Australian rugby has been playing Super Rugby musical chairs with four chairs and five guests for about a decade, and now the music has stopped it’s the Melbourne Rebels who are left standing.
The Rebels aren’t the only ones on trial as their increasingly bitter battle with Rugby Australia plays out – it’s the entire concept of the five-team model.
Game over . . . a fan hugs the Melbourne Rebels mascot.Credit: Getty Images
There isn’t enough money in Australian rugby to pay for five teams at present, and the sheer cost of running a Super Rugby team – and how much Rugby Australia has been spending on them – was confirmed by the extraordinary administrator’s report into the Melbourne franchise.
During the past three years, Rugby Australia has put $16.6 million into the Rebels. Bear in mind this is an organisation that has been forced into taking an $80 million credit facility at an interest rate of more than 10 per cent.
Player salaries at the Rebels over the same period totalled more than $22m, and the administrator stated that the franchise has been spending an average of $7.37m on players a year.
These are the fundamentals of the Rebels situation and should be seen as far more relevant than the administrator’s view that Rugby Australia should engage with the Rebels’ investor group for a rescue package.
Why? Because that recommendation takes a very narrow view as to what might be best for the Rebels’ creditors, not what is best for the sustainability of Australian rugby.
It does not take into consideration that Rugby Australia would have to keep funding the Rebels with money it doesn’t have – to the tune of about $5m a year – despite knowing that the very same organisation has been bleeding at least $5m a year for the past three years, regardless of the RA funding.
Rebels players face an uncertain future.Credit: Getty
Do the maths: Rescuing Rebels would be throwing more borrowed money after bad
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27.04.2024
Australian rugby has been playing Super Rugby musical chairs with four chairs and five guests for about a decade, and now the music has stopped it’s the Melbourne Rebels who are left standing.
The Rebels aren’t the only ones on trial as their increasingly bitter battle with Rugby Australia plays out – it’s the entire concept of the five-team model.
Game over . . . a fan hugs the Melbourne Rebels mascot.Credit: Getty Images
There isn’t enough money........
© The Sydney Morning Herald
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