It just gets weirder and weirder, doesn't it..?
Actually, I think it is fantastic where this game leads...
Now the RFU marketing department has come up with the idea of linking Rugby to Mills and Boon novels. Dressed up under the guise of bringing the game to more women (in reality finding a new market for their books) we now have Rugby playing glamour boys falling in love with Princesses etc etc .. get it?!
......."Publisher Mills & Boon is betting that nothing goes with champagne and diamonds like the bone-crunching, mud-churning wallop of a rugby match. The romance imprint has teamed up with rugby's British governing body for a series of novels in which gorgeous women fall for athletic alpha males adept at making passes......"
I loved these lines from their promo....:
"We didn't want all the heroes to be rugby players _ we needed heroes who could devote their time to the heroines," she said. The heroes _ described by the publisher as "red-hot and ruthless" _ initially need taming. The reader's heart goes out to Holly, heroine of "The Prince's Waitress Wife," for the letdown after her passionate encounter with brooding Prince Caspar: "To Holly it was the single most intimate moment of her life, and when he opened his mouth to speak, her heart softened........."'The match has started,' he drawled flatly. 'Thanks to you, I've missed kickoff.'"
You've gotta love em..hope he didn't belch at the same time!
But think about the possibilities for the Wallabies?
Who can we use to be the first Aussie Mills and Boon hero?
Will it be a big fat beer swilling prop? Or maybe a slinky half-back? Who are the obvious candidates? I'm not going there - I wouldn't want to be sued for destroying the carefully built up image of the Front Rowers' Union, but I'm sure the mind pictures aren't too hard to imagine..
This is yet another example of what I have written about recently - let's get some interesting stuff going on our websites.
I hope you guys have been following the articles on this over the last few weeks, because it makes for some interesting debate on a whole range of issues - not the least satirising some of our current crop of (Rugby) lovers.
Come to think of it - it gives the term "Rugby Lovers" a whole new connotation, doesn't it?
Comments??
28 January 2009
....AND YOU THOUGHT IT WAS A WEBSITE!!
A nice bit of interesting Rugby journalism (not from an Australian source, obviously)
____________________________________________________________________________________
RUGBY HEAVEN IS A BAR IN BIARRITZ IN A STORM
Source:Telegraph.co.uk 28th January, 2009
Rugby Heaven may be an Australian website but in reality it was being marooned in Biarritz on Saturday. Rugby-man being forced to spend the day in a French rugby enclave with all creature-comforts to hand, but no immediate danger other than the savage damage being inflicted on your wallet. C'est magnifique.
By Brendan Gallagher
Last Updated: 6:14PM GMT 27 Jan 2009
Any port in a storm: A cafe in Biarritz provides a safe haven during the storm Photo: GETTY IMAGES
It started at 3am when, as predicted, the 100mph winds hit the coast as if some distant Field Marshal had flicked a switch and ordered to artillery to commence bombardment. It contained unabated until 1pm when there was a slight lull and our hotel, high on the cliffs by the famous Biarritz lighthouse, took the full brunt of the 'le tempest'; indeed it seemed to act as a magnet to everything the famously angry Bay of Biscay could throw our way.
The day dawned and our hotel manager hurriedly locked the grand hotel door to prevent the foolhardy or plain curious wandering out. Breakfast was served in the crowded corridors � the usual dining area was slap bang under a glass ceiling the size of a basketball court and you could see random tree branches, scaffolding planks and dustbins being hurled at the reinforced glass, making a noise that gave our unknowing generation just a taste of what the blitz must be like.
The really ferocious gusts you could hear like an express train heading your way; indeed you could track their progress and predict their arrival to within a matter of seconds as they smashed into the masonry with the force of a small bomb.
Yet all was relatively calm inside. The French enjoy a spot of bad weather and, not unlike the Brits, extremes bring out the best in them: it appeals to their romantic and dramatic natures. This Red Alert had been widely predicted and provisions had been laid in.
After le petit d�jeuner life stood still for the stranded. What to do? Bizarrely, I decided now was exactly the right time to sit down and attack a task I had been putting off for over a month; namely, working out my Tour de France route this year and trying to plan the booking of 25 separate hotel rooms to coincide with key finishes, interesting starts or occasionally both. A thankless task that has much in common with that Rubic's Cube back in the 70s. Neither has ever been completed satisfactorily. Not by me anyway.
