Global Season or is it?

Players are starting to complain they play too much rugby, we as supports are complaining about injuries and the effect it has on unavailability for test rugby, now there are many suggestions on how to solve this problem and the biggest reason this has become a problem is money.

Clubs, players, sponsors, broadcasters and everyone else and his dog that has a finger in the pie wants to earn their pound of flesh out of professional rugby.

The problem is that a player can only handle so much physical bruising, travel and training. They spend less and less time at home and injuries are their biggest threat to earning a living out of professional rugby.

Being aware that their careers are only so long, brings about the conflicting issue of how much they can take on the field and how much they can get into their bank accounts before either retirement or injury ends their careers.

Some, myself included has often thought about a global season, but what does that really mean?

Is it not currently the case where the IRB has provided windows where clubs must release players for international duty? Or are we talking about having the same time period where players are rested?

The reality of the situation is it that rugby is being played all year round already, so what difference will it make?

Then you also have to consider the fact that the domestic structures are different in the Northern Hemisphere to that in the Southern Hemipshere, even in the Southern Hemisphere you have three countries bound together in the SANZAR agreement and they don’t even have the same structures.

The answer is simply a matter of compromise, compromise on the side of Clubs/Provinces/Regions/Franchises, compromise on the side of Unions, Broadcasters and the guy with the dog who wants his pound of flesh.

Either that, or eventually fatigue and injury will mean bigger and bigger squads which will cost more and more money and ultimately it will hurt the sustainability of professional rugby.

In business there is a break point, where expansion and higher production costs causes businesses to reach a point where profitability decreases where it then becomes less profitable than smaller production targets with less operating expenses.

Test rugby has and always will be the cash cow for Unions, no domestic competition can or ever will compete with that, and the reason is simply quality of product.
So if any compromise should take priority it should be domestic rugby.

I have drafted a suggested solution to the 52 week schedule that does take into consideration some changes.

Breaking the Aviva Premiership, the Rabo 12 and Top 14 into two pools, this will reduce the number of pool round matches from 22 for the Aviva and Rabo to 10 and the Top 14 from 26 to 12.

The Super XV becomes three closed conference competitions which immediately has the effect of combining the ITM Cup and the Currie Cup into the competition by having 7 teams (good news for Australia as well).

Then the top two teams from each conference competes in a super six, where each team will play the other four teams they haven’t played already.

Here is a suggested table which provides ample time for preparation and all competitions to be completed. The European season is longer simply because the Heineken Cup does not form part of the other domestic competitions and is run separately.

Spoiler:

Hate to be the one to tell you mate but the image doesn't work. I tried connecting the dots but all I got was a unicorn and if that was the intention, I fail to understand the significance with respect to a global season.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Hate to be the one to tell you mate but the image doesn't work. I tried connecting the dots but all I got was a unicorn and if that was the intention, I fail to understand the significance with respect to a global season.

sorry had to edit the thing cause the picture was so bad you couldn't read anything on it.

Sure it's great and I'm more or less with you on this one. can't read the spoiler though.

I changed it, can you read it now?

All up and running. I think the lack of an off season for internationals would still be an issue. especially up north.
Not sure how to sort that. Maybe a compressed international season and a club sevens to keep the clubs generating cash.

When does Week 1 start... are we assuming a calendar year start?

I like how you've grouped things together instead of splitting them apart. Late November early December could be a problematic time to fly into Europe but overall I think that's what needs to be done. At the moment everything overlaps and it's a right mess. Your proposal cleans that up and creates some order to the season. Many people will be up and arms about the change of scheduling but I think you'll find just as many who see a lot of merit to changing it that way.

Biltong for IRB president.

That's a good point BC. But the lack of an off season is also an issue now. There are too many comps to accommodate and I think a time will come where the top test stars have to pick and choose when they play. You can't play everything as it stands.

The only other alternative is to contract the internationals fulltime and they only play tests.

Biltong, first thoughts are that has halved the number of home games for the clubs in the NH, where would the lost revenue be replaced from? Also it would make it very difficult for fans to organise travel at a weeks notice for the 1/4,semis & finals

I think its a good platform and well down bru! One issue that may arise is that the European leagues play more games. Teams face each other twice a year, hence why their season is so long. Less games, lower gate receipts etc should mean less revenue....

however I read an article a while back on American football (16 game season) vs. Baseball (80+ I think game season).

The article was based on the ecnomics of the sports... how football teams faced each other rarely and therefore games were a must see... they would sell out every game, sponsorship was high due to the interest etc. Unlike baseball where games are often half full, they play each other multiple times a year and interest is low compared. Rivals would play each other at best once a year... the frenzy was huge because of it.. unlike when you slog out the best of 9 etc.

Could work with rugby I guess. Less is sometimes more.

FA that was a concern about revenue, but you need to find a balance, if the NH clubs don't want to do it, then a compromise will never be found and everyone must then play their players into the ground and muck up as they see fit.

