The Orange

Imagine this … in ten years time, the NPC Division 1 final is between the Tasman merged entity and Hawkes Bay. And no, I’m not on crack.

Compare that scenario with the NRL.

So it was a 500-1 change that the Tigers meet the Cowgirls in the Final Final. What odds will you give the mythical NPC final between two of the expansion teams?

The point is worth noting – the NRL has become a true contest where every team – bar, it would seem the hapless Bunnies – has a genuine chance of playing for the big one.

The reason is simple – salary cap. The NRL must have pissed off a few of the big clubs by not only introducing a salary cap, but enforcing it.

The results are obvious – teams like the Bulldogs and the Roosters can’t even make the top 8.

By comparison, the NPC is predictable and boring in terms of its inevitable outcome. The only possible exception to one of the S12 franchises winning the NPC is North Harbour and they’ve never won the NPC.

The NZRFU lacked the balls to follow up with a true salary cap but compromised on a salary cap that was large enough to ensure that the big teams can keep all their players.

The only thing that saves the NZRFU from being totally outmanaged is the Aussie League’s failure to look after international league.

Apart from that, the NZRFU just ain’t in the same league as their NRL counterparts.

A few years ago, they’d have brought in the men with the white coats and the long belts if you’d try to suggest that the NPC was struggling to gain a foothold in the media or within the country’s sporting conscience.

There’s a similar parallel with the Ranfurly Shield … it’s only been the last 30 years that we’ve had any organised competition APART from the Ranfurly Shield. In that time, the NPC became the biggest game in town.

So what’s happened? Fast forward to this year it’s hard to get your jollies about this year’s NPC.

For a start, the AB’s – at least the rock stars – aren’t lining up for their NPC teams. Tana could have the whole competition off. So it’s going to be hard to see a competition without your best players.

At the lower levels, the competition is no longer about who’s got the best locals, it more to do with who can get the best imports from the S12 (can we can them the S14 yet?) teams. Earl Va’a has been found in a Wainuiomata rest home and transported to Poverty Bay and transformed their team at the same time. Buller has been gifted some development players from Wellington (Wellington!!!???) and are now top of the Division 3.

In the second division, the excitement about promotion relegation is missing as we all know who will be in the top grade next year. Mind you, there is still a bit of fun in seeing how badly Manawatu can do before they get “promoted” to the big league next year.

In short, it’s pretty simple. The NPC represents all that was best in the old amateur days or rather than days when we played amateur rugby professionally. In the professional environment, the season is all wrong – S12, Tri Series, NPC, end of season cash gathering games.

Logically, the NPC should feed into or underpin the S12. As it stands, the S12 reaches its climax in May, we head off to the Tri Series – currently 4 games covering 6 weeks – and then the NPC. It just doesn’t seem to make sense compared to say the NRL which has 26 weeks of full-on games followed by a play-offs series that builds up to the Grand Final.

Compare that to the NPC – it is lower importance than the S12/S14 and in terms of the NZRFU’s coffers it’s less important than the end of season northern jaunts, particularly this season’s Grand Slam.

So, it’s all a bit ho hum … not particularly compelling rugby for me.