12 January 2012

Manly Marlins let rip on ACT Rugby

| johnboy
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The Manly Daily has some great lines on the decision by the Brumbies to get the players involved in the local community when it’s time to play club rugby.

Instead of returning to their Sydney clubs when the Super Rugby commitments are completed, the players will be farmed out to Canberra outfits.

“We are extremely unhappy,” Begg told the Manly Daily.

“It is clearly detrimental to the Sydney club rugby competition, but more importantly it is detrimental to the development of these players.

“Every time a player plays a game I would have thought it was important that he play at the best level he can – in my view the standard in Perth is better.

“The standard of club rugby in Canberra is no better than Kentwell Cup.”

The ruling means Manly will lose Michael Hooper, Andrew Smith, Robbie Coleman, Anthony Hegarty, Dylan Sigg and Jono Owen.

“We know where they want to play and none of them want to play in Canberra,” Begg said.

Also, apparently the Brumbies lack of shirt sponsor makes them inferior to the glories of Sydney rugby and we’re running a “Micky Mouse” [sic] competition.

One wonders if the sound and fury will come to anything.

UPDATE: A spokesperson for the Brumbies had this to say in reply:

“The primary concern of the Brumbies coaching staff is to make our club stronger. There is no benefit to our players traveling back and forth between Canberra and Sydney on a weekly basis. It makes monitoring our squad difficult and it will not be a process the Brumbies use in 2012.

“We believe the John I Dent Cup has the potential to be one of the strongest local club competitions in Australia and with 35 contracted Super Rugby players taking part in 2012 we are one step closer to making that happen. A strong local competition will inevitably attract top-class players to the Brumbies.

“Keeping Brumbies players in Canberra, playing Canberra rugby is good for the ACT community. The Brumbies want fans to be able to get to a local game on a Saturday and see the best talent the ACT has to offer on a weekly basis.

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Waiting For Godot10:23 am 13 Jan 12

ma7trlb said :

or if the Brumbies players are so integral to the Sydney Club Rugby Competition, lets get the Canberra Vikings back up and running again…

We all know what happened the last time the Vikings played in the Sydney competition. As soon as they started beating the Sydney teams they were kicked out. So much for ACT Rugby being a “Micky Mouse” operation . . .

Eyeball In A Quart Jar Of Snot1:12 am 13 Jan 12

It should also be noted that with the extended SupeRugby season that most of these players won’t even have time for club rugby.

Eyeball In A Quart Jar Of Snot1:11 am 13 Jan 12

The Shute Shield has been propping their competition up with Canberra players for years.

Not only will the return of these players boost the level of the John I Dent Cup, but also provide a better pathway for local players into SupeRugby.

And Sydney players would be happy knowing now they have more opportunities to take part in the Shute Shield.

As Sydney is the biggest feeder of players in the country it would certainly be a blight on their development programs if they can’t provide the talent to cover for the Brumby exodus.

A fairly spurious claim that they are losing all those players, as most of them would have played a single season for Manly, at best.
Prior to the 2011 season, Jono Owen was playing for Randwick and in the NZ NPC. Andrew Smith was playing for rival club Norths, Hegarty and Coleman for Queanbeyan, and if I recall Dylan Sigg was playing for Crociati in Italy, though admittedly he was playing for Manly prior to that.

The quality of the Shute Shield is severely overrated by the Sydney clubs. Take out the 30 Brumbies players (done) and the 30 Waratahs and you’ve got a competition no better than a Brumby-less John I Dent Cup.

The ACT comp is easily the 3rd best in the country. If the standard has dropped since the Brumbies were admitted, then its because of the greed of the Sydney comp that seems to ruin everything if it doesn’t suit them. The ARC was an example of this.

While I agree the players should be playing in the best and most convenient comp, a true national comp is needed not some backyard rugby in Sydney or Canberra for that matter.

Now with the Brumbies’ response.

And i’m sure these players are going to be the first to complain when they have no ‘fans’ in Canberra – Clearly they don’t want to support our local clubs why should we let them play for our Brumbies??

Funny how the Sydney competition only want the Brumbies players when it suits them. I distinctly remember the Canberra vikings being kicked out of the same competition when they were winning every year. I guess it’s we want you, but only when you’re playing for us..

Yeah I can’t believe the Brumbies don’t pay their players to strengthen the Sydney rugby comp.

Caractacus Potts8:30 pm 11 Jan 12

Begg’s right though – Canberra club rugby is of a similar standard to Sydney subbies rugby, and the Brumbies players would be better off in a higher standard comp. Serves Sydney rugby right for kicking out the Kookas….

or if the Brumbies players are so integral to the Sydney Club Rugby Competition, lets get the Canberra Vikings back up and running again…

Oh sorry, I misunderstood, you didn’t want to have to play against them, just with them?

So removing those players is ‘detrimental to the Sydney club rugby competition’ which must mean that its the players that make the standard of competition. But if you take those same players and have them play in Canberra then its detrimental to the players because the standard of competition is low.

And I thought rugby was a thinking man’s game.

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