The Rocket

Makes you wonder whether the Mal was outfoxed by Maguire here and the Aussies played their final last week. Aussies ambushed in Hamilton.

Yes was thinking that watching the Kiwi`s during the game, so much about beating the Australian`s is having that belief you are better than them, not getting that belief because you find yourself in front, which we so often see with the Kiwi`s, but going into the game with that belief, I suppose that only comes with winning.

Being reported in The Sydney Morning Herald: "The only reason the NZRL moved the game to Hamilton was because the Test schedule was not locked in until the collective bargaining agreement was nailed down. October remains the best time to play Test football – it is foolish to suggest any other time during the year – and 12 months of promotion will help next year. "Four nations taking part rather than three will also mean there is no rest weekend during the Pacific Championships, which helps the series maintain momentum. "Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and potentially Fiji will make up the Pacific Championships next year, with international officials hopeful Samoa tour England, and Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Lebanon and potentially France round out the tier-two tournament." Some interesting stuff in there. Full article if you can open it. International Rugby League: New Zealand send Australia crashing to their heaviest Test loss (smh.com.au)

That`s very kind of you Gordie, so many times we hear that the Aussie players are big-heads.

I bet the Aussies are going to be smarting over that, and they are going to have to wait 12 months for revenge, funny in a way, a loss like this casts a whole shadow over Origin because Oz is no longer number 1, no matter what the rankings say, so it ain`t the best playing the best, today they have been comprehensively beaten by the Kiwi`s and lost their last tournament. Now if only the Kiwi`s can beat them again in their next encounter, because the Aussies will come hard, another loss could really dent the Aussies supreme international confidence, and that I believe is three quarters of the challenge to beating them.

Ended up at over 13 000, pity they didn`t seat a few more of them opposite the cameras, because the grandstand behind them was pretty full.

Was shocked and very disappointed when I switched the T.V on, weird though, when they swung the camera around, at least one end of the grandstand on that camera side of the ground was packed, why the blazes wouldn`t they have prioritised selling tickets on the other side of the ground.

!987: Manly fly Kevin Ward out from England to play in their GF win over the Canberra Raiders. btw: coached by Warrington born Bob Fulton.

I worked at the same hospital in Sydney as Cliff in the 1990`s, Cliff was a porter and I`d cross paths with him in the lifts sometimes, tbh, I had no idea who he was, all I knew was that he was literally the man-mountain who`d always say hello, and I mean man-mountain, he was a really big bloke. Years later I bought a retro-book of Rugby League photos and there he was giving it it to somebody or other, could of kicked myself that I didn`t know who he was at the time.

I`ll bet my bottom dollar that your average boof-head American football fan wouldn`t give a rats-###### about the so-called intricacies that we hear from a tiny proportion of NFL knobs who like to use that to explain that game`s popularity in the US. You can bet that your averaqe American football fan is interested in exactly what we are: collisions/defending, passing/catching, running/athleticism and scoring, any so-called intricacies are a bonus and nice to think about a little, but likely play only a small part in the enjoyment of the sport. Just like the majority of League fans, myself included, when we watch Rugby League. Now selling another sport to a country that has its` own tried and true products, that`s another matter, but telling me that your average NFL fan watches that game because of its` technical wizardry I think is nonsense. They watch because it is sport and it`s a high-octane macho collision sport.

I was wondering myself whether Perth might now get told that 19 or 20 may be more likely, especially given it seems the NRL are hell-bent on getting PNG in. I also wondered, even hoped they might announce Perth for 19 at the same time as 18 is confirmed. Does seem a little odd announcing 19 the same time and going back to an odd number of teams but I suppose they did it with the 17th, so why not the 19th. And they have made it very clear they want 20. You mentioned in an earlier post that you had spoken to someone in NRL officialdom who like yourself thought the NRL was pursuing the wrong strategy and would be better off concentrating on Australia rather than pursuing overseas ventures. I think what we are seeing from V`landys here with this American venture (which now really looks like it`s tying in with the Pacific stuff) is to outflank our main rival and end the code wars in one fell swoop. Despite even with his projected revenue gain from a successful US venture it will really only level up the existing revenue gap with f-ball but I think they probably feel that if they can get traction in the US it will give Rugby League in this country so much more cred than our rival and cement fumbleball`s image as some sort of antipodean (minus New Zealand) oddity. NRL will really have all the momentum then. It`s a big gamble for big rewards, but that does seem to be V`landys style.

