Rugby Australia and NZ Rugby clearly have different views about what the best 2021 competition is.
NZR laid that bare last week in a unilateral announcement that effectively cut out South Africa and Argentina and would involve Australia being represented by as few as two teams
There have been many questions around the 2021 tournament in Australian circles - should it involve Japan, should there be a Pasifika team, should there be a straight trans-Tasman competition or should Aussies go it alone?
My view, which I discussed in my last column, is Australia needs to look after itself in a domestic competition structure.
The argument that to be the best Australians need to be playing against benchmark Kiwi sides, long term may be fair, however short term it is simply not in our interests. Why consider negotiating from such a poor position? Why not pullback, look after your own interests and at some point let the other side come back to the table. We are good enough to go our own way.
Australian teams have been doing that for 25 years and it clearly hasn't worked - if anything in recent years it has only served to create a self-fulfilling cycle of mental scarring.
On the flipside, the Kiwis' confidence grows with their winning records over Aussie teams and that shows up in Bledisloe games.
Going it alone for Australian rugby means the game needs to accept its status, at a provincial level, in this country as a somewhat niche sport.
That doesn't mean it can't be successful - there are organisations in niches all over the world that are hugely successful – Apple computer was once a niche company...not so niche anymore, it just means our competition isn't necessarily the other winter football codes.
Once you move past that, it's clear to see that entry in a global competition just doesn't serve our immediate domestic needs, rather Australia needs to be looking towards competitions that give us opportunity to play, develop and ensure talent is retained in rugby and we build a sustainable foundation for success, even if it means so short term introspection and tough decisions.
If we focus in the right areas, Australian rugby can be extremely successful.
With the goal of competition structures that lead to success at the top for all of our national teams - the Wallabies, Wallaroos and Aussie Sevens - you need to think about the foundations of the sport.
With all the changes going on, Australia has a blank sheet of paper to draw up a new plan, something we've all been asking for in recent years.
So, let's go and find a way where we can reinvest in our pathways and create a model where players can really align themselves to a professional game, which is only one part of the game of rugby in Australia.
The foundations of rugby are clubs and schools - these are the two segments that should be focused on.
This really could mean stripping rugby right back and turning towards a club-centric model that supports some level of national competition.
It might be seen as a step back into the amateur realm compared to the current competition but we're seeing that the current model is unsustainable.
So, why don't we look at something that can be sustained and successful?
There have been reports that Rugby AU had looked at a club competition as a third tier option already, with the future of the National Rugby Championship under a cloud.
I would say that club competition could form the basis of Australia's rugby season, with multiple tiers and promotion-relegation between each level, as we see in England.
The competition might involve a chunk of amateur players alongside professional players all vying for representative honours.
Good teams have an opportunity to progress and teams that aren't performing feel the heat at the other end.
The next level then is provincial representation - that's where the Reds, Waratahs, Brumbies, Force and Rebels would come in.
You play a limited number of matches at that level but it's the best out of those games.
State of Origin is the prime example of where you can create a new level of passion quickly - it's a concept that is barely older than Super Rugby - and the scarcity of the matches makes every meeting mean a little bit more.
That provincial level feeds into the Wallabies and hones in on the 45-50 players that are generally in the mix for a Test squad each year.
This more domestic focused model also opens the door for players to become closer to the community and be the key ambassadors for the game.
I would argue for a portion of incomes to rest on a player's completion of community-focused activities, whether it be club appearances, school visits or other community initiatives.
These are a whole lot more achievable when you aren't jetting off to South Africa or Argentina for weeks at a time, returning jet lagged.
Fans like to support local heroes and that's what a local competition could give them - Super Rugby has become a means of disconnecting players from vast numbers of potential fans driven by the diverse geographic nature of the competition.
Ultimately, this is a chance for Australian rugby to look in on itself, be a little bit selfish and focus on the elements that will set up the next generation of the game here.
It requires courage and willingness to change, we all know where the status quo gets us...staring at the Bledisloe across the Tasman Sea, again, for generations.
This article reflects the views of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Rugby Australia or its member unions.
