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nothing new here... but we have to develop rugby outside the club level.
Brumbies call for new competition PETER FITZGERALD
March 22, 2010 - 2:36PM
The ACT Brumbies have called for an overhaul of Australian rugby's second-tier structure.
Coach Andy Friend wants the ARU to create a competition from 2011 where the Brumbies, NSW Waratahs, Queensland Reds, Western Force and Melbourne Rebels second teams play a home-and-away competition.
And chief executive Andrew Fagan hinted the Canberra Vikings could return to the Sydney club competition next season should a second-tier competition not eventuate.
The Brumbies' pleas come because Saturday night's Brumby Runners match was the last time that players not in their top 22 each week would have competitive playing options.
The Sydney and Brisbane competitions don't start until April 10 and the standard doesn't rival Super 14.
Friend accepted there were financial challenges with setting up a new competition but insisted something had to be done.
The ARU funds the Sydney and Brisbane club competitions more than $1million each in premier rugby grants.
The ACT and WA unions receive no such grants. All the ACTRU receives is a $200,000 payment, which is used to employ staff for development programs with a community focus.
Friend believed the best solution would be a second-tier competition coinciding with the Super 14 draw.
"I'd love to see, even next year, every time we play the Waratahs, Reds, Force and Rebels, both home and away, that our second-tier teams play the curtain raiser, or even the day after," he said.
"Whilst ever we're playing in a competition that only really focuses on the top blokes, your young fellas can train well but what do they do then? Sydney and Brisbane club [rugby] is competitive enough but you can't compare that to the top level. Something needs to be done because I think it's being overlooked at the moment and I don't think it's helping the game."
The Brumby Runners have played six games this season, which the Brumbies have organised privately.
Friend has used them to give his bench players more game time.
"I'd love to be able to say to our Runners, 'OK guys, you've got eight games of quality football', that they play all the other provincial sides home and away and it actually means something," Friend said.
"If your players aren't making the one to 15 in your top team, they're still getting game time, at a good level, in a second-tier structure and be able to put pressure on the people ahead of them.
"How does the bloke who hasn't played a lot of footy show me that he's better than the bloke who is ahead of him? It's bloody hard but if he's playing week in, week out and showing that he's killing it at that next level, well you start to take notice of them."
The Vikings played in the Sydney or Brisbane club competitions between 1995 and 2005. They then played in and won the Australian Rugby Shield in 2006 before coming seventh in the one-off Australian Rugby Championship in 2007. Sydney's competition is run by the NSWRU, which has refused to invite an ACT team for the past five years.
Canberra Times:
yeah:
You were right when you said "nothing new"
http://twf.com.au/showthread.php?t=25525
If he was that passionate about this why didnt he bring the Brumbie Vikings over here when they came over and played our academy
Saw a Runners v Junior Waratahs game and it was good quality.
It's just the type of thing that the Force wannabies need also but I guess the travel and accommodation costs would be fierce.
The ARC ticked so many rugby boxes in 2007 but with so much footie product in 4 different sports and a small market it was too expensive.
Let's all hope that it can make a comeback.
Now I'd call that selective reading - he said it ticked a lot of RUGBY boxes but the competition was too expensive considering the market.
Anyway, seeing as we're determined to keep two identical threads going - here is this year's list of Australian academy fixtures and how it would have looked if you directly swapped in the Force Academy (and a couple of ACT v QLD games) for the non-franchise sides...
Actual fixtures:
Sat 6 Feb HSBC Junior Waratahs v Australian Barbarians
Sat 6 Feb QLD Reds 2nd XV v Australian Barbarians (sic)
Sat 13 Feb Brumby Runners v HSBC Junior Waratahs
Sat 13 Feb QLD Reds 2nd XV v QLD Premier XV
Fri 19 Feb HSBC Junior Waratahs v CASI (ARG)
Sat 20 Feb Brumby Runners v Randwick
Sat 24 Feb QLD Reds 2nd XV v CASI (ARG)
Sat 27 Feb QLD Reds 2nd XV v HSBC Junior Waratahs
Sat 7 Mar HSBC Junior Waratahs v QLD Reds 2nd XV
Sun 8 Mar Brumby Runners v Australian Barbarians
Sat 14 Mar HSBC Junior Waratahs v Brumby Runners
Fri 20 Mar Brumby Runners v West Harbour
With substitute fixtures:
Sat 6 Feb HSBC Junior Waratahs v Western Force Academy
Sat 6 Feb QLD Reds 2nd XV v Brumby Runners
Sat 13 Feb Brumby Runners v HSBC Junior Waratahs
Sat 13 Feb QLD Reds 2nd XV v Western Force Academy
Fri 19 Feb HSBC Junior Waratahs v Western Force Academy
Sat 20 Feb Brumby Runners v QLD Reds 2nd XV
Sat 24 Feb QLD Reds 2nd XV v Western Force Academy
Sat 27 Feb QLD Reds 2nd XV v HSBC Junior Waratahs
Sat 7 Mar HSBC Junior Waratahs v QLD Reds 2nd XV
Sun 8 Mar Brumby Runners v Western Force Academy
Sat 14 Mar HSBC Junior Waratahs v Brumby Runners
Fri 20 Mar Brumby Runners v Western Force Academy
With the amount of injuries at the Force I'm not sure we could field an acadamy side...
coz Stone Cold says so
If the Australian Barbarians can do it, so can we.
I was always a bit puzzled by the ARFU's comments that the ARC was not making any money. This was hardly surprising because here in Perth unless you were a signed up member of the Force there appeared to be no marketing or advertising at all!
There are not a lot of products in this world that sell on there own and I would have thought that even the ARFU could have worked out some advertising might be needed in the middle of AFL land!
May the FORCE be with you!
I thought it was a mistake but there you go...
http://www.nswrugby.com.au/HSBCWarat...rWaratahs.aspx
http://www.qru.com.au/reds_rugby/fut...mes,70747.html
Kieran Longbottom, Stefano Hunt, Justin Turner and Filipe Manu all played in the Sydney version of the Australian Barbarians btw.
Throw away line at the end of a Wayne Smith article but still...
"And O'Neill yesterday foreshadowed the creation next year of an under-20 competition involving the Academy sides of the five Australian Super rugby franchises."
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1225895290921