25 replies to this topic

[frombanginfront]

Audio Interview

[The Future is League]

Audio Interview

The best thing that can happen i to increase the appeal of Rugby League in the PIs is to have the rule that once you have played for a country at senior level you can't then swap countries. short term the PIs will struggle, but for the long term future for Rugby League in the PIs and the world this must happen, coupled with a rule that you must have a set amount of players from you own competitions when you play in international competitions, that way junior development is taken more seriously everywhere.

Edited by The Future is League, 16 November 2010 - 12:37 PM.

[rlno1]

How about actually playing games in the Pacific with big name players instead of Western Sydney all the time.

[thirteenthman]

How about actually playing games in the Pacific with big name players instead of Western Sydney all the time.

I'm pretty sure a tour by Australia or NZ to Tonga, Fiji and Samoa for one off test matches would be the best bit of development work for years.

[brooza]

I'm pretty sure a tour by Australia or NZ to Tonga, Fiji and Samoa for one off test matches would be the best bit of development work for years.

Or an England tour in 2012. Maybe coupled with NZ, as follows:

Week 1:
Tonga vs England
Fiji vs NZ

Week 2:
Samoa vs England
PNG vs NZ

Week 3:
NZ vs England

Maybe even have Wales or France join in somehow, or am I getting a bit carried away?

[brooza]

Maybe even have Wales or France join in somehow, or am I getting a bit carried away?

Week 1:
Fiji England
Samoa NZ
Tonga France
PNG Wales


Week 2:
PNG England
Fiji NZ
Samoa France
Tonga Wales


Week 3:
Tonga England
PNG NZ
Fiji France
Samoa Wales


Week 4:
Samoa England
Tonga NZ
PNG France
Fiji Wales


Week 5:
England NZ
Samoa PNG
France Wales
Fiji Tonga

Maybe as a 1 day, millenium magic type thing

[brooza]

Or as follows:

Week 1:
Fiji England
Samoa NZ
Tonga France or Wales

Week 2:
Samoa England
Tonga NZ
PNG France or Wales

Week 3:
Tonga England
PNG NZ
Fiji France or Wales

Week 4:
PNG England
Fiji NZ
Samoa France or Wales


And have a final week of NZ v Eng and Wales/France vs the best PI team from the tournament

[Big Picture]

How about actually playing games in the Pacific with big name players instead of Western Sydney all the time.

There's a simple reason they're always played in Sydney or Auckland. That's the only way they're viable. These are tiny countries with fewer people than Tasmania, separated from anywhere else by several hundred km of ocean so travel to and from them is very expensive. Suva's smaller than Hobart, and both Apia and Nuku'alofa are tiny places. It's beyond me why anyone thinks these countries are ever going to lift the profile or credibility of international RL.

[brooza]

There's a simple reason they're always played in Sydney or Auckland. That's the only way they're viable. These are tiny countries with fewer people than Tasmania, separated from anywhere else by several hundred km of ocean so travel to and from them is very expensive. Suva's smaller than Hobart, and both Apia and Nuku'alofa are tiny places. It's beyond me why anyone thinks these countries are ever going to lift the profile or credibility of international RL.

I suppose my ideas aren't particularly feasible either

Maybe the first one, but all in NZ. Though I do like the idea of Wales or France getting to play the PI teams, though I suppose that's what the WC is for

[thirteenthman]

There's a simple reason they're always played in Sydney or Auckland. That's the only way they're viable. These are tiny countries with fewer people than Tasmania, separated from anywhere else by several hundred km of ocean so travel to and from them is very expensive. Suva's smaller than Hobart, and both Apia and Nuku'alofa are tiny places. It's beyond me why anyone thinks these countries are ever going to lift the profile or credibility of international RL.

GB played in Fiji on the 1996 tour. An England A team have toured these places in the past (2002ish), and the BARLA GB team have visited the islands on a couple of occasions. I'm sure if Australia or NZ wanted to they could find a way of playing one off tests on the islands. I imagine the interest would be massive if say, Jarryd Hayne played for the Aussies against Fiji in Suva.

