End of Super Rugby Part Two
Rob Leota is an outstanding young man and is ideally suited to lead the Rebels through this difficult, but inevitably, final year. When Rob played for Easts, he broke his leg but schlepped up to Rat Park - cast and all - to support his team mates - legend.
How can the Rebels end up owing over $20m as is being reported ? Even if it's exaggerated - the debt to the tax office appears to have been accruing for many years. Any Rugby Club in Club land would have been shut down years ago and there wouldn't have been a returned phone call from RA, let alone a bail out. I feel dreadfully sorry for the staff at the Rebels, their future is looking decidedly uncertain despite working incredibly hard and, being honest, if they are not looking for alternative employment - they should be. If $20m gets drained out of an already shallow Australian Rugby pool all Rugby fans have the right to be infuriated - it shows the Rebels were in far worse shape than they let on. This situation highlights just how unsustainable Super Rugby is in this country and the sooner we stop wringing our hands and start making new plans the better. It appears the Brumbies are facing a challenge as are the Western Force - that leaves two Super Rugby clubs, be a rather short season under those circumstances. In 2003, the Wallabies were number 2 in the world, knocking on the door of Number 1, we are now ranked 9th (Fiji ranked 10th) and have won just 3 of the last 20 matches against New Zealand as I am sure you know. When I suggest an abandonment of Super Rugby, the argument against this notion is our players need a higher level of Rugby to develop, Clubs can't provide that level of professionalism and we need Super Rugby in order to remain competitive - clearly that hasn't worked. The finances of the Super Rugby Clubs don't make for pretty reading, one reason being, fans no longer come to the games. According to Austadiums, in 2013 Super Rugby attendance averaged 17 670 in 2023 it averaged 11 596 with fewer games being played. The answer is not to keep propping up failing enterprises, the answer is to change what we are doing otherwise more of our scarce dollars will find their way in to black holes created by administrators who are too scared to tell the horrible truth about how tough things really are.
My view wont really matter, Super Rugby is folding in on itself, sadly for all those involved. We can keep temporarily patching things up, mourn for what could have been but these are all wastes of time (and as the Rebels have shown - money) Start with a fresh sheet of ideas, include on that sheet an 18 Club national competition and give fans something they really care about, something that's personal. Also put on the sheet City V Country, State of Origin, Billy Idol as half time entertainment, what ever you want - but at this stage - there are no bad ideas apart from repeating our current actions & hoping for a different outcome.
