From Stuff http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/provincial/5456374/Condensed-NPC-competition-proving-a-big-hit
Condensed NPC competition proving a big hit
TOBY ROBSON Last updated 05:00 17/08/2011
It was supposed to be an unwelcome World Cup compromise, but a condensed ITM Cup has turned into an unexpected boon for the increasingly marginalised provincial competition.
From players to fans to broadcasters, it seems everyone is finally getting what they want from an action-packed eight-week tournament.
"You have this bizarre situation where the top team in the premiership [Waikato] could still be relegated if they lose their last three games," New Zealand Rugby Players' Association boss Rob Nichol said this week.
"That's what we wanted, something that was close, provincialism, tribalism, and differentiated from Super rugby ... it is producing something really positive."
Nichol's enthusiasm is in no small part because the ITM Cup is bearing out the benefits of direct franchise contracting, something the NZRPA had been fighting for since 2004.
With players no longer needing to shift provinces to get a Super rugby contract, franchise base unions are not sucking up and stockpiling talent in their regions.
"You are seeing a lot of Super rugby players who are staying with their home provinces, but still picking up Super rugby contracts," Nichol said. "Hawke's Bay are a classic example of that, as are Manawatu.
"Take Aaron Cruden or Nick Crosswell. In years gone by there is no way they would have stayed with Manawatu ... What you now have is kids at Palmerston North Boys' High looking at Manawatu as a good stepping-stone and I'd say several years ago that wasn't the case."
Nichol takes a holistic view of the benefits rather than taking sides with one province or another.
"During those crucial development years they are still around their support networks, their family, their parents, their teachers, their friends, instead of heading off to Wellington at 17.
"That conjures up all sorts of issues similar to what the rugby league players face when they head off to Sydney or Melbourne."
Such positivity is unlikely to be as prevalent in the offices of the Wellington and Auckland unions, where crowds and results have become a bigger challenge than ever.
They'll get their chance to air their concerns when the format is reviewed this November, but it's hard to see too much support for change.
Crucially, the game's paymasters are understood to be thrilled with the status quo.
Though viewing figures are a guarded secret, the Dominion Post understands some midweek ITM Cup matches have attracted more than 120,000 viewers, filling in usually dead patches for broadcaster Sky TV.
"The condensed format has thrown up a couple of really serious considerations that we wouldn't otherwise have considered," was all Nichol would say when asked if he thought the quickfire format would remain next season. "The NZRU gave us some principles within which we had to operate and one of them was that it had to be played within 12 weeks. I guess now we have to revisit that principle. Can we do it in nine or 10?
"Previously those discussions wouldn't be on the table, but now it is and it will be interesting to see how it pans out."
Perhaps the greatest surprise is that the players themselves have lapped up the heavy schedule and tight turnarounds for Tuesday and Wednesday matches.
"It's good fun," Wellington first five-eighth Lima Sopoaga said this week. "It's more playing, less training and that's what most of the players enjoy. You don't have to have fitness sessions and stuff like that.
"There's less contact during the week as well. That's the kind of thing I like, staying away from that nitty gritty stuff. You don't have time to dwell as much on a victory or a loss as much as you would in the past. It's like `we've got a game in three days, park that one'."
Hooker Dane Coles agrees.
"I wouldnt mind to be honest [if it continued]. I don't mind backing up. That's just my personal opinion, but I quite enjoy it ... more games and less training. It's more like captain's runs every day."
The feared plethora of injuries has not materialised, with larger squads exposing more players to a higher level of rugby and less to the frustration of sitting on the bench all season. "Every team has one or two players who are a success story that otherwise wouldn't have got a chance," Nichol said.
And though the All Blacks are largely absent, Nichol said returning old heads like Luke Andrews, Brent Ward, Marty Holah, and Filipo Levi had ensured young players were getting a top quality rugby education.
If there is a downside to the new competition, Nichol acknowledged it was so fast-paced most fans could not keep track of the matches or which teams were in the first division and which were in the second.
"I think it's fair to say a lot of people don't fully understand the format, but they don't seem to really care and that's quite good," he said.