I made a diligent start, however, and became lost in a world of 100 degree heat, small Provencial villages and towering Alpine peaks. It was soon lunchtime and the manager agreed those who must � mainly Brits � could poke their heads outside and feel the full force of nature. Along with Neil Squires of the Express and Chris Foy of the Daily Mail we made it to the lighthouse, although the latter has to hang on to a lamppost at one stage to avoid being blown into the Atlantic.
At the lighthouse an extraordinary sight greeted us. Mountainous 40-foot waves approaching the shore with a regimental menace while the rest of the sea beneath them, as far as eye could see, was pure white, like an Antarctic snowfield.
Emboldened, we headed for the apparently deserted town below. The match were scheduled to cover, Munster at Montauban, had been postponed, the police were ordering us not travel anywhere and it was Heineken Cup Saturday. There had to be a cosy bar serving all kinds of delights with the Heineken Cup on in the background. Indeed there was. This was Rugby Heaven.
The Red Cafe came highly recommended but was standing room only, mobbed with Gloucester diehards hanging on after the match against Biarritz, as was the Newquay bar just down the road. Eventually we opted for Cafe, Cafe; so good they named it twice, where with a glass or two of the region's finest we watched Stade Francais beat a spirited Ulster in tranquil Paris and Sale overcome Clermont.
We wandered down to the old port, a full-on storm still blowing but it was kids' stuff compared with the tempest earlier. Three bodysurfers, easily mistaken for seals in their black wetsuits, were enjoying themselves in the white mush that lapped one secluded bay while huge waves still crashed over the intricate quays that had been designed to repulse storms such as this. The wise had lifted their boats out the day before.
Next stop the horribly named Le Royalty caf� although it proved a delight despite the Gloucester stag weekend going on in the bar next door. Here we watched Treviso against Perpignan � I reckon you could count the Brits who have watched that game on the fingers of one hand � and we were rewarded with one of the most startling and best tries of the season by Perpignan's right wing.
And finally, reluctant to leave our refuge, we settled down to watch France's Handball World Championship match against Sweden. That isn't a misprint by the way. We were mocking to start with � the wine was begin to talk � but gradually we began to appreciate and, yes, enjoy the incredible athleticism and skill of those on show. So much so that we vowed to make a block booking when the 2012 Olympic tickets go on sale.
The end of the 'perfect storm' was nigh but happily the wind was still strong enough to blow us up the steep hill to our hotel. Apparently these brutes arrive regular as clockwork every 10 years, so I've already made my reservations for January 2019.
27 January 2009
SO??!!..... YOU CAN'T HAVE EVERYTHING!!
A nice story from the TVNZ website.....
______________________________________________
The glamorous principality of Monaco is home to millionaires, celebrities and one of the worst rugby teams in Europe.
Monaco has a national side, created 10 years ago, who are battling it out with fellow minnows Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Cyprus and Slovakia in the obscure Pool 3-D of the European Nations Cup.
They have no ground, no coach, no professional player and, most embarrassingly, no Monaco citizen, which means they often end up losing on appeal the rare matches they do win on the pitch.
"As we don't have any player eligible to play for Monaco, our opponents often lodge protests and end up being awarded victory," Monaco prop Matthieu Louppe said.
Second from bottom in their group, Monaco are looking forward to hosting Azerbaijan on Saturday.
Former France captain Jean-Francois Tordo, who lives nearby, has agreed to give them some much-needed coaching advice for the game.
Ski Instructor
As they are not allowed to ruin the soccer pitch of Monaco's Louis-II stadium, the side train and play their home matches on various grounds in French cities near the principality.
The team is made up mostly of players from the Monaco and nearby Menton clubs, who are used to facing each other in a low-key regional league.
One is South African, another is Moroccan. There is also a Canadian ski instructor and a British oil trader.
"When we're on the field, we're all equal, all proud of our brand of rugby, of our colours and of our anthem," Louppe said.
Their first pool match in the current campaign was against Bosnia and the team were looking forward to thrashing guests worn out by a 30-hour coach ride.
"We thought it would be a piece of cake but we didn't get a look-in and lost 50-5," Louppe recalled.
