Super Rugby 2026
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@SouthernMann said in Super Rugby 2026:
@Canes4life said in Super Rugby 2026:
@mohikamo said in Super Rugby 2026:
@Duluth said in Super Rugby 2026:
I think there should be more teams and the larger ones should be broken up. There should be more opportunities for players to play close to their home.. that makes for a more tribal competition with more interest.
On that.
I'm thinking most players are a bit more particular about which NPC team they play for than they are about their SR team.
As soon as an SR contract comes their way; they're in, they don't care which team.I don’t think that’s the case at all, every player will have a Super franchise they support growing up and for most players that would be their first option no doubt. This is only true if they are struggling to find an opportunity and a spot at another franchise is their only option.
Professional rugby is like other workplaces. Grads (or in rugby terms 19 - 21 year olds) will go where there is the best opportunities for them. Some of the top kids will get to chose, others will make strategic decisions based on the opportunities available and some will just end up where there is a spot available. Same as in the corporate world. Kids may have firms they want to work for, but will end up in the Mainfreight grad programme on the end of the broom.
Most 20-year-olds won't automatically make 23s and being squad player 36 for their chosen team may be a dream come true. It will just do fuck all for their development. Same with being a WTG member.
Wrampling-Alec wanted to be a Chief. Is now a Blue due to opportunities.
Tangitau held tacklebags for two years at the Blues. Tore it up at the Landers.
Solomon offered a WTG spot at the Canes and a full gig at the Landers. Still to be seen if he can overcome his lack of size.
The best thing players can do is listen to good considered advice. Jacomb for example probably signed a year too long at the Chiefs.
Having a favourite team is fine. Getting gametime is even better.
Then historically, some of the franchises best players would not have dreamed of playing for the teams they became icons with. Brodie Retallick, McKenzie or ALB dreamed of becoming Chiefs. Or Aaron Smith a Highlander. Or Richie McCaw being one of the best Canterbury sportsmen ever.
Mika Muliaina talked about suporting the Chiefs.
The biggest tool for recruitment of players, whether local or from outside the known catchments is to tell the story of how/when the player will be a full-time regular. The Blues couldn't do that with Tangitau (when he left he was stuck behind All Blacks). The same with the Crusaders and keeping Oudenryn. Not hooki g spots available at Crusaders HQ.
Every guy will want to be playing regularly as soon as possible. Boyhood loyalties will fade when it is clear a player could be starting instead of playing clubrugby and holding tackle bags.
I 100% agree that if you're not getting gametime or even selected at your franchise of choice then the obvious thing to do is move. My argument is that for the most part players (especially those considered future stars and that have come through academies) often end up at their home franchise. Obviously, this isn't always the case, but it more often than not ends up being true.
I do agree that the landscape is changing and younger players want gametime right off the bat i.e. Solomon going to the Highlanders, so each to their own I guess.
Would be cool to see some sort of draft take place in the future if franchise allegiance becomes less of a factor.
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@mariner4life said in Super Rugby 2026:
The atmosphere at rugby games in NZ fucking sucks too. That Eden Park Bledisloe sounded like a cricket game, lots of talking with the very occasional roar. What is the actual pull to go watch in person?
people seem to be a lot more vocal about the stuff they dont like than the stuff they do like, thats why i dont bother with the match day threads...theyre not enjoyable to read
my personal experience with football, an added aspect that sometimes helps when the game is shit is the wider comp, almost everyone is fighting for something, automatic promotion....or play offs...or relegation...even in afl you hear people start to talk about good draft picks if theyre having a shit season...rugby comps....are just a bit blah
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@mariner4life said in Super Rugby 2026:
The atmosphere at rugby games in NZ fucking sucks too. That Eden Park Bledisloe sounded like a cricket game, lots of talking with the very occasional roar. What is the actual pull to go watch in person?
I haven't found much difference in either country really mariner, but then we tend to be a bit quiet at sport in general. I haven't been to a test at Eden park since Lions in 2017, was great then, but we had the Brits ! I been to a lot of rugby in Aus too and found it the same. Was the crowd at Auck Bled especially quite, I only saw it on tv.
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Aus rugby crowds are shit because there are either 14 people there, or a bunch of kiwis. AFL crowds are great, even 65,000 mouth-breathing Carlton supporters yelling "BAAAALLLL" every minute is an upgrade.
The Lions are good because they bring the Poms.
