Orcas to target All Blacks
By STEVE KILGALLON - Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 8 April 2007
The Southern Orcas would aggressively target key All Blacks to give their new franchise a huge boost in playing strength, publicity and support if they were to win a place in the English-based Super League competition.
The Orcas' positioning document lists Daniel Carter, Jerry Collins, Ma'a Nonu and Piri Weepu among six key targets they would pursue as marquee signings if they were accepted into the competition.
And because the salary cap would be in English pounds, not Australian or New Zealand dollars, the Orcas are confident they would be able to offer salaries that would be significantly large enough to persuade some union stars to switch.
Although Carter and Collins may be unlikely to change codes, the Orcas believe Wellingtonians Nonu and Weepu have a background and interest in league that would help convince them to sign. The Orcas' pitch says: "We've designed the style of package that means they'll be excited to come on board."
The English salary cap stands at 1.8 million, roughly $A4.36m: a million dollars more than the NRL salary cap of $A3.366m. That would allow the Orcas to also offer increased wages to key NRL stars, such as Wests Tigers' Kiwi international standoff Benji Marshall.
"To have a quality, first-class team to be able to enter the competition is absolutely essential and it would come off the back of a rugby union world cup," said Orcas front man Andrew Chalmers, the acting chairman of the New Zealand Rugby League.
"The way the market is, there is a real opportunity to pick up some quality players and of course, provide pathways for the enormous number of junior high-performance athletes coming through."
Former Warriors and Kiwis coach Daniel Anderson comes off contract at English club St Helens at the end of 2008, and is likely to be targeted as coach - especially as Anderson was lined up to head up the Orcas' NRL bid. Chalmers would not be drawn on that issue.
Chalmers was involved in a 1991 proposal for a team from the Hutt Valley, the Dolphins, to secure a place in the old Australian Winfield Cup competition (effectively now the NRL) and led the Orcas' bid in 2004-2005 for a place in the NRL when it was expanded to 16 teams. Neither was successful.
He said the NZRL had begun talking about Super League as soon as the NRL handed down a decision in May 27, 2005, that the Gold Coast had beaten the Orcas for the extra NRL place.
"From an NZRL point of view, we have wanted a second franchise playing in a professional competition for some time and I think it is fair to say at the point that the NRL chose to expand into Queensland ... we started giving thought to what an alternative might mean," he said.
Chalmers said they had concluded the NRL would not consider further expansion until the expiry of their existing television contract, in six years time, and more likely not until after the next contract, in 10 to 12 years: "We don't believe the NRL view (expansion) as a priority."
He said it became clear the Super League was seriously contemplating adding two teams to the competition in 2009, and the NZRL moved quickly to be among the first to register their interest.
Chalmers said not much would have to be adapted from the basics of the Orcas bid and a full business plan and proposal could be ready almost instantly, once Super League signalled how the franchising process would operate.
Chalmers pointed to Sanzar's discussions over the prospect of adding a Japan-based team to the Super 14, which already straddles New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, of evidence in a trend in world sport to international club competition.
"It's all about how you grow the game globally and increase its value," he said. "From the NZRL's perspective, we believe this is in the interests of rugby league and our high-performance programme, it would increase pathways (for young players) and strengthen the Kiwis."
One potentially money-generating aspect would be taking games to other markets.
Chalmers noted that several Australian state governments outside traditional rugby league areas were now offering significant financial packages to attract NRL games and was confident the Orcas could be a drawcard in venues such as Perth, Melbourne and Adelaide. And those venues and others, such as Dubai, could serve as stopping points for the Orcas to travel to England.
Chalmers could suggest copying the Super 14 example and playing games in blocks to ease the issue of travel, with the Orcas potentially playing a game in Wellington, then one en route to England, then three away fixtures, one more on the way home, and their next back at Westpac Stadium.
The team - which would wear a white shirt with black and green trim -would base its staff and players at a new Wellington Rugby League base in the Hutt Valley, with strong links to the NZRL Academy programme at Petone.
