'Secrets' get the nod ...

[BR]

Seems the Victoria RU have been successful in their bid for a Melbourne Super nn franchise. An additional Australian 'inter-pro' series would seem like a good idea now.

[mikerob]

I expect they'll be doing a lot of recruitment in Argentina... the Melbourne Gauchos?

[WhiteKnightoftheWeld]

are they to be called the Rebels?

This Super franchise will be lost on Melbourne's sporting public

This is a vote for common sense, said Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O'Neill after Melbourne got the green light to be the base for the 15th Super rugby franchise.

Strange choice of words, that.

Not "inspired", or "enlightened", or even "vaguely interesting" - just garden variety common sense.

Even by those low standards, O'Neill's comment is open to debate.

The all-New Zealand Sanzar panel of David Kirk and retired High Court judge Barry Paterson QC determined that the Port Elizabeth-based Southern Kings bid had a stronger business model and rugby tradition, a better playing base and was further advanced in terms of rugby readiness.

Melbourne, on the other hand, offered stronger commercial benefits - so the Melbourne Rebels got the gig. Sounds more like dollars-and-cents than common sense.

Remember, too, that the hearts of Melburnians have been bought by one of the city's nine AFL teams. Even league, a more Australian sport than union, has struggled, the Melbourne Storm having the third-lowest average crowd this year despite being the NRL's best side.

In 2007, an official Australian Bureau of Statistics report found a less than 1 per cent participation rate in rugby in Victoria. A hard sell, yes, but in Victorian Rugby Union president Gary Gray they have a salesman who will have vegetarians emptying their pockets for a ticket in a meat raffle.

Speaking to the Herald, Gray said he was convinced the Rebels would be embraced by the AFL-loving public.

"The public at large are very excited we are now going to be part of the international rugby scene," Gray said. "For a minor rugby state, we have a real tradition and culture of rugby here. We're [the VRU] 100 years old this year and Victoria's produced something like 26 Wallabies.

"We have a big city with a lot of expats.

"We have a lot of Kiwis and a lot of South Africans and I'm confident we will tap into those demographics. I think people will be surprised by the Victorian underbelly of rugby support."

[Snipe Watson]

That'll go down well in Cork.

[mikerob]

I lived in Melbourne for a few years... I can't see the RU team getting a big crowd other than ex-pats as AFL is so entrenched there. It dominates the sporting headlines and media to an even greater extent than football in the UK.

(Personally I thought AFL was a rubbish sport... random aerial ping pong. No serious international dimension (compromise rules with GAA is a joke) and the pinnacle of the sport is 2 Melbourne suburbs playing each other)

[Cobber]

Melbourne likes to think of itself as the sporting capital of Australia. Whilst I'd like to see a successful Rebels* team, I don't hold that much hope for them getting the supporter base they need to keep them going.

* Back in 2007 we had an Australian Rugby Championship (ARC) competition which had 8 teams, the Melbourne based to was called the Melbourne Rebels and there is some talk that they will keep this name. I think they should drop Melbourne in favour of Victoria as they are the only Super 15 in Victoria and will have broader appeal to all Victorians. One of the 10 AFL teams based in Victoria is called Melbourne - they could lose 90% of possible supporters if they did teh same with their only Rugby team.

[Jackie Brown]

(Personally I thought AFL was a rubbish sport... random aerial ping pong. No serious international dimension (compromise rules with GAA is a joke) and the pinnacle of the sport is 2 Melbourne suburbs playing each other)

Hit the nail on the head, I'll give most sports a go, but AFl and Baseball are up there as the two worst sports in the history of man kind.

[mikerob]

(Personally I thought AFL was a rubbish sport... random aerial ping pong. No serious international dimension (compromise rules with GAA is a joke) and the pinnacle of the sport is 2 Melbourne suburbs playing each other)

Hit the nail on the head, I'll give most sports a go, but AFl and Baseball are up there as the two worst sports in the history of man kind.

Mine would be AFL and basketball... I quite like baseball.... but not because of what is going on on the field, but like cricket, you can sit out in the sun for a few hours, have a good natter with the people around, get some food and get slowly sozzled....

[Jackie Brown]

Basketball is like a broken pencil...

[stickinout]

(Personally I thought AFL was a rubbish sport... random aerial ping pong. No serious international dimension (compromise rules with GAA is a joke) and the pinnacle of the sport is 2 Melbourne suburbs playing each other)

Hit the nail on the head, I'll give most sports a go, but AFl and Baseball are up there as the two worst sports in the history of man kind.

Mine would be AFL and basketball... I quite like baseball.... but not because of what is going on on the field, but like cricket, you can sit out in the sun for a few hours, have a good natter with the people around, get some food and get slowly sozzled....

Don''t know how you can say that about basketball, it's a great sport. The only issue i have with it is that it's too easy for a lot of the players to dunk, would be like you or I dunking on a kiddies court.