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Dan54 to me has a similar viewpoint to the average club rugby fan in the UK. Enjoy the game, support the team regardless of their results and standing. Most NZ rugby fans aren't like that for some reason. They have other distractions to occupy their time
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@mariner4life said in Super Rugby 2026:
The atmosphere at rugby games in NZ fucking sucks too. That Eden Park Bledisloe sounded like a cricket game, lots of talking with the very occasional roar. What is the actual pull to go watch in person?
Agree, All Blacks games suck for atmosphere, my thoughts is that because it's the national team the fans in the crowd are for more casual rugby watchers. The best crowds in my opinion are for Super Rugby. NPC crowds while small are also usually good
Gonna go slightly off topic and say fans are quiet because no one wants to stand out and potentially seem cringe but to be cringe is to be free. I am a rowdy fluffybunny at Chiefs games and absolutely spray the opposing team without any personal insults. I don't drink much but last year in the Chiefs vs Saders home game I had a few beers and was having a back and forth with a Saders supporter near me who was a good sport. Just chat some shit and don't let anyone get under your skin. I think Blues fans and Hurricanes fans don't have as much of a sense of tribalism compared to the other 3 teams though.
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There is a major difference between rugby supporters and rugby league supporters in Auckland. If you go to a Wahs game you can yell and scream and you fit right in. Try that at an NPC game at Eden Park and you might even get told to hush a bit. It happened to me years ago, crazy
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I'm not having a go. Auckland FC turned up 2 minutes ago - the Blues/Auckland rugby crowds were poor before then.
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@canefan its going back a couple of years, but when the Drua played here in Whangarei, the Drua fans were great, signing, dancing, was a great atmosphere, but NZ grounds seem to prefer to play shitty music and kept playing it over the top of the crowd creating that faux ambience.
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@taniwharugby said in Super Rugby 2026:
@canefan its going back a couple of years, but when the Drua played here in Whangarei, the Drua fans were great, signing, dancing, was a great atmosphere, but NZ grounds seem to prefer to play shitty music and kept playing it over the top of the crowd creating that faux ambience.
Rugby has no idea how to provide a quality entertainment product, and that starts with the game on the pitch (I'm referring to test footy more than SR). The NH seem less discerning and more loyal, NZ crowds the opposite
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@canefan said in Super Rugby 2026:
@taniwharugby said in Super Rugby 2026:
@canefan its going back a couple of years, but when the Drua played here in Whangarei, the Drua fans were great, signing, dancing, was a great atmosphere, but NZ grounds seem to prefer to play shitty music and kept playing it over the top of the crowd creating that faux ambience.
Rugby has no idea how to provide a quality entertainment product, and that starts with the game on the pitch (I'm referring to test footy more than SR). The NH seem less discerning and more loyal, NZ crowds the opposite
Test rugby really is over officiated when all is said and done.
A lot of the NH refs seem to love the sound of their own voice and the constant stoppages rather than just letting the game flow. Murray mexted phrases it brilliantly, calls those refs litigious.
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@nonpartizan said in Super Rugby 2026:
@canefan said in Super Rugby 2026:
@taniwharugby said in Super Rugby 2026:
@canefan its going back a couple of years, but when the Drua played here in Whangarei, the Drua fans were great, signing, dancing, was a great atmosphere, but NZ grounds seem to prefer to play shitty music and kept playing it over the top of the crowd creating that faux ambience.
Rugby has no idea how to provide a quality entertainment product, and that starts with the game on the pitch (I'm referring to test footy more than SR). The NH seem less discerning and more loyal, NZ crowds the opposite
Test rugby really is over officiated when all is said and done.
A lot of the NH refs seem to love the sound of their own voice and the constant stoppages rather than just letting the game flow. Murray mexted phrases it brilliantly, calls those refs litigious.
its true but "we" dont help, plenty of posts in game threads along the lines "how did the miss that" or calling for cards/penalties when we spot things we dont like
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@Kiwiwomble said in Super Rugby 2026:
@nonpartizan said in Super Rugby 2026:
@canefan said in Super Rugby 2026:
@taniwharugby said in Super Rugby 2026:
@canefan its going back a couple of years, but when the Drua played here in Whangarei, the Drua fans were great, signing, dancing, was a great atmosphere, but NZ grounds seem to prefer to play shitty music and kept playing it over the top of the crowd creating that faux ambience.
Rugby has no idea how to provide a quality entertainment product, and that starts with the game on the pitch (I'm referring to test footy more than SR). The NH seem less discerning and more loyal, NZ crowds the opposite
Test rugby really is over officiated when all is said and done.
