Force Goooooooone
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At least the ARU have been honest in declaring it came down to money.
Fact is the ARU are deep in the shit monetarily and the biggest overhead with the least output is the one to go. Pity they didn't apply that thinking to the Wallabies players a while back.
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Yep, shit decision. The ARU need to start making rugby decisions not basing everything purely on money or their ship will sink completely.
I hope the Rebels don't win a game next year.
One positive to come out of this however is that we have avoided the farcical situation where the ARU suddenly decides they don't want to cut a side like has been regularly suggested since this all began.
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@Crucial said in Force Goooooooone:
At least the ARU have been honest in declaring it came down to money.
Fact is the ARU are deep in the shit monetarily and the biggest overhead with the least output is the one to go. Pity they didn't apply that thinking to the Wallabies players a while back.
I read that as a bit of a dig at the Rebels... suggesting they were forced into a shit decision by financial blackmail. Just trying to shift a little bit of the blame in some minds. Yellow.
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The Force are gone....giving the NRL a golden opportunity to expand to Perth and reap all the benefits.....
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@NTA said in Force Goooooooone:
ARU have pissed away about $13M on the Rebels since Day 1 according to some reports.
Force at least had a plan to have fans buy a share of the joint.
Rebels will never overtake AFL and the Storm, it would have been easy to ditch them
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@canefan said in Force Goooooooone:
Rebels will never overtake AFL and the Storm, it would have been easy to ditch them
I think the truth was the opposite.
This decision had nothing to do with rugby, or even money. It was just about which team they could legally cut. The Rebels ownership deal gave the ARU no outs whatsoever, apart from buying back the team. Once it became clear that was never going to happen, they couldn't kick the Rebels out if they tried.
The Force, on the other hand, had a clause the ARU could enact. Which they have, to the detriment of our game.
While people are rightfully slamming Pulver now, the real errors were made years ago when these deals were done.
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@barbarian I guess the question is why those decision had to be made in the first place. There has been fault on many sides dating back a few years now.
Looking at the talent pool I think 4 teams is where Australian rugby is at. It's a tough decision but one that makes the most "sense" given the ownership arrangements. Very tough pill to swallow for fans etc, but Pulver hasn't been the only one that has made this bed.
Reducing Super rugby teams is a positive IMO, within the current SANZAAR model and TV deal.
Of course there are more structural issues that need to be addressed that go to the future of Super rugby but these short term decisions did need to be made. There will be a fallout no doubt.
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@barbarian said in Force Goooooooone:
While people are rightfully slamming Pulver now, the real errors were made years ago when these deals were done.
It takes extraordinary incompetence to sell a franchise, the licence to operate and still provide financial support for another five years. Of course, this happened while Pulver was CEO...
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@Stargazer said in Force Goooooooone:
Following today’s arbitration decision in favour of the ARU, and the subsequent announcement from ARU to discontinue the Western Force, RUPA CEO Ross Xenos has released the following statement: “Today's is the darkest day in the history of Australian Rugby with the custodian of the game confirming their desire to end the tenure of the Western Force and abandoning the game's national footprint." "The future of professional Rugby in Western Australia will now be the collateral damage of the decision making of the ARU and SANZAAR to expand Super Rugby to a convoluted and complicated 18 team structure against various advice and modelling received which explained the associated risks." “Players, staff and their families at the Western Force have been put under unprecedented and, quite frankly, completely unreasonable duress throughout this ridiculous and destructive process." “RUPA has and will continue to provide any support that is necessary for all players affected by the ARU's decision. We have staff in Perth and are in regular contact with all contracted players at the Force and their respective agents. RUPA will do whatever it takes to ensure that players' contractual rights are honoured and no player is unfairly disadvantaged by the ARU’s decision." “The people of Western Australia have campaigned fairly, passionately and with integrity in order to show that the Western Force deserve to have a place in Super Rugby. That campaign has fallen on deaf ears. We understand that Rugby WA are considering their legal position from this point forward and we respect their rights to explore such avenues." Out of respect for the players and staff at the Western Force, RUPA will not be making any further comment at this time.
Did RUPA fight expansion..?
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@Sneakdefreak said in Force Goooooooone:
The Force are gone....giving the NRL a golden opportunity to expand to Perth and reap all the benefits.....
Ever hear of the massive success of the Western Reds?
Fuck the state of rugby here makes me sick. The Reds recently had their gear available at 70% discounts. 70 farking percent.
BTW, for those who told people like me to fuck off and shut up when questioning expansion. Here's the result you fucking idiots.
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Western Australia's revenge ...
Premier Mark McGowan will scrap $4 million payment to ARU
PREMIER Mark McGowan has exacted swift revenge on the Australian Rugby Union for its decision to axe the Western Force by scrapping a deal to bring forward a $4 million payment to stage the Bledisloe Cup at Perth Stadium. While the blockbuster match between the Wallabies and All Blacks will still go-ahead in Perth in 2019, the WA Government is no longer willing to agree to the cash-strapped ARU’s request to make early payments. Mr McGowan earlier this year agreed to the request on the proviso the Force’s future in the Super Rugby competition was guaranteed. On Friday, WA’s rugby union community was devastated when the ARU announced it would cut the Perth-based team from the 2018 season and keep the Melbourne Rebels instead. The WA Government is paying the ARU $5 million to stage Perth’s first Bledisloe Cup match. The former Barnett government late last year handed over the first $1 million, but the ARU will now have to wait another two years to get its hands on the remainder. (...) Mr McGowan also revealed the Government was re-visiting commitments made to WA several years ago by the ARU when the State agreed to pour millions into rugby in WA, including a $95 million upgrade to nib Stadium. “Over the years the State had invested a significant amount of money towards the Force,” Mr McGowan said. “What we’ll do is get to the bottom of any undertakings the ARU gave the State Government that underpinned the decisions to pour millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money into rugby.” (...) -
@Stargazer pointless political opportunism by McGowan.
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@Godder I don't think everyone agrees at all.
Based on what have read on G&G and theroar a lot of people feel that the ARU should maintain a national footprint and it is difficult to fault that opinion.
The real problem is that the SANZAR unions have put all their eggs in the soup basket. But at the same time soup rugby is not generating the money that SA and AUS rugby needs to fight off the northern clubs money which has in turn undermined the product to an extent where it is turning fans of the comp.
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This is a pretty good summary of the mood over here IMO
Australians are sick of SANZAAR and will stand with Matt Hodgson
The bitter taste of injustice Australian rugby fans are experiencing today is made worse because it was borne out of folly.
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Good writing by Cully. Sometimes I don't like what he has to say, but most of the time he's right e.g.
They look at Hodgson and see everything they like about Australian rugby – passion, commitment, loyalty. And they look at SANZAAR and see hubris, a lack of accountability and a lack of concern.
Hodgo is a fucking legend. If we had more of him and less of fuckwits like Bieber, the game here would be in much better health.
Super Rugby will go on, but will Australians care?
Nope. If the next two months goes badly for the Wallabies, we'll need life support for the code.
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@SidBarret said in Force Goooooooone:
@Godder I don't think everyone agrees at all.
Based on what have read on G&G and theroar a lot of people feel that the ARU should maintain a national footprint and it is difficult to fault that opinion.
The real problem is that the SANZAR unions have put all their eggs in the soup basket. But at the same time soup rugby is not generating the money that SA and AUS rugby needs to fight off the northern clubs money which has in turn undermined the product to an extent where it is turning fans of the comp.
By "everyone", I mean the franchises and states - the ARU had a Special General Meeting to discuss it, and the SGM agreed that a franchise should be cut.
