Cash-strapped Rebels a reflection of rugby’s rocky shape

Rugby’s great hope: Phil Waugh, Dan Herbert and Joe Schmidt.

It seems all but certain the Melbourne Rebels franchise won’t be competing in Super Rugby next year.

While Rugby Australia chief Phil Waugh moved to assure the Rebels existence in the 2024 season – kicking off in four weeks’ time – when saying the organisation was “committed” to the franchise, the Melbourne side is in financial hell having entered into voluntary administration this week. Their future is dim.

The Australian this week reported the franchise was seeking $500,000 from RA to assure the players and staff would be paid. Their tax bill is said to be enormous. It’s understood their debt is now ticking well over $10 million.

But the Rebels demise has raised many questions, not least of them:

- Does Super Rugby need five Australian teams?

- Will it break the hearts of the Australian rugby fan base if the Rebels disappear?

Rugby fans will toss up a myriad of responses to the above questions, but one of the main issues for rugby is not at the elite level – it’s the game’s grassroots.

The once-rich talent pool is being whittled away.

Talk to those on the ground, watching schoolboy rugby in the GPS schools, and they’ll say the talent isn’t what it was.

And if there are standout players and prodigious talent? Well, rugby league scouts and clubs are quicker and faster snatching up the best. They are wooing away teenagers for a billion-dollar league that has a healthy fan base and franchises that are surviving – and thriving.

NRL clubs such as the Sydney Roosters, who under the astute leadership of Trent Robinson and Nick Politis have become a sporting powerhouse. It’s a club renowned for its professionalism and strong culture. Several of their players have attended the prestigious rugby school of Scots College, including Siua Wong, Billy Smith and Angus Crichton.

While Roosters star Joseph Suaalii has signed to Tahs and the Wallabies in a mind-boggling $5 million deal, late last year Australian try-scoring machine Mark Nawaqanitawase defected to Roosters.

And it would be no surprise if young Wallaby and Waratah Max Jorgensen – son of former Eastern Suburbs speedster Peter – decides to go, too. The 19-year-old, good enough to be selected for the Rugby World Cup but didn’t play due to injury, is understood to be strongly considering the move to Bondi.

Waugh doesn’t have his head in the sand about the issue. The Rugby Australia CEO hopes the security of newly appointed Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt and the arrival of experienced high-performance manager David Nucifora encourages more stability around the national team. Late last year, before their appointments, he said fixing the “uncertain” environment was the priority.

“There’s no denying that we need to ensure that we’ve got the right environment and culture within the Wallabies … the right head coach will attract the best possible assistant coaches and best management team, and that will drive the appropriate culture through for the Wallabies and then that attracts players,” Waugh said, who played 136 games for the Waratahs and 79 Tests for the Wallabies.

Yet there is now uncertainty rippling though not only the Rebels player ranks, of which there are seven Wallabies, including superstar frontrower Taniela Tupou.

While the Rebels have been told they’ll be paid for this season, beyond that there are no assurances. Understandably, the stable competitions in Japan and France are looking pretty appealing right now.

Uncertainty hangs over the front office. How much money will RA give the Rebels to stay afloat? How far will the $80 million they recently borrowed from Pacific Equity Partners last for?

Then there are the media rights.

As rugby fights to keep the Rebels afloat and Perth hosts the World Series Sevens with World Rugby bosses Alan Gilpin and Bill Beaumont sideline, Rugby Australia chairman Dan Herbert is in Melbourne this weekend as a guest of broadcast Nine for the tennis finals.

It sounds like rugby is on the slide with Nine Entertainment, too.

Rugby broadcaster Nine Entertainment and Stan have considered a strong bid for the Football Australia television rights to the Matildas and Socceroos matches.

The RA deal with Nine is up in 2025 and any move towards football could be a big blow to the code’s hope of a big broadcast deal.

The Matildas, in particular, have become the sure thing of Australian sport. Their semi-final defeat to England in the Women’s World Cup became the most watched television show in Australia on record, drawing 11.15 million viewers.

As a rugby franchise appears about to fold, codes such as the NRL and AFL rise and rise. And as other sports strengthen, rugby’s problems here in Australia seemingly grow by the day.