Aussie Pro Rugby
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@Billy-Webb said in Aussie Rugby:
@NTA and @barbarian and any other Aussie TSF members:
There was a time not so long ago where as a Saffa I was extremely jealous of Australian rugby administration.
With a relatively small base of players, Aussie rugby somehow managed to produce excellent results both in Super Rugby and at international level.
The Brumbies back in their glory days were the epitome of this for me.What, if anything has changed?
People who entered into the administrative sphere of Rugby under the auspices of an all-time Wallaby Greats lineup?
Don't honestly know, besides that. Take away onfield performance and everyone in the back office looks like a dickhead, don't they?
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@voodoo said in Aussie Rugby:
I worked with him for some time. He is a really good guy. Gets on with everyone, always had time to spend with the juniors. Massive rolodex, can get in front of any CEO in the country (any rugby playing nation I expect). Had a great time with him and clients at the 2011 RWC.
He's certainly not dumb, with no long history in finance he was able to understand different products and communicate with clients. As for being qualified to be a corporate CEO, I'm not sure. Expect he would need a solid team around him, especially around risk and ops functions.
His on-camera persona is a bit at odds with all that I know. I think some of it is caused by genuine passion from a bloke that loved nothing more than competing for his country. And some of it is just a love of winding people up and being a bit controversial.
I'd suggest you take his comments with a grain of salt, they're probably not always reflective of what he is actually thinking.
I don't have any personal experience with him but I do know this.
In 2017 I was catching up with a good mate in the US. He's a proper Brisbane grammar school boy, died in the wool Wallaby supporter, thinks NZ are cheats etc - standard Aus private school view. Anyway, he was just back from his sisters wedding - she had married a producer at Fox Sports in Oz.
Said that Kearns is a Grade A fluffybunny. Everybody at Fox hates him, has such a massive opinion of himself, and loves to belittle others - no matter how small or large it is.
SEcond hand info, but I have no reason to doubt it and quite the opposite of what you said. Still, could make him a decent CEO tho!
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@voodoo said in Aussie Rugby:
@MajorRage Interesting!
To be fair he’s a Queenslander as is his brother in law do already done blue / red rivalry there
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@Billy-Webb said in Aussie Rugby:
@NTA and @barbarian and any other Aussie TSF members:
There was a time not so long ago where as a Saffa I was extremely jealous of Australian rugby administration.
With a relatively small base of players, Aussie rugby somehow managed to produce excellent results both in Super Rugby and at international level.
The Brumbies back in their glory days were the epitome of this for me.What, if anything has changed?
We responded far better than others to the advent of professionalism. Our high performance set-up was a decade ahead of where some other nations were.
And then everyone else caught up. And now it's largely a level playing field, and we are exposed because of our smaller player base.
The biggest errors were made after the 2003 World Cup, when the ARU was cashed up and the future looked bright. We squandered the millions and focussed too heavily on the professional game.
There's still a feeling that we can reclaim the success of previous eras, but there's a large part of our base that have their heads still stuck in 1999 - where power was largely housed in NSW and QLD clubs, we spun it wiiiiide and won world cups for fun.
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@antipodean said in Aussie Rugby:
@Bovidae The same Pat Howard that oversaw Australian cricket's low ebb? The same one Warney called a muppet?
The verdict on Pat Howard in cricketing circles has turned around a bit with the World Cup overperformance and the Ashes victory.
I'm not necessarily advocating for his appointment, but he has his admirers in the cricketing world.
And I'd think being called a muppet by Warney probably makes you more employable...
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@mariner4life said in Aussie Rugby:
@barbarian said in Aussie Rugby:
the World Cup overperformance
the what?
Turnaround is probably the better word. Our ODI performance was rubbish over the four year period, but we came good at the World Cup.
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@barbarian said in Aussie Rugby:
@Billy-Webb said in Aussie Rugby:
@NTA and @barbarian and any other Aussie TSF members:
There was a time not so long ago where as a Saffa I was extremely jealous of Australian rugby administration.
With a relatively small base of players, Aussie rugby somehow managed to produce excellent results both in Super Rugby and at international level.
The Brumbies back in their glory days were the epitome of this for me.What, if anything has changed?
We responded far better than others to the advent of professionalism. Our high performance set-up was a decade ahead of where some other nations were.
And then everyone else caught up. And now it's largely a level playing field, and we are exposed because of our smaller player base.
The biggest errors were made after the 2003 World Cup, when the ARU was cashed up and the future looked bright. We squandered the millions and focussed too heavily on the professional game.
There's still a feeling that we can reclaim the success of previous eras, but there's a large part of our base that have their heads still stuck in 1999 - where power was largely housed in NSW and QLD clubs, we spun it wiiiiide and won world cups for fun.
I wonder how much they squandered on league players in the early 2000s?
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@barbarian said in Aussie Rugby:
@jegga said in Aussie Rugby:
I wonder how much they squandered on league players in the early 2000s?
Millions. One of the great mistakes of the time, no doubt.
We squandered millions more in the early years trying to keep union players OUT of loig. Empty threats
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@barbarian didn't that period also correspond with the league wars leaving more media space for rugby?
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@SidBarret said in Aussie Rugby:
@barbarian didn't that period also correspond with the league wars leaving more media space for rugby?
Not really- the League wars were around 97-98, where our binge on leaguies took place in the early 2000s.
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Hey all - despite the three-ring shitshow that is the professional game, those of us in the trenches against League, AFL, and Soccer still have to run our clubs. SO fuck it - if you know anyone living in NW Sydney who wants a club or just wants to come down and buy our beer, send them this way:
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@barbarian said in Aussie Rugby:
@SidBarret said in Aussie Rugby:
@barbarian didn't that period also correspond with the league wars leaving more media space for rugby?
Not really- the League wars were around 97-98, where our binge on leaguies took place in the early 2000s.
@SidBarret - the SuperLeague war probably did boost the price of our existing stocks, peripherally at least, at the advent of professionalism in rugby. It was well noted that guys like Tim Horan and Jason Little were in the sights of League clubs and that gave their management bargaining power.
Now I think about it
probably why we have had a history of backs being paid more than forwards; the forwards weren't targeted to the same degree. -
@NTA said in Aussie Rugby:
Now I think about it
probably why we have had a history of backs being paid more than forwards; the forwards weren't targeted to the same degree.Forwards are the reason teams win at international level; those deeply ingrained skillsets and decisionmaking is critical in union. League has fewer specialised skills, but doesn't value the Union forward skillsets that get to the pinnacle (work over the ball, set pieces).
Backs skills are more transferable between codes (within reason).
Also, Jonah would have been amazing as a WR in NFL
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@NTA said in Aussie Rugby:
@nzzp said in Aussie Rugby:
Jonah would have been amazing as a WR in NFL
Because he wouldn't have to turn in defence very often 😉
Yep, absolutely. Imagine trying to tackle a guy with that sort of balance. That's the killer thing for him - his balance was exceptional; he'd get hit but stay up. Incredible player
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