Clubs Face Their Fears At Summit
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday May 10, 2006
THE Australian rugby summit at the end of the month is shaping as a robust affair, with Sydney clubs convinced the ARU will enter discussions with a plan already in place for a third-tier competition that does not provide the involvement they seek.
ARU chief executive Gary Flowers yesterday outlined the process the union and the game's stakeholders will take part in for three days from May 29, suggesting, at long last, every key player in the game will have a chance to buy into the code's evolution as they seek to design a viable third-tier competition."We've identified the issues and there's now momentum and maybe now is the time we can crack the nut," Flowers said.Flanked by representatives from the NSWRU, ARU and the Rugby Union Players' Association, Flowers noted the amount of money and time that has gone into researching the factors involved that will affect a new competition in Australia designed to counter the strength of rivals such as New Zealand's NPC and South Africa's Currie Cup.Several non-negotiable parameters have been identified for the meeting in terms of player depth and dollars needed, with sponsors and broadcasters among a large number of groups consulted."This competition must be able to satisfy player development needs, it's got to be commercially viable and sustainable, and we've done some work around those things," Flowers said. "And the high performance input into the player development aspect will be there as well, so we're really wanting to engage with our broader stakeholders and get them working collectively to come up with a solution."The problem for some of those stakeholders, namely the clubs, is that many of them already feel alienated by the ARU and believe the meeting is lip service to their involvement.One club official was adamant the ARU is already well down the track in investigating a six- to eight-team model that includes all four Super 14 provinces fielding a team and at least two other new entities that do not represent Sydney's clubs. The clubs fear if they have zero involvement, a third tier would sound their death knell as sponsors desert a fourth level of competition.The club presidents met last week to discuss their ability to present a united front. However, Sydney University president David Mortimer is convinced the clubs are about to be sidelined."I can't see it being anything else but lip service," Mortimer said. "The clubs have not been consulted once [to this stage] except for this questionnaire. It's all very odd, so you'd expect an ambush."
© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald