Research universities form new mission group to ‘grow visibility’

This could work provided it is not just another lobby group (like RG), but a real collaboration between institutions actually doing things together and building real research infrastructure.

I think it just kind of re-inforces the RG brand by reacting against it, if you know what I mean. If it's just branding then it might just end up making them "The Crap Gang" as it were.

Yes if you have the Premier League established in the public mind, anything else you can set up as a rival will look more like the Konica League of Wales or whatever they call it these days, you just re-emphasize the differentials as it were which is not great. It's a double bind really, a Catch 22.