Hard-running Stars winger James Dargaville is ready to take his game to the next level. Source: Supplied
SEVEN years ago the Australian Rugby Championship was launched with a slick TV ad using the catchline: "You don't know me … yet."
It featured unknown kids tipped to become the next generation of rugby stars, and proved to be eerily accurate.
Kurtley Beale, David Pocock, Luke Burgess, Dean Mumm and the Faingaa twins were among the actors and within a year or two of the 2007 ARC, most went on to become Wallabies.
The ARC lasted just one season but tonight Australia's third-tier competition will be officially re-incarnated, with the National Rugby Championship kicking off at Ballymore.
Brisbane City will host the Sydney Stars, and three other matches will roll out over the weekend.
The NRC is a financially leaner edifice than its predecessor but there is hope the remarkable player development legacy of the ARC will be equally as prolific.
Approximately 77 players involved in the ARC made their Super Rugby debuts either in 2007 or in years to come.
A whopping 35 went on to win Test debuts for the Wallabies in 2008 and years beyond: including star names like Will Genia, Quade Cooper, Scott Fardy, Ben Alexander, Christian Lealiifano, Pocock and Beale — who was the tournament's MVP.
Kurtley Beale in action for the Western Sydney Rams in 2007. Source: News Limited
One was even let slip and went on to to become a Kiwi rugby league international: former Central Coast Rays flanker Jared Waerea-Hargreaves. It's fair to argue many would have progressed through, anyway, but players sing the ARC's praises for giving them experience and exposure.
Robbie Deans earmarked Ben Alexander after watching footage of him playing for the Rams, for example, prior to joining the Brumbies in 2008.
The NRC, too, will inevitably be the launching pad for future Super and Test rugby names.
Hard-running Stars winger James Dargaville, 22, was yesterday identified by coach Chris Malone as one such player.
"We have some young guys with phenomenal talent but of all of them, Dargaville is ready to go now. He's ready to play at the next level now," Malone said.
Some names will already have a familiar ring, with several NRC clubs already affiliated with Super Rugby clubs. With professional training backgrounds, the Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and two Brisbane clubs will be tough to beat for the club-based Sydney teams, believes Malone.
"My expectation is those teams should do very well in this comp. In saying that, the Rams and the Eagles have put together good squads, so most teams will be good," he said.
The Stars, a combination of Uni and Balmain, will turn to Wallabies Paddy Ryan and Peter Betham for star power.
"Our depth is going to be tested, but that's exciting too, it's a great challenge," Malone said. "We can't re-invent the wheel for this comp. We will go into it and have a red-hot crack and see how we go."
The Vikings will have Lealiifano, Jesse Mogg and Fotu Auelua on deck against Perth Spirit on Saturday, and the Greater Sydney Rams, who yesterday announced Steve Mafi as a new signing, will travel to Coogee Oval to play the NSW Country Eagles.
