Union's Loss, Leagues Gain?

[greenBV4]

Here's a pie in the sky idea for expansion

Bris 2 - Brisbane Reds
Perth - Western Force
CC - Central Coast Warratahs
Melb 2 - Melbourne Rebels
Adelaide - Adelaide Brumbies

This will almost 100% never happen, but im bored in Vicco isolation so:
If super rugby in Australia is as dire as it sounds then imagine if the NRL bailed them out at some point and converted the clubs to NRL clubs

It would bring its own problems such as the number of expansions slots available, so maybe just look at it as the reds and force, with the others going to the NSW cup - the NRL would be aquiring an existing brand along with players and any assets

Best part is the NRL would then be the controlling party for Union in Australia, and could finally remove the blockades they have placed in schools and the corporate elite for the NRL. With no nearby sides to play against, pressure could then be put on NZ Rugby and perhaps cracks will beguin to show there?

Discuss.
(don't take it too serious, like I said pie in the sky and a bit of fun)

 

[MrE_Assassin]

Here's a pie in the sky idea for expansion

Bris 2 - Brisbane Reds
Perth - Western Force
CC - Central Coast Warratahs
Melb 2 - Melbourne Rebels
Adelaide - Adelaide Brumbies

This will almost 100% never happen, but im bored in Vicco isolation so:
If super rugby in Australia is as dire as it sounds then imagine if the NRL bailed them out at some point and converted the clubs to NRL clubs

It would bring its own problems such as the number of expansions slots available, so maybe just look at it as the reds and force, with the others going to the NSW cup - the NRL would be aquiring an existing brand along with players and any assets

Best part is the NRL would then be the controlling party for Union in Australia, and could finally remove the blockades they have placed in schools and the corporate elite for the NRL. With no nearby sides to play against, pressure could then be put on NZ Rugby and perhaps cracks will beguin to show there?

Discuss.
(don't take it too serious, like I said pie in the sky and a bit of fun)

No no no no and no.

Would never happen and in the minuscule chance that it did I doubt the NRL would want to take on the ARU licenced names of the Super Rugby clubs.

it would be ok at best for expanding the player base but that is about it.

 

[Perth Red]

I can see a resurgence in union over the next decade sadly. They will go to a ten team comp and twiggy forest will give them the funds they need to restart.
A comp of
Sydney
Brisbane
Perth
Melbourne
Auckland
Wellington
Christchurch
Hamilton
Dunedin
Then possibly either a Japan or PI team

 

[T to the T]

I can see a resurgence in union over the next decade sadly. They will go to a ten team comp and twiggy forest will give them the funds they need to restart.
A comp of
Sydney
Brisbane
Perth
Melbourne
Auckland
Wellington
Christchurch
Hamilton
Dunedin
Then possibly either a Japan or PI team

Resurgence? Are you serious? Australia are going to lose teams in the next few years. I think you've now jumped the shark in your posting, bigging up other sports ahead of RL when this clearly isn't the case, especially for RU in Australia. You're better than this tbf

 

[Perth Red]

Resurgence? Are you serious? Australia are going to lose teams in the next few years. I think you've now jumped the shark in your posting, bigging up other sports ahead of RL when this clearly isn't the case, especially for RU in Australia. You're better than this tbf

calling it as I see it, and I take no pleasure in it Union is the only sport I intensely dislike. But super 15 has been a disaster and I can see a nz/Aus comp being far more successful. If they get twiggy backing they’ll have the funds to reboot the game here (he’s just given $10mill to jnr RU in WA).

 

[The Great Dane]

I can see a resurgence in union over the next decade sadly. They will go to a ten team comp and twiggy forest will give them the funds they need to restart.
A comp of
Sydney
Brisbane
Perth
Melbourne
Auckland
Wellington
Christchurch
Hamilton
Dunedin
Then possibly either a Japan or PI team

The NZRU have made it clear that they won’t go for it as long as the SARU is still willing to be part of Super Rugby.

It’d be better for Rugby Union in Australia anyway if the ARU had the balls to split from everybody else and just hold a national competition until they’ve built their brand back up a bit.
With backing from Twiggy and some of his mates, a committed broadcast partner, and an administration willing to make changes to make the game more appealing to the Aus market, they could really shake shit up.

BTW, for historical reasons Canberra would be the 10th club in your comp.

 

[King hit]

I can see a resurgence in union over the next decade sadly. They will go to a ten team comp and twiggy forest will give them the funds they need to restart.
A comp of
Sydney
Brisbane
Perth
Melbourne
Auckland
Wellington
Christchurch
Hamilton
Dunedin
Then possibly either a Japan or PI team

Better chance of Bin Laden running around with the American flag then union having a big resurgence any time soon

 

[The Great Dane]

Better chance of Bin Laden running around with the American flag then union having a big resurgence any time soon

Complacency like this makes it all the more likely that it'll happen.

