Green Machine
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Theres some beauties in there. Gus hasnt solved world peace but this will bring a tear to the eye of any old ARL Loyalist:
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/grand-plan-to-beat-burnout-20110604-1fm41.html
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/grand-plan-to-beat-burnout-20110604-1fm41.html
Grand plan to beat burnout
Phil Gould
June 5, 2011
The big talking points at the moment are the inadequacies of the playing schedule and the negative effects of representative games on the players' welfare. Not to mention the adverse effects our schedule has on the quality of NRL games for more than seven weeks of the 26-week regular season.
This last point is important and the least discussed when it comes to the effects of the representative program. The quality of NRL games is so badly affected for a huge portion of the season. It's not a good look. Quite clearly the competition structure is nowhere near good enough. Even more evident is that NRL management is more interested in defending itself than finding real solutions. The same goes for its ignorance, inactivity, complacency and naivety when it comes to dealing with the big issues, such as the poor financial state of the game, the adverse effects these ridiculous government poker-machine taxes and rules will have on our licensed league clubs; and that the AFL's management and marketing teams have been outperforming them every day, of every week, of every month, of every year, for the past 10 years.
The poker-machine taxes and newly proposed legislations are a huge problem. Our country is being run by a minority government and a handful of independents who were not elected by our people to wield such power. If you are a rugby league fan, let me tell you this government is well on the way to destroying the club and hospitality industry, your club, and game of rugby league at all levels in the Sydney metropolitan area. For reasons best known to them, the NRL's leaders continue to sit on their hands and remain silent on the issue.
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I will have far more to say about the NRL management soon. Suffice to say, the bell tolls for this lot. Their time is up.
Let's just concentrate on season scheduling for now. It's a big issue for fans and I regularly receive very detailed submissions from highly intelligent people both within and outside the game.
Basically, my own proposal calls for 22 rounds of home-and-away football; a four-week mid-season representative schedule; a mid-season, four-week club knockout competition to be played at the same time as the representative games; a four- or five-week finals series (depending upon the structure of the home-and-away draw - I will explain later); and an international representative program during October and November each year.
I am trying to deal with matters of player welfare, the load on our elite stars, the quality and credibility of NRL club matches being maintained, Origins and Tests being given stand-alone status, crowds for club matches here in Sydney being improved, new products for television rights being created; and international football being developed for all our Pacific Island nations on a regular basis. Here is a very brief outline of my ideas:
❏ Weeks one to 11 of the season give us 11 matches of home-and-away club football. After round 11 the NRL competition goes on a one-month holiday. Round 11 matches are completed on the Friday and Saturdays of that weekend. The Origin teams are announced at a lavish function on the Sunday; and the NSW and Queensland teams have a week to get ready for Origin I.
❏ Over the next four weekends we will stage three Saturday night State of Origin matches; followed by a Test between Australia and New Zealand on the final weekend. I would like the National Youth Competition to mirror this representative program and be played as curtain-raisers to the senior Origin and Test program.
❏ While the rep footy is being played, the 16 NRL club teams compete in a mid-season knockout competition. There will be eight games in week one, four in week two, two semi-finals in week three, and a final in week four, the same weekend of the Australia/New Zealand Test. Let's give the winner of the ''Mid-Season Cup'' $2 million - all clubs earn extra cash along the way depending on how far they go. No Origin or Test star can play in the knockout comp on the same weekend.
The Mid-Season Cup represents a new TV product for the game to sell. It can easily be simulcast on free-to-air and pay-TV. All these games could be played on Sundays and Mondays - afternoon and nights. It gives the teams down the bottom of the ladder after 11 rounds a chance to salvage something from the season.
Teams knocked out in round one do face the prospect of three spare weekends without football. Of course, they could play their players back in the second-tier NSW and QLD Cups to give that competition some much-needed profile - or they could choose to use the break in other ways. Others knocked out in weeks two and three can arrange their spare time as they please. The two teams that go through to the final won't mind the extra games because of the money on offer. This competition solves the problem of stand-alone Origin and Tests as it gives us competitive football on the Sundays after Origin and Tests.
It gives the lesser teams a chance to win something big while the top teams play without rep stars. Of course the top teams have their eyes on the bigger games in September.
Once this month of rep football and mid-season knockout ends, we continue on with the last 11 rounds. So, after 26 weeks, we have 22 weeks of home-and-away club football; a four-week Origin and Test period where no rep player has to back up for his club in the same weekend; a new mid-season knockout comp with huge prizemoney and new TV earnings; and no club has had to play a vital premiership match without rep stars on Origin or Test duty.
The most any player will play during this period is 26 games of rugby league - but always with an adequate recovery period. The vast majority of players will have enjoyed some period of rest.
The clubs all get 11 home games instead of the current 12 - however, there are two important points here. These 11 home games will not be reduced in quality due to players backing up or unavailable through rep football. Eight clubs will get a further home game in the first round of the mid-season knockout.
If we reverse the draw for this first round of the knockout comp the following season, then teams will get 23 better-quality home games in a two-year period instead of the current 24 home games, 14 of which are now reduced in quality and standard due to rep players backing up or unavailable. It's a no-brainer that the clubs are hugely better off.
As for the end-of-season international rep football; I suggest a four-year rotation of the following;
❏ Year 1:A return of the Kangaroos tour of England.
While this is being played in England, we hold a Pacific Nations Cup in Australia involving New Zealand Maori, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, PNG, NZ, and we include emerging NSW and Queensland teams in this competition. This gives us another TV product.
❏ Year 2:A three-match Test series against New Zealand.
❏ Year 3:A tri-series between Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain in England. In Australia we could hold another Pacific Islands Cup, but this time without the NSW and QLD teams.
❏ Year 4:World Cup.
If you have come this far, perhaps you would like to come a step further. I will throw this at you: the NRL competition needs to be broken up into two conferences. The Sydney teams need to play each other twice, home and away, every year. This is a must for the future of Sydney-based clubs and keeping a stronghold on the Sydney market. The out-of-Sydney teams also play each other twice, home and away - this is great pay-TV product to be beamed back into the bigger markets. The Sydney teams play the out-of-Sydney teams once a year; on a two-year rotation basis of home-and-away venues. If Manly plays Brisbane at Brookvale this year, they play in Brisbane the year after.
Depending on how many teams we have in the NRL through expansion I'm sure a suitable draw could be established. It could also mean there are only eight Sydney teams in the competition - a big decision for the new independent commission to make down the track.
The two conferences would then have their own finals series - then a Sydney grand final and a regional grand final - followed by a super grand final where Sydney's winner meets the regional winner. That's a five-week finals series, more top-class, meaningful games and more revenue. Just a thought.
Maybe you agree with some of this; maybe all or none of the above. I'm just brainstorming here, looking for a better way. I know it's much better and far more profitable than what we now endure. I'm sure smarter people than me could improve this model even further. What I do know is we need these smart, creative, entrepreneurial and courageous people in charge of our game. That would be a huge improvement right there.
