It's been another huge week for Super Rugby Pacific as scandal has broken around travel issues with the Fijian Drua, while the Blues were beaten at home for the first time in 12 years.
Round 4 of Super Rugby Pacific opened last night, with the Brumbies taking home a win against the Blues.
2025 Super Rugby Pacific CEO Jack Mesley joins Jason Pine live in studio to address the Fijian Drua scandal, the newly introduced fan-based initiatives, and delving into the state of the competition.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from Newstalks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Super Rugby Pacific continues to deliver. Round four opened last
night with an upset of Eden Park.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
The Brumby's have it under lock and key. The siren goes,
the arms go up for the Brumbies. They went and
eating Park for the first time in twelve years twenty
one twenty the Brumbies stun the Blues in the Garden
of Eden.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
They certainly didn't among those in attendance last night with
Super Rugby Pacific CEO Jack Mesley, who's joined us in studio,
did the Australian and you enjoy watching the Brumby speak
the Blues last night?
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Jack, Well, I mean, as the competition administrator, unexpected results
are good for us, so I'll put it that way. Piney,
I was loved, I was kindly hosted by the Blues
and yeah, it was a it was a quiet box
there at the end.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
I can imagine it would have been. But as you say,
the ongoing jeopardy including results, must be something you're very
very happy about and overall terms, first of all, how
happy are you with the first three and a bit
rounds of Super Rugby this year.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Yeah, we're thrilled and thrilled with the response from fans,
through audiences and crowds to have records broken, like the
Brumbys broke lass last night. The Western Force broke in
playing the Brumbies, you know, some long term wins that
they haven't been able to achieve for years. That's really
exciting for the competition. So, you know, you add those
(01:38):
close games, those unexpected results to the way in which
it's being played. You know, really great running rugby. We're
seeing records in meters run and you know, the best
ever season in terms of average points scored in the
thirty years of Super Rugby. So those two things combine
close margins and the style of play we're seeing is
(01:58):
really exciting.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
So those on field metrics, that's interesting because you and
I have spoken and we've talked about crowd numbers, We've
talked about viewer numbers. Those are offield things obviously, but
you are also looking at on field metrics when you're
judging the success of Super Rugby. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Absolutely, you know, I think the way we kind of
can look at our whole strategy is our core product.
You know that that is that is the thing that
we sell, and so that has to be great. So
we look at our core product, we look at fan engagement,
and we look at commercial outcomes. So our starting position
is always how good is our core product? And we
did a lot of work in the off season and
(02:33):
as the administration have done in the past couple of seasons,
on how do we make you know, how do we
set this product up for success. We've got the best athletes,
as we've talked about, we've got the best coaches, we've
got the best match officials. What do we do to
make sure that they are all set up for success
to go out there and do what they all can do?
And yeah, that's a combination of the law innovation that
(02:54):
we've been driving and pushing. And then you know, what
are the sort of what's the direction we give the
match officials in terms of what do we want to see?
And within that, you know, we've probably you know, we've
got up to like sixty different measures what we call
our shape of game, and that's everything from you know,
number of scrums, line out's, number of penalties, number of tries,
(03:14):
et cetera. Also time taken to do those things. So
where does the time go. And really our job is
to look at law innovation, look at match official interpretation,
and then work with the teams on where we want
to really emphasize focus to make sure the products set
up for success. So you know what fans would have
(03:35):
seen this year is those law innovations that are helping
with that. You know, the nine having a bit more protection,
meaning the balls clearing quicker. But you've probably also heard
through through the refs mics on broadcast. You know, the
ref's been quite hard on the nine. Get rid of it,
play it or counting down or use it one to
set the scrum and move on. Also off waving off
(03:58):
the water runners and playing on through minor injury. So
all of those things, along with the law innovation and
then just the general intent of the oachs and the
players to have an absolute crack I think, is really
what's setting it up for success.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
What about TMO involvement, is that one of those metrics
or lack of I guess and an ideal world there's none, right,
but there has to be some. But is that a metric? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (04:20):
Absolutely, well, so we've taken we've got a variation in
the in world rugby laws on TMO, So what we've
agreed with World Rugby is that our TMO intervention will
be only around foul play and only around try scorings,
but but led by the on field referee. So the
on field referee owns the game and he can he
(04:41):
can go to those things unless it's our play that
will get called in. So what you now see is
less TMO intervention than when you might might have been
watching the the Abs up up in the North, or
if you're watching Six Nations, and that's quite deliberate. But
we player safety is absolutely paramount, so we absolutely need
need those tmos there to make sure that should the
(05:04):
on field guys and the AAR missed something, that we're
picking that up.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Sky Sport released some viewer numbers this week. One point
one four million have tuned into Super Rugby Pacific across
the first three rounds on Sky Sport and Sky Open.
