Terms of Reference for a Senate Inquiry into the Future of Rugby Union in Australia

[FingerTips]

More rumour and gossip heard over ales and ciders at The Stoned Crow on Willoughby Road.
Don't yet know what the new favourite watering holes near Moore Park are.

1. The NSWRU is unhappy about what it sees as the unfair way in which players from the former Force playing list are being reallocated to the four surviving SR franchises. The NSW franchise is complaining about the present model in which Melbourne apparently has first dibs on the former Force playing list and the other three franchises will get to pick over what's left after Melbourne finishes its negotiations.
2. The salary cap problem has not been resolved.
3. The ARU and the NSWRU really have been surprised/shocked by the degree of resentment and hostility coming out of WA in response to the culling of the Force.
4. The Senate Enquiry came out of left-field. No-one in the ARU, NSWRU etc anticipated that culling the Force would trigger something like that.
5. The present relationship between the ARU and the WA Government is best described as toxic. It is believed that the WA Government has made it clear there will be no money available after 2019 to subsidise Rugby Union test matches in Perth.
6. There is a theory that declining attendances at Wallabies Tests in Perth are linked to the poor on-field performance of the Force and that with the Force gone, Perth will be "starved" of professional rugby content in years to come and that could result in an increase in attendances at any future Wallabies tests in Perth.
7. Now that WA is out of the mix as a host of Wallabies Tests (where many matches in Perth were against South Africa) and given that NSW automatically gets a Bledisloe Test in Sydney each year and QLD automatically gets a Bledisloe Test in Brisbane in alternate years, QRU believes that it is entitled to get a Wallabies vs South Africa Test in the other years; that is, the South Africa Tests which were being played in Perth should not go automatically to Melbourne. The VRU has a different point of view.
8. From the Bean-counters:
   
   1. The cull of the Force will result in a reduction of operating costs in 2018, but it will also reduce gross revenue in 2018. In 2017, there was significant revenue from Force memberships, match-day attendances and hospitality at nib, jersey sponsorships, Road Safety sponsorship, Force merchandise etc. The Beanies think it is fair to assume that Force memberships and match-day attendances at nib would have grown in 2018 as a consequence of the improved performance of the Force in 2017. So the Beanies wanted the ARU to try to retain a portion of that 2017 revenue in 2018, for example by negotiating with Western Force sponsors from 2017 for a continuation of those sponsorships with the other SR franchises in 2018 and/or by providing payable Rugby content in WA in 2018 - hence the comment in the ARU media statement of 5 September "ARU is also in active discussions with its State and Territory Member Unions about opportunities to provide Rugby content in Western Australia from the 2018 season."
   2. As far as the Bean-counters are concerned, the "new" 8 year deal with Victoria is only a roll-over of the deals from the previous 8 years - it is not new revenue per se.
   3. There will be a revenue short-fall caused by the withdrawal of WA financial support for Wallabies test matches in Perth after 2019. The ARU will no longer be able to play the Victorian and WA Governments off against one another in order to maximise the amounts of money put in by each state government. It is not clear who can step into the hole created by the withdrawal of the WA money - Canberra, Newcastle and the Gold Coast are unlikely to cough up the sorts of money which the WA Government was handing over to the ARU.

The above is rumour, gossip and hearsay.

[Jules]

Good to know but it's so annoying NSW so involved! I find it staggering that when those tossers at rugby up yours decided this was best for rugby did they not look at when this had been done in the past? It never works well to kill a sporting team with passionate supporters!! As for any future rugby content here for the starved masses they can shove that where the sun don't shine because I won't attend any pity matches that that lot of traitors are involved in!!

[Bakkies]

The Government will ensure there will be no pity matches and unlike other State Governments they were only recently elected. The date for the Qld election has been set and Victoria are probably due soon to go to the polls.

[shasta]

"Tosh" does indeed smell like shit, but it's more like untreated human excremet

Poor scavengers......were called "Toshers" and the shit they fished out to sell was called "Tosh".

Luvverly story, innit?

Makes "bullshit" seem pretty lame.

[bootsetal06]

Have a look at the article where Andrew Hore the CEO Waratahs says how good it is for Australian rugby that a team has been cut and how he will be able to develop depth in his squad ???
1. Don't see any depth development so far
2. Would he be so excited for the future of Rugby if one of the NZ franchises had been axed
No wonder rugby is such a shambles here

[Cecilia]

God, reading all that 'tosh' makes me feel ill 🤢

[Jules]

should have been the bloody Tahs then if it's so good for Australian rugby 😡

[mothy]

What did we do to the ARU that wants them to crush us so!

[shasta]

What did we do to the ARU that wants them to crush us so!

Refused to go quietly into the night.

[Bakkies]

That's what happens when you upset the apple cart in eastern Australian Rugby

[blue]

What did we do to the ARU that wants them to crush us so!

Created a program that was successfully meeting its KPI's.
Growing the game.
Developing wallabies.
Creating greater community involvement.
Looking at innovative ways at becoming self sufficient.

In other words making NSW and QLD look like amateurs and showing them how it should be done.

Already trying to copy the template in Melbourne. Don't think it will work as the community in Melbourne are not going to support the Rebel Organisation until all the bad eggs are disassociated with it.

[FingerTips]

What did we do to the ARU that wants them to crush us so!

I think you have to understand that from the beginning, the functionaries and The Board of the ARU did not think this one through.
For example, they did not war-game the possible scenarios which could arise when they try to cull a Super Rugby team.

Based on advice which they had received earlier in the year, that the Western Force was the one SR franchise which could be discontinued without incurring financial and legal penalties, they believed that it would be simply a matter of the ARU Board announcing that one Super Rugby team was to be discontinued and then, 48 to 72 hours later, announcing that the discontinued franchise was the Western Force.

They were probably expecting that there would be a bit of grumbling from WA, but that eventually the WA Rugby Community would accept the decision and take one for the team.

Now the ARU is boxed into a corner by the toxic relationships between itself and WA, and the only action open to it is to turn its back on Rugby in WA and hope that we all go away.

[UAUdiver1959]

Now the ARU is boxed into a corner by the toxic relationships between itself and WA, and the only action open to it is to turn its back on Rugby in WA and hope that we all go away.

Yes, if nothing come out of the Senate inquiry, the ARU will absolutely not look over the rabbit proof fence again. They will be belligerent and not support the proposed IPRC.
I firmly believe that the other states are just waiting for the Senate inquiry to start the ball rolling and then this morally corrupt Board will be rolled and all of their dirty washing aired.

[lou]

Yes FingerTips, I agree completely. Rob Clarke and Todd Day flying over to Perth with the bad news - they fully expected a quiet but sad roll over and their resignations shortly after the WA legal actions is confirmation enough for me that they screwed up royally on that point.

[shasta]

Yes, if nothing come out of the Senate inquiry

That's the critical point and I'm not terribly confident. My slim hopes are hanging on whether anything actionable turned up in camera. Senator Reynolds seemed very focussed on the unit trust/consultancy fees angle. Whether she had a whistleblower or was given information behind closed doors on that or other matters might be all we've got to hope for. I don't think there will be the political will to take the FUARU to task for their poor/unconstitutional conduct.