Melbourne Rebels

[Kiwiwomble]

...i mean....stan sport has the super rugby broadcasting deal....so of course they're going to be positive...im not sure they're the gauge

in fairness, ive had more than one debate with people ON HERE about them not liking scrums or mauls and stuff, how slow it is compared to league....so lets not pretend its just trumped up by the media, even within rugby circles there is LOADS of disagreement about what is wanted from the game

 

[Derpus]

Oh it's extremely petty.

And I do feel for Melbourne fans since rugby australia mismanagement had cost them a team.

But my larger point is that rugby australia refuses to look at internal factors for their shortcomings and instead looks outside. Right now it has just cost them 20% of their professional domestic player base and a marketing arm for the game somewhere where they need to grow the game.

Maybe instead of "mission accomplished" I should have used "what will happen cause rugby australia refuses to get its head out of its ass"

To use sweeping generalisations... Australian's are fair weather fans who have no particular aptitude for managing a business in adverse conditions (competing with AFL and NRL for eyeballs and talent).

Once we lost our generational players and stopped being the best in the world fans inevitably started to move to the next big thing. I think this is because broadly we are good at sport so there is generally something you can watch where we will be successful. Currently the big thing is the Matilda's. In a few years it'll be something else. Either way we've been trending downwards and gradually getting broker and broker since 2003.

Rebels didn't do anything wrong IMO. They paid the salaries that they had to, to be at least somewhat competitive. The salaries are high due to the international market and the money on offer in France and Japan. This lead them into a financial hole. The Waratahs and the Brumbies are also broke and RA are keeping the whole thing afloat with loans from WR.

That said - if you genuinely think losing a two time world champion formally tier 1 side is a good thing for world rugby you're a ******* idiot. I do agree that the whole 'running rugby' narrative is tiresome and generally just incorrect, though.

 

[Umaga's Witness]

...i mean....stan sport has the super rugby broadcasting deal....so of course they're going to be positive...im not sure they're the gauge

in fairness, ive had more than one debate with people ON HERE about them not liking scrums or mauls and stuff, how slow it is compared to league....so lets not pretend its just trumped up by the media, even within rugby circles there is LOADS of disagreement about what is wanted from the game

What you are saying is consistent with what I'm saying, it doesn't go against it. Even people in rugby circles are influenced by the media. They are human like anyone else. Especially when the media have been saying these things for a very long time. The constant debate in the media itself makes people think about how the game should change. Fans of other sports don't spend their time debating this.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

It annoys me that in the uk there is a lot of commentators who moan about scrums. But then the reffing of scrums is rubbish so I kinda get it.

It certainly makes a difference having negative commentators though.

 

[dirty harry]

So just read today, as Rebels are no longer, Carter Gordon and Naqatawase have both defected to league...

If that's not a sign of the state of Rugby in Aus.

Aus and Wales really seem to be in a race to 2nd tier rugby.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

its a little more complicated than that, rebels were run horribly as a club and rumor has it that Schmidt had already told Gordon he wasnt the kind of player he wanted.....but yeah, doesnt look good

 

[dirty harry]

its a little more complicated than that, rebels were run horribly as a club and rumor has it that Schmidt had already told Gordon he wasnt the kind of player he wanted.....but yeah, doesnt look good

That would be a fair assessment, I'd rate Gordon barely above Costelow.

It's ashame for Melbourne, I remember being down there in 2013 for the lions tour, great city. But as someone said the first few seasons were full of mercenaries, it didnt help engraciate them to a fanbase.

A few captained also, I remember Delvey captioning while I was there, and giving me the tour. Cant help but think it's unfair on the rebels though, it was always going to be 5 years before they started to see results from juniors, and started attracting more local talent.

 

[Hmmmmmm]

That would be a fair assessment, I'd rate Gordon barely above Costelow.

It's ashame for Melbourne, I remember being down there in 2013 for the lions tour, great city. But as someone said the first few seasons were full of mercenaries, it didnt help engraciate them to a fanbase.

