My 5 Point Plan to Revive Otago Rugby

The Otago Rugby Football Union looks set to be sentenced to death on Friday, 2 March 2012 at 4pm after years of mismanagement and debt.

However, it won't be the end for one of New Zealand's proudest rugby regions with the New Zealand Rugby Union looking after the grassroots and community rugby in Dunedin and the surrounding Otago region for this season at least.


And there will be a new entity to fill the gap left by the old Otago Rugby Football Union - no the Dunedin and Otago region will not be absorbed by the nearby Southland or Canterbury regions.

So how should entity function to ensure this disaster never occurs again and also can be successful and competitive against the likes of Canterbury and Auckland?

Here is my 5 point plan to revive the Blue and Gold.

1. Establishment of a Licensing Trust
With the massive clampdown on binge drinking amongst rowdy University of Otago students, this is probably the best time for the Dunedin City Council and Otago Regional Council to establish a regional licensing trust that issues licenses for alcohol and pokies machines in the region. This system has worked very well in Southland and has helped to fund sport in the region and with councillors looking to cut down to the misbehaviour of drunk students, what better way to do it than making liquor sale licenses harder to obtain in the region.

2. Lead the Call for an Amateur/Semi-Pro ITM Cup
With Super Rugby now clearly the professional rugby competition in this country, it is vital that the ITM Cup reverts to an amateur/semi-pro competition especially with other unions including Canterbury, Waikato, Wellington and Auckland also in financial trouble.

Super Rugby franchises should pay the salaries of its players who fail to make the All Blacks when they compete in the ITM Cup - which they must think is beneficial to the development of their players in Super Rugby and an advantage over their Australian counterparts. Contracts could start on 1 November and end on 31 October (around the time the ITM Cup concludes and preparations need to be made for Super Rugby.

And if people think amateur rugby won't sell, look at American college football, the world's most successful and popular amateur sports championship.What pays the way for college football is TV revenue which is worth way more than the ticket gates - which is where we need to price better to get the crowds back.

3. Value for Money Tickets

The model that has made the likes of AirAsia, EasyJet and JetBlue successful and is what Air New Zealand has been emulating with its grabaseat scheme is focusing its energies on value for money - and note there's a difference between cheap and value for money. Rugby in this country needs to make going to games a value for money experience once again. We need new marketing people to promote and price our provincial games better.

This is of pressing importance for future Otago rugby games where crowds in recent times have been on average 10% under capacity - no wonder the union went bust. $10 tickets for adults, $2 for children would be the easiest option although packages should be made for every single game - free drink or snack, etc. After all, Otago's attendance has been historically based on students living off Studylink and their student loans.

4. Scholarship System
There is no doubt that Dunedin and the Otago region's most prized asset is its tertiary education facilities - Otago University is the 2nd best in the country and traditionally a superb university for sport. The Polytechnic is also one of the best in the country and also incorporates the Institute of Sport. Dunedin has also developed its sports facilities in North Dunedin with the new Forsyth Barr Stadium of course the crown jewel.

The University is also fairly wealthy and should restart an initiative to snatch back those emerging rugby players who are now staying in their provinces now that they have the opportunity to play top-class rugby there, i.e. Hawkes Bay, Southland, Manawatu and Taranaki. Maybe a scholarship system tied in with the lure of obtaining a degree after at least 3 years all paid, no student loan tied could do the trick - it's the same system employed by college football in America.

Yes, the university has always been a carrot for our good rugby players but in the good days of Marc Ellis and Jeff Wilson, players obliged to come in. Nowadays, young rugby players have more choice and unfortunately, Otago and the university have been blind to this.

5. Moneyball
Sorry to bring up Michael Lewis' book again but it is so right for this cash-strapped union which has a far smaller cash and population base than the city of Oakland. And the University of Otago has fine Economics and Statistics departments who could analyse every rugby player in New Zealand and send them down to Otago for cheap.

The mantra of Moneyball is not to buy stars, but to buy wins - buy players who have statistically made the most tackles, most line breaks, best kicking range, etc. That's fine given that buying and funding the salaries of the likes of Craig Newby, Nick Evans from North Harbour when they really couldn't afford it might have set the union on the wrong course in the first place. It also could mean the likes of Chris Noakes, Kenny Lynn won't pass through the Otago system and be wasted again.