Australian team likely to get nod in expanded Super 15

[mudskipper]

In reality if they can't sell the model to the broadcaster there wont be a 5th Oz province... bums on seats won't count for much to the broadcaster as they want best/largest broadcast opportunities... So it could only be Japan, which has logistical problems, or Melbourne

Melbourne with their new stadium appeal are a very good chance...ARU have been priming the Melbourne market for years with international matches... There are a lot of Nzers exPats and OZ rugby fans in Melbourne.

[shasta]

There are a lot of Nzers exPats and OZ rugby fans in Melbourne.

Melbourne also has another plus in that it can draw rugby hungry supporters from SA and the border/Riverina areas of NSW. I know a lot of them are Brumbies supporters already Muddy.

[jargan83]

Melbourne also has another plus in that it can draw rugby hungry supporters from SA and the border/Riverina areas of NSW. I know a lot of them are Brumbies supporters already Muddy.

yeah they all moved from Canberra

(possibly in anticipation of the Brumbies shifting)

[slomo]

and more to the point, you cant beat a night out in melbourne!...

[Little Ox]

Hopefully Melbourne will be given the opportunity it might help break the stranglehold that the AFL currently has over here

[oxleymoron]

Will we lose Ox ?

No.

However the is not as strong in little Ox...

[tic]

Note - Melbourne people think rugby is rugby league.

God help us.

[shasta]

Note - Melbourne people think rugby is rugby league.

God help us.

Which is just another reason they need a Rugby team.

[mudskipper]

Melbourne also has another plus in that it can draw rugby hungry supporters from SA and the border/Riverina areas of NSW. I know a lot of them are Brumbies supporters already Muddy.

Your right some are brumbies supporters but some may choose a new melbourne Victorian team...thats just how it will be can't change that. Brumbies are only the southern NSW districts...

[TOCC]

TOCC I hope you're happy to see all of Phil Mooney's good work unravel with this proposal. Be prepared for the Reds to suffer for another decade.

It is rubbish to think that existing provinces won't be smashed to pieces by this.

John O'Neil and his meglomania rule again.

theres times when it pays not to be selfish, yeah it would be great if we could just fortify our player ranks for the next 10 years without any offers from overseas or expansion clubs, but for the greater good of the game, expansion is necessary.

For starters, expansion sides increase the value of exsisting teams as well, by expanding into new market(such as melbourne) the rest of the clubs will gain extra exposure, in turn increasing there sponsorship value and overall revenue.

I have argued my point before with you Tic, i have explained that there are ways a team can be created without devastating the other teams rosters like the Force did, im not going to do it again.

[JediKnight]

Introducing a 5th Australian franchise will mean that no Australian team will win the Super 15 tournament within our generation.....playing resources are already stretched over the current 4 teams.....where are we suddenly going to get additional players of a good-enough standard to compete with the existing NZ & SA franchises?

Madness!!!

[mudskipper]

Introducing a 5th Australian franchise will mean that no Australian team will win the Super 15 tournament within our generation.....playing resources are already stretched over the current 4 teams.....where are we suddenly going to get additional players of a good-enough standard to compete with the existing NZ & SA franchises?

Madness!!!

Jedi... don't worry the Brumbies have that one covered... it will happen in either 2010 or 2011....

[mudskipper]

Super 15 facing political hurdle
Article from: The Australian

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...015651,00.html

SO the Super 14 series will be expanded.

Well, we already knew that was SANZAR's desire before the executive meeting between the three partners - South Africa, New Zealand and Australia - in Dubai on Wednesday.

SANZAR had agreed, in principle, to expand the series to a 15-team competition at a meeting in Perth last year, with the assumption Australia would have a fifth team.

They would allow SANZAR to create a conference system with five teams in each of three geographically based pools.

The meeting in Dubai told us nothing all that new, which in a sense tells us a lot about the state of play between the three partners.

If the expansion of SANZAR was an open-and-shut case, it would have been done at the Dubai meeting with an announcement that Australia had been awarded a fifth team, bringing it into line with New Zealand and South Africa.

Instead, SANZAR said the 15th team could be located anywhere - Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or even Japan.

This camouflages the central issue in the SANZAR discussions, which is the division between Australia and South Africa over the location of the expansion team.

Australia wants to base a fifth team in Melbourne, the Gold Coast, western Sydney, Gosford, Newcastle or wherever, while South Africa is pushing for an Eastern Cape team to promote black rugby.

The fact that the discussions were euphemistically described as "constructive" and "robust" betrays that division.

The question is, can the partners resolve their differences and present a united front to the broadcaster, News Limited (publisher of The Weekend Australian), before the June 30 deadline?

Under SANZAR rules, each partner has to agree before anything can be done.

Persuading South Africa to agree to a fifth Australian team will be extremely difficult.

Until last year, South Africa showed a favourable disposition in SANZAR negotiations, but it has become more combative.

The Weekend Australian understands that at a SANZAR meeting in Sydney last year the South Africans laid down the law and said they would not be pushed around.

South African Rugby Union chairman Regan Hoskins has received a lot of support in his homeland due to the perception he was standing up for South Africa's rights in SANZAR.

In South African rugby politics, the provincial unions have a lot of power.

They will not tolerate any interference with their domestic provincial competition, the Currie Cup.

This is one of the obstacles that has for 14 years blocked the expansion of Super rugby into a longer competition along the lines of the AFL and NRL.

ARU chief executive John O'Neill's vision for Super rugby is to expand to a 22-week competition of 1 1/2 rounds with a six-team finals format.

The driving force behind expansion is to increase the value of the broadcast agreement and improve gate takings, which the Australian Super 14 sides badly need.

But expansion would be bad for the Currie Cup, and perhaps even squeeze it out of the calendar, which would be unacceptable to South Africa.

A sixth South African team playing in the Australian conference is a ludicrous idea, so why are the South Africans pushing it?

There is political pressure from the South African Government to add an Eastern Cape team, which has put the South African Rugby Union in a bind.

The South Africans know adding a team on the Eastern Cape would affect the Currie Cup as much as would a fifth Australian team.

Politically, the South Africans cannot say they will not try to get the Eastern Cape into Super rugby, but if they are unsuccessful it will be a lot easier to reject another team from Australia or anywhere else.

Australia will be hoping South Africa's support for the Eastern Cape is just a political act to mollify the Government.

If South Africa stands firm in its push for the Eastern Cape, it could create a deadlock that the partners are unable to resolve.

If the three partners cannot agree on the location of the 15th team, there will not be an expansion team.

[jargan83]

let the saffers piss off to Europe, start a home and away Super 10 with a top 4.

Theres a 22 week comp and no saffer crap to deal with
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[mudskipper]

Yep they just don't like to get along... Fox or Shy (same thing) isn't interested in more games out of the Republic...The SAers already have 2 teams struggling to compete at S14 level...

It could just be political outward showing but they really want each conference to have one team at least in the semis... If so I'm not sure how that would workout... Perhaps a wild card weekend like the NFL may work... then winners make the semis... Super rugby really needs to have a 22 week comp for the sport to grow...