"Good job they didn't come by plane."
Three Years
Then came a trip to Cyprus. The Monaco players were brimming with confidence but soon realised their opponents all came from a British military base and could really play the game.
The visitors lost 22-3.
"They're British but they are immediately eligible to play for Cyprus," grumbled Louppe, a Monaco resident waiting for citizenship.
"We have to wait for three years."
Monaco rugby, Louppe said, had little to do with the famous French flair.
"We're miles away from French rugby here," he said.
"We're a makeshift team with plenty of passion that holds us together. We're rugby extremists."
24 January 2009
WHOA - WHAT DID THEY DO? - THE MIND BOGGLES!
This article doesn't tell you what the Rugby boys did, but you can guess......
Naughty boys.......An Article posted on the THE MOUNTAIN ECHO, the student paper of Mt St Mary's College, Maryland (corrected after a comment was published by an Anonymous reader)..
www.themountainecho.com
Current Issue: January 21, 2009
Rugby suspended for spring, on probation
Emily Millirons
Issue date: 1/21/09 Section: News
___________________________________________________________________________________
The rugby club has been suspended for the spring semester due to incidents that occurred in November which violated the second Code of Student conduct, according to Associate Director for Residence Life Jen Lenfant.
Lenfant said the investigation of the club sport was concluded on Dec. 19.Following the investigation, Residence Life issued individual sanctions to multiple team members, while Recreational Services issued a team sanction affecting every member of the club sport.
Denise Ditch, Director of Recreational Services, commented on the specifics of the team sanction. Ditch said the club will be on three years of probation from the fall of 2009 to the fall of 2012.
Additionally, the club sport must present an anti-hazing workshop to all club sports prior to the fall semester or as determined by Recreational Services, in order to be eligible to play next fall.[GATESY - WHAT THE HELL IS HAZING??]
The anti-hazing workshop will be developed by junior members of the club, who will meet with Intramural and Club Sport Coordinator Matt Grimm for advising. Ditch also said that though elections of new club officers will be held in the spring or summer, no current senior or junior club members may serve as a new officer.
Lenfant could not comment on what the individual sanctions entail. But she "expects [the club] will be back in the fall."
The second Code of Student Conduct includes, but is not limited to, violence, intimidation, alcohol poisoning, drug abuse, hazing, and threatening behavior.
Members of the rugby team did not respond to e -mails seeking comment.
23 January 2009
THE GRASSROOTS GROWTH OF THE GAME IN THE US
SOURCE: ICEF Public Schools
Jan 22, 2009 13:04 ET
Charter School With L.A.'s First Inner-City Rugby Program to Send Team to Compete in England
Students From the ICEF Rugby League Prepare With Renowned Australia World Cup Championship Rugby Coach
LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwire - January 22, 2009) - ICEF Public Schools, a network of 13 high-performing public charter schools in South Los Angeles, will send 12 students from its ICEF Rugby League -- the first inner-city rugby program in Los Angeles -- to England this month to stay at Wellington College and play against its rugby team, considered one of the best high school teams in England.
To prepare for the games in England, renowned rugby coach Jake Howard, who led Australia to the World Cup Championship and coached both Oxford and Harvard universities, volunteered to hold a coaching seminar for ICEF’s coaches and to mentor players during several practices over the next two weeks.
The first practice open to the media will take place today from 4 to 5 p.m. at Jesse Owens Park in Los Angeles. The final practice open to the media before the team goes to England is next Wednesday, January 28, 2009. There will also be a special tournament day on Saturday, January 24, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Webster Middle School (11330 W. Graham Pl., Los Angeles, CA, 90064) where middle and high school teams will play against visiting teams from Sacramento.
ICEF Public Schools is the only K-12 school operator in the nation to send students on scholarships to play rugby internationally five years in a row. Through rugby, ICEF students have traveled to Hong Kong, New Zealand and England, allowing the students to be able to explore rugby competition at some of the nation’s most prestigious universities.
Long considered a middle and upper class Commonwealth sport, rugby teams are rare in the U.S., particularly in the inner city. Founded by ICEF Public Schools CEO -- and longtime rugby player -- Michael D. Piscal in 2003, the ICEF Rugby League is designed to send a clear message to students: if you want to experience the world you see through rugby, the ticket is a higher education. Every single one of ICEF's graduates in their first two graduating classes has been accepted to college.
