O'Neill desperate to fix broken Aussie rugby
O'Neill desperate to fix broken Aussie rugby
By DAVID MOFFETT - The Press | Saturday, 29 March 2008
O'Neill desperate to fix broken Aussie rugby - Rugby news & coverage - Stuff.co.nz
New Zealand rugby is standing on the precipice with the ruthless John O'Neill ready to kick us into the void as he tries desperately to fix a broken Australian Rugby Union.
He can take a lot of the credit for the current problems although he and many of his media mates across the ditch are keen to lay the blame elsewhere. The problem for O'Neill is that he did not leave a lasting legacy having avoided the opportunity to invest in sustainable change when he was last in charge at the ARU.
Before being axed just after the 2003 RWC, O'Neill, it was believed, was very much in favour of the doomed Australian Rugby Championship, or something like it, which ultimately failed after just one horrendous year of over investment and poor support.
In the professional era the lack of a coherent competition underpinning Super rugby in Australia has always been a huge problem for the ARU. They have always envied our Air New Zealand Cup and South Africa's Currie Cup and would love to replicate them.
Unfortunately for Australia that remains nothing more than a dream. In fact Australian Rugby is languishing behind football, rugby league and Aussie Rules in the battle for traditional football sports. The only way out of this mess is for a resurgent Wallabies to start winning again and even in that regard they have had to turn to a Kiwi in Robbie Deans.
Don't get me wrong, I am not rejoicing at the demise of Australia, I am just concerned at the proposals coming out of the O'Neill bunker.
The first of these, which the NZRU has fallen for, is the fourth Bledisloe in Hong Kong this year. Both O'Neill and Tew tried desperately to dress this game up as an attempt to foster the game in Asia. That is a complete nonsense; this extra game is about money and nothing else.
The Hong Kong Sevens does a much better job than a Bledisloe ever could and that has only had limited success in a football-mad country.
The second of my concerns is the irrational attempt to increase the Super 14 by placing a team in Japan. Presumably the idea would involve drafting players in to the team to make it competitive. How on earth that is supposed to help New Zealand rugby is beyond me.
Both of these ideas, I can't bring myself to call them strategies, will result in an increase to the playing and travel schedule of our players who are already leaving in droves to play in Europe and can be home every night. Where will this madness stop? O'Neill has mentioned inclusion of Argentinean teams and what about the long suffering Pacific Islands. Before we know it we'll have a Super 24 spanning the entire globe.
Both Australia and New Zealand failed at the last world cup while South Africa went on to win it, in part by devaluing the Tri Nations. I still believe it would be in New Zealand's and Australia's best interests to play a trans-Tasman competition involving say 11 or 12 teams home and away.
Both countries could relax their qualification criteria allowing players to play for any team and still be available for their respective countries. That would keep many of our players in this part of the world. Imagine Matt Giteau playing for the Blues and Chris Jack playing for the Gold Coast at its new stadium.
As for the money to pay for this competition, more games equal more gates and sponsors but most importantly a trans-Tasman competition would be much more attractive to terrestrial broadcasters who could bid for shared rights with pay TV.
The only bidder for the existing competition which includes South African teams is News Ltd. Add to this a three Bledisloe Cup series and a two-match Tri Series with South Africa and we would then be in a strong position to tell the Northern Hemisphere countries that if they want to see the All Blacks they will have to pay substantial sums to get them. Instead of playing 16 tests a year we would get back to a more manageable number like eight or 10.
News on the ELVs is that the ball is in play for a staggering 33.5min instead of 33min previously. Negative coaching is copping much blame.
David Moffett is a former CEO of the NZ Rugby Union and NRL.
