The easiest way to fix this would be a move to a top four. However, the powers that be would worry about a three-week finals format being cut to two weeks.
As a result, home and away semi-finals cannot be ignored. As we see in European rugby and football, teams would square off twice in two weeks, with the highest aggregate of points scored determining who would advance to the final.
Teams that finish higher on the table would play the first leg away, and get the advantage of knowing how they have to win in front of their own fans a week later.
Last year’s semi-final between the Crusaders and Blues saw the red and blacks claim a 21-14 win in Christchurch. Can you imagine the jeopardy on a return leg at Eden Park, where the Blues have to win by seven or more points to make the decider?
Not only would it add credibility to the finals, but the jeopardy on those second legs would be huge, and hopefully a huge carrot for fans to rally around in the hope of sealing a final spot.
The Crusaders celebrate winning their semi-final against the Blues last season. But what if it was only the first leg? Photo / Photosport
Give money the chance to talk
Liam Napier
Private investment is a double-edged sword but Super Rugby clearly needs to raise significantly more capital to survive.
Moana Pasifika are expected to follow the Melbourne Rebels’ demise at the end of this season, while the 10 remaining teams struggle to turn a profit each year.
Wealthy individuals willing to invest in rugby in this part of the world are almost as rare as roofed stadiums but we’ve seen Bill Foley bankroll Auckland FC, Murray Bolton previously fund the Blues and Malcolm Gillies bail out the Hurricanes.
Franchise rugby is the level to target private investment but to attract those individuals, the New Zealand and Australian national unions must be willing to genuinely loosen control.
More money in the game could help retain players, particularly the at-risk middle tier, and potentially lure overseas stars. Imagine the interest in Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i turning out for the Blues or Finn Russell playing in this part of the world. Such scenarios can only be achieved with serious cash, though.
Player movement must be allowed and, indeed, encouraged to spread the talent more evenly, too, and shifting kickoff times to more family-friendly afternoon slots is also a no-brainer to address ongoing crowd challenges.
How about Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii in a Blues jersey? Photo / Photosport
Bring back Super 14
Elliott Smith
This is hardly implementable next year but it’s time for a serious look at the way our rugby season and teams are structured.
We are asking fans to support too many teams/competitions and too many games in a year.
But we are also too thinly spread in terms of franchises for Super Rugby – and I find it hard to believe the Kiwi squads need 50 players if the NRL can get by with a top 30.
Skipper Richie McCaw meets the crowd after the Crusaders won the 2008 Super 14 final. Photo / Photosport
So, to combat that it’s time to bring back the Super 14, four Australian franchises, Fiji plus nine New Zealand sides – the five foundation franchises remain but they lose key parts of their catchment – Tasman is now a Super franchise, the Central Vikings are back too, the Northern Taniwha will encapsulate everything north of the Auckland Harbour bridge and Bay of Plenty gets one too or Taranaki – they can figure that it out.
The players spread a little thinner, it’s not quite the NPC (which could be played as a feeder comp on a lower budget), but it is enough to bring back tribalism – a key tenet of the NRL and AFL which are just a bunch of Sydney/Melbourne suburbs playing against each other. No, I don’t know who pays for it.
Conference call
Winston Aldworth
Bring in a conference system, with eight teams based in New Zealand, adding the top three provincial sides to the established five SR sides (assuming that Moana Pasifika are out of the picture).
Run the competition right through the season, with NPC matches taking place at the same time as Super Rugby matches. The provincial sides play for promotion-relegation, while the Super Rugby teams are ring-fenced (guaranteed no relegation).
To put it in football terms: Super Rugby is the Premier League and the NPC is the Championship. Top two teams go into semi-finals against top two sides from a separate conference made up from Australia and the Pacific.
And, for Pinetree’s sake, bring back daytime kick-offs.
Play games at the same time
Cameron McMillan
Rugby has too many stoppages, which means too many opportunities to look at your phone as soon as a scrum is called – or change the channel, leaving the game altogether, to maybe check out an NRL game or Auckland FC. But what if there’s another rugby game to change to? It doesn’t have to be like the NFL where up to six games are on at the same time, making the Redzone channel hugely popular. Super Rugby doesn’t have enough teams for that.
But say on a Saturday night if the Blues were hosting the Brumbies at Eden Park and on Sky Sport 2 the Highlanders were playing the Reds, there’s a strong chance I’d be following both games than if they were on different days. The casual rugby fan doesn’t have the time to watch every game every weekend. So just combine the kickoff times at least once a round.
Super Rugby draft
Nathan Limm
One of Super Rugby’s key issues is it struggles to garner significant attention in the off-season and feels decidedly disconnected from the NPC. The more casual sports observers I interact with have little idea Super Rugby is back underway until results start appearing on their social media feeds. Therefore, the competition needs a more significant event to get fans talking months out from game one.
The notion of a Super Rugby draft gained traction early last year, but little has been heard of it since. Mirroring the likes of the United States’ NBA, NFL and MLB, franchises could select top NPC, schoolboy or club prospects. The draft order should go from the weakest to the strongest clubs, making for a more even dispersion of talent. It would require NZ Rugby to allow for the selection of All Blacks from Australian franchises and the Fijian Drua.
Each club would therefore need at least one scout whose job is touring around Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands to sniff out the brightest prospects. These scouts could provide the Super Rugby board with a list of their top targets, and the board would then create a projected top draft list.
The draft isn’t just about spreading talent more evenly across the competition; it’s about generating more media. First XV rugby culture in New Zealand is huge, and this should be capitalised upon. It’ll also add another layer of importance to the NPC, with all the non-Super Rugby players competing for contracts. A draft will make Super Rugby relevant for almost the entire year, not just from February to June, and will create storylines over the summer, checking in on how the recruits are progressing.
The NPC season finishes on the weekend of October 24-25, so a draft could be held at the beginning of November, when Super Rugby teams generally start their preseason. It works with the All Blacks and Wallabies schedules, given the second Bledisloe Cup fixture on October 17 and their opening northern tour tests on November 8.
With rugby shifting closer to true global professionalism, more Kiwi players will move overseas, and the selection of fresh talent must become an event in its own right.
Bring back daytime footy
Shayne Currie
Sky TV might not like it, but we need a regular schedule of rugby games bathed in sunshine.
Right now, Super Rugby and All Blacks test matches are tailor-made for TV with their 7.05pm and 7.35pm kick-offs – that’s fair enough to a point. But if we’re serious about drawing more crowds to the rugby – and stabilising grassroots support and playing numbers – the kids need to see their heroes up close and personal, at times that are convenient to families.
There are other factors that have driven a wedge between teams and fan attendance, but late kick-offs are the biggest.
Bring back a 2.35pm kick-off into the weekly Super Rugby schedule.
While we’re at it, let’s let the kids swamp the ground at the final whistle, for a selfie (the modern-day equivalent of an autograph).
Lock in Super Round as an annual event
Jason Pine
If Super Round in Christchurch has shown us anything, it’s that sports fans love events.
The brand new stadium brought back memories of the Wellington Sevens – packed stands, fans wearing their colours and an over-riding mood of celebration. It will only grow from here.
Christchurch is the perfect location for Super Round – it now sports a brand new venue which can handle five games across a weekend, provides a great viewing experience for fans (there’s not a bad seat in the house) and has easy, walkable access to the city’s many bars and restaurants, who – along with the city’s retail sector – will benefit greatly.
The powers-that-be at Super Rugby Pacific need to get Anzac weekend in Christchurch locked into their calendar and fans will make an annual pilgrimage to the garden city in their thousands to watch their own team, and all the others.