"Through rugby, we are giving students the opportunity to socialize with kids outside their normal social group and also have an amazing life experience," said Michael D. Piscal, founder of ICEF Public Schools. "Our kids will have the opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds and culture."
The 12 students are going to England on scholarship. They had to apply and were accepted based on their performance in rugby, as well as in academics. During their nine-day stretch in England, the students will play three games against Wellington College's team as well as watch England's game against Italy as guests of the English Rugby Union.
"When I was playing internationally, I had a vision of coming back to America and bringing rugby not to traditional private schools and colleges, but developing it in the inner city because that's where it would explode," said ICEF Rugby League Director Stuart Krohn, who coached rugby at Dartmouth College and played International Rugby as the captain of the Hong Kong team for eight years. "These kids are leaders just for coming out to do something new that didn't exist, and just like they are pioneers at the school, they are pioneers in this sport."
ICEF Public Schools announced in October they will scale up their Education Corridor -- the 45-square-mile region bound by the four major South L.A. freeways -- through the creation of 22 new public charter high schools.
When fully enrolled, ICEF Public Schools will enroll one in four public school students in South L.A. -- more than half of the community's high school students -- and will help produce 2,000 college graduates each year.
About ICEF Public Schools
ICEF Public Schools (Pronounced "Eye-ceff," for the Inner City Education Foundation) was founded in 1994 to transform the Los Angeles community by creating first-rate educational opportunities for its minority youth. ICEF currently operates 13 public charter schools, including four new schools which opened this fall, with the goal of preparing its students to attend and compete academically at the top colleges and universities in the nation. ICEF's flagship school, View Park Preparatory Charter High School, has now graduated two classes, with 100 percent of its graduates accepted to college.
Jan 22, 2009 13:04 ET
Charter School With L.A.'s First Inner-City Rugby Program to Send Team to Compete in England
Students From the ICEF Rugby League Prepare With Renowned Australia World Cup Championship Rugby Coach
LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwire - January 22, 2009) - ICEF Public Schools, a network of 13 high-performing public charter schools in South Los Angeles, will send 12 students from its ICEF Rugby League -- the first inner-city rugby program in Los Angeles -- to England this month to stay at Wellington College and play against its rugby team, considered one of the best high school teams in England.
To prepare for the games in England, renowned rugby coach Jake Howard, who led Australia to the World Cup Championship and coached both Oxford and Harvard universities, volunteered to hold a coaching seminar for ICEF’s coaches and to mentor players during several practices over the next two weeks.
The first practice open to the media will take place today from 4 to 5 p.m. at Jesse Owens Park in Los Angeles. The final practice open to the media before the team goes to England is next Wednesday, January 28, 2009. There will also be a special tournament day on Saturday, January 24, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Webster Middle School (11330 W. Graham Pl., Los Angeles, CA, 90064) where middle and high school teams will play against visiting teams from Sacramento.
ICEF Public Schools is the only K-12 school operator in the nation to send students on scholarships to play rugby internationally five years in a row. Through rugby, ICEF students have traveled to Hong Kong, New Zealand and England, allowing the students to be able to explore rugby competition at some of the nation’s most prestigious universities.
Long considered a middle and upper class Commonwealth sport, rugby teams are rare in the U.S., particularly in the inner city. Founded by ICEF Public Schools CEO -- and longtime rugby player -- Michael D. Piscal in 2003, the ICEF Rugby League is designed to send a clear message to students: if you want to experience the world you see through rugby, the ticket is a higher education. Every single one of ICEF's graduates in their first two graduating classes has been accepted to college.
"Through rugby, we are giving students the opportunity to socialize with kids outside their normal social group and also have an amazing life experience," said Michael D. Piscal, founder of ICEF Public Schools. "Our kids will have the opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds and culture."
The 12 students are going to England on scholarship. They had to apply and were accepted based on their performance in rugby, as well as in academics. During their nine-day stretch in England, the students will play three games against Wellington College's team as well as watch England's game against Italy as guests of the English Rugby Union.
