Hawkes bay goes for Super 15 Franchise...

This bid will be a good test of whether or not the NZRFU is open to different ideas and approaches. I am not hopeful since they track record indicates they have a bad "not invented here" syndrome.

My spies tell me a very large sponsor has been lined up if this gets the nod. The team already has 12 Super 14 players one of whom is a recent All Black. Hawkes Bay have got a world class coach and if they have the money then they can easily attract the additional players to be 100% competitive.

I've always thought the best solution to the Super 14 teams is to have the top five provincial teams plus, say, a draft of up to five out of province players to allow All Blacks who miss out to play in the Super Competition.

McLean Park has a flash new stand complete with 24 coprorate boxes and the lights have been fully upgraded, and the park can apparently now hold 24,000 people. Now, I've heard capacity estimates for the ground as low as 12,000 and but I've been to games there when the crowd was around the 25,000 mark and the place is packed to the rafters. But that was a long time ago and I doubt the modern control freaks of rugby administration would be comfortable with creaky temporary stands and milling throngs of excitable fans but metres from the touchlines.

The problem is can NZ rugby support six professional teams? Well, if we can't why should Hawke's Bay miss out? We can only have five, It should be the Higlanders who are dumped out of the Super 15 in favour of hawekes Bay. Their Super 14 team is our poorest performer fro several seasons now and the Highlanders need to import players from everywhere just so they can finsish last of the NZ teams. The Otago Air NZ Cup team has also consistantly performed very poorly over recent seasons.

Dunedin has a run down stadium that gets small crowds and those who do turn up seem to moan all the time. In contrast,Hawke's Bay rugby is on an absolute high right now. Support and enthusiasm is unbelievable. No one will moans about the cost of the new stand and lights and they'd pack out their stadium every week. If you include Palmerston North (90 minute drive away), they've a bigger population than Otago to draw on and the weather for night rugby is better as well.

Otago/The Highlanders have not had the results that justified their lofty status as a Super 14 franchise holder for several seasons now. No one has a absolute right to host a professional franchise, change to an area which is more enthusiastic and more united behind their team can only be good for rugby.

Will they be able to fill in the stands?

I dont think any nz franchise fills the stadium

Hawkes bay would fill their stands for every game. Why? because currently the province is behind the team. Because right now there is a feeling of momentum and excitment. Because Hawkes Bay is a rugby mad stronghold of the game. And because there isn't a lot to do on a Saturday night in Napier, so it would literally be the only game in town.

I would suspect there will be an issue of depth. How many clubs are there around Hawke's Bay area?

Do we really need another North Island Super Team???

Fill the stands every game? How big is the Stadium?



Isn't Melbourne a shit in for the 15th Super Team?

In all honesty I don't think we need another Super Franchise in NZ, at all. In fact I'd drop one.

As far as Melbourne goes, I reckon is a massive gamble for SANZAR. Victorians are not rugby (union) state. Hell, from what I know league is struggling even with Storm being one of the top teams in NRL.

Nah Storm is not struggling, they pull awesome crowds at Olympic Stadium.

HB will fill the staduims for a couple of games then when the average teams like the Lions and Reds put 50 on them the people will stop coming and it will turn into a disaster for NZ rugby!

Tell Hawkes Bay they're dreaming.

We don't need another Super team anyway. Teams are average enough as it is.

Melbourne is a sports made city in general and will support most things if promoted well.

Looks like Taranaki are also applying for it... LOL!

I know you are passionate about this fb and I dont doubt your region would get behind it. But the reality is for HB to be granted the franchise would require one NZ team dropping out. For player/talent reasons before we even get started on the rest

Some posts above are missing the point that a HB Super Side wouldnt "get flogged by 50" because the new gfranchise would attract new players. It wouldnt be the HB NPC side running around in the Super comp. duh

I like the idea, it would be exciting and NEW. But yeah one side has to drop out. And that cant be any North Island team, and I dont think having one side in the South Island (ie dumping thr Highlanders) ...is pratical

So yeah sorry it isnt going to happen, yous HB'ers = sabre rattling (and now Taranaki has joined in, which hardly helps)

How many NPC titles does HB have?
How many does Otago have?

I still prefer the idea of running the super 14 and NPC concurrently, in a format similar (that I know of) to the UEFA cup.

Hawkes Bays bid has been canned

I've been saying this for years

Decentralise funding so provinces do what they want

10 team 1st div
10 team 2nd
2 up 2 down - 1 automatic, 1 playoff

top 4 from NPC qualify for next years S12

Melbourne Storm only pulled an average of around 12,000 in home games last year!

Did someone tell them they were having a laugh?

The play off is a waste of time as the 1st division clubs invariably always win, look at the old NPC play off games. If it 2 up 2 down then it should be automatic, if a province wasn't good enough to finish in the top 8 then don't give them a second chance. If you want to have a playoff then have 3 and 4 play for the right to play 2 for promotion, it keeps the competition alive when 1 or 2 sides run away with it because the rest still have something to play for.