Rugby's third tier in the pipeline, based on nine universities

[GIGS20]

I could see the university idea working ok with the reserve grade idea. That would give us two competitions, and moderate the face that the uni comp would be age graded.

Could the uni comp idea be turned into an under 20 comp and used to enhance that program, or is under 20 too young?

[beige]

I'd rather they pick one and concentrate their resources ($) on that. I like the reserve grade idea myself but I'm not wedded to it - whatever works best.

[shasta]

Haleluja!
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[GIGS20]

I'd rather they pick one and concentrate their resources ($) on that. I like the reserve grade idea myself but I'm not wedded to it - whatever works best.

I tnk both ideas are in the pot to ensure somebody else pays for it. In one, the universities stump up the majority of the dough and in the other it's the franchises. Limited resource allocation for each, so you could manage both with a clever accountant.

[shasta]

I tnk both ideas are in the pot to ensure somebody else pays for it.

I'm cutting him some slack there. Lets see what he proposes. There will need to be funding from the ARU but the costs compared to the failed ARC model should be substantially less.
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[GIGS20]

I'm cutting him some slack there. Lets see what he proposed. There will need to be funding from the ARU but the costs compared to the failed ARC model should be substantially less.
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Maybe replace he ridiculously Tahs-centric academy idea with a third tier which enables the provinces to run a reserve grade and give them the money that's currently being wasted luring the best of our young talent to NSW and Qld.

Increase squads to 45 (2X22+a couple) Increase salary caps to 4.8Mill for the lot (500,000 more than currently) Increase province allocations by the 200,000 which was stolen off them for the academy and let the provinces run reserves however they want. Anybody who doesn't play firsts, can play reserves.....simple! The grounds are already booked, all that needs to be funded is the cost of officials.

A third tier (OK, not as complete, or as broad as Currie Cup or NPC) for the cost of the refs to officiate it.

We might even be able to get some money back by selling TV rights to FTA (if they want it)

The University plan is similar. Provide the structure for the unis to fund. All the schools they are looking at have their own teams already, so it would simply be a case of binding it together into a unified competition, providing officials and letting them run their own teams.

Am I too much of an optimist?

[shasta]

No. It just seems so bloody obvious to me. Let just hope Pulver is his own man and that we maybe, just maybe, are seeing some of the first steps towards independant governance. Hoplessly optimistic? You have to be, right?
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[Sheikh]

I'm not sure that I'd play the reserves matches as curtain raisers; I'd at least investigate playing those matches on an opposite schedule to the Super Rugby matches, so that for instance this week there'd be Force A vs Rebels A played at NIB or some smaller, cheaper ground.

The benefits of the curtain raiser are that the entire squad travels together, although with ~45 players not ~25, you only have to pay one ground rent, and you might get some extra ground revenue in beer, food, etc, but the alternative would be a small cover charge, family friendly days, even better access to the players, and more home games for the supporters.

just a thought

[GIGS20]

I'm not sure that I'd play the reserves matches as curtain raisers; I'd at least investigate playing those matches on an opposite schedule to the Super Rugby matches, so that for instance this week there'd be Force A vs Rebels A played at NIB or some smaller, cheaper ground.

The benefits of the curtain raiser are that the entire squad travels together, although with ~45 players not ~25, you only have to pay one ground rent, and you might get some extra ground revenue in beer, food, etc, but the alternative would be a small cover charge, family friendly days, even better access to the players, and more home games for the supporters.

just a thought

Yeah, all good, but I was looking for a lowest cost option.

I would think that, once the teams and the comp are established, a separate fixture could begin, with teams meeting each other outside the Super Rugby Schedule (ie weekly fixtures, rather than only playing the Derby games) This would enable the competition to generate enough income to sustain ground costs etc. I would be a lot happier to go with the cheapest possible implementation for a couple of years, so that the Sydney clubs don't have any ammunition to shoot it down.

I'll Bet London to a brick that the third option is that the Shute Shield be 'expanded' to include a 'champions league' involving the top 5 Shute Shield teams, the top 2 Qld club teams and throws a bone to the other rugby states by offering a combined team.

All at the bargain basement cost of several bazillion dollars, which would (mostly) go to funding better players into those competitions, thus growing 'the heartland' of Aussie rugby.

I hope Pulver is smarter than the rest of the ARU head shed and sees through that self serving bullshit as soon as it's presented.