NPC 2023
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John Afoa has signed for the mighty Steamers.
John Afoa Signs with Steamers for 2023
John Afoa wasn’t ready to hang up the boots when signing in March for the Bay Of Plenty Steamers in this years Bunnings ...
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@African-Monkey It also has a meaning on the internet. As in "gooning".
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With Sanzar considering this,
Super Rugby to run from May to September, and the Rugby championship being played in October/November to an unprecedented autumn spot that aligns better with the northern hemisphere
or shifting the Rugby Championship from a winter/spring slot to the southern autumn, in which the four-team tournament would likely start in March..Under a proposal discussed at the SANZAAR table, Super Rugby would continue through the July Test window, with Test players absent. Sources say the three Tests could even be played as midweek fixtures, like State of Origin, and involve bye or split rounds to minimise the impact on Super Rugby, without halting the competition.
Where would that leave NPC. -
It leaves NPC as a semi professional development competition. It would remove players leaving and playing the MLS though. NPC probably being played as Super Rugby curtain raisers.
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It seems to be heading that way.
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@SouthernMann guess that would even the NPC playing field even further than it has recently by removing the main super players, leaving probably WTG and normal NPC squads.
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Of course the obvious problem is that there isn't enough SR games to dovetail completely into the NPC schedule however I think having the NPC as SR curtain raisers is a good idea, you'll probably pull bigger crowds.
Realistically speaking the NPC has been a semi-professional feeder comp for Super rugby for awhile in everything but name now.
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There are a lot of rose tinted glasses syndrome when thinking about NPC. Overall it isn't a good standard of rugby. Played in front of poor crowds by players who are trying to get noticed by teams overseas or get a gig next summer in Super squads. There isn't often opportunities to play into Super teams as acadamies provide the pathways to professional rugby.
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@SouthernMann said in NPC 2023:
It leaves NPC as a semi professional development competition. It would remove players leaving and playing the MLS though. NPC probably being played as Super Rugby curtain raisers.
The continuing downgrade of NPC rugby is why I've been pushing for more SR teams. There should be a better geographic spread of the pro game. Also the pro teams should reflect where the population bases are so more players can represent where they are really from
Some fans are dead against this for NPC nostalgia reasons. I don't think they realise they'll get the worst of both worlds.. the NPC will continue to die and pro rugby will be concentrated in 5 bases
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