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MidlandsJohn

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  1. If somehow Georgia could get going in RL again, it could be a huge opportunity seeing as RU seemingly won't relegate from the 6N even if Georgia won the World Cup. (Obviously in RL the issue is whether there will actually be a World Cup, but moving on...) If a team was formed you'd assume Balkan Super League would be the target?
  2. Remember the Smith & Jones darts sketch making a mockery of the sport? If they did one for RL then "Baz & Tez" would be hired as the commentary team. What do they honestly provide (apart from ammunition for people to deride RL as an insular Northern game)?
  3. Going back a little bit, but full-back Henry Hynosky a.k.a the "Hynoceros". Need a prop to plow in for a try and nobody can stop him? You have your man.
  4. You would be correct. https://kennylogansrwcchallenge.com/
  5. Lebanon are the outstanding outlier of a "heritage" team that has genuinely created a domestic game. The fact that they keep plugging away despite economic crisis, regional political crisis and (seemingly constant) domestic political crisis is amazing. Yet the IRL in their infinite wisdom (or is that infinitesimally small wisdom?) continue to push the likes of Scotland and South Africa as "full members" when they are more like "zombie members" - the corpse suddenly re-animates and comes shambling back into life when World Cup qualification rolls around but then disappears into the netherworld for the next few years. Actually thinking about it like that, it would make for a good H.P. Lovecraft story - "The Rugby League Horror".
  6. I never fully understood what happened with Russia. Was it Rugby Sevens gaining Olympic status that killed RL in that country or was the sport in gradual decline anyway and the much bigger exposure that Union got (such as Russia qualifying for the World Cup) meant everyone jumped over to playing RU?
  7. But when this is meant to be the top level domestic league it makes the sport it represents look a shambles.
  8. If they had folded would that have made them Newcastle 6 Feet Thunder?
  9. Not an avid follower of basketball by any means, but as far as I'm aware the British league for years has offered semi-pro level salaries as it attracts players who will need to make their pro career overseas by being the "shop window" in which they can grab the attention of teams in the bigger European leagues. I'd assume cultural similarities and no language barrier must also factor in for North American players. The sheer number of players churned out by the American college system means that if someone has an amazing season and you lose them to somewhere bigger, somebody else is always willing to come over for their shot. However, things seem to be trending upwards as Sky are back involved in broadcasting the league to a limited extent and Newcastle are actually pulling "double duty" this season by competing in the North European league as well as the British domestic competition. Having their own arena is crucial for this as many British clubs were effectively frozen out of European competitions for many years because they lacked their own stadiums and playing in council gyms/leisure centres wasn't deemed good enough.
  10. The additional problem is the packing of squads with heritage players makes things that much harder for nations like Jamaica and Serbia to break through - for anyone from the IRL reading this, these are countries that are genuinely trying to develop the sport and building a domestic scene. Scotland seems to exist on paper as a genuine team but are actually England C when you see them in the flesh and as for Russia...even without their current pariah status, who the hell is actually playing RL in the country for them to compete anyway? Remember Challenge Cup participants Strela Kazan? Want to know how they're getting on? They're playing in the Russian Premier League...of Rugby Union.
  11. Super League final 2023 - Wigan Warriors vs. St Helens Super League final 2053 - Wigan Wormholes vs. St Holograms Wigan will of course be sponsored by Uncle Joe's 7-dimensional mint balls Seriously? I agree with the "managed decline" line of thought of some posters. I can see a single league but split into two conferences, which will be the current SL teams (except only one of Castleford/Wakefield will make it in) plus Toulouse, Crusaders, Newcastle and Midlands Hurricanes to give some kind of geographical spread plus a French derby. London won't make it in and Cornwall will have probably disappeared anyway. Assuming Cas or Trinity disappears, you need one more club to make 16 so there will either be a mad scramble among the top-end Championship clubs, or Bradford get parachuted in, or the Cumbrian clubs see the writing on the wall and form "Cumbria RL" as their only realistic shot to get into the top tier. As for those left out, I can see the lower-tiers becoming regionalised, so there won't be Championship and League 1, It'll be Division 2 East and Division 2 West and the geography of the game at that level will shrink back to the supposed "heartlands".
  12. GB Police and Christmas Dinner - barring exceptional circumstances it only gets served up once a year. West Wales Raiders and someone claiming to be a "chef" but can hardly cook - they claim to know what they're doing but their opponents can routinely pick up to 100 points regarding what they're getting wrong.
  13. The next step will be producing international quality players...ideally a Tracy who's eligible for Ireland.
  14. Well, given the way RL authorities and club chairmen usually act... They'd be invited to play in the Indian Super League on condition that all their matches are away and they pay for the travel out their own pocket. Ethnic and cultural ties see both teams seeking to spread the game in north-east India - this is quickly shot down as "expansionist rubbish" by the top brass as it takes funding away from the heartland clubs in Delhi, Rajasthan and Punjab. Australia's NRL threatens to pull development aid from the domestic Nepali Rugby League as fans may get the two competitions confused. Finally, the attempt to create indigenous Nepali and Bhutanese national sides backfires spectacularly when an appeal for "heritage players" reveals the qualifying criteria is "has anyone in your family ever served with a Gurkha and/or done the hippie trail?" (Nepal) or "did you spend part of your gap year holed up in s Buddhist monastery in an attempt to 'find yourself'?" (Bhutan).
  15. I might be way off here but does part of AFL's popularity have to do with its reach in rural areas that NRL doesn't have? Every so often I'll watch AFL and the commentators will highlight a player from some country town in the ###### end of nowhere (said "town" with a population of 300) or some Aboriginal settlement who has made it to the top level, plus you have the pathway of AFL/State leagues/Amateur regional/country leagues. Whereas with NRL, what sort of pull does it have on fans away from the state capitals/major cities?
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