Little longer to think & IMSHO this seems a very SH biased solution. In that it seems very similar to the present SH season with the exception that SR is brought forward & integrated with domestic competition. It also seems that it is a solution for 23 players from 9 countries. In the NH most club players would effectively have 2 seasons with a 17 & 13 week gap between them & some in the SH would only have a 12 week season. Also how do potential international injury replacements keep match fit for ,in the SH, a potential 20 week gap, last game of conference to the outbound tour.

I am just throwing the idea out there mate, you are welcome to make suggestions

The problem I have in my thinking is I know what most SH supporters think as to how our season can be improved upon, the problem in the NH is there are so many varied opinions out there, and so much rugby, I just looked at the gaps and which competition would fit best where.

In the SH I combine ITM Cup and Currie Cup as to find alleviation for players, Don't know how to do it for the NH, as most love their HC the way it is, if it can be incorporated into the Domestic leagues it will go a long way in improving the situation.

I think broadland you've hit the nail on the head. There is too much club rugby in the NH trying to coexist with test rugby. What can't you live without? HC or the Rabo or Aviva? Have a system that combines both and feeds into the same competition as has been proposed in the Super tournament in terms of integrating the domestic competitions. There simply isn't a way to have so many different competitions alongside test rugby and expect to have an off season. Something has to give.

Is Week 1 the first week in January?

So the SH Test teams get a block of 11 weeks off but the NH Test players only get a six week break (in their winter!). That should really appeal to the Northern Unions.

Also all the NH clubs have to play their league competition, and then have a four month lay-off before the European cup competitions?

A global season isn't possible as both hemispheres will want a close season in their summer.
The schedule looks really good for the SH teams, but is disastrous for the NH - both Test and club teams.

Can you propose a better one or see a way to integrate the different club competitions?

Am I the only one who doesn't see the need for a global system/timeframe?

The issue is too much rugby being played, but I don't see what that has to do with the fact that the earth has 2 hemispheres.
The issue is with the moneymen and how anything vaguely successful is expanded and extra fixtures added.

For example a simple way to reduce the amount of flying the super xv/southern hemisphere players do would be to go back to having the Currie Cup, ITM etc as the main focus of the domestic season. Then the semi finalists could come together in a super 12 tournament, which would be held in a different country each year.

In the same way the NH season could be restructured so the national leagues take place, then the top teams ( I know I will be accused of being a nasty english person) could play out a Heneiken cup equivalent, with the secondary teams in something else and then a plate type of tournament.

On another note my worry about a global calender would be that the game/talent would be continually centralised, until there was just a world club championship with no real rugby elsewhere and nowhere for the sport to grow.

I think you have missed the point that you seem to be trying to make a structure suitable for about only 230 players max,the internationals from 10 countries. I agree that some international players play too much but the most a club player in the Aviva/Rabbo would play is 33,with 38 in the Top14.This proposal they would play 21,24 and how would those on the edge of the national teams stay match fit?

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Can you propose a better one or see a way to integrate the different club competitions?

In the NH the only thing I would change would be to play the AIs two weeks earlier starting week 43 rather than 45. This also increases the SH close season by two weeks.

I'd also be tempted to play the RC before the SH home Tests say starting week 14. There would still be 7 rounds of the S15 before that to get the Test players fit but not burnt out and it would separate the travelling in the RC and the away tour by 6 months. It would also allow some scope for rejigging the S15 rather than impinge on the RC in RWC years.

Bathman_in_London wrote:

On another note my worry about a global calender would be that the game/talent would be continually centralised, until there was just a world club championship with no real rugby elsewhere and nowhere for the sport to grow.

This is what I was on about earlier with a potential global talent shift to the honey pot of france.

The point of the June tests as well as the November ones is that the teams have preparation for their respective tournaments. I don't think moving the RC before them would be useful in that respect.

There are plans to limit the first rounds of the Super tournament to the respective conferences and integrate the domestic competitions into the tournament. This cuts down on the punishing travel and makes the domestic competitions count for something.

It seems that the French system is indifferent towards the national set up and players from other countries are being dragged into this. What is the premier pan European club competition in Europe? If the answer is different for different people then alarm bells should be ringing.

A possible system could be brought about.based on the NFL where international unions take the place of the NFL teams and the regions/provinces/clubs act like the american college teams. Every year the unions do a draft from their qualified players and those players play only internationals maybe as part of a 20 or so game season.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:The point of the June tests as well as the November ones is that the teams have preparation for their respective tournaments. I don't think moving the RC before them would be useful in that respect.

There are plans to limit the first rounds of the Super tournament to the respective conferences and integrate the domestic competitions into the tournament. This cuts down on the punishing travel and makes the domestic competitions count for something.

It seems that the French system is indifferent towards the national set up and players from other countries are being dragged into this. What is the premier pan European club competition in Europe? If the answer is different for different people then alarm bells should be ringing.

I think you have hit he nail on the head Kia.

From an outsider's perspective the varying priorities of what who sees as the nost important is in conflict the whole time, if nobody is prepared to compromise, no suggested change will be acceptable.