O'Neill needs to open chequebook - raid NRL

[Doug2234]

Union is a f**king disgrace of a game.

If i wanted to see the ball kicked for 80/90 minutes i watch the EPL.

 

[Usain Bolt]

How does Union have so much money to spend when no one watches it? where do they get there money from? a secret money tree in O'Neills backyard?

 

[gregstar]

yawnion was a great game in the early 80's.

wtf or wtf f*cked it?

 

[Brutus]

Union has always been boring as bat sh*t.

 

[gregstar]

it was an enjoyable game when hawker, ella, o'connor, gould & co played.

then along came the parrot.....

 

[BuffaloRules]

gould & co played.

I didn't know Gus Gould played for the Wally's?? :?: :lol:

 

[gregstar]

alongside roger, gus looks like brad pit.

roger gould is like steve mortimer.

born with an 80 year old head & spend their lives growing into it.

 

[BuffaloRules]

Yeah...I am old enough to remember Roger Gould......

What a merkin....

 

[Paullyboy]

How does Union have so much money to spend when no one watches it? where do they get there money from? a secret money tree in O'Neills backyard?

I always wonder that myself. I work with 2 people who used to work at the ARU but were retrenched and they both say there was just no money left there - yet they somehow are able to buy players from a sport which has bigger crowds, more publicity and more sponsors. It makes no sense to me.

 

[Lambretta]

The thing is, if the ARU comes in and offers a million a season, there are NRL players who will go across for a few seasons, purely for the money.

Eventually they'll get bored twiddling their thumbs over there, wont be getting game time with the Wobblies as they dont fit in with the ra-ra set and they'll come back to League.

Every single league player, bar Ryan Cross, who was hardly a superstar in League, has come back. The game just doesnt compare. So what are the ARU getting? Bored, disengaged players who dont fit in and are only really there for the money.

In order to prise a player from league who can earn $500,000 a season doing they enjoy, they have to offer double that - so how many can Union afford to shell out for? 3 or 4 players tops? Then what does the ARU do with all the Union players who are on less money, have played the game all their lives and bleed for the Wobblies? How will it placate them? Pay them more?

It's a flawed policy and one that has been a proven failure in the past.

And the real joke is, that for every player they buy from league, we create 2 more superstars to replace them - so it doesnt hurt league at all. It doesnt weaken us, it just about makes us stronger because it proves just how good our development process is.

 

[Mr Angry]

They have an inferior product.

It is that simple.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

How does Union have so much money to spend when no one watches it? where do they get there money from? a secret money tree in O'Neills backyard?

Count how many professional players the NRL has to look after (including the Under 20's comp) and how many the ARU has to look after.
Look at all the money the NRL spends on development of juniors/expansion areas and compare that to the ARU. Etc, etc.

 

[greenhat]

The ARU is sinking fast, just remember where they were 5 years ago and where they are now. Its clearly desperation time, if they keep sinking at this rate for another 5 years they'll have nothing but the absolute die hards watching it.
Looks to me like they need to try anything and everything to get their heads above water while they still command some mainstream attention. They tried to the obvious move - improve the product - but the northern hemisphere won't have it. So now all they've got left are desperation plays.
League players aren't likely to save them but if I was them at the moment I'd be willing to try anything to get some attention and momentum back.

 

[JW]

What a sensational business plan for the ARU to adopt. I mean just look how it turned out last time, lol.

 

[Cletus]

Like a few other posters I get the impression that the ARU is running out of money. Getting rid of Lote and Tahu was about saving money on players they're not going to use in the Wallabies, plus they canned the ARC because they were going to lose $2 million a year supporting it. It doesn't sound like they have enough money to get Inglis or Hayne.
The other thing is the only players that will be able to go straight over would be backs and the Wallabies need forwards. It would take years for them to develope a League forward into a Union player because the game is so different.
They should be developing their own players. The problem is that it's only played in a few private schools and by Kiwis and PIs. There's never going to be the same talent base available to them as there is in league. So it will always be the second Rugby code in Australia unless they can get more schools to play, and I get the impression a lot of Union types like it the way it is.