And it concerns me, most of the people on here formed their love of Rugby League in that era of far more open Rugby League, we`re still fans and just have accepted the incremental change because we are fans, boiling frog situation. You know I`d go as far as saying that if the NRL think they are going to win over fans in the U.S. with the modern game they are kidding themselves, it might work in the Pacific or NZ where people are comparing it to their union but the Yanks aren`t. Take a product like the game that was posted, that might be a different matter. BTW, I wonder if that`s why the 3x`s Premiers Penrith didn`t get an invite to Las Vegas, their tiresome defence suffocates the life out of every game.

Yeah like it always was, the whole point was to get the player to the ground then get up and back in the defensive line as quickly as possible. Somewhere along the line (thank you f***ing Craig Bellamy) it was realised if you held the player down longer the remaining players in the defensive line could be back, arranged and ready to spring forward. I honestly think the game is less attractive for it and not as attractive as we like to think and thus less appealing to potential new fans. I really don`t think it would be hard to get back to that, the skills these days are unsurpassed, we should be seeing a lot more games like that one., games like the one posted are the reason people fell in love with Rugby League.

Does it get any better, just spent an hour and a half being enthralled by that, what a sport. I`ll swear though, the game was a better spectacle when there wasn`t the `working` like we get in the tackle these days, even just those few seconds just seems to open up the game so much more.

What else do you think when dreaming of those sun-drenched palm-tree lined beaches of the Pacific but a grizzly Bear. Stop it please North Sydney, you`re embarrassing yourself.

There was talk during the game that there are plans for Fiji to field a Jersey Flegg team (U21`s) in the near future and apparently Melbourne Storm`s new partnership with Fijian Airways involves more Storm coaches on the ground and involvement with schools. Apparently, the Storm will be taking a pre-season game against Newcastle there next year as well. Augurs well for player development coming out of that nation. I do wonder though whether Fiji is still a predominantly union stronghold and playing for your nation in Rugby League doesn`t yet have the same appeal, watching that young Bula today and Turuva last week and the attractive brand of League they play we may see that change.

Well ,they haven`t actually done anything yet, a few concrete proposals would be a start. But I`d suggest they might have to up the ante now that these PNG numbers have come in.

Article in today`s The Australian: NRL expansion: Australian government to provide $600 million in funding for PNG bid | The Australian "It is understood the Federal government is prepared to bankroll a $600m expansion package — $60m injected annually for at least 10 years for sporting and economic development in PNG via the NRL’s overseas push into the Pacific." $60 million per year ! "A proposed PNG franchise will have the financial and political support of Mr Albanese – and now US president Joe Biden – following the Australian Prime Minister’s trip to the White House." No wonder they are going with Papua New Guinea.

Eddie, the NRL is probably on the verge of being the dominant sporting code in Australasia, it`s the probably the biggest rugby competition in the world with an extraordinarily slick social media presentation , looking past any gripes about national pride with naming rights, why shouldn`t we want anyone in Germany, Ghana or wherever when they check out their own national Rugby League`s website have the biggest and best League competition in the world with the best highlights packages come up.. Why not ? It`s just about leveraging off the back of the Australian NRL`s success.

Refer to themselves as the `National Rugby League Deutschland`, wouldn`t it be great if we saw an alignment of the game`s name internationally where NRL could be followed by each country`s respective name. NRL could become the name whereby our sport is recognized globally.

