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Jethro
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<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>
Is Tew on the same planet as the rest of us?
Southland's Ranfurly Shield success won't guarantee it a place in next year's premier division.
New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew was making no promises when contacted by The Southland Times yesterday.
"I'll leave that to your imagination. It's great to see (the Shield) move around, that's a bonus," he said.
"It's hard for the people of Canterbury to see it go. To see the Shield move a little bit more frequently over the last couple of years has been of benefit to everybody because there's no doubt that the novelty of owning it is part of the attraction."
- that perhaps concidenced with the 14th competition don’t you think
Four teams are scheduled to be cut from the premier competition ahead of the 2010 season.
Southland's small population base had meant it was one of the unions under threat, along with the likes of Tasman, Manawatu, Counties Manukau, Bay of Plenty and Northland.
However, qualifying for the semifinals for the second season in a row has strengthened Southland's claim on a place in the top flight next year.
The Southland Times understands there is little chance the Stags will be one of the teams to be demoted, with Tasman, Manawatu, Counties and Northland looking under the most pressure.
Unions must provide the last of their details under the NZRU criteria â€" which mainly revolve around their financial position â€" by the middle of next month.
- No it wont, else Canterbury and North Harbour are rooted.
A board meeting in December will vote for the final makeup of next year's competition.
- And then the legal action can begin
Talk in rugby circles has increasingly hinted at a backdown by the NZRU that would lead to a 12-team competition next year, but Tew denied that.
"We've been working through a process, which was initiated by the unions themselves way back in April. It's driven by an agreement about characteristics that a competition should have, that leads to a 10-team comp played in an 11-week window. That's what we are looking at at this stage," Tew said.
- Note he is not claiming total agreement any more as the public has found that was a complete fabrication on Tewbacca’s part
Work is continuing on developing a "meaningful" competition for the four demoted teams along with potentially two unions from this year's Heartland Championships.
"The definition of meaningful is subject to some debate," Tew said.
- For advertising revenue it means exposure Tew, something this second tier competition wont have
"We think the most important part of meaningful is that there's an automatic opportunity of being promoted if you win it."
- Another lie, didn’t you come out and state it’s not automatic promotion, it’s based on meeting whatever criteria the NZRU pull out of their collective arses at the time. Sorry Manawatu you cannot be promoted as your name doesn’t begin with the letter “Câ€
Meanwhile, the rules for the Ranfurly Shield are likely to be retained for next year's revamped NPC.
Currently the holder puts up the Shield for every home competition game during the NPC. It is also expected that it will play "a reasonable number" of preseason games against teams from the Heartland Championships, Tew said.
Stags manager Leicester Rutledge said yesterday West Coast had already expressed an interest in challenging for the Shield next season.
The NPC draw is usually available from about February, but next year's draw could be delayed depending on what happens in the fallout from the NZRU board's decision in December.wMeanwhile, Chris Pollock will referee Southland for a second consecutive week in Saturday's semifinal against Wellington.
Jonathon White will referee Friday's semifinal between Canterbury and Hawke's Bay in Christchurch. Southland's Keith Brown will be an assistant referee in both games.
Vinny Munro will officiate the final on November 7, with Pollock and White as his assistants and Brown acting as the television match official.[/b]
Is Tew on the same planet as the rest of us?
