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http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/ ... 09,00.html

Pretty much expected, now it comes down to which of the three Melbourne bidders actually succeeds, the VRU backed Melbourne Rebels or one of the other two bidders.

Edit: Correction, Melbourne is the ARU's preferred site for a Super 15 team, next stage is to convince SANZAR.

Melbourne Rebels...lol

Bullets wrote: Melbourne Rebels...lol

Better than the proposed name I heard for a new Melbourne soccer team, Melbourne Heart. 

Surandy wrote:

Bullets wrote: Melbourne Rebels...lol

Better than the proposed name I heard for a new Melbourne soccer team, Melbourne Heart.   :lol:

oh god thats horrible.

Are Melbourne getting another A-League team?

Whilst it's a good thing to get more elite sports teams in Melbourne, it's painful to think there's gunna be more teams using OUR nice new stadium 

Tigger wrote: Whilst it's a good thing to get more elite sports teams in Melbourne, it's painful to think there's gunna be more teams using OUR nice new stadium 

And then again - Maybe greed & politics will see it go to South Africa 

Still can't make up their mind!

SANZAR decides to send 15th team to arbitration

October 21, 2009 - 4:13pm
Story by: SANZAR

The SANZAR Executive Committee met today to consider the applications from Melbourne and the Southern Kings to be the 15th Super Rugby team.

Following discussion it was clear that the Executive Committee would not reach the required unanimity with the ARU expressing its support for Melbourne and SA Rugby expressing its support for the Southern Kings. 

As a result no vote was taken by the Executive Committee and it was agreed that the matter should proceed to arbitration in accordance with the SANZAR Joint Venture Agreement.

SANZAR will move quickly to set up an independent arbitration process which will result in a binding decision.

Source:  http://www.rugby.com.au/news/super_14_2 ... tion/21893

Personally I couldn't care less whether Melbourne gets the team or not but as an interested bystander it is good to see that the NRL is not the only comp with useless administrators. 

absolute rubbish article...

http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/news ... 26512.html

It won't. RL has has a 11 year jump on them and has well established itself as the more popular rugby code in Victoria. People are used to the way RL is played and will get confused with the "alternative" rugby. Union is boring. It's like stacks on every tackle. They will die a quick death like the Melbourne Rebels. They hardly got anyone to their games in their only season and Melbourne Storm got over 26, 000 in their first game and still average about 12, 000 a game. Leage has far established as the more popular code in Australia and Victoria and it's too late to try and establish union. With the NRL, you get a regular season like the NRL. With union, you get a few weeks a year. RL had the hard job of converting people from Aussie rules to RL. RU has the even harder task of converting people from Aussie rules AND RL to RU. Very hard to convert people from RL when it's a vastly more exciting and better game than RU.

routy21 wrote: absolute rubbish article...

http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/news ... 26512.html

What do you expect? It's written by Peter Fitzsimons, watch The Backpage and you will clearly see that he is a League hater. Actually, watch The Backpage and you will see that they all dislike League.

Union to grow where NRL falters? Hmm, so they've put a team in Perth? Is the next team going to Adelaide? No wonder the Gold Coast team never got a look in for Australia's 5th Super 15 Team.

routy21 wrote: absolute rubbish article...

http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/news ... 26512.html

After I read that I wrote Fitzsimons an email in response. See below:

"...Lest we forget, one of Australia's greatest war heroes, Weary Dunlop, learnt his rugby in the Melbourne competition in the 1930s and so loved the game that when he died in 1993 he was buried in his Wallabies jersey. Another WWII hero, Stan Bisset, of Kokoda fame, also played for the Wallabies as a Victorian representative in the 1930s. Countless generations of rugby union people have been produced since in the Victorian capital - including Wallabies World Cup-winning prop Ewen McKenzie..."

Oh deary me Mr Fitzsimons. You condemn the Melbourne Storm and (for the umpteenth time) predict their demise, and yet your best argument is ancient history. Your most recent "successful" Melbourne product played his last game in the dim, dark days before Storm even existed. And "countless generations"? 79 years is four generations, five at absolute best - even you shouldn't need to take off your socks to count that.

