20 replies to this topic

[Wendall]

Wales Rugby League’s executive chairman Mark Rowley said last night that qualifying for the Four Nations is bigger than Wales rugby union winning the Six Nations.

“This is massive for Wales Rugby League,” he said. “Some people have compared it to winning the Six Nations in rugby union but I think it’s bigger. We are now in the elite of rugby league and are in the top four nations in the world.

“This is a massive boost for rugby league in Wales and we look forward to welcoming England, Australia and New Zealand next year. The win shows how far we’ve come in such a short time. It’s our biggest achievement ever.”

Read More http://www.walesonli.../#ixzz13JUY3hEA

This is bound to stir up things in South Wales coming out with a statement like this!!

But is this such a big moment for Welsh international RL?

I would say reaching the 2000 Semi Finals and scaring the Kangaroos when Harris and Briers were in their pomp was the pinnacle for Welsh RL.

[HappyDave]

Over-exaggeration much?

Well done to Wales but even though I'm not a Union fan it just doesn't compare to winning the RU 6 Nations. How many people watched Wales RL vs France XIII? Now compare that to a if Wales RU played France RU in the 6 Nations. Hmmm...

Were France at full strength yesterday? Neither Briers nor Thomas will be playing for Wales next year. I definitely don't think they're 4th best in the World. Possibly 6th or 7th (1 Aus 2 NZ 3 England 4 PNG 5 France 6 Fiji?).

[Cardiff Cymru]

Neither Briers nor Thomas will be playing for Wales next year.

Where did you get that from? Briers and Thomas are both determined to play 4 Nations next year. Briers was injured yesterday and it showed. Wales should have won by more.

[HappyDave]

Where did you get that from? Briers and Thomas are both determined to play 4 Nations next year. Briers was injured yesterday and it showed. Wales should have won by more.

Okay, fair enough, I thought they both said they were retiring from Internationals after this year but now I've been corrected. Although I don't think I'm mistaken on my other points though.

Edited by HappyDave, 24 October 2010 - 10:23 PM.

[cardifcrusaderrob]

In terms of the achievement itself and where the team have come from in recent times Yes ,it is indeed bigger than the national Union side winning the Six Nations, the sets of teams involved are similarly competitive interms of their playing quality and development. When Wales won the Six Nations its all over the papers and the TV here, it should be exactly the same for Wales RL, but of course it wont be.

Its good next year in promoting the sport and Wales RL in general in that alongside the regular 4 Autumn Rugby Union Internationals v South Africa, Australia,New Zealand and a.n Pacific Island, Wales RL will have atleast three Internationals also involving Australia and New Zealand as well a month beforehand in the premier global competition , hopefully there will be another friendly as well say PNG or Tonga etc would be great experience. We can compare and contrast well then with our Union friends, it should do wonders for the sport here!!!

[The Future is League]

Why shouldn't Mark Rowley talk up Wales victory in france and the qualifying for the 4 Nations?. union does it all the time. all Mark has done is taken a leaf out the union manual and bigged up wales victory in France. you can bet if the Wales union team had achieved a similar against the odds victory the union loving media would be letting us know all about it wherever we lived in the UK.

[dallymessenger]

will be very good for the game in wales being able to see the best rugby players on the planet come and visit.

what theyll see in the Kiwis or Roos will kill anything theyve watched in their life time

[dallymessenger]

Why shouldn't Mark Rowley talk up Wales victory in france and the qualifying for the 4 Nations?. union does it all the time. all Mark has done is taken a leaf out the union manual and bigged up wales victory in France. you can bet if the Wales union team had achieved a similar against the odds victory the union loving media would be letting us know all about it wherever we lived in the UK.

agreed.

[boost]

Over-exaggeration much?

Well done to Wales but even though I'm not a Union fan it just doesn't compare to winning the RU 6 Nations. How many people watched Wales RL vs France XIII? Now compare that to a if Wales RU played France RU in the 6 Nations. Hmmm...

Were France at full strength yesterday? Neither Briers nor Thomas will be playing for Wales next year. I definitely don't think they're 4th best in the World. Possibly 6th or 7th (1 Aus 2 NZ 3 England 4 PNG 5 France 6 Fiji?).

Wales would like to win the Six Nations but would love to win the Grand Slam again or get a win against a full strengh All Black team. What Wales like best about the six nations is the opportunity to turn over England!
I'll leave picking the team to Iestyn, his win ratio is very good

[Marv Woodburn]

Over-exaggeration much?

Well done to Wales but even though I'm not a Union fan it just doesn't compare to winning the RU 6 Nations. How many people watched Wales RL vs France XIII? Now compare that to a if Wales RU played France RU in the 6 Nations. Hmmm...

Were France at full strength yesterday? Neither Briers nor Thomas will be playing for Wales next year. I definitely don't think they're 4th best in the World. Possibly 6th or 7th (1 Aus 2 NZ 3 England 4 PNG 5 France 6 Fiji?).

