Rays could head back to city

[travelling_gerry]

By Bret Harris
October 15, 2007
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...-23217,00.html

ONE of the first reforms of the controversial Australian Rugby Championship may include the relocation of the inaugural tournament winner, Central Coast Rays, to northern Sydney.
But changes to the elite development competition will not stop there. ARU chief executive John O'Neill had said the competition would be reviewed when it was launched.

There has been speculation already that the ARU will send in the razor gang to cut costs, with a seven-figure financial loss expected after the first year. Ideas include playing games at less expensive suburban grounds and reducing the number of teams from eight to six.

While Canberra Vikings, Melbourne Rebels and Perth Spirit should remain, the ARU will have a good, hard look at the five teams in NSW and Queensland.

One criticism of the championship has been the lack of tribal support for the new teams.

The Rays defeated the Rebels 20-12 in an absorbing final in front of only 4189 spectators on a beautiful afternoon at Bluetongue Stadium in Gosford on Saturday.

The Rays drew their players from the four northern Sydney clubs, Gordon, Manly, Northern Suburbs and Warringah. The only Central Coast local at the game was Wallabies outside back Adam Ashley-Cooper, as a spectator. "It's a bit funny. I came here not supporting anyone. The Rebels are affiliated with the Brumbies, but I'm born and bred on the Central Coast so my heart was with the Rays," Ashley-Cooper said.

Some at the ARU believe the Rays should play at North Sydney Oval or even Brookvale Oval on the Manly peninsula, although the team's coach John McKee says they should stay on the coast.

If the Rays played at North Sydney, Sydney Fleet would have to find a new home which would be just as well, as its feeder clubs - Eastern Suburbs, Randwick Sydney University and Southern Districts - are all based south of the harbour.

Western Sydney Rams - fed by Eastwood, Parramatta West Harbour and Penrith - are well located in Parramatta, but still receive little crowd support.

Instead of competing against the ARC, the Sydney clubs, especially the "coalition of the unwilling", need to have a sense of ownership in the venture.

The Queensland Rugby Union is considering merging its two teams, Ballymore Tornadoes and East Coast Aces, which draw players from clubs north and south of the Brisbane River.

"For Queensland moving forward, its best for Queensland to have one side," said Reds flanker David Croft, who was lent to the Rebels and won the man-of-the-match award in the final.

"The teams that have got the most out of this are Perth and the Vikings because they had a Super 14 team that stayed together, rather than diluting the talent to three or two teams. These guys are practising their Super 14 structures whereas New South Wales and Queensland didn't get an opportunity to do that.

"At the same time if you want to create loyalty with spectators, you've got to stick by teams. They can't change from year to year."

With the disappointing performance of the Tornadoes and Aces, who finished last and second last respectively, the QRU is not likely to be as generous to the Rebels next year. Players such as Croft and Melbourne-born wing Digby Ioane are almost certain to be required for a Brisbane team.

If the players have any say, the ARC will survive in some guise.

"I haven't spoken to a player who has not enjoyed playing in this competition," said Rebels' former Wallabies forward Matt Cockbain. "It gives them a great opportunity to further their career at a higher level.

"It also gives a selection platform for Super 14 coaches to look at players at a higher level and under pressure. It is only a matter of time before that pays off.

"I'd like to see it played home and away. Play each other twice and make it a bit longer. I know there would be a lot of opposition from the clubs, but we have to move with the times and follow New Zealand and South Africa."

The ARC had a tough initiation, competing against the AFL and NRL finals and the Rugby World Cup in France. A change of scheduling and including Wallabies players would make the ARC a more attractive product.

[GIGS20]

I think the way Queensland is managed could be a real thorn in the side for the management, Their results have proven that they deserve at least the same as WA with one team but the fact that QLD is so much more a rugby heartland than WA this could serve to make their team have the depth it needs. I think the balance in WA is pretty good, we get to use a lot of our S14 contracted players because theres comparatively less depth in WA. QLD SHOULD have a lot more depth than both us AND Melbourne (And if you listen to them bleat about it they have more player depth than any other state in the nation, we just keep stealing them) you don't want to allow QLD to run only one side AND get all their stars back from Melbourne, only to find that they're killing everyone else with a Super 14 squad and support structures.

Before anyone gets fired up about me saying that, that is NOT what the Spirit had this year. When their backline was savaged mid season through injury and the selection of Shep, they had to scour the country to find players to fill their roster, they couldn't just run down to club training on Tuesday night and pick people out of the local competition.

Sure that's coming, but we're not there yet!

[jargan83]

we also loaned some Super 14 players to Melbourne didnt we?? (all 4 Super 14 sides did it i believe)

[James]

Yeah the deal was supposed to be 3 each from ACT and Force and 1 each from QL and NSW. Which worked out pretty well.

They don't need to turn Queensland into one team, two will be fine given that Connolly's tenure is over and half a dozen borderline Reds players won't make the Wallabies. There still smarting a bit from players being taken in by the Force but in a year or two the players that are a little too young and inexperienced will be up to the level and the balance will be restored.