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Pritchard: players may have to take a stand


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Players may have to take a stand in the club versus country stakes to help ensure the future of Pacific Tests, Samoa captain Frank Pritchard has warned,

 

"At the end of the day the club is paying them but if they are confident in playing for their country they have to stand up and make the call," Pritchard said.

 

"But in saying that if both parties come to an agreement and let them play then it will let the game grow.

 

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Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Players may have to take a stand in the club versus country stakes to help ensure the future of Pacific Tests, Samoa captain Frank Pritchard has warned,

 

"At the end of the day the club is paying them but if they are confident in playing for their country they have to stand up and make the call," Pritchard said.

 

"But in saying that if both parties come to an agreement and let them play then it will let the game grow.

 

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What a muppet Parish is. He's happy for his players to use the PI Tests as a springboard to push for Origin selection! A dead set muppet.

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Yip strikes me as a tad clueless that parish guy. On another note its good to see some samoan players actually put samoa first. Also NRL needs to take these games to port moresby, suva, apia and nukualofa all those islands capitals could equal or better the crowd at gold coast... lets people know this is real not just heritage sides, gives people in islands a chance to see there teams in action, nrl could work with countries tourism boards to encourage tourism and boost there economies

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It's a sad state of affairs that none of the Island nations knows when their next game is.

People make the right noises about wanting to develop the Pacific Island teams but nobody seems willing to actually start the ball rolling. The RLIF need to lay out a proper calendar whereby each country has at least 3 internationals each year. NRL clubs need bringing into line (by the RLIF and the NRL) if they deny any player the opportunity of playing for their country.

As Kiwi 13 6 states, ideally a starting point would be a further 2 games for each PI team at the end of the season on the islands themselves.

Also, why have the Cook Islands not been involved in this weekend's action? Are they only worthy of a game at World Cup time?

"Rugby League is rugby in the simplest form in the sense that it's about great defence, great tackling technique, good handling, good passing, catching and great kicking."

 

 Stuart Lancaster - England Rugby Union Head Coach - October 2013

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It's a sad state of affairs that none of the Island nations knows when their next game is.

People make the right noises about wanting to develop the Pacific Island teams but nobody seems willing to actually start the ball rolling. The RLIF need to lay out a proper calendar whereby each country has at least 3 internationals each year. NRL clubs need bringing into line (by the RLIF and the NRL) if they deny any player the opportunity of playing for their country.

As Kiwi 13 6 states, ideally a starting point would be a further 2 games for each PI team at the end of the season on the islands themselves.

Also, why have the Cook Islands not been involved in this weekend's action? Are they only worthy of a game at World Cup time?

 

There's nothing stopping the National RLs in Pacific Island countries from setting up games between each other. Once they've scheduled games they can apply to RLIF for funds to cover air fares and such.

 

Does anyone have any proof that any NRL club has refused to release PI players for any international games? I have heard this so many times but nobody ever has any details of any specific case.

 

I think we should dump the Cooks altogether. According to the 2011 census, the population of the Cooks is 14,974. Even if we include the 60,000 Kukis living in NZ and Australia, we would be attempting to maintain a team which can only ever be heritage players.I recall all the negative comments from the last WC about the USA and Italy teams being composed of Aussies with minimal connection to those countries yet we would persist with the Cook Islands who will ultimately all be OZ/NZers who've never lived in the Cooks.

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cook islanders are new zealand passport holders / citizens. As cook islands is in free association with NZ, (similar arrangements exist with niue and tokelau) as nz citizens they can live in nz (or australia) if they want to and have been doing that for 50+ years. They have the oldest domestic local rugby league comp of any polynesian island dating back to early 80's. i think they'll be around the international rugby league scene for a long time to come, they are self funded by themselves and expatriate community so dont know of what resources they are wasting WTF!!! however the size of country/population is a problem to them advancing to much

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Yip strikes me as a tad clueless that parish guy.

This is backed up by his period at Salford.... a masterclass in utter incompetence.  i am actually amazed at the performances he has achieved with the Samoans.