[Big Picture]

GB played in Fiji on the 1996 tour. An England A team have toured these places in the past (2002ish), and the BARLA GB team have visited the islands on a couple of occasions. I'm sure if Australia or NZ wanted to they could find a way of playing one off tests on the islands. I imagine the interest would be massive if say, Jarryd Hayne played for the Aussies against Fiji in Suva.

Stopping off en route from England to Australia is a bit more feasible, but still won't be a money maker. The place is too small and poor for that. GB stopped there in 1996 because they we're going to Australia due to being on the outs with the ARL, not for any other reason. If Jarryd Hayne played for the Aussies against Fiji in Suva the interest might be massive there in Fiji, but nowhere else.

[thirteenthman]

Stopping off en route from England to Australia is a bit more feasible, but still won't be a money maker. The place is too small and poor for that. GB stopped there in 1996 because they we're going to Australia due to being on the outs with the ARL, not for any other reason. If Jarryd Hayne played for the Aussies against Fiji in Suva the interest might be massive there in Fiji, but nowhere else.

But as a developmental tool it would be worthwile, even just as a one off for Australia - they do manage to play PNG every year. I mentioned Jarryd Hayne as an example, but I'm sure the big NRL stars would generate big interest on all the islands. It might not be a money maker initially, but encouraging further development in the Pacific Nations would surely bring big benefits to the international game. The likes of Fiji are some of the few nations which can provide any sort of international competition outside the 'big 3' and should be encouraged as much as possible.

[rlno1]

Exactly you play in the islands as a way to develop the game, if it is money than of course they won't play in the islands.

Why not play 2 games one in WS and another in the islands.

[Big Picture]

But as a developmental tool it would be worthwile, even just as a one off for Australia - they do manage to play PNG every year. I mentioned Jarryd Hayne as an example, but I'm sure the big NRL stars would generate big interest on all the islands. It might not be a money maker initially, but encouraging further development in the Pacific Nations would surely bring big benefits to the international game. The likes of Fiji are some of the few nations which can provide any sort of international competition outside the 'big 3' and should be encouraged as much as possible.

Further development in tiny countries that are no bigger than Luxembourg or Iceland would surely bring big benefits to the international game? How exactly do you figure that? On the contrary they're too small and too poor for any big benefits to be realized from such development. They will always rely on heritage players, they'll never develop their own domestically.

If they ever did get to the point of being able to compete with the big 3 it would be no different than if Luxembourg or Iceland were to become competitive with England in soccer -- totally shocking, embarassing for the game and highlighting how weak the game is internationally. Of course that type of thing would never happen in a serious international sport like soccer. In serious international sports small countries like these are in the also-ran category -- even in much smaller international sports like hockey they're several tiers below the top -- so thinking they can raise RL's international profile is typical of the small-time thinking in the game.

Edited by Big Picture, 17 November 2010 - 06:24 PM.

[deluded pom?]

Yes but football actually let's these teams like the Faroe Islands, Malta, Cyprus, Luxembourg etc. compete with the bigger boys even though their chances of winning a match are negligible.

[thirteenthman]

Further development in tiny countries that are no bigger than Luxembourg or Iceland would surely bring big benefits to the international game? How exactly do you figure that? On the contrary they're too small and too poor for any big benefits to be realized from such development. They will always rely on heritage players, they'll never develop their own domestically.

If they ever did get to the point of being able to compete with the big 3 it would be no different than if Luxembourg or Iceland were to become competitive with England in soccer -- totally shocking, embarassing for the game and highlighting how weak the game is internationally. Of course that type of thing would never happen in a serious international sport like soccer. In serious international sports small countries like these are in the also-ran category -- even in much smaller international sports like hockey they're several tiers below the top -- so thinking they can raise RL's international profile is typical of the small-time thinking in the game.

