Does NZ Rugby need a draft system?

[Shaggy]

Hi all,

I found this article (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11632856) by NZ Herald journalist, Dylan Cleaver rather interesting; it advocates a move to a draft system for players, similar to the one's used in major North American sports.

These sports effectively draft the up and coming talent to all of the teams, with the weakest team from the previous season receiving the first draft pick, with the rationale being that the best talent is picked up and the teams are made more even as a result.

The article does suggest that it be applied to New Zealand rugby, specifically Super Rugby, but you could easily apply it to your own country to discuss it's pros and cons.

When I look at it in the context of applying it to New Zealand's five Super Rugby franchises, I can't see it as a step forward, as I can't see that five teams is enough to warrant a draft system. These teams are all salary capped, and the players are free to negotiate with all of these franchises if they choose to do so.

This is a much better model than the previous one, where the home union had first dibs on players from their patch, as it does ensure that more of the talent is spread and playing, than it did previously. My belief is that the talent is already being identified and distributed relatively evenly, without the need for a draft system.

The dangers of a draft system are that players can end up in teams that they have no love for and can't identify with, and their potential isn't actualised as a result.

As a supporter of the Edmonton Oilers, during my time in Canada, I used to find it incredibly frustrating, as the focus shifted from trying to win, to if they could lose enough to secure the first draft pick in the NHL. Having said that, the draft system is an effective tool for spreading the talent for the NHL, but the draft applies to all of the teams in that competition, not just five from one conference.

Possibly a draft system might work better at the next level down (NZ domestic rugby competition), but the appeal to fans is that it's pretty tribal, and you do get a lot of the local players playing for "their" team.

As a final point before I turn this over for general discussion, I'm not sure that the television event itself would be a great success either, as I'm not sure how many viewers it would attract outside of New Zealand, and we are a relatively small TV audience.

Anyway, the part of the article relevant to the draft is displayed below.




Dylan Cleaver on sport
Sport analysis and comment from Dylan Cleaver
Midweek Fixture: Rugby needs a draft system


By Dylan Cleaver
12:00 PM Wednesday May 4, 2016


It is time our national sport introduced a draft.


The NFL and NBA made-for TV draft extravaganzas are over-the-top and a little bit icky, but they've become such an established part of their sports' calendars that they are industries in themselves.


New Zealand Rugby should hold a televised Super Rugby draft. The pluses far outweigh the minuses.


For a start the contracting environment allows for it now, whereas it didn't a few short years ago. The draft would be a useful parity mechanism, ensuring the suddenly trendy Chiefs don't continue to siphon off the cream of the talent.


It would be transparent - rugby has such a shocking everything-is-a-secret culture. The first thing professional players are taught is how not to trust the media. It permeates everything they do from that point forward. This would promote engagement with the media and therefore the public.


(This is not self interest. I'm long past the point of worrying if anybody in rugby will talk to me.)


It would ensure a constant regeneration of talent in the five franchises, which would in turn guarantee that the European leagues and Japanese league remains clogged up with New Zealand's cast-offs. Win-win.


With the best of national 1st XV rugby televised and the Auckland competition having its own YouTube channel (see the luminaries pick their secondary school dream team of 2015 in this video), there'd be no shortage of footage to keep the entertainment wheels spinning.


It is an event they could sell to sponsors or, if NZR are completely lacking in the requisite imagination to make this work, it could be packaged as the AIG Super Draft.


It would also send an intimidating message to the rest of the rugby playing world: it is telling them in stark terms just what a production line of talent New Zealand has available to them.


But the biggest benefit of all could, no should, be the rules in place around the draft. To become draft eligible, students must have completed five years of secondary school to an agreed academic standard.


New Zealand will be churning out not just better footy players but, you guessed it, better people.


It's a big winner all around, surely.


***

 

[nickdnz]

I can't say I like the idea.

As you mention - talent in New Zealand is already reasonably evenly distributed.

When there is a relative disparity of talent tends to be in the more experienced players anyway. Take the Blues; they have guys like Tevita Li, Akira Ioane, Rieko Ioane, Ihaia West, Bryn Hall, Ofa Tuingafaasi, Patrick Tuipoultu etc, etc. All of these guys are young talent and were respective starters of the NZ U20s side. The reason they struggle in my opinion is a combination of poor management and a lack of experience and leadership. So in that instance a draft doesn't fix it.

