The Rocket

I`d day far more than niche these days mate, in fact one of the best drawing, widely followed teams in the NRL and really getting a roll-on now with developing the game in Victoria, record participation this year. And whereas once they used to get newspaper coverage like the double-header in Perth did this week, i.e. one column 7 pages in from the back of the paper, to getting quite decent coverage nowadays and as is often commented on in the Aussie forum by people who live there, heaps of Storm merch to be seen around Melbourne. I` don`t think you can underestimate the effect this has either. Relating this to the thread of Catalans` ability to grow League in France, I`d say the Storm are a great example of a team who are leveraging their success to spread the game in their home region through a lot of community initiatives and clear pathways, Le Dracs` ought to try it sometime.

Wow, that`d make for an interesting competition.

That`s what it will be Tommy, they`ll have consulted their broadcast partners, who`ll have told them what they`d prefer and what they`ll pay and then that`s what the NRL would have taken to the IRL meeting. Everyone has to keep their heads about this, first and foremost it is a business decision, and when it has shown that it can draw an audience, both at the ground and on the box, we might see it expanded.

@audois was this the point you were making with this post ?

Can`t tell you how much that warms the cockles of my heart. Great stuff. All I need now is for Head and Smith to get another 160 runs to make my evening complete.

Yes having watched nearly all of the NRLW games so far this season I don`t think it would be a stretch to say that a lot of the amazing passing rushes and intricate link play that we are witnessing have Touch/Tag Rugby League roots all over them. Such a leg-up to the code that they can learn and master the passing, positional and support play aspects of the game before they move onto Tackle.

And that is the key, things are changing. I expect we will start to see non-contact versions of the game, particularly Tag, being played a lot more until older age groups and then with those children who show an aptitude for the game being the ones to pursue the tackle version which will have all the precautions and preventative measures which we are already seeing the introduction of.

And haven`t the women`s players been killing it; I`ve seen conga lines, the can-can, the limbo - with one player held horizontally in the air while the other players limbo beneath her and loads more all done with loads of smiles and laughter. BTW for anyone out there check out Dom Young`s slam dunk over the cross-bar to celebrate a try. Back on topic, the beauty with more exposure for players is that sooner or later you will come up with a personality who will be a natural and capture the public`s interest and then will start to be sought out by the cameras. and interviews etc. etc. That can only be good for the game.

Absolutely no question they should be winning on a regular basis against Oz but as the Kiwis have shown many, many times before one-off Tests here and there do them no favours. Unlike Oz, who although don`t play any Tests, at least we have Origin and many strong club sides to pick our crucial combinations from. Personally, though I`d stick with Brown at five-eighth and think that CNK, although he tries his guts out, always has a crucial error in him (and that can be very costly against the Aussies) and therefore might play DWZ at fullback till Sheck comes back, tough call to take DWZ away from the wing though.

My favourite part (and what this is and really should be all about at the moment): To that end, Joe Grima has been appointed as the head of elite player development in PNG. Grima – a former Sharks, Dragons and Eels assistant coach whose last NRL role was as Parramatta’s elite pathways coaching director – is upskilling the best young juniors in Port Moresby. The best players from 65 schools in the catchment area have been identified and placed in under-14s and under-16s academies, where they will get the same tuition as juniors in NRL systems. The program, based on the pathways model of the Eels nursery, will eventually be rolled out nationally. Heartening to read this as well since we so often hear criticisms about the physicality of the players in P.N.G. “From a testing background – in terms of physicality, fitness and speed – they are on par athletically [with elite Australian players],” Grima said. “Some even exceed some of the players I’ve tested previously. We can now compare the data against historic data that we have of 14- and 15-year-olds in Australia.'

Maybe we could convince some of the American teams to change their names.

An Imaginary Life: How unbeknownst to everyone a lonely farm boy played his part in the great St. George`s teams of the 1970`s.

I didn`t see tonight`s game and this was the first I heard the score, but as I said to my son last week I think the Cowboys, when they play that high tempo game, are the one team that can beat the Panthers.

Participation figures are always rubbery, so probably about half of that number.

Don`t like them, give me a Kelpie or a Border Collie, christ, even a Labrador any day.

Exactly, a chihuahua will give you a nip if you upset it, completely different matter when fighting dogs lose their rag.

Hear that line a lot over here, until they rip some kid`s face off.

You have assumed correctly. NRL turned over ~ $600m Oz (300m Pound) last year, Super League maybe about 50m pound.

I thought this may have been Part Two of @Bedfordshire Bronco`s "Leading a Double Life " thread from the general forum.

It`s an interesting thought and something that crossed my mind when switching on to the Ashes over here at 7 p.m. and seeing packed grounds in England at what I would assume would be around 10.30 a.m. local time. Would this provide further issues with rights value for British broadcasters, possibly. I think the best way to engage Aussie and English fans with each other`s respective competitions is to be involved in each other`s competitions. English Super League to be the third conference when the NRL inevitably goes to two conferences. The top two teams to travel out here for a month of play-offs after deciding the local conference winner ? Such a conference system may more likely give fans a reason to be interested in each other`s competition throughout the regular season.

If IMG can`t turn things around and your broadcast deals continue to decline I just can`t imagine the NRL allowing English Rugby League to wither on the vine, it has the potential to be worth too much to them. Especially if we can get a broadcast deal commensurate with our main rival down here, around the $OZ600m/300m pound mark. If you`re running on a broadcast deal worth say 15m pound it`d be chump change to top that up with another 20m, with a whole heap of strings attached of course.

Fizzled out very quickly due to lack of interest.

I think it would be a very brave (or foolish) person who underestimates V`landy`s ability to turn this into a big event. This is the bloke who created `The Everest`, the second richest horse race in the world with $20m prize money, he loves the big stage and he loves even more to be at the centre of it. The stories are public knowledge of him at the Everest working the room full of the who`s who of the Australian entertainment and business world stone cold sober (he doesn`t drink) while all around him everyone is as ###### as a newt and having a great time. This Vegas thing just gives him a bigger stage and I dare say he will revel in it. It`s going to be very interesting to see how much hoopla they put on around this thing.

I`ve wondered that in the past. Perhaps attempting to set up a rival League in America risks not only having the American venture fail but also probably setting back the Australian game irrevocably and ending the nice little racket he`s got going down here.

It`s one of the great ironies to me that just as the American century appears to be drawing to a close we are to be hearing more than Americanisms than ever creeping into the vernacular. The use of "off of" instead of just `off` is another gaining traction that I loathe, `math` instead of `maths` another. Truth is people are easily impressed.