WilladieLeeu’s article on Wetalkrugby.

I remember the day it was announced that the Golden Lions and the Freestate Cheetahs would merge and play together as the Cats in the Super 12.

I turned to my brother and said that it was the biggest mistake the GLRU could ever make. Looking back to that day I was justified in saying that. The first season they played together as the Cats was 1998.

Prior to 1998, Transvaal dominated the Currie Cup and still went on to win the competition in 1999 against Natal. But from there on, it has been downhill all the way. Transvaal also had a good record in Superrugby prior to merging with the Cheetahs and I still cannot understand the reasoning why these two very different unions decided to merge.

This had some serious effects on the Lions and Cheetahs that most don’t realise and both unions are still struggling to find their feet due to this.

The Lions lost their identity. We were only known as the Lions in the Currie Cup, and unfortunately, this name, was not marketable anymore. This also caused the Lions to lose a huge percentage of their supporter’s base. They wanted to be associated with one team and one union. Not a side that had to play home games between Ellispark and Bloem and Kimberley.

I knew a couple of players that played for the Lions back then, and what this caused was a mass departure of players due to the fact that with the Lions, they were maybe second or third in the pecking order and was close to Superrugby exposure. Unfortunately when merging with the Cheetahs, they suddenly found themselves out of the side and lost the opportunity to play against the best in the world.

They moved to different unions where they were back in contention and in the match day 22. This depleted the depth of the Lions and the Cheetahs separately, and is still felt today.

Merging these sides was not only destined for failure for the Cats, but for the Lions and Cheetahs individually. It had an effect on management, coaches, players and supporters. It is also no coincidence that these are the two side that struggle the most with depth, and since separating have been struggling to hold on to quality players.

It also had a huge impact on finances. Instead of having all the matches at one venue and making money from the tickets sold, it had to be shared between the unions. Thus making the profit margins that much smaller. Same with sponsorships.

The Cats did make the semi’s in 2000 and 2001. But that was the pinnacle of their success. The day the decision was made to merge, was the day the Lions ended their domination. I believe that the Lions need to re-establish their identity, and as Jake White said, they need to find a style of play that suits them. It is going to take time, the dumps the Lions currently find themselves in, did not happen overnight, and fixing it, will take time. They need to create an environment where the players feel that they are being looked after, and that moving to the Lions will keep them in contention to be selected for the green and gold.

Success breeds success. Unfortunately it also goes the opposite way. The Lions need to start getting results – at any cost. This is the only way for the Lions to get over the hangover that once was the Cats.