Hairbrained suggestion but one that might save rugby in the Southern Hemisphere. Forget South Africa, Australia, Argentina as rugby powerhouses, it's not working. Let's create a Super Competition in our shores with similar make up of say the EPL (UK). New Zealand has the infrastructure to host a very competitive NZEPL (NZ Elite Premier League).
How I see it.
1. Competition (NZEPL) follows the Mitre 10 Cup (played from March to June.)
2. There are 12 teams in this NZEPL.
a. Taniwhas - Northland and North Harbour
b. Auckland Blues - Auckland only
c. Chiefs - Waikato and Counties Manukau
d. BOP Geysers - Rotorua and Tauranga
e. Taranaki Ferdinands - King Country, Taranaki
f. Central Vulcans - Taupo, Whanganui, Manawatu
g. The East Costers - Ngati Porou, Gisborne, Hawkes Bay
h. Hurricanes - Wairarapa, Horowhenua, Kapiti Coast, Wellington.
i. Makos - Tasman, North Canterbury, West Coast,
j. Crusaders - Christchurch, Mid and South Canterbury
k. Highlanders - North Otago, Otago, and Southland
l - PI Panthers - Tonga, Samoa and Fiji
3. The beauty of this competition is that it's based on the EPL, teams already exist in some format and you have to introduce a roster for all teams that have this format as I see it. Lets say all teams have a wider Squad of 30. There have to be 18 NZ players on contract, with the remaining 12 being contracted during the summer contract period from Aus, SA, Arg, and Jap players. The PI Panthers will also fill places from without.
4. The competition would be a single round of games with the top five going through to a Grand Final series. No Bonus Points - winner takes all and if tied scores, Points Differential and previous results.
Yeah hairbrained but SuperRugby is dead in it's tracks. And a top flight competition that has less rather than more is an option.
Figures -
Foreign players - 144
NZ Resident - 216
11 weeks round robin with 3 weeks of finals ergo 3 months of NZEPL Rugby.
I like the idea especially if you also introduce transfer windows and fees. And the other international competitions can run concurrently and be a feeder to cover injury. Plus the revenue for the competition is solely NZRU managed with a fee applied to those countries that feed into NZEPL. We also have Sky as the Main (and named) broadcaster.
New Zealand can sustain this proposal Rugby is strong here and with foresight can be even stronger.
Oh and yeah, the Quad Nations competition runs after the NZEPL with the June International games still being held.
Showing posts with label Super Rugby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Super Rugby. Show all posts
Saturday, 15 July 2017
Wednesday, 6 August 2014
Analyse this?? Rugby Cups/Championships
So what do all these competitions have to do with New Zealand Rugby> Well the results of the Bledisloe Cup heavily favour New Zealand. The William Webb Ellis Cup was won for the first time by New Zealand and they also secured the latest victory. The Rugby Championship is too young to be analysed but New Zealand seems to punch above it's weight. And the Super Rugby competition has been won more times by New Zealand teams than any other nations teams.
| Year | WWE Winner | Super Rugby Winner | Bledisloe Cup Winner | Tri Nations winner |
| 1987 | New Zealand | Nil | New Zealand | Nil |
| 1991 | Australia | Nil | New Zealand | Nil |
| 1995 | South Africa | Nil | New Zealand | Nil |
| 1999 | Australia | Crusaders | Australia | New Zealand |
| 2003 | England | Blues | New Zealand | New Zealand |
| 2007 | South Africa | Bulls | New Zealand | New Zealand |
| 2011 | New Zealand | Reds | New Zealand | Australia |
And in the year SA were the dominant force in Super Rugby but failed in Tri Nations they won the prize!
Anyway glad you had a read. Time to speculate on Rugby's WWE next year in England. It's Australia's to lose.
Friday, 13 April 2012
The Time of The Great Unwashed
A storm in a teacup or a tsunami that will fail to wash ashore? This surely is a topic that should be on every rugby supporters vision. It supposedly features Steve Tew, Andy Dalton and Pat Lam (in the least).
This post appeared on Sportsfreak Discussion Forum under the Super Rugby 2012 thread and has some merit to it (or has it - you decide):
"A couple of days ago I was listening to RS with Kent Johns hosting. A guy called up and sounded totally legit. I mean yeah, people can be good bullshitters but you can usually pick them, or else their story kinda falls to bits after a while but he said….
That at the start of the season he wrote a letter to Steve Tew asking if JK could be the coach of the Blues and that there was nothing anti-Lam in there. So anyways, the letter was passed on to Andy Dalton, who in turn passed it on to Pat Lam. The bloke had his phone number on it and he said he got a highly abusive phone call from Pat Lam in regards to the letter."