Condensed NPC competition proving a big hit
TOBY ROBSON Last updated 05:00 17/08/2011
It was supposed to be an unwelcome World Cup compromise, but a condensed ITM Cup has turned into an unexpected boon for the increasingly marginalised provincial competition.
From players to fans to broadcasters, it seems everyone is finally getting what they want from an action-packed eight-week tournament.
"You have this bizarre situation where the top team in the premiership [Waikato] could still be relegated if they lose their last three games," New Zealand Rugby Players' Association boss Rob Nichol said this week.
"That's what we wanted, something that was close, provincialism, tribalism, and differentiated from Super rugby ... it is producing something really positive."
Nichol's enthusiasm is in no small part because the ITM Cup is bearing out the benefits of direct franchise contracting, something the NZRPA had been fighting for since 2004.
With players no longer needing to shift provinces to get a Super rugby contract, franchise base unions are not sucking up and stockpiling talent in their regions.
"You are seeing a lot of Super rugby players who are staying with their home provinces, but still picking up Super rugby contracts," Nichol said. "Hawke's Bay are a classic example of that, as are Manawatu.
"Take Aaron Cruden or Nick Crosswell. In years gone by there is no way they would have stayed with Manawatu ... What you now have is kids at Palmerston North Boys' High looking at Manawatu as a good stepping-stone and I'd say several years ago that wasn't the case."
Nichol takes a holistic view of the benefits rather than taking sides with one province or another.
"During those crucial development years they are still around their support networks, their family, their parents, their teachers, their friends, instead of heading off to Wellington at 17.
"That conjures up all sorts of issues similar to what the rugby league players face when they head off to Sydney or Melbourne."
Such positivity is unlikely to be as prevalent in the offices of the Wellington and Auckland unions, where crowds and results have become a bigger challenge than ever.
They'll get their chance to air their concerns when the format is reviewed this November, but it's hard to see too much support for change.
Crucially, the game's paymasters are understood to be thrilled with the status quo.
Though viewing figures are a guarded secret, the Dominion Post understands some midweek ITM Cup matches have attracted more than 120,000 viewers, filling in usually dead patches for broadcaster Sky TV.
"The condensed format has thrown up a couple of really serious considerations that we wouldn't otherwise have considered," was all Nichol would say when asked if he thought the quickfire format would remain next season. "The NZRU gave us some principles within which we had to operate and one of them was that it had to be played within 12 weeks. I guess now we have to revisit that principle. Can we do it in nine or 10?
"Previously those discussions wouldn't be on the table, but now it is and it will be interesting to see how it pans out."
Perhaps the greatest surprise is that the players themselves have lapped up the heavy schedule and tight turnarounds for Tuesday and Wednesday matches.
"It's good fun," Wellington first five-eighth Lima Sopoaga said this week. "It's more playing, less training and that's what most of the players enjoy. You don't have to have fitness sessions and stuff like that.
"There's less contact during the week as well. That's the kind of thing I like, staying away from that nitty gritty stuff. You don't have time to dwell as much on a victory or a loss as much as you would in the past. It's like `we've got a game in three days, park that one'."
Hooker Dane Coles agrees.
"I wouldnt mind to be honest [if it continued]. I don't mind backing up. That's just my personal opinion, but I quite enjoy it ... more games and less training. It's more like captain's runs every day."
The feared plethora of injuries has not materialised, with larger squads exposing more players to a higher level of rugby and less to the frustration of sitting on the bench all season. "Every team has one or two players who are a success story that otherwise wouldn't have got a chance," Nichol said.
And though the All Blacks are largely absent, Nichol said returning old heads like Luke Andrews, Brent Ward, Marty Holah, and Filipo Levi had ensured young players were getting a top quality rugby education.
If there is a downside to the new competition, Nichol acknowledged it was so fast-paced most fans could not keep track of the matches or which teams were in the first division and which were in the second.
"I think it's fair to say a lot of people don't fully understand the format, but they don't seem to really care and that's quite good," he said.
