28 replies to this topic

[shrek]

Looks an interesting tournament, teams are Italy, Serbia, Russia and Germany.

Fixtures are as follows;

12th May 2012 – Germany v Serbia

19th May – Germany v Russia

9th June – Serbia v Italy

7th July – Italy v Germany

8th September – Russia v Italy

22nd September – Russia v Serbia

These fixtures will be reversed in 2013, dates to be confirmed.

Full story here.

[Fax1978]

Looks an interesting tournament, teams are Italy, Serbia, Russia and Germany.

Fixtures are as follows;



Full story here.

Great that there is a bit of consistancy at international level for these nations to work towards stability and structure are so important to develop them further, great news.

[Lounge Room Lizard]

Crazy. Germany are not ready for that level for one thing and dont have a sponsor or money to cover costs so Players will end up paying. Germany has no domestic league or one that functions properly. So should first not be playing in the event and the money should be aimed at developing the game domestically instead of waltzing around Europe. Ambition is good, but not when you dont have the money or resources to even get close to paying for it! And why the hell play in May the Serbs and Russians? First of all the Union season is still under way in some areas. Secondly no chance for any domestic cup or any warm up games so going in to international games unprepared. In 2013 they are asking Germany to go to Russia and Serbia? unbelievable. I know the Hotels will be payed for, but just to get to Russia will be around a minimum of 200 Pounds and Serbia well over 100 Pounds minimum per person. 18 players and then Coach and assistant plus Doctor/Physio and team manager. On top of that are costs for visas, Food, Physio bills, transportation from Airports etc. Who is going to pay for it all as Germany dont have that money. Nice idea but not practicle. Germany like others are being dragged along so that Danny Kazandjian and the RLEF can look good. I just hope all the hard work and effort will not see Germany go backwards and end up like the Dutch. Danny Kazandjian has poor man management skills and doesnt understand where nations are at and how hard for them it is. He did well in Lebanon, but sadly he is clueless regarding other nations and is going to destroy some nations with what he wants them to do.

[tim2]

Crazy. Germany are not ready for that level for one thing and dont have a sponsor or money to cover costs so Players will end up paying. Germany has no domestic league or one that functions properly. So should first not be playing in the event and the money should be aimed at developing the game domestically instead of waltzing around Europe. Ambition is good, but not when you dont have the money or resources to even get close to paying for it! And why the hell play in May the Serbs and Russians? First of all the Union season is still under way in some areas. Secondly no chance for any domestic cup or any warm up games so going in to international games unprepared. In 2013 they are asking Germany to go to Russia and Serbia? unbelievable. I know the Hotels will be payed for, but just to get to Russia will be around a minimum of 200 Pounds and Serbia well over 100 Pounds minimum per person. 18 players and then Coach and assistant plus Doctor/Physio and team manager. On top of that are costs for visas, Food, Physio bills, transportation from Airports etc. Who is going to pay for it all as Germany dont have that money. Nice idea but not practicle. Germany like others are being dragged along so that Danny Kazandjian and the RLEF can look good. I just hope all the hard work and effort will not see Germany go backwards and end up like the Dutch. Danny Kazandjian has poor man management skills and doesnt understand where nations are at and how hard for them it is. He did well in Lebanon, but sadly he is clueless regarding other nations and is going to destroy some nations with what he wants them to do.

Surely the Germans don't have to accept the invitation to play? Aside from being personal about an individual, you make some good points.

My questions are, where are Lebanon? Who's in the competition below this? Shouldn't the whole structure be outlined at once?

If the 2014-2015 comp is used as the World Cup Qualifier, the team relegated in 2013 can kiss goodbye to qualifying for 2017. That seems a bit harsh and also a bit short sighted.

[deluded pom?]

Simon Cooper AKA Der Kaiser has posted on the LU forums exactly what LRL has said and cites DK as the catalyst for him (SC) walking away from the DRL. The Italians will absolutely murder the Germans. It might be a hiding too many for some of the German players who will also be paying for the privilege. It's all well and good bringing out these plans and I commend the actual future planning but we have to get some basic development done before we can point out how widespread the game appears to be in Europe.

Edited by deluded pom?, 20 December 2011 - 12:23 PM.

[shrek]

The Italians will absolutely murder the Germans.

Aside from the politics which others above clearly have a good handle on and I don't have the first idea about, it'll be interesting to see how it pans out.

Given the spread of fixtures over 4 months it'll be interesting to see how fixtures such as against Germany pan out. Perhaps an opportunity may arrise to build some bridges domestically for the Italians and pull in more European based players. If they don't I can only imagine the costs of bringing over the Austrialian based members of the squad 3 times.

Good point about Lebanon they really need to be in there for the 2014/15 comp if that does pan out to be the qualification tournament, not read anything about where they are likely to end up.

On a very selfish note its great the fixtures are out so early, time to pencil some trips away in 2012 into the diary!

