Aussie Pro Rugby
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@mariner4life you might be right, i guess a different way to view it is Rugby Vic should distance itself from the whole Rebels brand so as not to be tainted any further but this drama
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Start mining for Hopium, Tahs fans!
https://x.com/StanSportRugby/status/1845681644524724412?t=GlYJanTcAbqHZXfsRjOXDQ&s=19
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@NTA said in Aussie Pro Rugby:
Start mining for Hopium, Tahs fans!
https://x.com/StanSportRugby/status/1845681644524724412?t=GlYJanTcAbqHZXfsRjOXDQ&s=19
I'm sure Rocky has got some great stuff he can sell you
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Notable inclusions in the main squad: Skelton, Kerevi, Potter.
A couple of interesting names in the 2nd Squad: De Lutiis (20yo QLD prop) and Horton, who was not wanted at the Tahs but probably shows where the hooking stocks are right now... and / or that the Tahs aren't the best for recruitment or retention.
A lot of opportunity for the whole group. First squad has 34, second squad 29. Spending up big to see if we can prove a point before Lions 2025.
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thats a keeper
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@Kiwiwomble said in Aussie Pro Rugby:
thats a keeper
this photo sort of looks like they couldn't afford the fee to get photographed on the steps so they snuck in to the park and snapped one through the fence real quick
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@mariner4life ...i mean....not a stretch to imagine is it?
also looks really early morning before people catch them
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@mariner4life said in Aussie Pro Rugby:
this photo sort of looks like they couldn't afford the fee to get photographed on the steps so they snuck in to the park and snapped one through the fence real quick
The marketing pigeon needs to cut costs.
Also, three of them are looking at the camera, and the other three must be looking at something else
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@NTA said in Aussie Pro Rugby:
@mariner4life said in Aussie Pro Rugby:
this photo sort of looks like they couldn't afford the fee to get photographed on the steps so they snuck in to the park and snapped one through the fence real quick
The marketing pigeon needs to cut costs.
Also, three of them are looking at the camera, and the other three must be looking at something else
Security guard approaching?
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‘Joey is all anyone is talking about’: Inside the deal that delivered rugby its new face
All eyes are on the Wallabies thanks to Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, but Hamish McLennan’s pursuit of the Roosters star sparked a boardroom split at Rugby Australia. This is how the deal went down – and how much it will cost RA.
McLennan loved a "verbal commitment".
It’s been widely speculated that McLennan was able to secure verbal assurances from private benefactors linked to the Australian Rugby Foundation (ARF), an arm of RA established in 2014 to attract greater private investment.
McLennan’s pitch to the board was that Suaalii’s costs should be roughly divided by three and financed by the Wallabies, NSW Waratahs and the ARF.
It was based on a verbal commitment from a wealthy benefactor – a close contact of McLennan – who was willing to put in close to $500,000 a year to help fund Suaalii’s salary.
Any financial assistance McLennan was banking on disappeared when he was removed as chairman. The funds have not materialised nor been sourced by the current RA administration, leaving head office (which now also owns the Waratahs) to cover Suaalii’s multimillion-dollar deal from its own coffers.
Waugh insists RA has the means to finance Suaalii’s lucrative deal without jeopardising the future of the sport, even though RA recently engaged in brief conversations with the Roosters about a potential loan deal in 2026 to ease the financial burden of his contract.
“My view on where we are financially is that we have a revenue challenge more than a cost challenge,” Waugh said.
“What we need to do is drive interest, and drive an audience and drive the revenue line by attracting commercial partners and connectivity to the public. Between now, the Lions and the World Cup we need to maximise our revenue. Athletes such as Joseph allow us to maximise our revenue.
“We’re disciplined in here around our finances. We’ll fund [Suaalii’s contract] through whatever means we need to, to meet our financial obligations in our contracting model.”
When RA announced it had won the signature of Suaalii, it was only spruiked as a three-year deal. But last month this masthead reported that the contract also included a secret clause – worth between $3.5 million and $4 million – that could extend Suaalii’s time in rugby union until the end of 2029.
The deal struck by McLennan and Waugh – and signed off by the board – included a player option that gave him the right to trigger two further years on his contract at the value of at least the amount of the third season of his deal.
It could take the contract’s total value to almost $8.5 million over five years. The revelation of the player option – worth nearly $500,000 more per season than that of the highest-paid player in the NRL (Kalyn Ponga) ended the Roosters’ interest in pursuing a deal to bring Suaalii to rugby league.