Rugby League: Alive and Handling

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cook islanders are new zealand passport holders / citizens. As cook islands is in free association with NZ, (similar arrangements exist with niue and tokelau) as nz citizens they can live in nz (or australia) if they want to and have been doing that for 50+ years. They have the oldest domestic local rugby league comp of any polynesian island dating back to early 80's. i think they'll be around the international rugby league scene for a long time to come, they are self funded by themselves and expatriate community so dont know of what resources they are wasting WTF!!! however the size of country/population is a problem to them advancing to much

 

I thought there was NRL finance behind the Pacific Tests, what I meant was that they wouldn't be worth the resources.

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There's nothing stopping the National RLs in Pacific Island countries from setting up games between each other. Once they've scheduled games they can apply to RLIF for funds to cover air fares and such.

Is this actually the case? I thought the RLIF had limited resources and what they do have is probably being directed towards the 2017 World Cup.

The NRL are the only Rugby League organisation with any financial clout. Last year we saw Dave Smith, Tim Sheens, SBW, St George Illawarra, Jarryd Hayne and others all fly out to the islands for varying reasons. That's all well and good but what would really help is a test or two on the islands themselves.

A local event would have the potential for local sponsors to be brought into the game and to become associated with the governing bodies of each nation. A regular calendar of games, properly managed, could see each nation becoming self sufficient and expanding their local competition and player numbers. A position the NRL could benefit from enormously for a relatively low initial outlay.

"Rugby League is rugby in the simplest form in the sense that it's about great defence, great tackling technique, good handling, good passing, catching and great kicking."

 

 Stuart Lancaster - England Rugby Union Head Coach - October 2013

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You can get their list of grants from their most recent Annual Report, usually right at the back of the financial statements   http://www.rlif.com/about-rlif/annual_report

 

Tests in Pacific countries have several main drawbacks:

 

- I think Fiji has a 30K capacity stadium but Samoa and Tonga sure don't. The Port Moresby stadium is being rebuilt and should hold 25K  http://www.etsdesign.com.au/#!the-national-stadium/cxdc

 

- Entry couldn't be any more than $5, probably less. The entire gate in Tonga might only be $25,000

 

- TV rights would be minimal. It would cost a shipload for OZ or NZ TV networks to take their whole setups there. They certainly wouldn't risk it in PNG and the ratings would never justify that sort of outlay for 2 hours of TV product. Local TV stations might cover it but, again, they wouldn't pay much, if anything, for it.

 

For better or worse, these Tests are probably more profitable for the nations involved if they are held in Sydney, Brisbane or Auckland.

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You can get their list of grants from their most recent Annual Report, usually right at the back of the financial statements   http://www.rlif.com/about-rlif/annual_report

 

Tests in Pacific countries have several main drawbacks:

 

- I think Fiji has a 30K capacity stadium but Samoa and Tonga sure don't. The Port Moresby stadium is being rebuilt and should hold 25K  http://www.etsdesign.com.au/#!the-national-stadium/cxdc

 

- Entry couldn't be any more than $5, probably less. The entire gate in Tonga might only be $25,000

 

- TV rights would be minimal. It would cost a shipload for OZ or NZ TV networks to take their whole setups there. They certainly wouldn't risk it in PNG and the ratings would never justify that sort of outlay for 2 hours of TV product. Local TV stations might cover it but, again, they wouldn't pay much, if anything, for it.

 

For better or worse, these Tests are probably more profitable for the nations involved if they are held in Sydney, Brisbane or Auckland.

 

 

Spot on.

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You can get their list of grants from their most recent Annual Report, usually right at the back of the financial statements   http://www.rlif.com/about-rlif/annual_report

 

Tests in Pacific countries have several main drawbacks:

 

- I think Fiji has a 30K capacity stadium but Samoa and Tonga sure don't. The Port Moresby stadium is being rebuilt and should hold 25K  http://www.etsdesign.com.au/#!the-national-stadium/cxdc

 

- Entry couldn't be any more than $5, probably less. The entire gate in Tonga might only be $25,000

 

- TV rights would be minimal. It would cost a shipload for OZ or NZ TV networks to take their whole setups there. They certainly wouldn't risk it in PNG and the ratings would never justify that sort of outlay for 2 hours of TV product. Local TV stations might cover it but, again, they wouldn't pay much, if anything, for it.

