Whippet13

I'll throw in a representative nine's competition over a nice warm weekend mid-summer instead of Magic. England, France, Wales, Scotland, and Exiles from Aus, NZ, Samoa, Tonga.

Handy little map of current USA & Canada clubs:

Lots of strong criticism of the RFL here, but unless I'm mistaken it is the French who are organising this event. They have likely decided the scheduling of all 3 games based on their views what will do the most for them on a tight budget. It is their 90th birthday party, they are not a wealthy organisation and just getting this event on is probably quite an achievement. Let's consider this before jumping in and bashing the RFL.

PCRL fixtures have been announced, a very good looking schedule: https://www.pacificcoastrl.com/news/2024-pcrl-schedule Interesting bit at the end: More exciting news regarding the Utah season is expected in the coming days, along with the announcement of the overall schedule of a unified nationwide USARL domestic competition for the very first time

No sign of a sale, and looks an expensive liability for the RFL: https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/exclusive-odsal-stadium-latest-with-no-sale-agreed-and-scale-of-rfl-losses-revealed

Mal Meninga is now in the rumour mill to replace JD, that is more believable than Burgess.

SKD

Burgess has very recently and publicly stated he is at Warrington for 2 years, regardless of what happens at Souths. I can see him ending up there eventually though.

If it's the NRL taking the lead with international RL by spending a little cash and trying to create something in new markets, even if they own it, then they are welcome to have a go as far as I'm concerned, because it seems to be either them or no-one.

Indeed, very experienced and no doubt well connected RL People. Hopefully this is with an eye to working more closely with the NRL, whom they must know extremely well, maybe even with their blessing. There seems to be a lot of positives happening with USARL recently, particularly in structure and governance.

I noticed that too today, they do exactly the same thing in the Internationals.

Thankfully most people put supporting British RL above petty rivalries.

Fix it by putting ambitious clubs into SL.

I'm sure It'll happen, although there is a more than fair chance the NRL will make a mess of it. Not that we can overly criticise them for that based on how we organised and ran the 2022 event which, Covid impact caveats allowing, was poor.

Nope, not a peep, they havent announced what is happening in 2024 yet so 2026 is definitely in the long grass.

Sarcasm aside..... I very likely will go, probably for 3.5 weeks so get to do the last 4 rounds running in to the final. Have got a decent idea what it will cost, and also when it will be held based on previous events this size down under (my guess is Aus/NZ/PNG like last time, despite the noise about Fiji,Tonga,Samoa). Flights won't go on sale until late next year so plenty of time to save up for it and build my own independent trip. Really no need for me to know any more when we are still 2.5 years out, speaking personally I don't make decisions that far out. More immediate interest to me is the 2025 Ashes, most definitely doing that as it seems to have been on my bucket list for ever. Provided venues are announced by the end of this year I'll be able to plan that very easily. Obvious where they will be held, just need the order and dates, 2.5 weeks should cover it. The idea of a long haul tour package of any sort fills me with dread, just not my cup of tea at all.

Franchise Rugby League, a 4 club competition with Bath, Bristol, Valencia and Alicante. Due to start sometime last autumn but it never happened. I believe all 4 non-existent sides, and the comp, were owned by Dean Buchan.

I do think Vlandys cares about RL, as in the NRL. Under his watch it has grown stronger year on year and will add another 3 clubs over the next few years. Even if he doesn't care, I dont mind as RL is getting bigger in Australia so he is doing his job very well. Vegas may well strengthen the game in the USA, in ways which are currently unclear to us, the NRL are learning lots about the American spirts and gambling market from this so let's just see how things go. One thing I would like to see immediately though is a little money or some practical support from the NRL for the USARL, that would go a long way and buy a lot of goodwill from people.

Nobody at or connected to the NRL has claimed any of this about Vegas. As has been said over and over again, including on this thread, the primary goal here is gambling dollars. It is far too early to see if that will be achieved, in the meantime stop worrying and just enjoy the show - it wont harm you.

Sezer will be equally available to play for an NRL club......but I very seriously doubt either scenario will come to pass.

Bear in mind these aren't unique views.

I read post-event, can't recall where but pretty sure it was NRL linked, that c17000 tickets were sold to Australian addresses and c4000 to UK/other non-USA ones. That leaves around 20000 sold to US addresses, a chunk of whom will have been ex-pats. I'd say around 15000 Americans attended, based on a casual ratio observation at and around the stadium. Think that's a pretty decent number given the limited general awareness of the event.

Good idea and I'd be interested, a little money can go a long way in some countries. It would need someone to organise it, manage the funds and provide governance at relavant points. Might also help to consider why it faded last time, any lessons learned.

There are multiple reasons to include SL in what the NRL are trying to do and the NRL are already considering their potential involvement, which is why a SL delegation attended the 2024 Vegas event. Wigan have a very wealthy owner and can afford it, the club suggested playing the WCC v Penrith in Vegas this year.

Great news for Wigan, in my view the best coaching team in SL. Unusually long contracts but there may well be break clauses and I doubt the club would stand in the way if big opportunities came up elsewhere - which I suspect would only be England or NRL ones.