The reality is that players constantly move to where there are opportunities. The Hurricanes would have had an absolute wealth of talent if they managed to secure every talented player they produced.

So no, I don't think it really works in NZ. It may make more sense in the ITM Cup, but even that competition manages to stay competitive with the best teams generally losing their best players to the All Blacks. The other issue is that a lot of rugby players are selected through club rugby to which they have strong ties. It would be rough for a club to be forced to lose a player due to the player being drafted elsewhere, especially when he may be a WT squad player and could have still been made available to the club.

The other thing to point out in terms of a 'draft' as an added part of the spectacle; rugby already absolutely dominates the market in New Zealand. The market is a relatively small one. Is there really that much of an upside? Especially considering everyone who watches rugby in NZ tends to have to buy the sky package subscription anyway - and I can't see it being such a monumental move that it would push many people to buy The Rugby Channel as an extra. I think this guy is really missing the picture in terms of economy of scale.

 

[nzlizard]

Not a fan of a draft system at all in rugby.

Looking at NZ teams this year, 4 of the 5 pretty much could win the comp and certainly look better than most teams, we have so much depth that it is just ridiculous.

The key thing for coaches is being able to spot and nurture the talent through to a top level, the Blues have suffered from letting so many talented young guy out of the region and into other teams.

 

[SelimNiai]

I agree, while I'm not in depth with my knowledge about NZ rugby outside of Super Rugby but it seems their system isn't broken so why fix it.

 

[nickdnz]

Not a fan of a draft system at all in rugby.

Looking at NZ teams this year, 4 of the 5 pretty much could win the comp and certainly look better than most teams, we have so much depth that it is just ridiculous.

The key thing for coaches is being able to spot and nurture the talent through to a top level, the Blues have suffered from letting so many talented young guy out of the region and into other teams.

I'm not convinced about that to be honest. Fekitoa is perhaps an obvious one. Naholo you could make an argument for, but he himself is from Taranaki. They lost Anscombe - but they had a huge number of U20s fly halves to pick from (including Hickie who has now left to France). They lost Karpik, but it perhaps was inevitable considering they had another highly promising 7.

I think where they consistently fall short is in experience. Ourside of Kaino I can't think of one world classes experienced forward.

 

[smartcooky]

I'm not convinced either.

Like Shaggy, I would see it as a step backwards from what we already have, the NPC. So long as we have that turning out talent like a conveyor belt turns out out goods from a factory, then why would we bother. Yes, we lose some young players to Europe, but so long as Europe offers hugely over-inflated salaries to third, fourth and fifth level talent in New Zealand that is never going to stop. The upside is that when players leave, its an opportunity for new talent to rise and fill the voids, and its not hard to see what the influx of foreign talent has done to the international aspirations of European teams. They appear to be in denial about that up north, but its no fluke that the semifinals of the latest RWC looked like a round of the Rugby Championship. I've been around these forums and discussion groups for a long time and I can tell those who weren't that back in the early 2000s the NH media and pundits and NH posters on Bulletin Boards and Forums such as the IRB Forums, were all predicting the demise of New Zealand rugby; phrases like "last player to leave New Zealand please switch off the lights", were in regular use as they maintained the money on offer to rugby players in Europe was going to be too much for any player to resist. Well, it 10-12 years later and there is NO sign of that happing. Quite the opposite in fact; New Zealand rugby has gotten stronger and stronger.

Starting at grass roots, club rugby is on the up in NZ, and then the NPC has been great for a few seasons now. I actually watch more NPC than Super Rugby, where currently, the crowds are coming back. In Super Rugby the crowds are also coming back, and it is only the the protectionist conference system that keeps NZ teams from occupying four of the top five positions. Progress that on through to All Black rugby, where we've just won back-to-back Rugby World Cups, and a current bunch under Steve Hanson that have a 90% winning record. New Zealand rugby is very strong at the moment, probably the strongest its been since the 1985 to 1991 team under Brian Lochore and then Grizz Wyllie; I don't see any reason to change something is isn't broken.

 

[sigesige00]

Aotearoa (NZ) does not need draft system.
Draft system might work for developing countries in which there are no enough clubs -- like China or USA (or Soccer in Australasia). But there is absolutely no such need for Aotearoa.

 

[otapouri]

Is this driven by a blues supporter?