Players Boss: 'NPC is so dam valuable to this country'
“I just think it has a bad rap, and it hasn’t really been invested in or promoted for what it is."
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One of rugby’s most influential people has thrown his heavyweight support behind the role the National Provincial Championship plays in the New Zealand rugby landscape.
Although he believes the competition “has had a bad rap and hasn’t been invested in or promoted for what it is”.
New Zealand Rugby Players Association CEO Rob Nichol grew up in Southland, which included living at Stewart Island from age 12 to 21. He boarded at the Southland Boys’ High School hostel during his high school years.
There has been plenty of debate in recent years around the sustainability of the NPC - New Zealand’s provincial competition - as New Zealand Rugby tries to balance its books.
Speaking on The Roar Podcast this week, Nichol explained just how valuable he viewed the NPC as being for rugby in New Zealand, and he added the professional players he represents love the competition.
“The likes of the NPC is so dam valuable to this country. Just to be clear, the players love NPC, and they always have,” Nichol told The Roar Podcast.
“They love it because they appreciate the role the provincial unions have played in their community and in their upbringing as people.
“They appreciate it because it is great footy. It has got young talent with experienced talent, and they like it because they are representing their province, and there is a sense of tribalism about it.
“I just think it has a bad rap, and it hasn’t really been invested in or promoted for what it is.
“When I hear that Southland sold 10,000 items of merchandise last year, I’m like, there you go, what more do you need? Everyone wants the Stags on their head.
“That’s kind of what we want to see coming to the fore in the next few years.”
It isn’t just a competition that the players loved, Nichol felt the NPC was vital to ensure New Zealand continues to produce quality rugby players, to keep New Zealand performing internationally.
“If you don’t have the NPC or Super Rugby pathways to allow for that, then what you do is what every other country does. You go and pluck talent and compete with every other sport and try to identify the 16-year-old that they think is going to be a world-class player at 26, 27, 28.
“That’s highly risky, and with only 5 million people, if you start taking that approach, you are going to get it wrong more often than you get it right, and we will lose our legacy.
“So that’s how important we see our domestic rugby competitions. They are frankly the lifeblood of us being able to keep rugby professional in this country and keep the teams in black performing.”
Absolutely correct.........129% correct Rob!