That's a twelve percent rise on last year, which you know,
those are encouraging numbers. What about in Australia, Jack, what
have you and numbers like over there?
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Yeah, well we just released some numbers with Stan and
with nine and both of those are both so nine
the free to wear and stand the streaming are both
up over double digits and really importantly in FIG as well,
we're seeing great growth forty percent growth in our viewership
numbers in FIG as well, So yeah, really promising signs.
And that's off the back in New Zealand of a
(05:45):
great year last year where we also had double digit growth,
So you know, we really want this momentum to continue
a year on year.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
How happy are you with crowd numbers, you know in
game spectating?
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Yeah, I think we're pretty pleased. Round one was especially good.
I think we're forty percent up on Round one last year,
and then Round two we had we had Super Round
last year in Melbourne so we couldn't really get a
comparative analysis. Round three was good as well, so yeah,
I think we're really pleased. And I know last night
the Blues, you know, they would love to see a
full eating park, but for a Brumby's match, I think
(06:17):
that they were that was kind of above expectation. So
there's lots of room to go on that. But you know,
we've just got to chip away at it and it's
really pleasing to see all the work the clubs are
doing to drive initiatives to continue to fill stadium So
you know, if we talk about you know, the Chiefs
and their rhythms and Rugby Music Festival, great innovations to
(06:41):
be doing, and we've got kids rounds next weekend. The
clubs are doing some great stuff there with Marvel to
really try to bring those younger fans into into stadiums.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I guess from your point of view, it wouldn't matter
on your balance sheet, would it if nobody turned up,
because the revenue you get is from broadcast, but it
must well it looks better on TV for start if
it's a full stadium, So that is still an importance
or use that word again, metro for you the crowds
that are coming to games.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Absolutely, I mean it is fundamental for club penals and
the competition cannot succeed unless it has healthy clubs. So yeah,
I think it is absolutely important. And we also know
that you know, when you're you will engage with a
broadcast even more when you have full stadiums with high
energy and high atmosphere. So yeah, when we're when we're
(07:30):
talking to the broadcasters that they want full stadiums, they
want great pitches, as do clubs, as do comp So yeah,
I mean I think, yes, broadcast revenue is a significant
piece of our whole economy, if you like, but crowds
are absolutely vital to fuel that, but also to drive
club panels that are absolutely reliant on people turning up.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
We've seen afternoon rugby as well. More to come tomorrow
in christ Church of course. Is that something that you're
you're committed to, that you're keen to see continue.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Absolutely. I think you know, when we talk about start
of play, in shape of game, there's no doubt the
weather is helping, you know, with that ball movement, with that,
with those tries, and with handling, and probably the heat
as well, you know, the heat when it's so hot
in Fiji and Perth. Even in Act we've had a
few drinks breaks and we've had to bring in you know,
(08:25):
that's bringing fatigue into the game. So yes, I really
love it. I think watching you know, watching Napier in
the sunshine the other day, you know, I'm going down
to christ Church tomorrow and I can't wait to see
see christ Church hopefully in sunshine. Yeah, I really love it.
And I think as we've talked about, you know, we
want time slots that help different people get to games,
(08:46):
and you know, late night games are really tough for
people with young families. You know, a seven thirty kickoff,
you know, it means it's a it's a well passed
bedtime by the time you're getting home getting back from
a stadium. So if we can, if we can continue
to do that, that's really good, and I think really
pleasingly because we have scheduled some quite big matchups in
(09:07):
those day slots. The fact that that's still driving a
really good TV result is really promising for me.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Is there anything you're not happy with from the first
month or anything that is a work on that you'd
like to see improvement in?
