Waratahs officially commit to Rugby Australia's alignment plan
Rugby Australia has taken its first major official step towards alignment in the Australian game, putting pen to paper with the New South Wales Waratahs as the club commits to a centralised future.
The Waratahs as well as the New South Wales Rugby Union are both on board with the new strategic vision, allowing Rugby Australia to effectively take responsibility for the Tahs' high-performance operations, assets, liabilities, and commercial arrangements.
Ownership of the community game around the state will remain with the NSWRU.
"We are taking this bold step because we strongly believe the federated model for professional Rugby in Australia is unsustainable and that meaningful reform is long overdue,” said NSW Rugby Union CEO Paul Doorn.
“We are committed to the removal of the inherent conflicts and self-interest that have constrained meaningful progress in the past, and we are committed to the alignment of the high-performance and commercial operations between our club and Rugby Australia.
“I appreciate questions will be asked about the level of trust and confidence in RA’s ability to fully realise the benefits of integration. These are important questions – however, our decision reflects a commitment to deal with any such concern ‘inside the tent’, playing an active role in the most collaborative way possible.
“We are not content to sit on the sidelines any longer on this much-needed reform, and I hope all Super Rugby clubs will follow our lead as we push forward on an aligned Australian Rugby ecosystem.”
The deal comes after the Wallabies' worst-ever Rugby World Cup showing and an international season in which they won just two out of their nine games.
Rugby Australia announced in August the plan for a "reset" of the game, set to come into effect from January 1 2024.
“We have a plan that we are working on to unite the game – it will take the whole game to rebuild a system that delivers success on and off the field," RA CEO Phil Waugh said.
“We have agreement from the five Australian Super Rugby clubs that we need to be pursuing an aligned high-performance system and pathways.
“There may be different models across different clubs, however, the Waratahs have been very clear that they see great benefits in aligning their commercial operations with RA’s, as we look to achieve maximum commercial return and efficiency for the game.
“I firmly believe that this strategic reset is in the best interests of the game – and crucially, it delivers even greater priority to strengthening the community game; ringfencing investment in the community game and allowing state unions to focus entirely on grassroots and participation without the distraction of professional Rugby.
“It will allow the game to develop fully aligned pathways and high-performance structures to deliver lasting success for Australian Super Rugby clubs and our national teams."
Latest Comments
> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
Go to comments