"When I was playing internationally, I had a vision of coming back to America and bringing rugby not to traditional private schools and colleges, but developing it in the inner city because that's where it would explode," said ICEF Rugby League Director Stuart Krohn, who coached rugby at Dartmouth College and played International Rugby as the captain of the Hong Kong team for eight years. "These kids are leaders just for coming out to do something new that didn't exist, and just like they are pioneers at the school, they are pioneers in this sport."
ICEF Public Schools announced in October they will scale up their Education Corridor -- the 45-square-mile region bound by the four major South L.A. freeways -- through the creation of 22 new public charter high schools.
When fully enrolled, ICEF Public Schools will enroll one in four public school students in South L.A. -- more than half of the community's high school students -- and will help produce 2,000 college graduates each year.
About ICEF Public Schools
ICEF Public Schools (Pronounced "Eye-ceff," for the Inner City Education Foundation) was founded in 1994 to transform the Los Angeles community by creating first-rate educational opportunities for its minority youth. ICEF currently operates 13 public charter schools, including four new schools which opened this fall, with the goal of preparing its students to attend and compete academically at the top colleges and universities in the nation. ICEF's flagship school, View Park Preparatory Charter High School, has now graduated two classes, with 100 percent of its graduates accepted to college.
16 January 2009
NATIONAL COMPETITION
There's another interesting debate going on over at my favourite Rugby website, The Roar, about getting a national competition up and running.
This was my contribution .....
I've postulated my theory before on this website and, despite the brilliance of many of our contributors and the very informed debate that always takes place, I've seen nothing to change my mind.
To get a truly NATIONAL competition going, you have to have TRIBALISM, and this means one team per state that everyone can get behind, or possibly two in the larger states of NSW and Qld, that are definable brands - ie Nth Qld - Sth - Qld etc.
IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE IDENTITY CLASHES WITH S14 FRANCHISES, then brand them with their capital cities - Sydney, Perth, Canberra, Brisbane, Hobart, etc - though I think that the State is the identifiable brand that you want to go with.
The most successful and identifiable competition in Australia is the Sheffield Shield, and this is the OBVIOUS MODEL!
It took Tassie many years to get into the competition, and nobody expected them to be immediately successful. ACT has been trying to crack it for many years and may one day. But it is a strong competition and one that every Aussie fan can identify with.
OK, if we did this in Rugby there would be strugglers - but as we have seen with the Western Force and with the Melbourne Rebels (remember them?) you can transplant players. There are enough quality players here and overseas to form seven franchises, or even eight if you wanted to include the NT.Even if there are weaknesses, these will improve over time. Obviously 8 is a much better number than 7, but from a scheduling point of view, it might not be a bad idea to have a bye each round. You could always have a player draft to even things out.
It seems to me that the biggest problem we have in this country is a form of 'cringe" that says, unless it's 100% right on Day One, we can't take the risk - I take issue with that - we can develop a national comp over time, starting with an "amateur-semi-pro-pro" mix.
A state based system makes it easier for the States to develop their game through the Premier club structure.
Again, use Cricket as your model.
In Cricket, you can't get into the state teams unless you have come through the grade system, and it helps if you have been through the Academy system, and there is always room for the elite guys to jump the queue, but, by and large the feeder system IS the system and it works.
You need to ensure uniformity in all states in the way that players are developed through the club systems, and you need to ensure that the Premier clubs are setting up Academies of their own to feed into the top-tier. I know that that is happening in Canberra, but don't know what happens in other states. If we can do it here, surely we can adopt the same model everywhere else. As an example, my boy plays for a school, but has been picked up by a premier club's Academy. He is happy to sign an Agreement that he will play for that club when he leaves school, in a year's time and they are spending a small amount of money on his training and gear etc in return. In turn the club keeps tabs on him and the others and feeds that data into the Brumbies setup.
This is a completely replicable concept, and would work in Tassie, SA, NT, NSW, Vic or anywhere else. You just need TV coverage to get the word out.
In the bigger states you may have tiers such as Premier Rugby and Subbies etc. Those states just need to work out a tiered system so that everyone feeds into one of the Premier Club regions. In the country areas you need to work out how that is going to happen, but you could adopt the system that AFL uses in having allocated recruitment regions.
