Forget revamping Super Rugby. A national club knockout Cup would spice up the rugby calendar.
The idea?
Add a little pizzazz to the club season, put some extra zip into old club feuds, give some young club players the chance to experience the pressure of an all-or-nothing Cup game, capture a few new supporters and, equally as important, get some lapsed supporters back in the fold.
Let’s name it after someone who ties it to all that was good about Aussie Rugby – when we won World Cups. A name that still resonates with most rugby supporters of today. Bob Dwyer seems to fit the bill, a working-class boy who rose to the top; you name it he’s done it in club, provincial and international rugby and written a couple of decent books to boot.
The idea is simple, don’t try to fix what isn’t broken (i.e., Shute Shield and the Hospital Cup) but let’s see if we can enhance them and give the players and supporters a new reason to keep or get a Stan subscription and get down to your local club for a beer and steak burger.
The Dwyer Cup will be played over five weekends from March to July, with the first games to be drawn live on Stan in February. The first round kicks off a week before the start of the regular season in early March, adding media interest and a good lead-in for the clubs for the Shute Shield and Hospital Cup seasons. We then need four bye weekends that are designated Cup weekends.
Bob Dwyer. (Photo by Ross Setford/Getty Images)
Who participates (initially)?
To state the obvious, we are not soccer, we need to make sure that the regional teams can deal with the big units at scrum time and keep score blowouts to a respectable level.
The 21 teams from Shute Shield and the Hospital Cup and the leading five teams from the Australian Rugby Shield competition (Perth Gold, ACT Griffins, QLD Country, NSW Country, and Victorian Axemen) would make up the first Cup participants.
The first round consists of 20 teams, which will be whittled down to ten. The ten winners are then added into the hat for the draw in Round 2 with the teams who participated in the Hospital Cup GF and the Shute Shield qualifiers (let’s call them the super six), with the draw to once again be held on Stan. Who’s not going to watch the draw to see where there club is playing and against what opposition? The first team drawn out gets the home game.
This competition and the streamed draw continue until two teams are left standing.
The Australian Rugby Shield will continue to be played in October, with the top five teams qualifying for the Dwyer Cup in the following year.
2024 Shute Shield Grand Final celebrations.
Yes, there will be challenges, bye weeks will be one. Though some clubs will potentially be involved until the final, so we will need the club committees to think of new ways to fill these gaps in the club year. There will also be decent travel expenses, but a naming rights sponsor should alleviate some of that burden.
Now, close your eyes and imagine… QLD Country Heelers have been in outstanding form (and had a few lucky draws) and are hosting the Cup final in Toowoomba against the Galloping Greens at the Berghofer Stadium. It’s sold out (8,000 tickets snapped up) and Stan subscriptions have had a serious uplift in regional QLD.
Media exposure has been intense on the Downs and has even knocked the rugby league off for the four weeks leading into the final. One can dream.