This has been a fantastic Super season. Great to watch, close games, great rugby.
Famously and accurately Super is known as fast-paced rugby where players back themselves. More go-go-go for everyone 1-15 rather than careful planning built around set-piece and field position.
It is, in other words, young man’s rugby.
Why not then plan to galvanise and sell based on that moving forward?
As numerous high quality players leak north, why not plan contracts and terms for being All Blacks and Wallabies eligible realistically and accordingly?
Could Rugby Australia and New Zealand Rugby agree on a plan where players all have to remain in Australia or New Zealand until the age of (let’s say) 26 years of age to be nationally eligible during that time? Simple as that.
After that age players can make big coin overseas while being entirely eligible for national teams.
Before that they can’t be Wallabies till they come back to Super.
After that let’s be honest and say we can’t afford you if you’re too good; go spend your prime overseas and if you’re really good you’ll be a Wallaby or All Black too.
They’d still be left with 5-8 years to make big money overseas, having really earned the right to keep representing their home country and having proven to the northern hemisphere teams that they are truly worth big money.
Within that framework a rising pay scale for under 26s, according to continuous years served could be set up. It could vary by a percentage for the best of these young players but it would be limited but steady.
After 26 there’d be no wage increases. If you can’t attract bigger money in the Northern Hemisphere, this is all we’ll offer.
Base that pay scale on current earnings (and adjust it with inflation over time).
Start it lower but end it higher. Eighteen-year-olds could start on $70-80,000 and by 25 they would get into the $125-165,000 range, more if they’re All Blacks or Wallabies as they’d be paid on a per Test appearance bonus.
The very most promising under 26s might leave early for Europe or Japan but they’d still be eligible to be Wallabies or All Blacks after they turn 26 but not before.
It would mean a clear, pragmatic career path for young players and a pathway and criteria for whether you can represent your country or not.
Who knows, it could even prove to be an attractive place for British, European and even South African clubs to send their young players to develop and get a different style of rugby into their game as their bodies fully mature, thereby generating more international viewership, too.
Overall it would be a case of doubling down on being a speed and youth-driven product and really further establishing that identity.
It could be announced this year and phased in over probably three years.
No doubt the idea is simplistic and has some holes, but it might be marketable, both to young players choosing between rugby and league and to the general public as a differentiated product.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
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