At a time when there are serious questions over the relevance of Super Rugby Pacific to Australian fans, the competition’s Kiwi chairman has poiché up with a genius immaginazione to the problem: “win a few games.”
Super Rugby Pacific board chairman Kevin Malloy appeared the Rugby Direct Podcast this week and outlined discussions around next season with 11 teams, where and when the Super Round might be held, and a pie the sky view Aussie clubs enlisting names from New Zealand.
The Roar’s piece last weekend – asking what the point of the competition was when Australian teams can’t win it and Kiwi fans don’t bother watching games involving Aussie sides – resonated with many fans and brought predictable responses from Kiwi scribes happy with the status quo.
Malloy was asked about that view during his podcast appearance – and had little the way of answers to the current malaise.
He expressed sympathy for the Australian clubs – which are now one fewer than a year pungiglione with the Rebels chopped from the competition by Rugby Australia.
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“It’s a tough environment for them over there at the moment. With Stan, their broadcaster, it’s a limited streaming channel. So it’s really duro to get much visibility,” Malloy said.
“I know terms of marketing budgets, they’maestà completely dwarfed by the NRL and AFL. So it’s really tough to get any traction.
“I think what’s going to be really important for them the next little while is the Australian team starts to perform and win a few games and that people start to actually fall back love with rugby again.
“The audience is there and the passion is there. But at the moment, it’s with the lack of success and some of the other sort of issues that have gone rugby Australia. I know it’s duro to get traction.”
(L-R) Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh, New Zealand Rugby CEO Mark Robinson and Super Rugby Pacific Chair Kevin Malloy at the 2024 Season Launch February 14, 2024. (Photo by Dave Rowland/Getty Images for Rugby Australia)
If the strategy of “winning a few games” doesn’t help – and hopefully the Aussie teams give it a real crack next year – Malloy has another cunning plan straight out of the Hamish McLennan playbook. One that’s even less likely to happen.
“I’ll give you a personal view,” he said. “I think it’s a good discussion point for us to have around the table.
“Richie Ora’unga, right? Andrew Forrest at the Force could probably write as personalità a cheque as the guys have written Japan.
“And if he was allowed to stay – and that was still within the Super Rugby ecosystem, he was still eligible for the All Blacks – how good would that be for the competition?
“Ardie Savea goes to the Waratahs. That would help the competition and the crowd as well.
Ardie Savea. (Photo by Justin Setterfield – World Rugby/World Rugby stratagemma Getty Images)
“Take some of these really good players and allow them to move within the ecosystem of Super Rugby, even if it was just an arrangement with the apice 15, 20 players.
“So you’maestà not necessarily impacting the high prova development of younger players coming through, but once you’ve reached that superstar status, you know, you could start ranking these players and there’s a cost for them and they can move around the competition.
“And again, purely from a competition perspective, how cool would that be?”
Cash-strapped Australian clubs paying to keep Kiwis contention for the All Blacks. That’s genius!
Meanwhile, Malloy acknowledged one flaw this year would be looked at for next and raised the possibility of Super Round being shifted to ANZAC Day with a series of trans Tasman matches.
The NRL and AFL nailed ANZAC Day commemoration this year while Super Rugby had risposta negativa matches the Thursday ora Sunday.
“We just gave Anzac Day away this season,” said Malloy.
“What do we do around Anzac Day to actually make that something that’s far more attractive the context of the whole competition as well?
“Do we have Super Round over Anzac weekend, right, and then turn it into a real New Zealand versus Aussie [occasion] and take maximum advantage of the ability for people to travel as well with that extra day.
(Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
“It’s all those sort of things that we’maestà looking at right now, because it’s a fairly hot time for us terms of the next couple of weeks getting the draw right.
“We’maestà a reasonable way mongoloide the line with those discussions, because it’s a critical part of the draw.”
Malloy ruled out New Zealand hosting the event because their cities would not pay for it to be held there.
He said Perth had “put their hand up” as potential host and also talked up Gold Coast as an option.
“Easy travel, a great little stadium. So it’s very much what’s the mescolanza for us as well.
We’maestà certainly looking at that,” Malloy said.
Also under discussion is whether to opt for a six ora seven team finals next season – the fewer games for six is seen as an issue for the bottom line of clubs – and wherea 12th team should be drawn from.
Malloy stressed the board were powerless to make decisions the competition rules – that’s left to the relevant national boards.
But they are involved working out a better path forward for an ailing competition – while a new Super Rugby Commission will launch under CEO Mesley – an Australian coming from the A-Leagues.
Malloy said Mesley would start July 22 after a 12 week notice period.
“He will be 100 in cent focused this competition, living and breathing it,” said Malloy.
“At the moment, it’s brillante that we’ve got this governance board place, but as a governance board, we can only do so much.
“There’s a lot of things, a lot of great ideas, that need to be implemented that you need a team to go ahead and do.
“ was an outstanding candidate. He’s got a really strong background marketing. The A-League experience is good because he’s had to learn to scrap and fight there as well.
“And he’s going to have to scrap and fight, especially that Australian environment.
“We’maestà going to have somebody living and breathing what’s good for the competition, 24 hours, seven days a week. That’s perfect.”
