The benefits to Fiji would be that there would be no restrictions for these players to play for the Fijian national team as the International Test match windows are the same for both Fiji and Australia meaning that Fiji would have the same time to prepare as the wallabies do. Also, if a number of Fijian players were to be in the same team it would allow for the crucial development of combinations throughout the year, not just at Test time helping solve some of the set piece issues facing the current team. Another benefit for Fiji would be the opportunity to bring a Melbourne team full of Fijian stars back to sustainable resorts in Fiji for training camps, pre-season games, exhibition games, coaching clinics or all of the above. This would be a great chance for marketing and brand exposure into a Melbourne market as well as a chance to help grow and support rugby in Fiji.
The new Melbourne side would also need to fill their new stadium outside of the regular Super competition games and a visiting Fijian side would be quite commercially attractive for them because of the large local community and attractive style of rugby Fiji plays – once again giving Fijian companies a foot in the door in the Melbourne market.
Also with further super rugby expansion planned in the long term, Fiji would have a strong competitive edge if it could firstly show that it had a playing base that had played super rugby already as well as a business community that was already involved in Super rugby (as indeed businesses such as Air Pacific and Fijian Tourism already are). On top of this, if Fiji could show that it had also invested in superior sustainable transport and accommodation infrastructure suitable for visiting international teams and spectators then it would certainly be logical place to base any new team as well as a great story for SANZAR to take to the rest of the world.
All this though will require planning and lobbying from both Fijian rugby union and the Fijian business community. Fijian Rugby will need to work hard educating the new Super Rugby side about the benefits of contracting Fijian players as well as playing Fijian teams regularly both in Melbourne and in Fiji and then Fijian business community needs to be able to continue to identify and exploit the opportunities and benefits associated with the success and expansion of 7’s and 15-a-side rugby in Fiji. Add to this the global competitive edge of sustainable tourism and a green economy and I think Fiji will be very well placed in ‘Facing Tomorrow Today”.