Speaker 4 (09:21):
Yeah, I think that we'll always yeah, absolutely absolutely, you know,
and I think we've been pretty transparent that, you know,
we've got a long way to go. So what we
hope we're doing is betting in some of these foundational
things like our communication flow each week, like fantasy, like
new tools. But yeah, well, I mean there's there's plenty
(09:41):
more we can be doing. You know. The interesting thing
is with close result, there is microscope on match official decisions,
there's microscope on TMO and siting commissioners and things like that, So,
you know, I think it's a blessing and a curse.
We have close games. Everyone looks at the incident in
(10:03):
the in the seventy eighth minute and the a lot
of tension on that, but you know, that's not a
bad thing. What we've got to do is just make
sure all of our processes are as good as they
can be and they're as tired as they can be.
And yeah, we'll continue to continue to do that. We
think we've got great processes around those things. And yeah,
but yeah, across the board, there's always opportunities.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Our guest and studio is Super Pacific CEO Jack Measley. Jack,
we had a story come to light this week about
some major travel disruption and accommodation issues for the Fiji
and Drewer during their Round two clash with the hurricanes.
They busted and turn up to take them to Napier.
They traveled in the back of a truck that was
there to transport all their gear. Have you gotten to
the bottom of what happened here? Yeah, we have.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Yeah, we're very aware of the situations as they were
unfolding and had very clear communication with the Drawer post
that weekend and no doubt extremely disappointing what happened, but
we've done a full review about the number of logistical
issues that happened. There are several over sites and breakdowns
and communications which sort of created the challenges for the drawer.
(11:11):
But these have been addressed with both clubs and an
external transport provider and we're very confident that they have
been addressed and dealt with. So yeah, again, really disappointing
what happened, but you know, we've done the review, we
know where those issues were and we've dealt with them,
and we won't really been commenting further. We don't want
(11:32):
to go into those big but you know, disappointing but
dealt with.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Can I just ask you, though, where does ultimate responsibility
lie for travel and accommodation of Super Rugby sites?
Speaker 4 (11:46):
Yeah, well that is a multi multiple different parties are
involved with every set of player movements, so the club itself,
sands are and Super Rugby Pacific, the hosting club and
then obviously a raft of suppliers that then that then
delive for that. So there is no there is no
(12:09):
single point of breakdown here. There is no one to
point the finger out. This is because of the complexity
and the number of different parties involved. It's the breakdown
in comms between some of those parties that have led
to some of these issues. So, I know everyone wants
to wants to point the finger, but there isn't a
(12:30):
single place to point that finger.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
What takes up most of your time on a day
to day and week to week basis. You know, we're
getting into the into the you know, the nitty gritty
of your job here. But you know, when you turn
turn up at work on a Monday, I mean, I
know you'll be traveling back this monthday, but when you
turn up at work, what takes up most of your
time day to day?
Speaker 4 (12:50):
Yeah, So the early part of our week in season
is all about you know, as you said, like what
what can we do better? You know, we review every
weekend and you know, the match officials will do a review,
will do a review of a communications will do a
review of all the different elements and so then we'll
have a series of meetings to look at, you know,
(13:12):
what happened, what went wrong? What do we want to communicate,
you know, more broadly, because we do want to be
more transparent with what's going on in the competition. So
that's the early part of the week and then we'll
get into you know, really flipping that into the promotion
of the coming week. But really importantly and what we're
really trying to change is also you know, particularly in
(13:34):
my role with the with the board is getting further out.
So you know, we're already doing a lot of work
about twenty six, thinking about fixturing, thinking about how you
fixture can optimize crowds for example, as you asked earlier.
So yeah, it's a balance of the here and now
with getting out in front of future twenty six and beyond.
(13:55):
But clearly, you know, when you're in a competition like this,
it can take you any which way. You know, we've
got everything from you know, hia to citing to cyclones.
