It has been a tumultuous season. Pirates ran out of front-rowers, Zingari-Richmond got smashed 137-0 and Taieri has defaulted tomorrow's game. So is premier rugby in need of change? Club rugby writer Adrian Seconi tosses around a few ideas.
Suggestion
Reduce grade to eight teams
Pros: Most club rugby people will tell you player depth has fallen away and some teams are struggling to find quality players to fill the vacuum.
It has led to some very lopsided encounters.
Reducing the grade to eight teams will mean the talent is not spread so thinly.
Cons: Two clubs would have to drop down and that would not be well-received.
And what clubs would drop down?
What criteria would you use?
It could not just be results-based. Look at Green Island, for example.
The club won just one game in the previous two seasons but bounced back this year with six wins.
By cutting two teams, you are also taking away playing opportunities.
Suggestion
Introduce a draft
Pros: Highlanders and Otago contracted players should play for the clubs with the most need. Perhaps the bottom four teams could get the pick of the crop at the beginning of the season.
Pirates, for example, might identify a desperate need in the midfield and select Rob Thompson.
He was unattached at the beginning of this season and would have made a huge difference for Pirates.
Cons: It is unfair on the clubs who recruit well and put together a competitive squad without a leg-up.
It is also cruel to the guys who train hard all week only to be sidelined because a couple of Highlanders need some game time.
And, potentially, a failing club might neglect any issues it has around players because its results have been artificially inflated.
Suggestion
Return to a full round-robin
Pros: Teams are left at the mercy of the draw when you do not play a proper home-and-away round-robin.
Harbour, for example, did not play University A in the first round and got the opportunity to accrue five points against a weaker team instead.
It distorted the competition standings and arguably had an impact on which teams reached the semifinals.
Cons: To return to a full round-robin would mean cramming in two more games.
That means extending the season and the clubs were not in favour of that.
They also wanted the best players available for the final, which meant the competition had to be over by July 23 to allow for Otago players to prepare for the domestic championship.
