Super Rugby draft idea gets support of All Blacks duo

All Blacks Will Jordan and Anton Lienert-Brown have thrown their support behind the idea of a Super Rugby Pacific draft, which would look to replicate the success of other major sporting leagues.

Drafts are a popular feature of American sports, distributing the best young talent coming through the ranks to the worst-performing outfits in the respective leagues by affording them better odds at a higher pick in the draft order.

The system has worked well to aid the struggling team’s return to competitiveness. Famously, players like the great LeBron James have been picked first by a bad team, like the Cleveland Cavaliers in James’ case, and later led that team to an NBA title.

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Will Jordan’s Crusaders are beneficiaries of a world-class development pathway and academy that has fed them all-time great players, but that direct feed could be disrupted under a draft system. Still, the All Blacks superstar is on board with the idea.

“I think the stuff around the draft, it obviously creates a huge amount of excitement and equity across the competition right? You see it in American sports a lot and it does add a lot of excitement,” Jordan told RNZ.

With new Super Rugby Pacific CEO Jack Mesley on a mission for fan engagement, the chances of significant changes to the competition are seemingly more likely than ever. However, Jordan wasn’t shying away from the administrative roadblocks.

“There’s a few challenges in there around logistics of the Players Association and guys getting shipped off and all that. So I think there’s a bit of work that would have to go into it. I’m not sure it’s something that would necessarily come in, but you never know.

“In terms of the eligibility, it’s obviously been a hot topic of conversation over the last few months. I could see it getting to a point where maybe you could play for any Super Rugby team and still be eligible for the All Blacks. It would create diversity across the comp, having a few Kiwis playing over in Aussie or vice versa.

“I don’t know how far away that would be or if that’s something that’s realistic. I know New Zealand Rugby have got a pretty strict policy at the moment and that’s something that’s held them in good stead over the last 25 years as the game’s gone professional. There’s a bit of water to go under the bridge there, but you’ve got to look at ways to keep the game exciting at a franchise level and keep it in the news and being talked about.”

All Blacks teammate Anton Lienert-Brown couldn’t help but get wrapped up in the drama of the NBA’s trade deadline over recent weeks, a period that saw some of the biggest names in basketball move around the league and had the sports world talking. The 80-Test All Black says that’s the kind of engagement rugby can tap into.

“If you look at other sports and what they are doing and at the end of the day, we’re entertainment, we’re no different to someone wanting to go to the movies. So, you’ve got to make it a good movie,” he also told RNZ.

“We’ve got to make Super Rugby fun and interactive for the fans.

“You want to see player movement. You just look at what’s happened in the NBA, there’s been some massive trades over that trade period. No matter what those trades are, it’s good for the NBA because everyone around the world’s talking about it.

“In entertainment you need spectators and fans being engaged and constantly talking about it and I think that’s what a draft does.”