So, for example, you could have the Central West feeding into Parramatta, or the Central Coast feeding into Norths or Gordon etc. You put the onus on those clubs to set up the Academies and make it work. The same principle would apply in Qld.
That's the concept and I think it is brilliant in its simplicity -NOW YOU only HAVE TO FIGURE OUT THE LOGISTICS
Sheek in his well informed article gave a history of the attempts to get a competition going. The overriding message of that is that if you don't do something then nothing will happen. If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got!
It seems to be the case that people are saying - "well, unless we can get a fully professional competition going, with huge crowds at all the games, then it's not worth doing"..that will not happen immediately no matter what model we adopt.
In my view, we should forget about trying to fit all of this in around Super 14. That is a professional competition that should be looked at as not part of the fabric of the Australian Rugby scene, but more as part of the international Rugby scene. By that I mean, we should get on with developing a national competition as though S14 didn't exist.
If we are worried about crowds, then play games at smaller venues - it's all about TV anyway!
How do we organise the logistics of it?
1. Start the club competitions as early in the year as is possible. No club player enjoys turning up for pre-season in early January and not playing a competitive game until late March or thereabouts. Bring it back to late February.
2. Start the State comp at the end of the S14 in May, and let it flow into and through the Test Season - you are only going to lose 30 players to the Test Squad anyway. If there are State games clashing with Tests there should not be that many that you couldn't schedule them for mid-week fixtures. This is only likely to happen a couple of times during the season. The Provincial Comp could run from June to October, so you would have approximately 18 weeks to play the rounds - you only need 7 out of the 18 weeks for an eight team comp plus, 2 or 3 weeks for a finals series, so you could easily get these in, given that you would finish the Club competitions in late August or mid September at the latest - so you could easily transfer everyone's interest to the finals.
3. Play the state games around the club competition and, if necessary have bye weekends in the Club competition to enable windows for the state games. Thus, if a player is playing in the Canberra comp, but representing Tassie or Vic, he can be spared to travel for training and playing - in the first few years do it this way, and not worry about fully professional state squads that have to be together all the time - even if coaches would prefer to have their squads together, too bad - IT'S AT LEAST A START!
4. Don't put players on expensive contracts - just guarantee match payments and all out of pocket expenses, travel, accommodation, daily allowances while in camp, and gear etc - at least that's a step up from what many club players are used to. So what if players still have to have jobs? - I bet that still happens in the Currie Cup and the NPC?
BUT THE COST??!! - I hear you say - What about the Economic Crisis? How will we pay the cost of moving the teams around? etc etc
The answer is - the State unions need to get busy and find their sponsors - the ARU needs to help where it can and ensure that it maximises the opportunities that it can set up with airlines, and accommodation providers - again, find out what Cricket does and replicate it.
Maybe one answer is to play the rounds in a conference/ pool situation, where the Eastern States compete in one pool and the others in another - maybe that leaves Tassie having to play SA, WA and NT, but someone has to suffer.
What about the disparities of player quality? - Maybe we need to have a draft that evens out the standard?
Some of these ideas may be anathema to some, especially those in Sydney or Brisbane who think that the Rugby world revolves around them, but unless we go into this with an open mind, it will never happen.
All the other ideas - national club comps, manufactured franchises etc have failed, and the only model that works in this country is a state or city based idea. Let's give it a shot. If the ARU wants my help, I'm available!!
This was my contribution .....
I've postulated my theory before on this website and, despite the brilliance of many of our contributors and the very informed debate that always takes place, I've seen nothing to change my mind.
To get a truly NATIONAL competition going, you have to have TRIBALISM, and this means one team per state that everyone can get behind, or possibly two in the larger states of NSW and Qld, that are definable brands - ie Nth Qld - Sth - Qld etc.
IF YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE IDENTITY CLASHES WITH S14 FRANCHISES, then brand them with their capital cities - Sydney, Perth, Canberra, Brisbane, Hobart, etc - though I think that the State is the identifiable brand that you want to go with.
The most successful and identifiable competition in Australia is the Sheffield Shield, and this is the OBVIOUS MODEL!
It took Tassie many years to get into the competition, and nobody expected them to be immediately successful. ACT has been trying to crack it for many years and may one day. But it is a strong competition and one that every Aussie fan can identify with.
