requires a huge increase in the player pool and the fan base.

The Wrap: Scary Chiefs make it a neat nine, Brumbies miscalculate, breakthrough moment for Rebels

Simon, the wider channel first has to start at grassroots level which is way too small. Currently, if we have a larger number of teams at tier 2 (Super Rugby or domestic comp) then to fill the spots we’d just be picking several more mediocre players from a limited pool. We just don’t have enough players with sufficient talent who can be developed to be impactful at the tier 1 and tier 2 level.

The Wrap: Scary Chiefs make it a neat nine, Brumbies miscalculate, breakthrough moment for Rebels

BF, for the quarter finals, the 4v5 game will be good! Agree the other games will take a miracle to see an upset. Pity we can’t choose the finals format half way through the season. This season, a top 5 finals series would make perfect sense.

The Wrap: Scary Chiefs make it a neat nine, Brumbies miscalculate, breakthrough moment for Rebels

JN, I wasn’t saying that the Japanese should join SR (they have already stated that they are only interested in crossover games). You indicated that SR appeals less other regional comps and I agree with this, except that I would hope that SR still appeals more than the Japanese league. It certainly did in 2022 but I haven’t seen Japanese games this year so can’t comment if it is still the case.
By the way, I just watched Leinster v Toulouse. Cracker game! A blockbuster money-spinning game would be Champions Cup winner v SR winner. Hopefully it gets organised one day.

'It'd be a disaster': Outgoing All Blacks coach clashes with successor as tensions build

McLennan has stated several times that he wants to get overseas Aussies, particularly Wallabies, back into SR. Of course that’s the preferred way to strengthen our teams (rather than getting NZ players) but how are we going to get those players back? There must be something up McLennan’s sleeve that for once he isn’t blurting to the media. Perhaps it relates to private equity, not to be used for player salaries, but somehow to get SR back to the elite level. I wait with bated breath 😱

'It'd be a disaster': Outgoing All Blacks coach clashes with successor as tensions build

OB, I’m sure the ABs will be OK next year. I made my comment because there has definitely been concerned discussion on the Breakdown and other places about Mo’unga and Barrett both being unavailable next year. McKenzie is an option but not everyone is sold on him. Other contenders aren’t so obvious although I’m sure they’ll emerge. I guess in 2015 the “exposure” wasn’t seen as problematic because there were several contenders already there, Barrett being one of them. Anyway, like I said, I’m sure the ABs will be OK 😊

'It'd be a disaster': Outgoing All Blacks coach clashes with successor as tensions build

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