Sports Prophet

Because RL has tried so hard to make it work before and failed? Other sports can manage it. Without aim to burst a bubble, RL isn’t that special.

I was inclined to agree, but I think they already are the 2nd biggest by crowds (after taking away inflated crowds for home games at Magic or Las Vegas).

Goes to show how big the Broncos are doesn’t it.

I am more than certain far from every player at an elite college team will get drafted and I am not sure what the “better opportunities” are that you speak of. I stand by my comment, there will be plenty of skillful and dedicated athletes which just missed the cut for NFL who could have a tremendous crack at professional RL.

Yeah, that stat of 0.034% is off a baseline of all individuals to have played RL. That will include all sorts of imbeciles with butter fingers or out of shape and too slow. College footballers are far more progressed as footballers than most NSW Cup or Qld Cup players. They undergo training which would be in environments superior to NRL clubs and the players have a proven athlete’s mindset. Most of the work is done.

That’s an easy one. A player who is not on his feet and drags an open ball back to himself is liable for holding the ball if tackled in the same manner as a player who is tackled having been deemed to have had prior opportunity to dispose of it. The commentator even calls it in that exact manner. The purpose of this rule is to dissuade players employing tactics to slow the match with another ball up. What could/should the player have done in this instance? Slap it out of there to a team mate or get to his feet. https://www.afl.com.au/video/1147445/highlights-west-coast-v-north-melbourne?videoId=1147445&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1717841221001

There will be plenty of players who didn’t get drafted for various reasons like height, weight, 40m speed which may be less relevant in league or more importantly, overlooking the mental strength required to succeed. I would like to think a two year FT academy could result in five NRL standard players a year. Problem I see is the cost of running such an academy.

A misspelled Gene Miles

I’ll start by saying, SOO was a behemoth bigger than international footy well before UK summer RL. One thing which was an absolute consequence of the two seasons aligning was the almost immediate cessation of pinnacle Australian players like Myles, Kenny and Sterling to name just three of so many coming over for cameo appearances. With the two seasons aligning, a player pretty much had to choose either NRL or SL. The money was in NRL, so those pinnacle players stopped coming over and they were replaced with lesser stars and lesser and lesser as time went on to the point that SL can be destination for any SH journeyman looking to eek out a few more pay days. Within 5 years, the SL is sustaining the careers of players who can’t get a gig in Australia and a true journeyman like Vowles is Man of Steel. On the other hand, so few Brit’s were making their mark in the NRL. In my opinion this has an immediate impact on the mindset Australians have for the British game. Exacerbated further that England can’t win a series (albeit coming close on occasions) and haven’t done since the 70s, of course SOO remains and pulls away as the biggest representative event in the RL calendar. Does summer RL have an impact on the international game? If anything, I think the appreciation for British RL took a nosedive due to the perceived weakness of the SL due to player migration (include the performances of GB clubs in the World Club Championship here too) and when half of the Kangaroos major opponents are perceived so poorly, then the international game would struggle to flourish.

It’s definitely an American thing, prominent in sports where numbers do not correlate to positions.

With the name on shirt thing, I expect this not happening in the NRL has a lot to do with the prominent place on the shoulders being for sponsors.

Squad numbers. Is that a thing in SL? I haven’t noticed it, but it may have escaped me. I don’t recall seeing a whole bunch of players running around in off numbers such as a prop wearing #1. It doesn’t happen in the NRL, that’s for sure. I disagree with you. Unless something unfortunate has happened within 48hrs of kickoff, #7 is your starting half-back’s jersey and retiring that jumper makes no sense. At best, I would consider it ok to be retired for the remainder of the season.

I simply find it strange to consider retiring a number in a sport where numbers actually represent a player’s on field position.

Yeah, I go with the sneaky reporting here. Surely tri nations men and a Fiji v PNG women. It’s like when we see reports there are something like 28 teams at a RLWC when in reality there are many less because we shouldn’t really be counting Women’s or Wheelchair… just kidding… or am I??? I am… not… sure of anything anymore!

They are reasonable points and definitely worth discussion. What is the product. Are we drilling down to as undefined as “entertainment” or are we being more specific like “top flight UK RL” or especially specific like “Challenge Cup Final”? Because looking at the “product” as a top flight game of RL, well that product is pretty much every week and the crowds I think are predominantly better than ever. This would suggest the standard of play is fine. So we really need to drill down into the various elements of this single product ie “The Challenge Cup Final” to identify where the product is failing, if that is what we agree on how it is performing.

That when WWIII starts and the Brits can come over here and help defend us from the enemy for a change…

Sad to say it, but the Sharks are pretenders. Not good enough to win a premiership by any stretch.

Foxtel, or WatchNRL as someone said above

I’m gonna throw a curve ball into this recent announcement. Will the NRL “commit” to PNG being team 18 or “commit” to PNG being a future expansion ie anyone from teams 18-20. Let’s appreciate PNG is a political selection, as without gov’t financial support, PNG doesn’t get a look in. The Prime Minister of PNG is under extreme scrutiny right now in a country which is very susceptible to a coup… and he is an “ally” of Australia. A conspiracist might suggest this soon to be delivered decision to give PNG a license (without stipulating whether it is team 18, 19 or 20) is a political necessity to boost the popularity of a struggling leader.

Yeah, it’s one thing taking a family to be living in an international compound in a country like Indonesia or India but I suspect another thing for doing so in a country like Pakistan or PNG. It’s gonna have to be one very well protected and pretty complex. Achievable I guess. Especially with a portion of $600m to use.

In short. - agree, selfish (when really a rivalry will be the best thing for them - per a later post, it’s not an either or, does anyone seriously think the NRL would welcome NZII without further improving pathways for talented Rugby players of both codes?

Just watched another with Ron Coote. Yvon’ even touched on the rhyming slang his name refers too

My prophecy didn’t age well here

That is many more than I expected. Is there chance many are FIFO? Many are single rather than family men. Personally I can’t see it as a destination many top players will consider. For the club’s sake, I hope you’re right.

1901: Pontypridd become the first Welsh club to win the Challenge Cup Final. Wales lose to England in the first Northern Union Test Match. edit note* did I do that right?