IT
WASN'T quite
a case of: “Weel, ye ken noo,” but, we do know a smidgen more
about Super-6 following a typical piece of SRU sleight of hand
yesterday. There is a news item up on the official SRU website, about
Super-6. There is an in-depth piece about the new competition,
including the proposed season's outline, but, I'm buggered if I can
find it.
I
know it exists, because a friendly club official sent me a copy,
however, I have as yet been unable to find more than the on line
precis. But, hey, that's the SRU way. Why make things easy for people
who are trying to do them a favour by mentioning this latest project.
OK,
the mainstream media is not at all interested in any rugby below
Edinburgh and Glasgow, but, it might have crossed the mind of
somebody in the SRU's media department – there are guys out there
interested in Super-6 and Agenda-3, let's keep them up to speed.
The SRU media department head
Methinks
the Tennent's Premiership is not the only part of Scottish Rugby that
is “not fit for purpose,” maybe somebody should take MH, the
SRU's version of Buddy the Elf outside and use him for rucking
practise.
Any
way – back to Maverick, as they said. The S6 Update Document runs
to ten pages; a lot of it we already knew, so I will concentrate here
on the bits we didn't know, and, of course, the bits which are likely
to continue the fighting over this new development in the game.
I
appreciate, the Rugby World Cup is a bit of an impediment to 2019-20
being a “normal” season, but that is unavoidable. S6 is due to
kick-off on the weekend of 26 October and 2 November, with a couple
of friendlies – these are the dates for the World Cup semi-finals
and final.
The
first of what will be ten, regular-season fixtures kicks off on the
weekend of November 9, and there will be six straight weeks of
domestic games, before the holiday season shut-down, following the
games on the weekend of 14 December. In early 2020, there will be
games on 18 and 25 January and 1 February, before the final regular
season game on 22 February.
The
domestic part of S6 closes with the play-off semi-finals on 7 March,
with the final on 28 March. There will be no S6 games on 6 Nations
weekends.
At
the moment, we don't know if the S6 games will be played on Friday
nights, Saturday afternoons, or even Sundays – that will be up to
the clubs involved, but the suggestion is, some might wish to keep
Saturday afternoons free for the six franchises Club sides.
I
doubt very much that we will see S6 games on a Friday night when
Edinburgh and Glasgow are playing and the timing of games is one
aspect of S6 still being worked out. Also still up in the air is when
the cross-border games against the Welsh Premiership clubs will be
played.
There
is certainly a window at the start of the season, however, the fact
that the first two weeks listed in the prototype calendar – 26
October and 2 November – have been set aside for friendlies, makes
me think the cross-border games will be played in April and May; we
must wait to find out, however.
The
meat on the bone of the document comes in page 6, with the mention of
dual-registration, whereby players may be registered with another
club, in addition to the S6 club. This is a potential mine field, and
is likely to be the most-contentious area of the whole project.
That
same page also announced there will be a new addition to the SRU's
existing Player Reward Scheme, whereby a player who signs a contract
with an S6 club earns a wee bonus for the club or clubs or school
which developed him. This payment is £400 per player. His career
over the previous five years is looked at with the club or clubs he
played for in that time being rewarded at £80 per season.
So,
for example (and again I am using clubs from my own Ayrshire) suppose
Ayr signed a player who had spent three seasons with Marr, having
moved there from Cumnock, then Marr would receive £240 (3 x £80)
and Cumnock £160 (2 x £80) under the scheme. I appreciate, some
clubs might not feel this is sufficient compensation, but, it is a
start.
Each
franchise will be managed by a Board, with at least five members:
three officials from the core club, the Head Coach and an SRU
representative, who we are assured will act in an advisory and
consultative capacity.
The
document does not answer all the outstanding questions. For instance,
towards the end there is an indication that Super-6 may not be the
final outcome. It is already well-known that the SRU has task forces
in place, looking at how best to expand S6 to S8 or perhaps S10, with
scope for further expansion in Glasgow, the Borders and Caledonia.
The
document appears to confirm, the SRU is definitely looking to expand
the number of franchises, but, again, when this will happen is all up
in the air. A lot of talking and exploring of options will still have
to be undertaken.
In
a recent blog, I suggested the SRU should be looking to get more
fixtures for the Club XV, and this expansion in games is mentioned
towards the end of the update document. However, talks are ongoing as
to whether or not the Club XV will contain S6 players, and we may not
know for some time about this. However, S6 is definitely part of the
SRU's High Performance structure, and “ownership” of the Club XV
is being transferred to Sheila Begbie's Rugby Development Department.
This
leads me to think, perhaps an expanded programme of Club XV games,
just might be another level of talent identification and sorting-out,
with the best young Championship/Premiership players, perhaps through
performances for the Club XV, being assessed as possible S6 players.
Super-6 Proect Manager Zoe Paige
And
finally, we now have a name as to who will be the off-field
administrator for S6. Zoe Paige, currently one of the SRU's marketing
managers, has been handed the role of Project Manager; what happens
off the field is her domain, while, as we already know, Sean Lineen
will be in-charge of things as regards the players.
Well,
we are a wee bit further down the road to seeing Super-6 up and
running.
The
full Update Document can be read at:
Other interesting snippets
ReplyDelete* possibility that S6 franchise won’t be able to field a 2nds or 3rds due to player numbers
* still pushing for 4G pitches though still no indication of where the cash will come from.
* realisation that S6 sides will need floodlights. I assume to playing standard
* there are two items that will drain the pots available to ordinary clubs
And can the SRU stop this nonsense about “clubs”. The S6 sides are all limited companies managed by a board of directors. Sensibly so given the risks involved.
They are not and never have been clubs.
The SRU have announced the players will be employed by the Club, so not the ltd liability companies that surely each are setting up to run the franchise.
ReplyDeleteAre these professional players, employed by amateur Clubs, covered by the Unions player insurance policy?
Looks like there's an SRU oxymoron in there, trying to get out!
DeleteAnd of course a “club” or unicorporated association has no legal personality so cannot legally take on a contract. If a club wishes to take on a contract it’s usually the officials personally that are signing on the bottom line.
DeleteTo be fair to the SRU, Scottish football does the same thing. Very few clubs still playing in the pro leagues.
So has Stevie Gemell now adopted LSJ's leadership style of operating in the shadows? I thought this was his gig?
ReplyDelete