Axing the Rebels is an opportunity to bring Australian rugby into the 21st century. Put the brakes on dumping the Rebels franchise, bring Australian rugby up to world-class standards, fill the stadiums and make some money!

Sell, lease, or give the Rebels franchise to a Japanese conglomerate with the proviso that they pay off the Rebels creditors and then give them total freedom to put a ‘Super’ team in its place. Let them recruit worldwide anyone who can get an Australian visa and give them salaries competitive with the top European clubs.

Essentially, create a Trojan Horse, invite it in and then compete with it. I’d expect this new ‘Rebels’ club to win Super Rugby Pacific in its second year and keep winning until the Australian and New Zealand sides catch up.

The Japanese know rugby and they know how to put bums on seats. Why should the likes of Richie Mo’unga have to go to Japan to get a paycheck? The value of this arrangement should be obvious, but I’ll throw out a few things to think about.

Rugby is a relatively low-profile sport in Australia because RA’s mindset is stuck somewhere in the late 20th century. The world of all sports, including rugby, has moved on. Rugby in Australia continues to lose ground against other codes because it’s not competitive enough for fans to bother.

A ‘new Rebels’ Trojan Horse team in Melbourne would be better for everyone in Super Rugby starting with Australia’s remaining teams and the rest of Rugby Pacific.

Making the ‘new ‘Rebels’ Trojan Horse competitive with anyone in Europe and the British Isles will compel everyone to lift their game several notches – and we wouldn’t have to mimic the South African strategy of having their best sides travel to Europe to get thrashed by the likes of Leinster or Toulouse.

Yes, this Trojan Horse would/should be an alien monster! Who really cares who’s playing on the teams if they aren’t competitive? No one, and attendance figures show it. The status quo leaves us virtually nothing to lift our game to the level in the north.

The Waratahs are pathetic and, based on form, they are the ones who should have been ‘put down’. But it’s all about money! The current Rebels didn’t have it. RA doesn’t have it. At the rate we’re back peddling and generally mucking around, we’re never going to have it – and the Wallabies’ world ranking will be in the double digits forever.

The Japanese have buckets of money. This Trojan Horse team is a way to give them a stake in Australian rugby’s future without starting a currently pointless competition between Super Rugby and the Japanese League One sides.