Let's not even mention the actual dearth of rugby talent to emerge from Melbourne since God knows when; but rather focus on the real problems:

Firstly; your generation of former players presiding over the demise of Australian Rugby from a dominant force to a rabble of overpaid egos coached (with minimal success I must note) by a Kiwi !!
Secondly;the degradation of the game from a fine art to an over-regulated, over-refereed exercise in kicking the ball away when you're in your own half, and kicking for goal when you're in theirs.
Thirdly; the lack of top level rugby talent in Australia. The ARL is currently struggling - nay, failing - to field four top level teams. Where exactly are the additional 30 "Super" standard players suddenly going to appear from? The much vaunted second tier national comp? Oh wait, that only lasted a year.

Don't you worry about Melbourne Storm Mr Fitzsimons. If I were in your boots, I'd be far more concerned about  the inability of your game to attract free-to-air coverage (why is that, do you think?) and the descent of a once great game into a farcical form of kick ' n' clap where the major cause of onfield breathlessness is the ref exhausting himself on his whistle.

TC wrote:

routy21 wrote: absolute rubbish article...

http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/news ... 26512.html

After I read that I wrote Fitzsimons an email in response. See below:

"...Lest we forget, one of Australia's greatest war heroes, Weary Dunlop, learnt his rugby in the Melbourne competition in the 1930s and so loved the game that when he died in 1993 he was buried in his Wallabies jersey. Another WWII hero, Stan Bisset, of Kokoda fame, also played for the Wallabies as a Victorian representative in the 1930s. Countless generations of rugby union people have been produced since in the Victorian capital - including Wallabies World Cup-winning prop Ewen McKenzie..."

Oh deary me Mr Fitzsimons. You condemn the Melbourne Storm and (for the umpteenth time) predict their demise, and yet your best argument is ancient history. Your most recent "successful" Melbourne product played his last game in the dim, dark days before Storm even existed. And "countless generations"? 79 years is four generations, five at absolute best - even you shouldn't need to take off your socks to count that.

Let's not even mention the actual dearth of rugby talent to emerge from Melbourne since God knows when; but rather focus on the real problems:

Firstly; your generation of former players presiding over the demise of Australian Rugby from a dominant force to a rabble of overpaid egos coached (with minimal success I must note) by a Kiwi !!
Secondly;the degradation of the game from a fine art to an over-regulated, over-refereed exercise in kicking the ball away when you're in your own half, and kicking for goal when you're in theirs.
Thirdly; the lack of top level rugby talent in Australia. The ARL is currently struggling - nay, failing - to field four top level teams. Where exactly are the additional 30 "Super" standard players suddenly going to appear from? The much vaunted second tier national comp? Oh wait, that only lasted a year.

Don't you worry about Melbourne Storm Mr Fitzsimons. If I were in your boots, I'd be far more concerned about  the inability of your game to attract free-to-air coverage (why is that, do you think?) and the descent of a once great game into a farcical form of kick ' n' clap where the major cause of onfield breathlessness is the ref exhausting himself on his whistle.

Nice post TC.
The question he should have asked himself as well is how many of those onion juniors from years past only played because they had no pathway in League. Youd have to think a good proportion of them.

Surandy wrote:

routy21 wrote: absolute rubbish article...

http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/news ... 26512.html

What do you expect? It's written by Peter Fitzsimons, watch The Backpage and you will clearly see that he is a League hater. Actually, watch The Backpage and you will see that they all dislike League.

Union to grow where NRL falters? Hmm, so they've put a team in Perth? Is the next team going to Adelaide? No wonder the Gold Coast team never got a look in for Australia's 5th Super 15 Team.

I watch the Back Page and thankfully can't recall him being on the show this year, but in previous years he continually bagged out on the Storm, moreso than other nrl sides.
I bet you he's on a high now that Union have a team here in Melbourne, so look out for more similar articles.