Be bold: Rugby Australia set for a radical revival

Little more than 80 minutes of football later and the Galloping Greens throw their mud-soaked jerseys back into the team kit, heads bowed, and prepare for a long trip home sweetened only by a few beers and a fast food stopover along the highway.

Because the Shute Shield powerhouse has just been knocked out of Rugby Australia's national club championship by an unassuming group of underdogs in the form of the Uni-Norths Owls.

It is an upset that will go down in ACT rugby folklore, much like the day the Tuggeranong Vikings rallied to beat Sydney University at a heaving Viking Park, or when a Dewar Shield side from Victoria almost pipped Brisbane juggernaut Easts.

When did all this happen? It hasn't. But it could if Rugby Australia supremos take a gamble to reimagine the 15-man code's future.

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An FA-Cup style knockout tournament between 16 of Australia's premier club rugby outfits is on the cards and surely must loom as the most logical approach to a national club championship amid a radical new world.

Rugby Australia has pitched four national club championship models to potential broadcast partners for 2021 and beyond in a package including Super Rugby - either all-Australian or trans-Tasman, a three-game State of Union series, and internationals.

The directive from some quarters is to give punters as much rugby as they can handle and then some. Officials need to be bold, yet they would do well to strike the correct balance.

Rugby Australia chiefs are committed to fielding five Super Rugby clubs next year, whether that be in an AU competition to mirror what we are witnessing at present, or in a tournament featuring five New Zealand franchises at the very least.

As they should be. Australian bosses have held firm in the belief they can sustain five teams, and the rise of the standard of the domestic competition has even convinced All Blacks coach Ian Foster of it.

But the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic suggests Australian clubs could be forced to go it alone in a five-team competition again next year. Rugby Australia can still capitalise amid a rebuild of the game's broadcast offerings.

A three-game interstate representative series modelled on rugby league's most storied rivalry could be enough to generate interest from free-to-air broadcasters. It is a concept worth pushing to help the code gain more mainstream exposure.

Then there is the concept of a national club championship, with four models on the table in varying knockout and round robin formats running for up to six weeks.

But if the aim is to capture the attention of the public and refrain from rolling out meaningless fixtures for which cricket officials are so often criticised, there are perhaps only two which make sense.

Who beyond club members and supporters would tune in for a round four game between two club sides hailing from different states, when both are already out of finals contention?

Round robins bring the danger of dead rubber games of little intrigue. Rugby Australia would do well to save a few pennies and avoid flying teams around the country for such matches.

But a sudden death knockout in which every game carries genuine weight? Now you've got tongues wagging across the country.

Model A boasts 32 clubs, with 31 matches to be played over five weeks between teams from every state and territory's premier competition.

Model B sees 16 team of the best from the John I Dent Cup, Shute Shield, Queensland's Hospital Cup, Dewar Shield and Western Australia's Premier Grade vying for national glory over four weeks.

Imagine the rush to fill the hill when Canberra's representatives draw a powerhouse from Sydney or Brisbane, or the thrill when an ACT club captain holds the trophy aloft.

It's a bold ambition, but that's just what rugby needs.