You know, some of our work this week has been
about making sure the Reds are in a good spot,
not just with their travel, but making sure you know,
(14:15):
they've got families at home going through all this as
they're in christ Church and then they play the Tars
next week in SUNCRP Stadium, So starting to deliver contingency
plans for travel for them and venues potentially, and also
you know, match officials who are some of the them
are based in based in Brisbane, So yeah, I mean
(14:35):
there's never a dull moment. And whilst we try to
schedule our week and make sure that we have time
set away for long term planning and things like that,
you just never know what might come on. Where are
we with a twelfth team, Well, I mean yeah, we
are looking at it, at options for expansion, not specifically
(14:56):
a twelfth team. So right now what we're doing is
looking at the long term and what that might hold
for Super Rugby, not specific again, not specifically, just trying
to find one team because we're not sure. Well, we
don't believe one team is an easy solution within our
current geography, and one team from further afield becomes really problematic.
(15:20):
And so whilst it solves a fixturing problem if you like,
it creates a whole lot of different issues for us.
If we have one team from you know, wherever that
might be, let's say Japan or the US or whatever,
having a lone wolf ovor on the other side of
the world is really problematic. So we're looking at we're
looking at options for expansions more holistically, but that's a
(15:45):
few years away that we are thinking about that. More importantly,
we're thinking about how is this team this competition optimized
and working well. And I think you know, we're four
rounds into eleven team competition, so you know, it's still
very early days on what does that actually deliver. Clearly
(16:05):
you've seen the depth benefit for the Australian teams, there's
also other things like you know, more buyers, Does that help?
Does that hinder? So there's still a lot of learnings
for us to take place with with eleven team competition.
As we think about next year with an eleven team competition,
how we optimize the fixture to drive greater outcomes for
(16:25):
our clubs and for our stakeholder and for fans. That's
that's our immediate focus.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Okay, so we can say that there won't be an
extra team added in twenty twenty six, correct look forward
to seeing progress. There A couple more for you, Jack
and I. You got to get away how much engagement
you're getting from Fantasy Super Rugby.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Yeah, it's been incredible. I think we're about sixty five
thousand participants. I heard a stat the other day that
said I think there's been a million transfers, so you know,
really encouraging that we're seeing that repeat, repeat engagement throughout
throughout the rounds. And yeah, so beyond that, you know,
(17:04):
you can see it's just you know that everyone's talking
about it where they're in broadcast, whether the shoulder content,
whether you guys, I was in I was in your
building here the other just yesterday doing an interview with Chris,
and I could see the screens of some of the
of the employees just fiddling up there with their fantasy teams,
which was great to see. So that's that's one that's fantastic.
(17:27):
You know, we're really pleased with that. I think what's
you know, the secondary benefit is, you know, people are
learning more about other teams, other other other players, and
people are then switching on to to see those other
games to see how how they might how they might go,
and that's exactly what we want. And then the other
(17:50):
part is what we're seeing is that there's a whole
lot of people that haven't been engaging with Super Rugby
Pacific comeing, so you can see people as they sign up,
we're getting you know, a whole lot of a whole
lot of people from you know, a school for example,
that one person's got on it and then spreading that,
and you absolutely, we're unashamedly saying that we do have
(18:13):
a strategic intent to drive engagement with a younger audience
that haven't necessarily engaged with Super Ubi Pacific before and
this is obviously helping us do that.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
All right, And are you expecting another upset tonight when
you watch more One a Pacific a take on My
Hurricanes at Albany Stadium, Jack.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
Well, firstly, I can't wait to go out there because,
you know, last week just looked so good. I thought,
see Ce more on a Pacific as whole proposition come
to life, you know, hearing hearing the crowd singing hymns
in those last couple of minutes to help help them
get over the line, which unfortunately they couldn't do. They've
(18:54):
had three such close matches, so my heart goes out
to mp who have who have just been so unlucky.
But the Canes have been good, I think, So it's
going to be a tight one again. Seeing already come
up against his old club is going to be really interesting.
No doubt there'll be a few Canes players trying to
(19:15):
nullify him, but you know he's a hard man to nullify, isn't.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
He Indeed, indeed that's what that's what's worrying me. That
is well, one of the things that's worrying me. Jack.
