It's Super Makeover

[force addict]

same here!

[Scotty]

they need a longer season but o neil needs to stop thinking just about money, heaps of local derbies will screw the competiton up, if they are going to make it over 20 rounds they may as well play everyone twice with a short finals series.

I have wondered what would happen if, for example, one of the Aus/NZ/SA pools was weaker than the others, got dominated by a single team who racked up heaps of points and slipped into the finals at the expense of 'better' teams in the other, tougher pools.

Missing out on that basis would be pretty annoying, to say the least!

[jargan83]

eg. A South African pool with the Cheetahs and the Lions??

[BLR]

Hopefully they do it by a ranking system, I think they are finally putting a ranking system into the Heineken cup, so that should be the way to do it I'd say...

[AndyS]

Rugby: Poised for a shake-up - Western Force Rugby Supporters Site

"...Super 14 and Tri Nations have an existing broadcast contract that will expire in 2011 but Sanzar officials have been encouraged by concerned media partners to implement change in time for the 2010 season."

I'll bet! So they get 26 weeks of competition for a price negotiated for 13 and then they can say, "We're happy with what we have, we'll give you the same amount again".

"The NZRU board also agreed last Thursday that it would be open to changing eligibility laws once the new competition is set up that would allow qualified New Zealanders playing for any team in Sanzar competition to be available for the All Blacks."

How surprising as well! They wouldn't be hoping for a lot of their relatively cheap talent being picked up by Aus/RSA so that all their own teams and a quarter of the other teams would be eligible for the All Blacks, would they? Or maybe they have their eyes on Australia's colossal depth of talent and will be swooping to sign up heaps of our guys with fistfuls of Kiwi pesos...

"They will also look at the viability of setting up teams in new venues such as the US, Canada, Pacific Islands, Asia and Argentina. One thing Sanzar and their broadcast partners have already agreed is the change is vital."

And then Western Europe, Eastern Europe and THEN WE TAKE OVER THE WORLD!!!!
Dickheads.

I have wondered what would happen if, for example, one of the Aus/NZ/SA pools was weaker than the others, got dominated by a single team who racked up heaps of points and slipped into the finals at the expense of 'better' teams in the other, tougher pools.

Indeed - so under the new model we would be about to head into the derby rounds. As it stands, the Chiefs would have to keep their push for the finals intact against the Blues, Crusaders and Hurricanes while the Waratahs correspondingly would have to play the Brumbies, Force and Reds. No problems there, surely...?

[Thequeerone]

Definitly need a rectangular stadium for this

[Punkpapa]

I think they would be better served with an expanded Tri Nations series rather than a long and arduous comp that would become more a war of attrition than a test of real rugby talent. Imagine how long the injury lists would be?

[AndyS]

I have no problem with the idea of expanding the S14, but this all seems a bit ad-hoc. For mine it should be home-and-away, then finals. Stuff the midyear tests - they are never full strength and mid-week games would be a nonsense. Presumably our EOYT would be cancelled as a result, but that would be interesting - a hell of a hit to the finances of the NH unions, especially when they don't get any money from the club level. The Tri-nations will have to move, and I wouldn't mind seeing it go back to two games each H/A again. The PNC would have to move too (tougher as it is an IRB competition) or Aus A would have to pull out.

Any which way, it is a lot of eggs for a big omelette. Provincial comps would suffer, but they are where I would look for equity involvement...absolutely not at S14 level. Straightforward argument...compare RugbyWA finances pre- and post- Force and imagine what they would look like if half the money made by the team was being returned to an investor.

[jono]

You'd love it seldom, i'd be spending more $$$ down there

i might actually come there

[jargan83]

If the Super 14 gets a full expansion, and the mid-year tests get scrapped because the NH teams don't send full strength sides anyway and the tri-nations gets moved untill after the Super 14 is finished, would there be a chance for the IRB to establish a worldwide test window?

[laura]

Possibly the article Jargs was talking about...similar enough anyway

Big slide in TV ratings prompts makeover talk

28th April 2008, 11:30 WST



Next year’s Super 14 competition is likely to be the last played under the existing 13 matches format.

Australian rugby boss John O’Neill has proposed a revamp in 2011 but a slide in television ratings in New Zealand and South Africa could lead to a competition makeover in 2010.

O’Neill, in Dublin to meet international rugby powerbrokers, wants Super 14 to be played over 26 weeks, instead of 16, with eight teams contesting a month-long final series in August.

All teams would play each other once, with the extra matches comprising crowd-pulling domestic derbies, providing the Western Force with 11 or 12 home games a season rather than six or seven.

With New Zealand and South Africa each having five teams, O’Neill has proposed Australia have five, too, possibly through a joint venture with Japan or the Pacific Island group.

Tri-Nations Tests would be played directly after the grand final, with the lead-in internationals moving to midweek.

Pay-television funds Super 14 but audiences have fallen about 20 percent over three years and the NZ Herald revealed that concerned broadcasters wanted the competition restructured as soon as possible, ideally before 2011 when a new media rights agreement will be negotiated.

SANZAR, the three-nation group which administers the southern hemisphere competition, accepts Super 14 is in trouble, with players leaving in significant numbers for rich European clubs and attendance at matches in decline.

New Zealand and South Africa are concerned a longer Super 14 competition would adversely impact their respective NPC and Currie Cup provincial competitions.

However, their administrators accept they have to provide a more attractive television package to rights holder News Ltd — and quickly.

Without a suitable media deal, neither New Zealand nor South Africa would be able to maintain large squads of professional players and the damaging talent drain across the equator would accelerate.

Australian pay-TV ratings are holding up but the figures across the Tasman are of concern to SkyTV, which has the New Zealand rights.

“Something does need to happen to give Super 14 a shake-up,” SkyTV head of sport, Kevin Cameron said. “We are certainly keen to see how it evolves and what model might work.

“There have been discussions between all sorts of groups and there is a desire to take a good look at it.”

DAVE HUGHES