Now discussion ensued from this post which can be followed at http://www.sportsfreak.co.nz/wp/?page_id=4/general-sports-discussion/super-rugby-2012-1/page-8
Which brings me to my summation. Is Steve Tews handling of this matter correct and the right thing to do? Personally I think not. He has erred in the decision making process by not answering the original senders missive, even with a curt and concise reply, or even by getting an administrator to deal with it using a standard reply process. But to hand the matter on to Andy Dalton, as alleged, he erred also in passing the letter on to someone that has a vested interest in who is coach of the Blues team. Ok I hear you say, the buck should have stopped there, but no, Dalton also felt obliged to pass it on, and to (I feel) the totally wrong man to deal with it. If Steve Tew had of known that Dalton would not have dealt with it and had passed it on to Pat Lam, then Steve Tew needs his head read.
The fact that Pat Lam ended up getting the letter is remiss of the NZRU and Blues Board. But here is where it gets really tricky and/or dirty. Had the NZRU (Steve Tew) and the Blues Management (Andy Dalton) have known what was to transpire next, would they have made their respective decisions. For a coach of one of New Zealands professional rugby teams to have then used the supplied phone number and verbally abused the letter's original writer is tantamount to stupidity. I do blame Pat Lam for his actions, clearly a man under pressure, but surely all of this could have been handled better by Tew (responding personally in the outset) and Dalton (clearly misguided and foolish in handing it on) then this storm in a teacup wouldn't have eventuated.
It is clear to this writer and observer that all three need to stand down from their positions. Steve Tew firstly for lack of foresight and insight. A simple response would have brought about a suitable outcome to all involved. Andy Dalton for his misguided attempt to not deal with it at Board level and for putting Pat Lam in a position he should not have had the opportunity to deal with it. And as for Pat Lam, the writing has been on the wall for some time. His recent media coverage is lamentable at best, at worse the sight of a man under extreme pressure. He (and the others) could do New Zealand Rugby a favour and move on.
The Earthquake that struck New Zealand Rugby was small in comparison to what they get everyday, but the tsunami is coming and those in the firing line will be washed out to sea, IF the country deems that is what is required to save our reputation as a Rugby Giant that actually cares about the game.
This post appeared on Sportsfreak Discussion Forum under the Super Rugby 2012 thread and has some merit to it (or has it - you decide):
"A couple of days ago I was listening to RS with Kent Johns hosting. A guy called up and sounded totally legit. I mean yeah, people can be good bullshitters but you can usually pick them, or else their story kinda falls to bits after a while but he said….
That at the start of the season he wrote a letter to Steve Tew asking if JK could be the coach of the Blues and that there was nothing anti-Lam in there. So anyways, the letter was passed on to Andy Dalton, who in turn passed it on to Pat Lam. The bloke had his phone number on it and he said he got a highly abusive phone call from Pat Lam in regards to the letter."
Now discussion ensued from this post which can be followed at http://www.sportsfreak.co.nz/wp/?page_id=4/general-sports-discussion/super-rugby-2012-1/page-8
Which brings me to my summation. Is Steve Tews handling of this matter correct and the right thing to do? Personally I think not. He has erred in the decision making process by not answering the original senders missive, even with a curt and concise reply, or even by getting an administrator to deal with it using a standard reply process. But to hand the matter on to Andy Dalton, as alleged, he erred also in passing the letter on to someone that has a vested interest in who is coach of the Blues team. Ok I hear you say, the buck should have stopped there, but no, Dalton also felt obliged to pass it on, and to (I feel) the totally wrong man to deal with it. If Steve Tew had of known that Dalton would not have dealt with it and had passed it on to Pat Lam, then Steve Tew needs his head read.
The fact that Pat Lam ended up getting the letter is remiss of the NZRU and Blues Board. But here is where it gets really tricky and/or dirty. Had the NZRU (Steve Tew) and the Blues Management (Andy Dalton) have known what was to transpire next, would they have made their respective decisions. For a coach of one of New Zealands professional rugby teams to have then used the supplied phone number and verbally abused the letter's original writer is tantamount to stupidity. I do blame Pat Lam for his actions, clearly a man under pressure, but surely all of this could have been handled better by Tew (responding personally in the outset) and Dalton (clearly misguided and foolish in handing it on) then this storm in a teacup wouldn't have eventuated.
It is clear to this writer and observer that all three need to stand down from their positions. Steve Tew firstly for lack of foresight and insight. A simple response would have brought about a suitable outcome to all involved. Andy Dalton for his misguided attempt to not deal with it at Board level and for putting Pat Lam in a position he should not have had the opportunity to deal with it. And as for Pat Lam, the writing has been on the wall for some time. His recent media coverage is lamentable at best, at worse the sight of a man under extreme pressure. He (and the others) could do New Zealand Rugby a favour and move on.
The Earthquake that struck New Zealand Rugby was small in comparison to what they get everyday, but the tsunami is coming and those in the firing line will be washed out to sea, IF the country deems that is what is required to save our reputation as a Rugby Giant that actually cares about the game.
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