Its totally irrelevant if France were at full strength over the weekend, they had more than enough to see off Wales in that squad, France had the luxury of naming 15 players in their 17 with SL experince. They had every game in this comp at home. After a terrible world cup and losing this Euro comp they have pretty much shown that they arent capable of winning a game with the heat on. Wales more than deserve the win, hopefully it will give the game another shot in the arm there.

I also dont know how you could say PNG were better than Wales, they havent played eachother for years and the last time they did, Wales won!!

[thirteenthman]

Well done to Mark Rowley for talking their acheivement up. I'm sure the Welsh public are used to hearing exaggerated comments and over the top statements from the WRU, so why shouldn't RL do the same? It's a pity the RFL don't try talking the game up a bit more.

However, I do wonder what sort of publicity they'll get next year when they face the Kiwis and Kangaroos. Both those games have the potential to be very one sided. The Welsh pool of players is a very shallow one, despite all the good development work going on. All it takes is for a Lee Briers to be injured next year and Welsh prospects will look decidedly worse. RL is a very unforgiving sport and as we've seen with England in the past, a big defeat can turn public opinion very quickly.

[rob centurion]

Well this should boost Wales development massively, with a year to get people to a better standard, and convince some England / Wales eligible waverers, that pulling on a Wales jersey WILL get them good games!

Not only that but hopefully they will get a flood of new recruits and schools etc on the back of this.....

[Cofi]

Why shouldn't Mark Rowley talk up Wales victory in france and the qualifying for the 4 Nations?. union does it all the time. all Mark has done is taken a leaf out the union manual and bigged up wales victory in France. you can bet if the Wales union team had achieved a similar against the odds victory the union loving media would be letting us know all about it wherever we lived in the UK.

I agree. Wales RL has got to make itself heard. It has to shout very loudly about its achievements because what Wales have managed to pull off is without doubt a magnificent sporting achievement. Exaggeration is often a very powerful tool to get people to notice if its used skillfully. The overstatement gives attention to the statement. Rowley knows exactly what he's doing - good for him. Anyway, it might not even be that much of an exaggeration...

[bird]

Absolutely. Good on you guys.

[Wendall]

I agree. Wales RL has got to make itself heard. It has to shout very loudly about its achievements because what Wales have managed to pull off is without doubt a magnificent sporting achievement. Exaggeration is often a very powerful tool to get people to notice if its used skillfully. The overstatement gives attention to the statement. Rowley knows exactly what he's doing - good for him. Anyway, it might not even be that much of an exaggeration...

Will the stay away players return now? The likes of the Evans brothers who ditched Wales for England honours.

[Maximus Decimus]

I think some are misreading his comments. I don't think he is trying to make out like it is bigger for Wales that the RL team won. I think he's saying its equivalently better and he's probably right. To qualify for the 4 nations is a massive opportunity for Wales RL and one almost unthinkable just 4 years ago. Winning the 6 nations was massive for Wales but it would pale in comparison to say a defeat of NZ or a World Cup win. Therefore it's not their biggest achievement merely a big one similar to this one for Wales RL. However you could argue that some time ago, qualifying would have been unthinkable whereas winning the 6 nations was hardly that.

[Cofi]

Will the stay away players return now? The likes of the Evans brothers who ditched Wales for England honours.

I certainly hope so!

I think some are misreading his comments. I don't think he is trying to make out like it is bigger for Wales that the RL team won. I think he's saying its equivalently better and he's probably right. To qualify for the 4 nations is a massive opportunity for Wales RL and one almost unthinkable just 4 years ago. Winning the 6 nations was massive for Wales but it would pale in comparison to say a defeat of NZ or a World Cup win. Therefore it's not their biggest achievement merely a big one similar to this one for Wales RL. However you could argue that some time ago, qualifying would have been unthinkable whereas winning the 6 nations was hardly that.

I think this is the point - you're right. Even if he's a tad overstating matters, clever use of hyperbole often draws attention, gets people talking, generates further interest etc.

[mick wilson]

Well this should boost Wales development massively, with a year to get people to a better standard, and convince some England / Wales eligible waverers, that pulling on a Wales jersey WILL get them good games!

Not only that but hopefully they will get a flood of new recruits and schools etc on the back of this.....

Hope so.

[Cardiff Cymru]

I loved typing up those comments. He first made them live on GTFM on Saturday afternoon. Those listeners heard it first. GTFM - the biggest supporters of Rugby League in Wales for the last six seasons.

[saintfrank]

Over-exaggeration much?

Well done to Wales but even though I'm not a Union fan it just doesn't compare to winning the RU 6 Nations. How many people watched Wales RL vs France XIII? Now compare that to a if Wales RU played France RU in the 6 Nations. Hmmm...

Were France at full strength yesterday? Neither Briers nor Thomas will be playing for Wales next year. I definitely don't think they're 4th best in the World. Possibly 6th or 7th (1 Aus 2 NZ 3 England 4 PNG 5 France 6 Fiji?).

the report and teams are on the match thread, and France had a strong team comparede to Wales