A few captained also, I remember Delvey captioning while I was there, and giving me the tour. Cant help but think it's unfair on the rebels though, it was always going to be 5 years before they started to see results from juniors, and started attracting more local talent.

Champagne tastes, beer budget

 

[Becca]

...i mean....stan sport has the super rugby broadcasting deal....so of course they're going to be positive...im not sure they're the gauge

in fairness, ive had more than one debate with people ON HERE about them not liking scrums or mauls and stuff, how slow it is compared to league....so lets not pretend its just trumped up by the media, even within rugby circles there is LOADS of disagreement about what is wanted from the game

I can't stand the constant bleating about rucks/mauls and the speed of RL.
They are two separate games for goodness sake. Leave well alone.

As for Melbourne, it's a great shame, I think.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

That would be a fair assessment, I'd rate Gordon barely above Costelow.

It's ashame for Melbourne, I remember being down there in 2013 for the lions tour, great city. But as someone said the first few seasons were full of mercenaries, it didnt help engraciate them to a fanbase.

A few captained also, I remember Delvey captioning while I was there, and giving me the tour. Cant help but think it's unfair on the rebels though, it was always going to be 5 years before they started to see results from juniors, and started attracting more local talent.

....and yet...after 15 years still very little flow through of local talent

 

[Al Bangor]

Champagne tastes, beer budget

Nailed it.

 

[Zootalaws]

What's happening to super rugby then? Is it working but investment has gone from the rebels or are they being replaced?

I don't really follow SR so no idea what's going on but it's always a shame to lose a club.

NZ and Australia represent 30M people but less than 30% of them follow rugby

Too much money for too few supporters

It just can't sustain the costs - salaries, infrastructure, development.

 

[Derpus]

NZ and Australia represent 30M people but less than 30% of them follow rugby

Too much money for too few supporters

It just can't sustain the costs - salaries, infrastructure, development.

This is common, actually. I would argue that Rugby is at varying levels of un-sustainability in England, Scotland, Wales, Australia and South Africa (at least in a form where most top tier professionals play domestically). There are also warning signs in NZ who are, due to location and size, somewhat dependent on Australia maintaining a professional presence.

France seem to be the only country capable of running a competition in the black (though many of their teams have wealthy benefactors helping). The Japanese sides are all liabilities for their corporate owners who maintain them as a cultural obligation. The emergence of France and Japan as high salary options has more or less destabilized the rest of the rugby playing world.

I reckon on the mid to long term South Africa join the 6 Nations, which is the only reliable source of fan driven funding outside the RWC, and rugby everywhere else withers as fans turn to more commercially driven games like NRL in Aus or Football in Europe.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

you never fail to find the depressing side of things

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

South Africa will never make it into the 6 nations and it never should. We don't need their SA tv money as the 6 nations is very lucrative as it stands.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

South Africa will never make it into the 6 nations and it never should. We don't need their SA tv money as the 6 nations is very lucrative as it stands.

yes...because people often turn down having more money they already do

 

[dirty harry]

South Africa will never make it into the 6 nations and it never should. We don't need their SA tv money as the 6 nations is very lucrative as it stands.

Hes right, we are being primed to allow SA to enter. The clubs get entry to URC first, then Europe, then when the next negotiations happen they will be included in the package and we will be told it will be financially suicide to exclude them...

That's the day the sport has sold its soul, and they all want it.

 

[Becca]

South Africa will never make it into the 6 nations and it never should. We don't need their SA tv money as the 6 nations is very lucrative as it stands.

Hear hear !

 

[Which Tyler]

South Africa will never make it into the 6 nations and it never should. We don't need their SA tv money as the 6 nations is very lucrative as it stands.

Gods I hope you're right

 

[dirty harry]

Gods I hope you're right

I hope the same, but I also said this about the super SA clubs joining Europe also...