OK, if we did this in Rugby there would be strugglers - but as we have seen with the Western Force and with the Melbourne Rebels (remember them?) you can transplant players. There are enough quality players here and overseas to form seven franchises, or even eight if you wanted to include the NT.Even if there are weaknesses, these will improve over time. Obviously 8 is a much better number than 7, but from a scheduling point of view, it might not be a bad idea to have a bye each round. You could always have a player draft to even things out.
It seems to me that the biggest problem we have in this country is a form of 'cringe" that says, unless it's 100% right on Day One, we can't take the risk - I take issue with that - we can develop a national comp over time, starting with an "amateur-semi-pro-pro" mix.
A state based system makes it easier for the States to develop their game through the Premier club structure.
Again, use Cricket as your model.
In Cricket, you can't get into the state teams unless you have come through the grade system, and it helps if you have been through the Academy system, and there is always room for the elite guys to jump the queue, but, by and large the feeder system IS the system and it works.
You need to ensure uniformity in all states in the way that players are developed through the club systems, and you need to ensure that the Premier clubs are setting up Academies of their own to feed into the top-tier. I know that that is happening in Canberra, but don't know what happens in other states. If we can do it here, surely we can adopt the same model everywhere else. As an example, my boy plays for a school, but has been picked up by a premier club's Academy. He is happy to sign an Agreement that he will play for that club when he leaves school, in a year's time and they are spending a small amount of money on his training and gear etc in return. In turn the club keeps tabs on him and the others and feeds that data into the Brumbies setup.
This is a completely replicable concept, and would work in Tassie, SA, NT, NSW, Vic or anywhere else. You just need TV coverage to get the word out.
In the bigger states you may have tiers such as Premier Rugby and Subbies etc. Those states just need to work out a tiered system so that everyone feeds into one of the Premier Club regions. In the country areas you need to work out how that is going to happen, but you could adopt the system that AFL uses in having allocated recruitment regions.
So, for example, you could have the Central West feeding into Parramatta, or the Central Coast feeding into Norths or Gordon etc. You put the onus on those clubs to set up the Academies and make it work. The same principle would apply in Qld.
That's the concept and I think it is brilliant in its simplicity -NOW YOU only HAVE TO FIGURE OUT THE LOGISTICS
Sheek in his well informed article gave a history of the attempts to get a competition going. The overriding message of that is that if you don't do something then nothing will happen. If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got!
It seems to be the case that people are saying - "well, unless we can get a fully professional competition going, with huge crowds at all the games, then it's not worth doing"..that will not happen immediately no matter what model we adopt.
In my view, we should forget about trying to fit all of this in around Super 14. That is a professional competition that should be looked at as not part of the fabric of the Australian Rugby scene, but more as part of the international Rugby scene. By that I mean, we should get on with developing a national competition as though S14 didn't exist.
If we are worried about crowds, then play games at smaller venues - it's all about TV anyway!
How do we organise the logistics of it?
1. Start the club competitions as early in the year as is possible. No club player enjoys turning up for pre-season in early January and not playing a competitive game until late March or thereabouts. Bring it back to late February.
2. Start the State comp at the end of the S14 in May, and let it flow into and through the Test Season - you are only going to lose 30 players to the Test Squad anyway. If there are State games clashing with Tests there should not be that many that you couldn't schedule them for mid-week fixtures. This is only likely to happen a couple of times during the season. The Provincial Comp could run from June to October, so you would have approximately 18 weeks to play the rounds - you only need 7 out of the 18 weeks for an eight team comp plus, 2 or 3 weeks for a finals series, so you could easily get these in, given that you would finish the Club competitions in late August or mid September at the latest - so you could easily transfer everyone's interest to the finals.
3. Play the state games around the club competition and, if necessary have bye weekends in the Club competition to enable windows for the state games. Thus, if a player is playing in the Canberra comp, but representing Tassie or Vic, he can be spared to travel for training and playing - in the first few years do it this way, and not worry about fully professional state squads that have to be together all the time - even if coaches would prefer to have their squads together, too bad - IT'S AT LEAST A START!
4. Don't put players on expensive contracts - just guarantee match payments and all out of pocket expenses, travel, accommodation, daily allowances while in camp, and gear etc - at least that's a step up from what many club players are used to. So what if players still have to have jobs? - I bet that still happens in the Currie Cup and the NPC?
