ARU Responds to luminaries letter with stakeholders summit

[shasta]

e mail sent to Brett Papworth this morning.......

Brett,

Couple of petitions you might consider signing.

One supports the continued existence of The Western Force and has been signed by over 1500 in the last 36 hours

https://www.change.org/p/bill-pulver...tern-australia

The other supports sacking Bill Pulver and appointing you in his place and has a whopping 150 signatures in 2 months,

https://www.change.org/p/australian-...ck-bill-pulver

Think they will read it out on the radio today?

[andrewM]

So let's do it!! Need to form an organising committee. Who's interested?

count me in

[Kalahard]

Wow, just found this little tidbit on GAGR about how much a Premier Grade coach at Bond Uni in Queensland gets paid.

"I don't know what you consider "a lot"

Hedge left the Rebels and scored a great job coaching a Prems team on about $200,000.

I wouldn't have thought Assistants would be on a wicket anywhere near that figure"

Thats an outrageous amount for a club coach. And they wonder why theres a stand off between the elite clubs and the ARU over grassroots funding. Instead of funding the rego fees of 1000 juniors they chose to pay 1 coach the same amount. Where are the real priorities of some of these clubs?

[yungfen]

Wow, just found this little tidbit on GAGR about how much a Premier Grade coach at Bond Uni in Queensland gets paid.

"I don't know what you consider "a lot"

Hedge left the Rebels and scored a great job coaching a Prems team on about $200,000.

I wouldn't have thought Assistants would be on a wicket anywhere near that figure"

Thats an outrageous amount for a club coach. And they wonder why theres a stand off between the elite clubs and the ARU over grassroots funding. Instead of funding the rego fees of 1000 juniors they chose to pay 1 coach the same amount. Where are the real priorities of some of these clubs?

If that is true, that is the most unbelievable and outrageous way of spending 200k. Priorities are completely wrong! Shameful I would say.

[Alison]

count me in

Just posted a 'starter for 10' question in the petition thread.....

[Rex Messup]

e mail sent to Brett Papworth this morning.......

Brett,

Couple of petitions you might consider signing.

One supports the continued existence of The Western Force and has been signed by over 1500 in the last 36 hours

https://www.change.org/p/bill-pulver...tern-australia

The other supports sacking Bill Pulver and appointing you in his place and has a whopping 150 signatures in 2 months,

https://www.change.org/p/australian-...ck-bill-pulver

Think they will read it out on the radio today?

Did the F knuckle write back?

[MI5_Dog]

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spor...2e961c3449314b

The Australian Rugby Union is baulking at paying $500,000 to bail out the Sydney Rugby Union on a deal with Channel Seven for the Shute Shield to be televised free-to-air next season.

It is understood that the five-year deal, which is only entering its third year, has been a disaster since it was signed, with the ARU forced to step in this year to bail out the SRU to the tune of $300,000.

The dozens of disgruntled former Wallabies who last week drafted a protest letter to the ARU over its lack of support for grassroots rugby specifically attacked the national body over its disavowal of the television deal.

“Lack of free-to-air rugby was identified by the strategic plans as a major weakness for the game in Australia, yet one of rugby’s most entertaining products, the Shute Shield (the Sydney club premiership) is likely not to be on free-to-air in 2017 because of a funding battle between the ARU and the NSWRU,” the letter stated.

“We cannot understand why the ARU does not champion the club premiership competitions in both Queensland and NSW being televised free-to-air. Channel Seven seem to love it and ratings are impressive for very new product. Where is the leadership?”

Yet it is understood that the deal does not directly impact on either the ARU or the NSWRU. NSW chief executive Andrew Hore said he was hoping to work with the clubs to help them promote the game and felt that, collaboratively, something could be done.

The only statement from an ARU spokesman was that it was “very unlikely” the national body would again bail out the deal.

It is understood the deal was done with no knowledge of the ARU. The Sydney clubs each have to dip into their limited coffers to pay for the broadcast, hoping it will help promote the game.

The ratings, however, have been extremely modest and while the Shute Shield clubs are up in arms that the ARU is refusing to come to their rescue, the evaluation at ARU headquarters is that the broadcasts do virtually nothing to grow rugby.

