KINGS - where to next?

Where to next...
PLAN A - retain super rugby status - FAILED (promo relegation matches lost)

PLAN B - obtain Currie cup status for 2014 - FAILED 
(failed to qualify for promo relegation and expansion of competition not an option as franchise partners drop the ball) Earlier this week on Monday the board voted against the expansion of the premier division of the 2014 Currie cup and that the format will remain the same for next year.  This leaves the Kings without a major top flight competition to attract new players and even worse keep the current batch. 

This has forced the Kings to think 'outside the box' and create an alternative playing schedule hopefully including some good opposition.  Cheeky revealed earlier this week that he was looking North and that there might be something on the cards that could be more than just friendlies. Automatically one would think of the new proposed competition in the North (just wondering when this comp will be scheduled and how many teams and what teams will be involved).  But that just mere speculation and as nothing has yet been confirmed I will take everything mentioned with a pinch of salt.

PLAN C - who knows??? so many rumours??? so much of nothing really...
Cheeky claims he has a plan but I am not one who likes sitting around and waiting for answers... So I have decided that I would try and look into my own solution for this dilemma that the Kings currently find themselves in.  The solution will have to be enough game time and opportunities not only for the Senior guys but also for the youngsters.

THE YOUNGSTERS: (academy / u19 & u21 / maybe even some u23)
I thought that I would start by concentrating on keeping the younger guys here till 2014 so we need to schedule enough games for them that would offer them experience as well as exposure. We need to make sure that they have a packed schedule of games from January through to October to offer them the opportunities to develop and showcase their skills.

Luckily there are already a few competitions that offer just that like the Varsity cup and the Vodacom cup.  The Varsity cup usually starts at the beginning of February and ends middle March and the Vodacom cup starts at the beginning of March and ends in the Middle of may. For the Vodacom cup I think the Kings should only play players u23 years of age to use this tournament for development and keep the youngsters as they will hopefully make up the bulk of the squad come 2016. This means that February, March, April and May is covered leaving us with June, July, August, September & October for the youngsters.

Obviously you also have the u19 & u21 Currie cup competitions and if everything goes to plan I think the u21 team will play in the A section and the u19 team will still be in the B section. Therefor the u21 team will be playing middle July till end of October and the u19 team will be playing from middle August till middle October.  Obviously some players will be drafted into the Senior team as player depth could be tested or they might just be good enough.

Now after all of that it only leaves June as a gap to fill... In 2011 the Kings participated in the Nations cup as the South African Kings and I think this tournament that includes some 2nd tier rugby nations will be an awesome opportunity for youngsters to grow as individuals though travel and also learn to come together as a squad during an extended tour (building a brotherhood as such).  This tournament is usually over a 2 week period in the middle of June (not sure how this will affect the exams of the young guys in the academy?). Same as in the Vodacom cup I feel this team should be made up of players u23 years of age only and maybe even make it an u23 franchise team consisting of EP, SWD and Border youngster.  Hopefully that will help our franchise partners keep their youngsters and also hopefully build a few bridges.

THE SENIORS (21 & up)
Once again it all comes down to game time, exposure and opportunity and the only way of achieving this is to have alternative competitions / games for the senior guys to compete and play in.  First off I don't feel that the Varcity cup or the Vodacom cup will be an incentive for the senior players and Currie cup 1st Division might just not be enough to keep the players. However we will need to use our Senior guys in the 1st Division competition to try and gain promotion at the end of the year. 

The curriecup 1st division starts at the beginning of July and ends at the end of October and with no other competitions worth mentioning it leaves the management to try and schedule games/competitions for the months of January, February, March, April, May and June. That is 6 months of matches to schedule and will be a massive task if not an impossible one for the management team.  Yes it is easy to think of possibilities but to actually make them happen is a different story - just ask the Lions about their Lions Challenge... The Lions had a few cancellations of matches and some games was a let down and frankly just wasn't worth the time and the effort of actually arranging such games. 

However it isn't a complete lost cause as I am sure that we will be able to schedule some warmup games with the other franchises during January. Hopefully against all 5 but I recon we will get 3 max 4 warmup games. That sorts January and the 1st week of February.

Like the Lions we might be able to schedule some warmup games against the touring International teams who will be playing against the Boks. The Lions managed to arrange such games this year and played against the Samoans. If we manage to schedule these games that should have part of June covered.

Now we are left with February, March, April & May, four months of matches need to be scheduled to keep the Senior guys going. If the scheduling of four months worth of matches aren't difficult enough the matches will have to be against 'worthy' opponents to enable the management to negotiate proper television rights for the matches and also to fill the stadium. (ticket sales will have to be good in order to assist the Kings in financing these games).  Another 'snag' here is that during this period most of Europe are already busy with competitions of their own as all the Europena competitions end in May.  The Japanese season however starts in September and Ends in January, so there might be an opportunity to arrange a match or two against Japanese opposition during this time period. 


I have heard a few rumours already... 
• the Kings might be joining the new competition being talked about up North, I have no idea when this competition will be and how it will fit into the schedule). This will obviously be first prize at the moment.

• I have also heard an option about a triangular type tournament with 2 Scottish (Celtic) teams.

• Another option I have heard was maybe a tournament involving the proposed Pacific team and the Japanese teams that might be joining the NZ and Aus conferences.

Partial solutions of  my own:
• A possible option that I thought of (depending on whether the other options materialise and when they are scheduled for) is a triangular competition between Griquas, Pumas and Kings (probably consistently the best 3 teams not part of Super rugby) scheduled after the Vodacom cup (middle May).  I think the Pumas and Griquas will both welcome the extra game time and possible income  (will also give a good idea of the gap between the premier and 1st division and the work needed to be done to get promotion). This competition can be promoted and I am sure the broadcasters will be interested in televising these matches. Obviously match times will have to be scheduled around super rugby games & test matches to not have the times clash with the super rugby / test times in order to maximise the exposure of the players and also the broadcasting thereof.  Can maybe even add a 1st Division Barbarians (best of the rest.. Eagles, Cavaliers, Bulldogs, Leopards, Valke, Griffons) team to the mix and turn it into a quadrangular series.

• Other options are to have the Southern Kings (SWD, BOR, EP) play opening games for the Boks for the International incoming tours against an SA Barbarians team, SA Varsity cup team, SA u21 etc...  and maybe share in the takings from ticket sales for the tests. (this obviously something that will need to be discussed with SARU and approved by them). This type of fixture will hopefully supply some exposure for the players. Not sure if this will conflict with their Currie-cup campaign.

CONCLUSION
Keep in mind that it not just about finding a solution but also a workable one and with limited time (2 - 3 months to arrange)... the solution must be found now - This is where it gets difficult and the Kings management will need all the help they can get. I urge all the Kings Army members and Kings supporters to think of solutions (I know this is the managements responsibility, but as a Kings supporter I find it frustrating to just sit back and see everything fall apart). Let us be pro active and think of solutions/alternatives... anything really... might spark an idea with someone else (please comment and leave your ideas below) and worst case scenario the ideas will make for some interesting debate.

Keep in mind - the main focus will need to be on scheduling matches for Feb, Mar, April, May (I seriously hope that the proposed Northern hemisphere comp fall into this time frame)

KINGS ON THE RISE (might have taken a dip, but we will get there )