There`s no doubt about V`landy`s, he knows who to butter-up, calling Albanese a "great man" in another interview, referencing Phil Gould in the above quote (very important to have him on side) he also referenced "soft diplomacy" several times in an interview about his dealings with the Americans. Pretty obvious what he`s thinking here, big pot of money from the Aussie Gov`t using League as a tool to counter Chinese influence in the Pacific, all with the Yank`s blessing.

Interview with V`landys plans for Rugby League in America. Peter V’landys’ White House visit, meeting US President Joe Biden and NRL’s 10-year America plan | The Australian "ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys has revealed plans for the NRL to bury the AFL as Australia’s No.1 sport and reign in America for decades after his meeting with US President Joe Biden. Speaking exclusively to this masthead from the White House, V’landys spoke of the “surreal” moment an “immigrant boofhead from Wollongong” broke bread with Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at a state dinner on Wednesday night. V’landys’ trip to America, at the behest of Albanese, is a preamble to the NRL’s historic double header in Las Vegas next March when the Broncos, Roosters, Souths and Manly will play at Allegiant Stadium. The NRL have a five-year strategy to play in Vegas, but after meeting Biden, V’landys believes rugby league can generate more than $200 million with a permanent foothold in the Land of Opportunity. “It’s just surreal being here. I’m pinching myself,” V’landys said. “I’m only human and I initially met the Queen for an hour-and-a-half last year, then I met the King of England and now I’ve met the American president. “I want to express this - if I can do it, anyone can do it. Anthony Albanese is a great man and is a great supporter of rugby league. “It’s been a great trip and a very important trip. I have been some very big hitters and I’ve learned a lot about the American market. “From government officials to major business people, the trip has been exceptionally worthwhile. To be successful, you have to set the foundations and I’m setting the foundations for the long-term growth of the sport. “I have made some key contacts that will be important for rugby league’s future. “I won’t name names because I don’t want to embarrass them but the NRL will be Australia’s No.1 sport.” What I have discovered over here is that there are a lot of people in America who are expat Australians. Even if they subscribe to rugby league, it’s worth millions, so American can be a goldmine for the NRL and I’m determined to make it work.” The NRL is committed to playing games in Vegas until 2028, but V’landys wants rugby league to establish a permanent base in America well into the 2030s. “We have the AFL on the run,” he said. “We want to be in America longer than five years. “I am confident it will be longer than that, we have set ourselves five years and if the results aren’t there in five, we will reassess, but I know we have the best game. “There is no game like rugby league. It’s got everything. It’s brutal. It’s entertaining. It’s tribal. AFL isn’t here. People say there’s a lot of sports in America but rugby league is as good as anything here. “Our success here won’t happen overnight. It won’t happen in one year. But if our figures are correct and our commitment is long term, there could be more revenue coming to us from America than Australia, simply because of the scale of the population. “We have a great ad that we will put out very soon and we will be putting it out on social media to promote the Vegas concept. “We’re taking a few NRL players over in the next few weeks, including Pat Carrigan, and we’ll have celebrities involved, too. “We are after two things: subscribers and doing a deal with some wagering operators. “It’s up to us to market rugby league in America to sell it to the people and that’s what I intend to do.” There`s nothing like backing yourself and V`landys certainly doesn`t lack confidence in the product or himself, interesting though, he does seem to relish having a rival to drive himself, but that`s ok, because I hate fumbleball as well.

Yeah, it is a great initiative and while it may not have a big crowd turn up, they will get a crowd and importantly probably get a bit of media coverage as well. All of which is part of infiltrating that`s states` consciousness that we have something that their code can`t offer - you can actually play for your country.

On another bright note it was really interesting and enjoyable to read in the following article some of the permutations that may occur in the world rankings following the current international round. In particular PNG`s hopes of jumping both Tonga and Samoa. NRL 2023: Pacific Championships, Papua New Guinea Kumuls, Fiji Bati; PNG eying 'two-Test series' with Fiji as chance to jump Tonga in IRL World Rankings | NRL.com

The great Warren Ryan always said that Bill when he was refereeing was more interested in providing an exciting contest then worrying about little technicalities like rules. Should be more of it.