The ARU also feels that the deal was done in the knowledge that there was no money to fund it beyond the first year and that inevitably the clubs would turn to the ARU for further support.

Meanwhile, the ARU is to push ahead with plans for a game-wide summit, streamed live to the rugby public, even though it still has not received the protest letter from the former players.

Although the letter, addressed to ARU chairman Cameron Clyne and his board and asking for a meeting to discuss more funding for the game’s grassroots, was to have been lodged on Friday, it still had not arrived at close of business yesterday.

Nonetheless, it has already achieved its desired result, with Clyne and ARU chief executive Bill Pulver deciding that now was an opportune time to meet with their critics, explain the ARU’s strategic initiatives and, at the same time, hopefully hear some positive suggestions on what could be done better.

Clyne intends to stream the summit live via the ARU website, rugby.com.au, so the rugby public can better understand the complexities of the problems the game faces. No date has been scheduled for the summit and no agenda set, but an ARU spokesman said the overall “state of the game” would be open for discussion.

“If it was a case of wanting more money for grassroots rugby, I’d be the first one to sign the petition and every member of the ARU board would be right in line behind me,” said Clyne. “We all want that and recognise its importance. But when resources are in short supply, you have to prioritise. But hopefully this meeting will give rise to a whole raft of good ideas.”

[jono]

ahh sydney rugby at it again.

if there was any competition streamed or broadcast on FTA it should be the NRC.
the sooner everyone grows up and gets behind it the better Australian rugby is going to get.

[The InnFORCEr]

Too fuuny

[GIGS20]

I've got a question

If the Shite shield telecast is [quote] “one of rugby’s most entertaining products," and if "Channel Seven seem to love it" and if "ratings are impressive for very new product”

Why the hell aren't Channel Seven paying anything for the rights to televise it?

It sounds to me like they're asking 1/2 a mill a year to put that shit on the telly, that's about what they think it's costing them in advertising revenue.

[shasta]

Did the F knuckle write back?

Yeah, just after a squadron of flying porkers went past my joint.

Re the "summit". I like the chairman's decision to stream live. He may be calling the bluff of the usual suspects.I'd predict it will show the main protagonists will have little constructive to offer in the way of how to grow and promote the game going forward. It will be simply more whining about circling the wagons and going back to the way things were in the "good" old days.

[WF2404]

Would that be the same no-mark John O'Neil who pissed all the money up the wall, jumped ship with a massive golden handshake, and left Australian rugby teetering on the edge of bankruptcy?

And who told us that Australian rugby was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.... Pulver! Just different spending options. More money for Sydney under Pulver's plans!

[WF2404]

e mail sent to Brett Papworth this morning.......

Brett,

Couple of petitions you might consider signing.

One supports the continued existence of The Western Force and has been signed by over 1500 in the last 36 hours

https://www.change.org/p/bill-pulver...tern-australia

The other supports sacking Bill Pulver and appointing you in his place and has a whopping 150 signatures in 2 months,

https://www.change.org/p/australian-...ck-bill-pulver

Think they will read it out on the radio today?

We could always just sign both petitions!! LOL

[westies man]

Wow, just found this little tidbit on GAGR about how much a Premier Grade coach at Bond Uni in Queensland gets paid.

"I don't know what you consider "a lot"

Hedge left the Rebels and scored a great job coaching a Prems team on about $200,000.

I wouldn't have thought Assistants would be on a wicket anywhere near that figure"

Thats an outrageous amount for a club coach. And they wonder why theres a stand off between the elite clubs and the ARU over grassroots funding. Instead of funding the rego fees of 1000 juniors they chose to pay 1 coach the same amount. Where are the real priorities of some of these clubs?

Know a club player in Perth here who is getting flown over to Brisbane next week, hotel accommodation for 2 nights just to meet the coaching staff and check out the facilities and then gets flown back to Perth.
The clubs over there are really doing it tough.

[GIGS20]

I spoke he's flying Jetstar, no wonder they need the ARU to reinstate the funding model, if things don't change soon they'll have to start looking for alternatives to the Russian caviar.

Does anybody know if Serbian caviar is bearable?