Great to get the chance to have a long chat
with you about the competition. Look, it's going great. I
think by every metric that you've mentioned, you know, things
are going well. It's very watchable, a lot of people
are watching it, the players are clearly enjoying it. Thanks
for stopping him for a chat, mate, and enjoy the
rest of you. Stay in New Zealand and we'll catch
(19:40):
up again soon anytime.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Thanks for having me, bonnyh.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Good on you, mate. That's Jack Measley, CEO of Super
Rugby Pacific, joining us here on News Talks EDB and
Weekend Sports.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine. Listen live
to News Talks EDB weekends from midday, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine
from Newstalks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Super Rugby Pacific continues to deliver. Round four opened last
night with an upset of Eden Park.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
The Brumby's have it under lock and key. The siren goes,
the arms go up for the Brumbies. They went and
eating Park for the first time in twelve years twenty
one twenty the Brumbies stun the Blues in the Garden
of Eden.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
They certainly didn't among those in attendance last night with
Super Rugby Pacific CEO Jack Mesley, who's joined us in studio,
did the Australian and you enjoy watching the Brumby speak
the Blues last night?
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Jack, Well, I mean, as the competition administrator, unexpected results
are good for us, so I'll put it that way. Piney,
I was loved, I was kindly hosted by the Blues
and yeah, it was a it was a quiet box
there at the end.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
I can imagine it would have been. But as you say,
the ongoing jeopardy including results, must be something you're very
very happy about and overall terms, first of all, how
happy are you with the first three and a bit
rounds of Super Rugby this year.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Yeah, we're thrilled and thrilled with the response from fans,
through audiences and crowds to have records broken, like the
Brumbys broke lass last night. The Western Force broke in
playing the Brumbies, you know, some long term wins that
they haven't been able to achieve for years. That's really
exciting for the competition. So, you know, you add those
(01:38):
close games, those unexpected results to the way in which
it's being played. You know, really great running rugby. We're
seeing records in meters run and you know, the best
ever season in terms of average points scored in the
thirty years of Super Rugby. So those two things combine
close margins and the style of play we're seeing is
(01:58):
really exciting.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
So those on field metrics, that's interesting because you and
I have spoken and we've talked about crowd numbers, We've
talked about viewer numbers. Those are offield things obviously, but
you are also looking at on field metrics when you're
judging the success of Super Rugby. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Absolutely, you know, I think the way we kind of
can look at our whole strategy is our core product.
You know that that is that is the thing that
we sell, and so that has to be great. So
we look at our core product, we look at fan engagement,
and we look at commercial outcomes. So our starting position
is always how good is our core product? And we
did a lot of work in the off season and
(02:33):
as the administration have done in the past couple of seasons,
on how do we make you know, how do we
set this product up for success. We've got the best athletes,
as we've talked about, we've got the best coaches, we've
got the best match officials. What do we do to
make sure that they are all set up for success
to go out there and do what they all can do?
And yeah, that's a combination of the law innovation that
(02:54):
we've been driving and pushing. And then you know, what
are the sort of what's the direction we give the
match officials in terms of what do we want to see?
And within that, you know, we've probably you know, we've
got up to like sixty different measures what we call
our shape of game, and that's everything from you know,
number of scrums, line out's, number of penalties, number of tries,
(03:14):
et cetera. Also time taken to do those things. So
where does the time go. And really our job is
to look at law innovation, look at match official interpretation,
and then work with the teams on where we want
to really emphasize focus to make sure the products set
up for success. So you know what fans would have
(03:35):
seen this year is those law innovations that are helping
with that. You know, the nine having a bit more protection,
meaning the balls clearing quicker. But you've probably also heard
through through the refs mics on broadcast. You know, the
ref's been quite hard on the nine. Get rid of it,
play it or counting down or use it one to
set the scrum and move on. Also off waving off
(03:58):
the water runners and playing on through minor injury. So
all of those things, along with the law innovation and
then just the general intent of the oachs and the
players to have an absolute crack I think, is really
what's setting it up for success.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
What about TMO involvement, is that one of those metrics
or lack of I guess and an ideal world there's none, right,
but there has to be some. But is that a metric? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (04:20):
Absolutely, well, so we've taken we've got a variation in
the in world rugby laws on TMO, So what we've
agreed with World Rugby is that our TMO intervention will
be only around foul play and only around try scorings,
but but led by the on field referee. So the
on field referee owns the game and he can he
(04:41):
can go to those things unless it's our play that
will get called in. So what you now see is
less TMO intervention than when you might might have been
watching the the Abs up up in the North, or
if you're watching Six Nations, and that's quite deliberate. But
we player safety is absolutely paramount, so we absolutely need
need those tmos there to make sure that should the
(05:04):
on field guys and the AAR missed something, that we're
picking that up.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Sky Sport released some viewer numbers this week. One point
one four million have tuned into Super Rugby Pacific across
the first three rounds on Sky Sport and Sky Open.