[bowes]

Wonder if Lebanon are going in a Middle East and North Africa tournament or something?

[The 4 of Us]

What about Home Countrys and France? Are we in for a RL 5 nations. Recall there was a recent suggestion and 2 year format would presented up to world cup.

[Jeffles]

Good points: Certainty, planned ahead.

Bad points: A worry over the standard. Travel costs

I dont think it will be as lopsided as the fixtures this northern autumn because they are being played during the club season. The UK and Aussie clubs won't release lots of players that Italy and Lebanon otherwise rely on. That should bring them back to the fold but I'd still expect Germany to get a towelling.

I've never met DK but his interview in RL World earlier this year said he wanted to get nations in the RL habit of reguilar 13 a side domestic competitions, rather than striving immediately for internationals for the sake of them. He said he wanted proper club structures in place. These fixtures would be incongruous with his stated aims unless they all had an established club scene...

[deluded pom?]

Good points: Certainty, planned ahead.

Bad points: A worry over the standard. Travel costs

I dont think it will be as lopsided as the fixtures this northern autumn because they are being played during the club season. The UK and Aussie clubs won't release lots of players that Italy and Lebanon otherwise rely on. That should bring them back to the fold but I'd still expect Germany to get a towelling.

I've never met DK but his interview in RL World earlier this year said he wanted to get nations in the RL habit of reguilar 13 a side domestic competitions, rather than striving immediately for internationals for the sake of them. He said he wanted proper club structures in place. These fixtures would be incongruous with his stated aims unless they all had an established club scene...

There is no organised domestic league in Germany at this moment in time and the timing of the fixtures gives the Germans little time to prepare for RL matches. They don't even compete with Serbia so I'd still expect a domestic based Italian team to beat them very comfortably.

[Pottsy]

Surely Germany have the option to simply not enter if the custodians of th game there don't think it's viable. Or am I missing something?

[Lounge Room Lizard]

Surely Germany have the option to simply not enter if the custodians of th game there don't think it's viable. Or am I missing something?

From what I understand they were put under a fair bit of pressure from the RLEF as "Germany" is a well respected name in Sport and business and something the RLEF could sell the comp to peöple

[shrek]

I'd still expect a domestic based Italian team to beat them very comfortably.

Without understanding the politics at all, can the international team who fall under the "Federazione Italian Rugby League" pick players from the Italian Domestic league run by the "Italian Rugby Football League"? Or is there another domestic competition?

[nadera78]

Without understanding the politics at all, can the international team who fall under the "Federazione Italian Rugby League" pick players from the Italian Domestic league run by the "Italian Rugby Football League"? Or is there another domestic competition?

From discussions on LU there seems to be some suggestion (mostly from Twitter tbh) that the RLIF is putting pressure on the yanks to sort out their situation. I would assume the same is happening in Italy. There's no way they can go into a world cup with such ridiculous splits in two competing nations.

[brooza]

Crazy. Germany are not ready for that level

Germany have played in the European Shield every year since its inception in 2006 (and won in 2006 and 2011)

[brooza]

12th May 2012 – Germany v Serbia

19th May – Germany v Russia

9th June – Serbia v Italy

7th July – Italy v Germany

8th September – Russia v Italy

22nd September – Russia v Serbia

What do people reckon will be the best games?
Also, the easiest/cheapest to get to?

Hopefully a match will feature at the top of both lists for me to go to

[deluded pom?]

Germany have played in the European Shield every year since its inception in 2006 (and won in 2006 and 2011)

2011 when they beat the powerhouses of European RL that are Malta and Norway.

[deluded pom?]

What do people reckon will be the best games?
Also, the easiest/cheapest to get to?

Hopefully a match will feature at the top of both lists for me to go to

If the Italians use only domestic players then all the matches should be fairly close with the exception of any games involving the Germans, for reasons explained elsewhere. If the Italians have several heritage players then the two games, Russia v Serbia and Serbia v Russia should be good matches.

Edited by deluded pom?, 28 December 2011 - 03:15 PM.

[brooza]

If the Italians use only domestic players then all the matches should be fairly close with the exception of any games involving the Germans, for reasons explained elsewhere. If the Italians have several heritage players then the two games, Russia v Serbia and Serbia v Russia should be good matches.

To be honest, i'm leaning towards both the Germany matches as they are on consecutive Saturdays so I could potentially* go to both.


*I'll probably go to none

[brooza]

Looks an interesting tournament, teams are Italy, Serbia, Russia and Germany.

Interestingly, when looking up info on the European Cup, I see Alitalia are sponsoring the 2012 tournament, so I'm surprised Italy aren't in that comp.

http://www.rleague.com/content/article.php?id=41547

The four 2012 Alitalia European Cup entrants will be decided following the completion of the forthcoming Gillette Four Nations encounters, in November.

Any word on the entrants yet?