The Rocket

We very rarely here the ARLC referenced, but I suspect, and especially in cases like this, that when the term NRL is used, they are actually referring to the ARLC.

Aahh !! you can`t beat a good highlights reel.

Couldn`t put this on the cross-code, but it`s such great news I`ll put it here. What’s the Buzz: Endeavour Sports High School shuts down rugby program | The Australian "One of the state’s top sporting high schools has shut down its elite rugby union program in the latest grassroots blow to the struggling code. Endeavour Sports High School will no longer offer a rugby union curriculum to its students following a steady decline in interest in recent years." The Sunday Telegraph has received a copy of a letter school principal James Kozlowski sent to parents and carers of the boys in the rugby program. “Due to several factors out of our control, we have steadily seen a decline in the Boys Rugby Targeted Sports Program over the past several years,” he wrote. “Other NSW Sports High Schools are looking at their rugby programs and this will be the beginning of the end for the sport in public schools. “Junior league is flourishing while junior rugby is dead.” Poor old rugby.

No question we need to make the game more accessible for players like Reece Walsh, he and players like him are the way we will attract the casual sporting fan to watch our game.

Will be interesting to see how many of the supposed latent 200 000 fans turn up for their GF. I`m sure potential partners in other regions would be very interested just to see just how latent that support is. Big Bears dominated crowd would certainly give them more bargaining power at the table in any merger talks.

Who lifteth the veil of what is to come. Who painteth the shadows that are beneath. Yeah, great news especially the 25% growth YOY. Interestingly the NRLW Wrap rated 180 000 the other day, seems a bit like that conundrum you posed the other day re f-ballW, a lot more watching the highlights than watching the games, no so pronounced in the League though.

Yeah it`s a bit confusing, the 128m figure is what the NRL are claiming, fumbleball loving sportsindustry the other figure. It`s an odd number to round up to if that`s what the NRL are doing, my bet is that they know something that sportsindustry don`t.

At the risk of aggravating you further in regards NRL intransigence I believe a major sponsorship for the game with a major airline fell through once the NRL failed to back the event.

NRL buys 71-room hotel next to Shark Park after Peter V’landys’ funding promise | The Australian "Peter V’landys vow to keep the Sharks in the Shire has taken even more significance for the ARL Commission after head office revealed they had purchased a 71-room hotel adjacent to Cronulla’s home ground. "The commission confirmed the purchase on Tuesday morning in a move designed to future-proof the code’s financial stability. It comes hot on the heels of V’landys’ declaration at the weekend that he was committed to securing the Sharks’ funding for a centre of excellence and upgrading its home ground. "The commission’s latest investment, which follows their $25 million purchase of Gambaro’s hotel and restaurant in Brisbane last year, means the Sharks take on even more strategic importance for the code given the hotel overlooks Pointsbet Stadium. The hotel is due to open in October and accommodation will be fully managed and operated by Quest. V’landys has been outspoken in his support for suburban grounds, claiming the code needs to nurture its tribalism. As well as the hotel, the area around Pointsbet Stadium will accommodate shopping centres, cafes, bars and restaurants.

One of my highlights for the year has been seeing Australia`s oldest and first (est. 1817) bank Westpac come on board as a major sponsor. Rugby League needs more blue-chip sponsors like this. I`d like to think they would be pretty pleased with the amount of exposure they`ve been getting this year as well. Their humorous Rugby League themed advert has been a brilliant change from the usual advertising we attract as well. westpac rugby league ad - Google Search

Here comes another one, here it comes again.... Storm sign impressive young forward to long-term deal - NRL News - Zero Tackle "His debut in the competition came after the Melbourne local progressed through the club's SG Ball U19s side"

Five minutes ago you were telling us that World Cups were worthless, (only a fumbleball fan would believe that anyway), now the union world cup is going to kill off any Rugby League played in the US. Have you got any more bad news.

They did, I remember reading a few years back that they had spent several million dollars on junior development in Melbourne over the previous twenty years. Things got so desperate that it was only a few years back they ran a campaign aimed at kids with the tag line " you can try both codes you know". This does to be the accepted wisdom, the Storm name, Storm colours, Storm involvement. Someone on here said the Storm relied for far too long on recruiting out of Qld-and I`d add NZ - and they were probably right. I`d add one other thing here for all those that I`ve noticed have been knocking the Storm`s development success rate, I believe that these things may tend to be exponential up to a point. Getting that initial critical mass engagement is the hard part, once the game reaches that point, engagement will be a lot easier after that. Hopefully Rugby League in Victoria has now reached that point.

Two Victorians and two Western Australians in tonight`s game. So great to see players from other states making an appearance. Hopefully with Victorian Rugby League working with the Storm more nowadays and a Western Australian team likely entering the competition a sign of things to come. Great for the game in so many ways.

2nd string, 1st string, who cares, it`s just great to see these nations having the desire to play each other. For me it gives the game more cred that we have an international scene no matter how small the number of participants in the countries involved.