 

[RoosTah]

Here's a pie in the sky idea for expansion

Bris 2 - Brisbane Reds
Perth - Western Force
CC - Central Coast Waratahs
Melb 2 - Melbourne Rebels
Adelaide - Adelaide Brumbies

This will almost 100% never happen, but im bored in Vicco isolation so:
If super rugby in Australia is as dire as it sounds then imagine if the NRL bailed them out at some point and converted the clubs to NRL clubs

It would bring its own problems such as the number of expansions slots available, so maybe just look at it as the reds and force, with the others going to the NSW cup - the NRL would be aquiring an existing brand along with players and any assets

Best part is the NRL would then be the controlling party for Union in Australia, and could finally remove the blockades they have placed in schools and the corporate elite for the NRL. With no nearby sides to play against, pressure could then be put on NZ Rugby and perhaps cracks will beguin to show there?

Discuss.
(don't take it too serious, like I said pie in the sky and a bit of fun)

For the most part no, and not just because you simply could never make Brands like the Waratahs and Reds Rugby League brands.

The only area I could see some potential for this to work would be in convincing the Force to switch allegiances, but I think the window for that has now passed.

Personally, if I had a stack of cash I'd work on a second tier national competition that would - at least initially - almost operate like an unofficial division 2. In that I'd provide loans to develop sides in:

- Perth
- Fremantle
- Adelaide
- Geelong
- Central Coast
- Tasmania
- Christchurch
- Wellington
- Port Moresby

It'd be bloody expensive, but all these teams would have as a requirement that all their talent be sourced locally. They'd have to run combines from other codes and develop deep pathways, plus reasonable player contracts that are competitive with the local Union/AFL lower tiered contracts on offer.

I'd also make sure all the team names, colours and mascots were crafted by people local to the region and actually made sense from an identity standpoint.

This tier would be developed and tested each year with a national 'Challenge cup' type knockout tournament in which they'd go head to head with NRL clubs and over time it could transition to becoming a genuine second division of the NRL for which the champion would progress to the NRL.

It'd take about 20-30 years to really bare fruit and billions of dollars, but it wouldn't require killing any existing teams and it'd create genuine local organisations and not astroturf BS like the Giants in the AFL.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

LOL@PerthRed. Definitely a troll.

 

[T-Boon]

I can see a resurgence in union over the next decade sadly. They will go to a ten team comp and twiggy forest will give them the funds they need to restart.
A comp of
Sydney
Brisbane
Perth
Melbourne
Auckland
Wellington
Christchurch
Hamilton
Dunedin
Then possibly either a Japan or PI team

surely it’s better to have 2 Sydney teams than a Perth team?.........

 

[Perth Red]

surely it’s better to have 2 Sydney teams than a Perth team?.........

Not when you've got a Perth man who earns more in a year than the NRL do willing to bankroll the sport!

 

[RoosTah]

Not when you've got a Perth man who earns more in a year than the NRL do willing to bankroll the sport!

Union is a lost cause. The centre of gravity remains firmly in NSW for the game, as does the real money (i.e. the type that doesn't do it out of charity), and here the game is on the bone of its arse. I say that as someone that - unlike a lot on here - has no hate for the game as I played both codes growing up and was a Waratahs regular once upon a time.

The truth is though, Union has been hollowed out from within by its own incompetence and by the AFL, who've leapt on the game's weakness and disorganisation to cement the Swans among the posh schools that used to be entirely devoted to Union. Nowadays, the rich kid schools are all Swans feeders and Union is only a game of interest to the old boy networks.

In short, Forrest can do a Frank Lowy and pump a bunch of cash into domestic Rugby, but I have serious doubt about how sustainable that will be. To me it looks likely to be nothing more than a sugar hit that will leave the game no better off as it doesn't promise to address the code's underlying problems. To date, for all the talk of new models, I have yet to see one that makes sense for the game and I have serious doubts about Twiggy's understanding of the market he needs to succeed most in - the east coast.

 

[reanimate]

Here's a pie in the sky idea for expansion

Bris 2 - Brisbane Reds
Perth - Western Force
CC - Central Coast Warratahs
Melb 2 - Melbourne Rebels
Adelaide - Adelaide Brumbies

This will almost 100% never happen, but im bored in Vicco isolation so:
If super rugby in Australia is as dire as it sounds then imagine if the NRL bailed them out at some point and converted the clubs to NRL clubs

It would bring its own problems such as the number of expansions slots available, so maybe just look at it as the reds and force, with the others going to the NSW cup - the NRL would be aquiring an existing brand along with players and any assets

Best part is the NRL would then be the controlling party for Union in Australia, and could finally remove the blockades they have placed in schools and the corporate elite for the NRL. With no nearby sides to play against, pressure could then be put on NZ Rugby and perhaps cracks will beguin to show there?

