Fiji union thwarted Super plans
ended up buying a football club in England.’’
The Fiji Rugby Union has been approached for comment.
Despite the disappointment of that early attempt failing to get off the ground, Ryan said the recent talks of a Pacific Island team is encouraging. He is passionate about the potential Pacific Island players have and how to set up a better system to help the islands retain their players.
‘‘Now it looks like, because of various movements, maybe the weakness of Australian franchises, maybe the South African franchises moving toward the European competitions, that the Pacific Island franchise is now a real opportunity.
‘‘It’s all about if they can now get it in place because if they do, the players will return and perhaps more importantly, they will start a pathway on the islands.
‘‘So you’ll have Samoans, Tongans, Fijians, and there will be academies in each of the islands as well. With that comes education for coaches, for medics, for staff, for players, and you’ll start to retain players on the islands.
‘‘That franchise could be a very, very exciting one that would add massive value, not just to Super Rugby but to world rugby because you’re going to get more players available to play international rugby and more time for those international coaches to spend with them. It now just needs to happen.’’
Rugby turned professional in 1995, with the Super Rugby competition starting and changes being made in the Northern hemisphere.
But the Pacific lags far behind in that regard.
‘‘Where do you go if you want to be a professional rugby player in Fiji? You have to go off the island. There is no alternative,’’ Ryan said.
‘‘You could stay and play sevens, and you get paid a very small amount of money and, from there, you get spotted, seen and normally go and play overseas.
‘‘Imagine having a Super Rugby franchise and solving these problems. The majority of issues would get solved by this.’’
Ryan said Denarau Island would be the ideal base for a Pacific side, given it’s location near Fiji’s main airport, five star resorts, golf courses, ‘‘and all the things that people will come and visit while watching Super Rugby’’.
He said that the NRL is looking at introducing a league franchise based in Denarau and, while there is space for both, it could be a race to which sport gets in first. Melbourne fear Craig Bellamy is leaning towards leaving the club in a move that would force Brisbane to make a call on whether to part company with Wayne Bennett a season early.
Bellamy has a three-year, A$1.7 million-per-season deal in front of him from the Storm which he claims he hasn’t had time to properly consider despite being in possession of it for almost a month.
The Broncos claim their conversations with Bellamy haven’t progressed as far as tabling an offer, a claim the Storm aren’t buying. While the southerners are one of the few clubs that can compete with the Broncos in a chequebook war, factors such as family and the