A lot of the NH refs seem to love the sound of their own voice and the constant stoppages rather than just letting the game flow. Murray mexted phrases it brilliantly, calls those refs litigious.
its true but "we" dont help, plenty of posts in game threads along the lines "how did the miss that" or calling for cards/penalties when we spot things we dont like
fans are the fucking worst and the last thing any fucking governing organisation should do is listen to them.
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@Old-Alleynians said in Super Rugby 2026:
I'm not having a go. Auckland FC turned up 2 minutes ago - the Blues/Auckland rugby crowds were poor before then.
You'll get no arguments from me on the Auckland front, the NPC is dead there and Auckland themselves seemed to have given up trying to win the thing, we see more academy players running around for them with the established players playing like they don't want to get injured or something.
On the Blues, well, we were very poor in the 2010s which contributed a lot to the downfall of crowds in that era. We were usually out of finals contention by April in those years so yeah, it was hard to attract big audiences back then. What I will say though is that crowds against non NZ competition back in those days were better than what it is now.
Now, its a massive uphill task since the end if covid days. The Wahs returned fulltime to NZ with a huge following, Auckland FC Have added to the market, I haven't even included the Breakers until now so yeah, crowds since 2022 have been on a steady decline, so instead of attracting 15,000 fans or so against non NZ opposition, they're now barely attracting 10 on a good day.
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@mariner4life said in Super Rugby 2026:
@Kiwiwomble said in Super Rugby 2026:
@nonpartizan said in Super Rugby 2026:
@canefan said in Super Rugby 2026:
@taniwharugby said in Super Rugby 2026:
@canefan its going back a couple of years, but when the Drua played here in Whangarei, the Drua fans were great, signing, dancing, was a great atmosphere, but NZ grounds seem to prefer to play shitty music and kept playing it over the top of the crowd creating that faux ambience.
Rugby has no idea how to provide a quality entertainment product, and that starts with the game on the pitch (I'm referring to test footy more than SR). The NH seem less discerning and more loyal, NZ crowds the opposite
Test rugby really is over officiated when all is said and done.
A lot of the NH refs seem to love the sound of their own voice and the constant stoppages rather than just letting the game flow. Murray mexted phrases it brilliantly, calls those refs litigious.
its true but "we" dont help, plenty of posts in game threads along the lines "how did the miss that" or calling for cards/penalties when we spot things we dont like
fans are the fucking worst and the last thing any fucking governing organisation should do is listen to them.
cant stand em
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damn fans, they ruined fandom
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Boy, you fans sure are a contentious lot
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@Dan54 said in Super Rugby 2026:
@African-Monkey said in Super Rugby 2026:
@frugby said in Super Rugby 2026:
@Duluth said in Super Rugby 2026:
@frugby said in Super Rugby 2026:
I think there should be more teams and the larger ones should be broken up. There should be more opportunities for players to play close to their home.. that makes for a more tribal competition with more interest.
I find this quite fascinating. Have recently been in the UK, and the sheer density of population/football teams in London is incredible, and it goes back to your first point.
Why is it, that Auckland, a city of 1.5m, struggles to support two Super Rugby teams, given rugby is our national game?
Sydney is about 2x as big and they support 9 NRL teams.
Is it better to look at the population of rugby fans as opposed to actual population?
I think a ranking of average crowd size for the 14 NPC sides + the 5 Super Rugby sides would be interesting.
Auckland also has The Wahs and Auckland FC to compete with, and with a cost of living crisis, rugby is bring squeezed out by rival codes. Compare that with the population of the Canterbury region which is about 700,000 currently and growing and has ONE professinal sports team. Lets see how they cope once they eventually get a league team down the track. There's no competition currently in the South Island and the crowds down there are still pathetic most of the time.
Sydney is also not 2 times as big, it has a population of 5.5 mil.
Yep bang on AM, it's pretty different when you look Sydney has population of whole of NZ .
Problem is getting that 5.5 mill to stadiums involves a fair bit of travelling.
Brisbane las about double pop of Auckland doesn't it, and has one of each code , I think, with a couple of teams in surrounding cities? My main take is travel and of course w got a lot of people who these days quite enjoy the convenience of sitting on couches?If you count the Goldy and Sunshine Coast (and you should) then Brisbane is over 3.5 million
And while there's been rationalisation in this millennium, if your region/ suburb had a NRL team, you had a stadium which was "reasonably" well serviced by public transport. Or certainly better than driving which is an act of self loathing.
Australia is also much more willing to waste taxpayer funds on infrastructure.
The other issue is while Australians generally support winners, my experience is there's a considerable discrepancy between codes when their team sucks. Rugby appears to be the worst- "fans" stop attending when their team sucks and are amazingly ignorant of the laws.