That's a twelve percent rise on last year, which you know,
those are encouraging numbers. What about in Australia, Jack, what
have you and numbers like over there?
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Yeah, well we just released some numbers with Stan and
with nine and both of those are both so nine
the free to wear and stand the streaming are both
up over double digits and really importantly in FIG as well,
we're seeing great growth forty percent growth in our viewership
numbers in FIG as well, So yeah, really promising signs.
And that's off the back in New Zealand of a
(05:45):
great year last year where we also had double digit growth,
So you know, we really want this momentum to continue
a year on year.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
How happy are you with crowd numbers, you know in
game spectating?
Speaker 4 (05:55):
Yeah, I think we're pretty pleased. Round one was especially good.
I think we're forty percent up on Round one last year,
and then Round two we had we had Super Round
last year in Melbourne so we couldn't really get a
comparative analysis. Round three was good as well, so yeah,
I think we're really pleased. And I know last night
the Blues, you know, they would love to see a
full eating park, but for a Brumby's match, I think
(06:17):
that they were that was kind of above expectation. So
there's lots of room to go on that. But you know,
we've just got to chip away at it and it's
really pleasing to see all the work the clubs are
doing to drive initiatives to continue to fill stadium So
you know, if we talk about you know, the Chiefs
and their rhythms and Rugby Music Festival, great innovations to
(06:41):
be doing, and we've got kids rounds next weekend. The
clubs are doing some great stuff there with Marvel to
really try to bring those younger fans into into stadiums.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I guess from your point of view, it wouldn't matter
on your balance sheet, would it if nobody turned up,
because the revenue you get is from broadcast, but it
must well it looks better on TV for start if
it's a full stadium, So that is still an importance
or use that word again, metro for you the crowds
that are coming to games.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
Absolutely, I mean it is fundamental for club penals and
the competition cannot succeed unless it has healthy clubs. So yeah,
I think it is absolutely important. And we also know
that you know, when you're you will engage with a
broadcast even more when you have full stadiums with high
energy and high atmosphere. So yeah, when we're when we're
(07:30):
talking to the broadcasters that they want full stadiums, they
want great pitches, as do clubs, as do comp So yeah,
I mean I think, yes, broadcast revenue is a significant
piece of our whole economy, if you like, but crowds
are absolutely vital to fuel that, but also to drive
club panels that are absolutely reliant on people turning up.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
We've seen afternoon rugby as well. More to come tomorrow
in christ Church of course. Is that something that you're
you're committed to, that you're keen to see continue.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
Absolutely. I think you know, when we talk about start
of play, in shape of game, there's no doubt the
weather is helping, you know, with that ball movement, with that,
with those tries, and with handling, and probably the heat
as well, you know, the heat when it's so hot
in Fiji and Perth. Even in Act we've had a
few drinks breaks and we've had to bring in you know,
(08:25):
that's bringing fatigue into the game. So yes, I really
love it. I think watching you know, watching Napier in
the sunshine the other day, you know, I'm going down
to christ Church tomorrow and I can't wait to see
see christ Church hopefully in sunshine. Yeah, I really love it.
And I think as we've talked about, you know, we
want time slots that help different people get to games,
(08:46):
and you know, late night games are really tough for
people with young families. You know, a seven thirty kickoff,
you know, it means it's a it's a well passed
bedtime by the time you're getting home getting back from
a stadium. So if we can, if we can continue
to do that, that's really good, and I think really
pleasingly because we have scheduled some quite big matchups in
(09:07):
those day slots. The fact that that's still driving a
really good TV result is really promising for me.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Is there anything you're not happy with from the first
month or anything that is a work on that you'd
like to see improvement in?
Speaker 4 (09:21):
Yeah, I think that we'll always yeah, absolutely absolutely, you know,
and I think we've been pretty transparent that, you know,
we've got a long way to go. So what we
hope we're doing is betting in some of these foundational
things like our communication flow each week, like fantasy, like
new tools. But yeah, well, I mean there's there's plenty
(09:41):
more we can be doing. You know. The interesting thing
is with close result, there is microscope on match official decisions,
there's microscope on TMO and siting commissioners and things like that, So,
you know, I think it's a blessing and a curse.
