Quote:
Originally Posted by
Jules
Isn't it kind of defeating the purpose of having a national rugby comp adding all these teams?
Yes, and no. I would say mainly no for the moment. Why do I say that?
Because the national rugby comp is teetering on the edge of existence. Longer term, a pure national comp might be the go, but it's got to stay alive first. There's no money in it. The Sydney powerbrokers want the NRC shut down ASAP. And they're doing a good job of it too. As per one rugby journo on Friday:
And let’s not forget that the National Rugby Championship is on the endangered list. Every other state considers the NRC to be a valuable tool, all save NSW where they can barely scrape together enough quality players to make up the Sydney Rays. Waratahs boss Andrew Hore on Thursday said the NRC was not being sabotaged from within. I suspect he was being diplomatic.
Fiji, largely funded by World Rugby and with some of their own sponsors, add a lot of interest and some good rugby to NRC - and are contributing to keep the comp alive IMO.
There is a lot of shuffling deck chairs regarding rugby in our part of the world at the moment. It's handy to have a PI side (or two) playing within an oz controlled comp at the moment - and that's one of the reasons I raised the question in my earlier post this morning: which two teams will Twigg now look to add for the 2019 WSR?
The Force and Fiji (plus a future PI?) would play WSR followed by NRC each year.
The crunch point will come in 2020. That's sink or swim time for both the NRC and Soup. It's likely then a scramble to pick up the pieces of what's left for pro and semi-pro rugby here to continue.