Discuss.
(don't take it too serious, like I said pie in the sky and a bit of fun)

If that scenario ever happened, the better idea would be to fold all their professional clubs and feed all their amateur clubs and junior systems direct into the NRL systems. If we got control of their governing bodies, doing things like converting the Shute Shield clubs into being the NRL clubs' NSW cup sides (and playing under League rules, obviously) would really cripple Union's ability to regroup and regrow. Rats, Marlins, Norths and Gordon - Sea Eagles NSW Cup. Eastern Suburbs RU - Roosters NSW Cup. Two Blues- Parramatta NSW Cup and so on.

 

[The Great Dane]

If that scenario ever happened, the better idea would be to fold all their professional clubs and feed all their amateur clubs and junior systems direct into the NRL systems. If we got control of their governing bodies, doing things like converting the Shute Shield clubs into being the NRL clubs' NSW cup sides (and playing under League rules, obviously) would really cripple Union's ability to regroup and regrow. Rats, Marlins, Norths and Gordon - Sea Eagles NSW Cup. Eastern Suburbs RU - Roosters NSW Cup. Two Blues- Parramatta NSW Cup and so on.

Even if it was possible to just buy total control of all of RU's governing bodies in Australia (which it's probably not), all that would happen in your scenario is they and all the RU clubs would just split from the NRL owned organisations and form a new RU.

I mean lets do a role reversal, if the ARU was out competing the NRL, somehow managed to get almost complete control of RL in this country, then tried to force all the RL infrastructure to switch to union, we'd just just cut ourselves loose, leaving behind everything that was owned by the ARU, and start rebuilding.

I can see hypothetical scenario's where one governing body ends up administering both codes of rugby in this country (which would be devastating for the code that's not in power), but any talk of forcing either to totally convert to the other is pure fantasy.

 

[Mr Angry]

Kickby will not be attractive to young men.

The wages will simply not compete and the so called amateur game will become that, more juniors will migrate to League the professional game, just how it was designed.

They are back to chook raffles and Daddy paying for injury.

 

[reanimate]

Even if it was possible to just buy total control of all of RU's governing bodies in Australia (which it's probably not), all that would happen in your scenario is they and all the RU clubs would just split from the NRL owned organisations and form a new RU.

I mean lets do a role reversal, if the ARU was out competing the NRL, somehow managed to get almost complete control of RL in this country, then tried to force all the RL infrastructure to switch to union, we'd just just cut ourselves loose, leaving behind everything that was owned by the ARU, and start rebuilding.

I can see hypothetical scenario's where one governing body ends up administering both codes of rugby in this country (which would be devastating for the code that's not in power), but any talk of forcing either to totally convert to the other is pure fantasy.

Of course, it’s all fantasy, no one’s getting a Vichy France-like obliteration of the other code happening. In the hypothetical situation where Union’s governing bodies were catastrophically broke and the NRL did get to buy out all of Rugby Australia’s assets (including the lower level state and club comp bodies), gutting their infrastructure and resources and forcing them to start effectively from the ground up would be incredibly damaging. That’s why I suggested cutting one of their major sources of strength off- club rugby. If you converted all Shute shield and Brisbane rugby clubs into serving as NRL reserves, the only place for Union rules would be in the suburban Union comps and in juniors. The attractiveness of that would be limited for kids and most would play League rules in that scenario.

The hardcore Union types would split and start forming new comps and clubs (some clubs would stay with League for the $), but their new comps would take a long time to redevelop all the same infrastructure and popularity that they had before. Especially if the sport was so broke that it needed bailing out in the first place.

 

[Perth Red]

Of course, it’s all fantasy, no one’s getting a Vichy France-like obliteration of the other code happening. In the hypothetical situation where Union’s governing bodies were catastrophically broke and the NRL did get to buy out all of Rugby Australia’s assets (including the lower level state and club comp bodies), gutting their infrastructure and resources and forcing them to start effectively from the ground up would be incredibly damaging. That’s why I suggested cutting one of their major sources of strength off- club rugby. If you converted all Shute shield and Brisbane rugby clubs into serving as NRL reserves, the only place for Union rules would be in the suburban Union comps and in juniors. The attractiveness of that would be limited for kids and most would play League rules in that scenario.

The hardcore Union types would split and start forming new comps and clubs (some clubs would stay with League for the $), but their new comps would take a long time to redevelop all the same infrastructure and popularity that they had before. Especially if the sport was so broke that it needed bailing out in the first place.

twiggy would just take over the whole game and have it back up and running in a few months,

 

[RoosTah]

twiggy would just take over the whole game and have it back up and running in a few months,

Like I wrote before though, he’s not going to be able to do that for long. Nothing he has proposed remotely addresses the underlying problems with Rugby in Australia and a Frank Lowy like sugar hit isn’t about to change that. Indeed, at least Lowy had a plan to address some of the problems soccer faced; Twiggy hasn’t done that remotely. At present, the only thing I can see Forrest achieving is diminishing his standing as a billionaire to that of a multimillionaire.

 

[taipan]

Twiggy is interested in one thing ,the Force and it's survival.No Force ,he's got better things to do.

The thought he would act as a charity to underpin RA, is extremely unlikely.The incompetence they have shown over the years, suggests they couldn't run a school canteen.