In lullaby land, otherwise known as Australian Rugby Union HQ, those in charge who require machetes to fight their way through the thick cobwebs to find the board room keep getting demoralised by disturbing images.
As if the pesky public is not enough of an irritation- having the temerity for the past four months in demanding a decision, any decision, on who out of the Western Force or Melbourne Rebels will be cut- now those with clout are openly snubbing them.
The end of the Super Rugby season- well for four Australian teams at least- was supposed to provide some relief for those masters of procrastination on the ARU board. Instead, at the end of the Force-Waratahs game in Perth was the most ominous of sights. Out strode onto the field the type of identity the ARU networkers love to pal around with- a billionaire with money to burn. This one though had an abrupt 'up-yours' message for the ARU- especially to those in the organisation who thought it would be easy getting rid of the Force.
After the high emotion of the Force's final-round win over the Waratahs, highlighted by their retiring captain Matt Hodgson having his Eric Simms moment toe-booting over the final kick, local iron ore magnate Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest gathered the players around to announce their fight for survival had gone up a gear.
Just a month or so after donating $400 million to various charities, Twiggy told the Force players he was backing them all the way. No money was mentioned, but it was inferred. He told them: "Be assured that surviving is not an issue, you will survive and you will win."
Smelling salts were immediately required at ARU HQ.
Twiggy followed it up the next day with a statement that his ongoing support "would be contingent upon (rugby) remaining a national, not an eastern states-only sport."
Straitjackets were now being called for at ARU HQ.
Twiggy's defiant stand comes on top of the Force lodging a Supreme Court writ, claiming the ARU could be in breach of an alliance agreement. So, the Force are not going to be disappearing in any hurry. Twiggy and his men are too hard to budge.
So, the pressure reverts back to the privately-owned Rebels- and while they have been impotent- with just one victory and a draw this season- they are off-field a far more militant, better organised beast. The Rebels management have also shown they have little regard for the ARU, and are also waiting to sue the national body.
No matter what, court action appears inevitable- and many more months of indecision while the legal eagles hover. It could end up costing the ARU millions.
Since that silly '48 to 72 hours' moment on April 10, yes you read right April 10, when the ARU stated a decision over whether the Force or the Rebels would exit the competition was just days away, fluoro thongs have gone in and out of fashion, snakes and panda bears have gone into hibernation, new-born babies have developed full-grown beards, governments have been overthrown, ships have been built and launched and the Wallabies amazingly have had enough time to discover even more ways to lose unlosable Test matches.
But during this eternity one factor has remained exactly the same. Then and now, put an Australian Super Rugby team up against a New Zealand side, and the outcome doesn't change. Well, it hasn't actually changed for the last 31 Trans-Tasman encounters. It's only got worse. And that's why the ARU must finally front up and tell us who they want to get rid of- so that the whole messy legal issue can at least start, some sort of step can be taken, and hopefully an outcome can be achieved before the end of this decade.
In spite of all the emotion and sentiment swirling around the teams, the 2017 Super Rugby season confirmed that Australian Rugby cannot sustain five provinces. Four is even stretching it.
Only two of the five- the Brumbies and Force- played at an acceptable level this season, while the other three- Waratahs, Reds and Rebels- produced several unforgivable performances. Their overall effort was far from satisfactory. Each province fielded players who weren't up to Super Rugby calibre- and not surprisingly standards dropped at an alarming rate.
Even worse it appeared that a few Waratahs and Rebels players either gave up, or were just going through the motions during the season. They made a mockery of their supposed lofty positions.
At the start of the year, the Rebels were diabolical, with several seemingly too scared to even attempt to tackle their opponents, while the Waratahs against the Force last Saturday showed absolutely no heart or drive, and as a penalty for their lethargy should have been forced to take the train rather than the plane back from Perth to Sydney.
Only Bernard Foley and Michael Hooper could be forgiven, as they did put in. For the rest, a few days on the Nullarbor would have brought them back to earth. Far smarter than getting them all together to watch the Super Rugby final. But yet again the Waratahs take the meaningless, soft option.
When teams whose future is either safe (Waratahs) or in serious jeopardy (Rebels) don't put in- they don't deserve any sympathy. Nor do the ARU, as their dithering along with a string of foolish decisions in the last season or two from past and present officials which has provided the Force and Rebels with loopholes they can take advantage of, has created this almighty mess.