BUT THE COST??!! - I hear you say - What about the Economic Crisis? How will we pay the cost of moving the teams around? etc etc
The answer is - the State unions need to get busy and find their sponsors - the ARU needs to help where it can and ensure that it maximises the opportunities that it can set up with airlines, and accommodation providers - again, find out what Cricket does and replicate it.
Maybe one answer is to play the rounds in a conference/ pool situation, where the Eastern States compete in one pool and the others in another - maybe that leaves Tassie having to play SA, WA and NT, but someone has to suffer.
What about the disparities of player quality? - Maybe we need to have a draft that evens out the standard?
Some of these ideas may be anathema to some, especially those in Sydney or Brisbane who think that the Rugby world revolves around them, but unless we go into this with an open mind, it will never happen.
All the other ideas - national club comps, manufactured franchises etc have failed, and the only model that works in this country is a state or city based idea. Let's give it a shot. If the ARU wants my help, I'm available!!
10 January 2009
EAGLES AND OSPREYS - BIRDS OF TOTALLY DIFFERENT FEATHERS
What is Scott Johnson thinking?
Surely when he accepted the job of USA National Coach, he also accepted that the job entailed a full-time commitment to making USA Rugby strong?
How can he seriously think that he could be the Head Coach of a professional Welsh Rugby Club, which, in itself, must be a full-time commitment, and still give USA Rugby his best endeavours.
The world of Rugby needs USA and Canada to be strong Rugby nations - there is a lot of work to do, but the need is obvious to be a counterpoint to the already strong blocs, SANZAR and the Six Nations.
I read a lot of US Rugby websites, and you can see that there is a groundswell of interest there ... it may never be as popular as the major US Pro sports, but who cares - it doesn't have to be - it just needs to be able to stand on its own two feet, with a cohesive Senior Pro Competition, an integrated and uniform season, and be in a position to retain its best players in its domestic leagues.
It's a big country and there must be opportunities by the thousands to get the word out!
If they can get enough money to attract professionals from other countries, and are willing to have imported players in their top leagues, then they can definitely become competitive within the next twenty years, maybe sooner.
After all, the schools, colleges and universities have the facilities for training and development, there is no shortage of good athletes and not everyone can be a Pro NFL player.
I would love to be in Scott Johnson's shoes, with the opportunities for developing the game in the USA.
If he is not prepared to commit to the task, I think USA Rugby should wish him well, and send him packing..you'd have to guess that, if he is serious about the Wales job, then his heart must not be in the US job.
Memo to Nigel Melville and Kevin Roberts - there are plenty of good coaches out there who would give their left nut to have that job - I'd go looking for one of them.
Surely when he accepted the job of USA National Coach, he also accepted that the job entailed a full-time commitment to making USA Rugby strong?
How can he seriously think that he could be the Head Coach of a professional Welsh Rugby Club, which, in itself, must be a full-time commitment, and still give USA Rugby his best endeavours.
The world of Rugby needs USA and Canada to be strong Rugby nations - there is a lot of work to do, but the need is obvious to be a counterpoint to the already strong blocs, SANZAR and the Six Nations.
I read a lot of US Rugby websites, and you can see that there is a groundswell of interest there ... it may never be as popular as the major US Pro sports, but who cares - it doesn't have to be - it just needs to be able to stand on its own two feet, with a cohesive Senior Pro Competition, an integrated and uniform season, and be in a position to retain its best players in its domestic leagues.
It's a big country and there must be opportunities by the thousands to get the word out!
If they can get enough money to attract professionals from other countries, and are willing to have imported players in their top leagues, then they can definitely become competitive within the next twenty years, maybe sooner.
After all, the schools, colleges and universities have the facilities for training and development, there is no shortage of good athletes and not everyone can be a Pro NFL player.
I would love to be in Scott Johnson's shoes, with the opportunities for developing the game in the USA.
If he is not prepared to commit to the task, I think USA Rugby should wish him well, and send him packing..you'd have to guess that, if he is serious about the Wales job, then his heart must not be in the US job.
Memo to Nigel Melville and Kevin Roberts - there are plenty of good coaches out there who would give their left nut to have that job - I'd go looking for one of them.
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