 

For better or worse, these Tests are probably more profitable for the nations involved if they are held in Sydney, Brisbane or Auckland.

I don't disagree with anything in your post ducky but it depends what you mean by profitable. There has to come a time where the benefits from actually playing Tests on the Islands, not necessarily financial, far outweigh any money generated by a match in Australia.

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I don't disagree with anything in your post ducky but it depends what you mean by profitable. There has to come a time where the benefits from actually playing Tests on the Islands, not necessarily financial, far outweigh any money generated by a match in Australia.

In every group there's always a number-crunching pragmatist who says stuff like, "Sure I wanna end World poverty, disease and hunger, but our current balance is $2.50" I'm that guy.

 

The Samoa RU games against Italy only pulled 7K crowds which I guess was a full house. You would reach more Samoans by discounting TV rights to broadcasters that operate in Pacific countries.

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In every group there's always a number-crunching pragmatist who says stuff like, "Sure I wanna end World poverty, disease and hunger, but our current balance is $2.50" I'm that guy.

The Samoa RU games against Italy only pulled 7K crowds which I guess was a full house. You would reach more Samoans by discounting TV rights to broadcasters that operate in Pacific countries.

Why not have both, a cheap TV deal and a few home internationals as well? The Samoa v All Blacks Union game is a 12,000 sell out. I'm sure the Kiwis and Kangaroos would prove a similar draw.

Australia are at a loose end after the Grand Final. Maybe they could tour PNG, Tonga, Samoa and Fiji to get the ball rolling. I can't claim this as my own idea, Ray Warren has suggested it on numerous occasions.

"Rugby League is rugby in the simplest form in the sense that it's about great defence, great tackling technique, good handling, good passing, catching and great kicking."

 

 Stuart Lancaster - England Rugby Union Head Coach - October 2013

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Why not have both, a cheap TV deal and a few home internationals as well? The Samoa v All Blacks Union game is a 12,000 sell out. I'm sure the Kiwis and Kangaroos would prove a similar draw.

Australia are at a loose end after the Grand Final. Maybe they could tour PNG, Tonga, Samoa and Fiji to get the ball rolling. I can't claim this as my own idea, Ray Warren has suggested it on numerous occasions.

Is that the same Ray Warren who thinks the WC is a joke?

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Is that the same Ray Warren who thinks the WC is a joke?

It is the job of sports pundits to blow with the wind, as long it gets them attention. Even Garry "if you're not Northern, you're not a proper RL player/fan" Schofield has been photographed sporting a Pardubice Jets t-shirt.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Is that the same Ray Warren who thinks the WC is a joke?

Ray Warren is just a voice-for-hire. I wouldn't be surprised if he was on the way out until Ray Hadley started the feud with Voss which led to Voss being dumped by Channel 9.

 

Warren isn't part of the inner circle at NRL's Fuhrerbunker. If Channel 9 buys the rights to the Mongolian Regional Yak Fisting Play-offs, he'll spruik that.

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lol! yak insemination is the PC name the sport now wishes to go by... sponsor is pants made by puma according to ray warren it resembles the effort of the kangaroos yak fis... er inseminaters as of late although once heavily associated with NZY(F)I.

 

yeah the island nations could set up end of year tests for themselves... cook islands did with kiwi's in 2013 unfortunately NZRL was still sponsored by trouser manufacturer puma at that time! it does ###### me off when people talk about cook islands as a waste of money etc as if its not there own money they fund raised for, what should cook islanders spend there money on if not national side? The Mansfield marksmen under 12's? By gum its a heart land in north midlands, black as the ace of spades from working down mine at age of 11... 15,000 thosand tropical islanders running cultural nights amongst ex pat community in Noo Zealand charging $20 dollar for dinner and show to pay for national side... money wasted for mine... anyway mine owner wants to thrash me senseless with rusty pipe for privilege of working down mine that closed 30 year ago..

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well it is there own money its a grant they applied for and were granted with conditions checks and balance attached, to go with funds they raised themselves, besides tourism, pearl industry and fishing rights about only big industries going in the cooks so they rely on remittances from expats in nz and oz who have in the past donated/fund raised for rugby league side as much as they can be expected to, once you get a grant its yours

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