Can't go with the analogy with Luxembourg or Iceland. Think of how many Pacific Island RL players there are playing at the top level, and compare it with the number of Luxembourg-ers playing top level football. It's an unfair comparison. Also football is played globally, so it can afford to overlook small nations. RL isn't in that position, and needs to encourage as many nations to play the game, regardless of size. Going by your thinking we may as well abandon the 12 team World Cup in 2013, and just have a 3 Nations tournament instead.

[Big Picture]

Can't go with the analogy with Luxembourg or Iceland. Think of how many Pacific Island RL players there are playing at the top level, and compare it with the number of Luxembourg-ers playing top level football. It's an unfair comparison. Also football is played globally, so it can afford to overlook small nations. RL isn't in that position, and needs to encourage as many nations to play the game, regardless of size. Going by your thinking we may as well abandon the 12 team World Cup in 2013, and just have a 3 Nations tournament instead.

Luxembourg and Iceland are very good analogies. In population, area and (most important of all) standing in the world they're much the same size as Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. Therefore to the public at large, and to both media and potential sponsors the Pacific Island countries don't rate any better than Luxembourg and Iceland no matter how many players of that heritage might be playing in the NRL and SL.

If you mean how many players at the top level actually grew up in the Pacific Island countries, I can't think of any now that Maurie Fa'asavalu's gone back to RU. The others all grew up in Australia or New Zealand as far as I know, so their heritage country is a second choice one. Even if they hadn't it would make no difference the reasons I gave in my first paragraph.

If you think that by saying we can't expect the Pacific Island countries to bring the game big benefits means I think we should discourage them from playing or abandon the World Cup you're mistaken. On the contrary, all countries should be encouraged but the RLIF should focus on ones that do have the standing for people to rate them and therefore the development of RL in those countries might impress the media and sponsors and in so doing add commercial value to international RL. Realistically that means countries in Europe and North America and others like Japan. Not as easy I know, but necessary for the game to flourish.

[Big Picture]

Yes but football actually let's these teams like the Faroe Islands, Malta, Cyprus, Luxembourg etc. compete with the bigger boys even though their chances of winning a match are negligible.

They can do that because those teams play the big countries in tournaments that include many countries that are big draws for crows, TV and sponsorship dollars. Their games bring in the money from all those sources to underwrite the games in places like Valetta and Nicosia. That's what RL lacks, and what it needs.

[yanto]

If they ever did get to the point of being able to compete with the big 3 it would be no different than if Luxembourg or Iceland were to become competitive with England in soccer -- totally shocking, embarassing for the game and highlighting how weak the game is internationally. Of course that type of thing would never happen in a serious international sport like soccer. In serious international sports small countries like these are in the also-ran category -- even in much smaller international sports like hockey they're several tiers below the top -- so thinking they can raise RL's international profile is typical of the small-time thinking in the game.

New Zealand,Wales,Ireland,Scotland are small populated countries that seem to do (better than )OK at the other code at International level.

Hockey is not such a small international sport and will proberbly rank amongst the the top five or six world wide behind soccer,union,F1,cricket and athletics.

Some small countries rank very high in the World Hockey rankings,

[Big Picture]

New Zealand,Wales,Ireland,Scotland are small populated countries that seem to do (better than )OK at the other code at International level.

Hockey is not such a small international sport and will proberbly rank amongst the the top five or six world wide behind soccer,union,F1,cricket and athletics.

Some small countries rank very high in the World Hockey rankings,

When I talked about serious international sports I wasn't thinking of rugby union, outside of a few countries it doesn't have a major following as far as I can tell. Even so, New Zealand, Wales, Ireland, Scotland are all much bigger in population than all the Pacific island countries combined. In population and world standing they compare to the likes of Luxembourg and Iceland, as I've said. Even if they did superbly well it would just underscore RL's international weakness.

It sounds like you might be talking about field hockey, though I'm not sure. In this part of the world hockey invariably means ice hockey. The smallest country with a fairly high ranking in that is likely Denmark, which has apparently moved up several notches in recent years. Your list of the top world sports excludes baseball, basketball and handball, which I think would all be the top six, the latter two almost certainly.