We have close games. Everyone looks at the incident in
(10:03):
the in the seventy eighth minute and the a lot
of tension on that, but you know, that's not a
bad thing. What we've got to do is just make
sure all of our processes are as good as they
can be and they're as tired as they can be.
And yeah, we'll continue to continue to do that. We
think we've got great processes around those things. And yeah,
but yeah, across the board, there's always opportunities.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Our guest and studio is Super Pacific CEO Jack Measley. Jack,
we had a story come to light this week about
some major travel disruption and accommodation issues for the Fiji
and Drewer during their Round two clash with the hurricanes.
They busted and turn up to take them to Napier.
They traveled in the back of a truck that was
there to transport all their gear. Have you gotten to
the bottom of what happened here? Yeah, we have.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Yeah, we're very aware of the situations as they were
unfolding and had very clear communication with the Drawer post
that weekend and no doubt extremely disappointing what happened, but
we've done a full review about the number of logistical
issues that happened. There are several over sites and breakdowns
and communications which sort of created the challenges for the drawer.
(11:11):
But these have been addressed with both clubs and an
external transport provider and we're very confident that they have
been addressed and dealt with. So yeah, again, really disappointing
what happened, but you know, we've done the review, we
know where those issues were and we've dealt with them,
and we won't really been commenting further. We don't want
(11:32):
to go into those big but you know, disappointing but
dealt with.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Can I just ask you, though, where does ultimate responsibility
lie for travel and accommodation of Super Rugby sites?
Speaker 4 (11:46):
Yeah, well that is a multi multiple different parties are
involved with every set of player movements, so the club itself,
sands are and Super Rugby Pacific, the hosting club and
then obviously a raft of suppliers that then that then
delive for that. So there is no there is no
(12:09):
single point of breakdown here. There is no one to
point the finger out. This is because of the complexity
and the number of different parties involved. It's the breakdown
in comms between some of those parties that have led
to some of these issues. So, I know everyone wants
to wants to point the finger, but there isn't a
(12:30):
single place to point that finger.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
What takes up most of your time on a day
to day and week to week basis. You know, we're
getting into the into the you know, the nitty gritty
of your job here. But you know, when you turn
turn up at work on a Monday, I mean, I
know you'll be traveling back this monthday, but when you
turn up at work, what takes up most of your
time day to day?
Speaker 4 (12:50):
Yeah, So the early part of our week in season
is all about you know, as you said, like what
what can we do better? You know, we review every
weekend and you know, the match officials will do a review,
will do a review of a communications will do a
review of all the different elements and so then we'll
have a series of meetings to look at, you know,
(13:12):
what happened, what went wrong? What do we want to communicate,
you know, more broadly, because we do want to be
more transparent with what's going on in the competition. So
that's the early part of the week and then we'll
get into you know, really flipping that into the promotion
of the coming week. But really importantly and what we're
really trying to change is also you know, particularly in
(13:34):
my role with the with the board is getting further out.
So you know, we're already doing a lot of work
about twenty six, thinking about fixturing, thinking about how you
fixture can optimize crowds for example, as you asked earlier.
So yeah, it's a balance of the here and now
with getting out in front of future twenty six and beyond.
(13:55):
But clearly, you know, when you're in a competition like this,
it can take you any which way. You know, we've
got everything from you know, hia to citing to cyclones.
You know, some of our work this week has been
about making sure the Reds are in a good spot,
not just with their travel, but making sure you know,
(14:15):
they've got families at home going through all this as
they're in christ Church and then they play the Tars
next week in SUNCRP Stadium, So starting to deliver contingency
plans for travel for them and venues potentially, and also
you know, match officials who are some of the them
are based in based in Brisbane, So yeah, I mean
(14:35):
there's never a dull moment. And whilst we try to
schedule our week and make sure that we have time
set away for long term planning and things like that,
you just never know what might come on. Where are
we with a twelfth team, Well, I mean yeah, we
are looking at it, at options for expansion, not specifically
(14:56):
a twelfth team. So right now what we're doing is
looking at the long term and what that might hold
for Super Rugby, not specific again, not specifically, just trying
to find one team because we're not sure. Well, we
don't believe one team is an easy solution within our
current geography, and one team from further afield becomes really problematic.
(15:20):
And so whilst it solves a fixturing problem if you like,
it creates a whole lot of different issues for us.
If we have one team from you know, wherever that
might be, let's say Japan or the US or whatever,
having a lone wolf ovor on the other side of
the world is really problematic. So we're looking at we're
looking at options for expansions more holistically, but that's a
(15:45):
few years away that we are thinking about that. More importantly,
we're thinking about how is this team this competition optimized
and working well. And I think you know, we're four
rounds into eleven team competition, so you know, it's still
very early days on what does that actually deliver. Clearly
(16:05):
you've seen the depth benefit for the Australian teams, there's
also other things like you know, more buyers, Does that help?
Does that hinder? So there's still a lot of learnings
for us to take place with with eleven team competition.
As we think about next year with an eleven team competition,
how we optimize the fixture to drive greater outcomes for
(16:25):
our clubs and for our stakeholder and for fans. That's
that's our immediate focus.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Okay, so we can say that there won't be an
extra team added in twenty twenty six, correct look forward
to seeing progress. There A couple more for you, Jack
and I. You got to get away how much engagement
you're getting from Fantasy Super Rugby.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Yeah, it's been incredible. I think we're about sixty five
thousand participants. I heard a stat the other day that
said I think there's been a million transfers, so you know,
really encouraging that we're seeing that repeat, repeat engagement throughout
throughout the rounds. And yeah, so beyond that, you know,
(17:04):
you can see it's just you know that everyone's talking
about it where they're in broadcast, whether the shoulder content,
whether you guys, I was in I was in your
building here the other just yesterday doing an interview with Chris,
and I could see the screens of some of the
of the employees just fiddling up there with their fantasy teams,
which was great to see. So that's that's one that's fantastic.
(17:27):
You know, we're really pleased with that. I think what's
you know, the secondary benefit is, you know, people are
learning more about other teams, other other other players, and
people are then switching on to to see those other
games to see how how they might how they might go,
and that's exactly what we want. And then the other
(17:50):
part is what we're seeing is that there's a whole
lot of people that haven't been engaging with Super Rugby
Pacific comeing, so you can see people as they sign up,
we're getting you know, a whole lot of a whole
lot of people from you know, a school for example,
that one person's got on it and then spreading that,
and you absolutely, we're unashamedly saying that we do have
(18:13):
a strategic intent to drive engagement with a younger audience
that haven't necessarily engaged with Super Ubi Pacific before and
this is obviously helping us do that.
Speaker 2 (18:24):
All right, And are you expecting another upset tonight when
you watch more One a Pacific a take on My
Hurricanes at Albany Stadium, Jack.
Speaker 4 (18:33):
Well, firstly, I can't wait to go out there because,
you know, last week just looked so good. I thought,
see Ce more on a Pacific as whole proposition come
to life, you know, hearing hearing the crowd singing hymns
in those last couple of minutes to help help them
get over the line, which unfortunately they couldn't do. They've
(18:54):
had three such close matches, so my heart goes out
to mp who have who have just been so unlucky.
But the Canes have been good, I think, So it's
going to be a tight one again. Seeing already come
up against his old club is going to be really interesting.
No doubt there'll be a few Canes players trying to
(19:15):
nullify him, but you know he's a hard man to nullify, isn't.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
He Indeed, indeed that's what that's what's worrying me. That
is well, one of the things that's worrying me. Jack.
Great to get the chance to have a long chat
with you about the competition. Look, it's going great. I
think by every metric that you've mentioned, you know, things
are going well. It's very watchable, a lot of people
are watching it, the players are clearly enjoying it. Thanks
for stopping him for a chat, mate, and enjoy the
rest of you. Stay in New Zealand and we'll catch
(19:40):
up again soon anytime.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Thanks for having me, bonnyh.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
Good on you, mate. That's Jack Measley, CEO of Super
Rugby Pacific, joining us here on News Talks EDB and
Weekend Sports.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine. Listen live
to News Talks EDB weekends from midday, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio.
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