The Rocket

Try this Harry, sorry about the large print, I`m not making aspersions about your eyesight, just having trouble with my computer. Leigh have recorded their first victory over bitter rivals Wigan since 1983 courtesy of the first 1-0 scoreline in English rugby league’s top flight since 1979. The Leopards smashed their 42-year winless streak against the Warriors with a thrilling golden-point field goal from Gareth O’Brien in the season opener before a crowd of 21,748 at the Brick Community Stadium. It was the first time in Super league history a match had finished 0-0 after 80 minutes. O’Brien secured victory for his team in the second minute of golden point when Wigan were a man down after centre Adam Keighran was sent to the bin for a dangerous tackle on halfback Lachlan Lam. The Leopards had a string of former NRL players in their match-winning team on Friday morning (Sydney time), including Lam, along with back-to-back premiership-winning Rooster Isaac Liu and former Broncos and Dolphins player Tesi Niu. For Leigh head coach Adrian Lam, the win was “surreal”. “One thing I wanted to see from the group was to see that they were connected together and that they would be resilient – and I got that in abundance,” he said. “I’m really happy. If Wigan had won 1-0, I would have been as happy as I am now because it’s going to take some time to develop this group and I’m looking forward to that journey.” You’d have to go even further to find a similar scoreline in the NRL. The only time there has been a 1-0 in top Australian rugby league was when Jack Gibson’s Newtown Jets defeated St George 1-0 in round eight in 1973. Editor's pick NRL 2025 Blake Steep heard his dad’s last words in the middle of the ocean. Then he saved his life Wigan head coach Matt Peet told BBC Radio Manchester it was a history-making match. “I hope it’s spoken about for years to come and credit to Leigh – they didn’t come here and fluke or nick a win, they earned a win and fair play to them,” Peet said. “I’ve been involved in a lot of play-off games and finals over the years, and it had that sort of feel about it, where you’re just waiting for a mistake or a penalty. It was a great standard to start.”

Made the sport`s headlines in one of our major broadsheets The Sydney Morning Herald over here; "A 1-0 rugby league win 42 years in the making"

Salary Sombrero in the Roosters` case.

Fumbleball to you.

Yes, I heard they`ve been frantically trying to do something similar themselves, prob is apart from the lack of interest there`s no where on the west coast of reasonable standard to hold anything, on the east coast there was grounds where the cricket T20 WC was held that could have been used but the stands were temporary and the time-zones don`t work. Oh dear, back to Tassie.

Just to keep you Pommies up-to-date on Vegas. In this morning`s paper: "The NRL has experienced a surge in ticket sales in the US for the Las Vegas season-opener in a sign that rugby league is slowly but surely getting traction in the world’s biggest sporting market. "More than 25 per cent of the 35,000 tickets sold have been bought by US-based fans. Tickets have been sold in all 50 US states." “The interest in the US has increased significantly, which is all part of our long-term strategy,” said NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo. “It’s very encouraging. We already have more US-based fans coming to Allegiant Stadium than last year, and we’re expecting many more in the final few weeks leading up to the event.” The NRL hopes to attract 50,000 fans to the event. LAS VEGAS TICKET SALES BY STATE California 20% Nevada 12% Florida 7% Texas 7% New York 5% Utah 4% Arizona 4% Illinois 3% Washington 3% North Carolina 2% Also from a very reliable poster here in Oz @Yakstorm : "328, 329 & 330 have all been put on sale, with some solid movement on Level 3. A number of seats in the corner bays in the TV arc on the ground level are no longer available. Not sure if it's been off the back of good sales or something else, but guaranteed they'll be pretty full come game day. Seen some of the PCRL clubs are pushing offers now (4 tickets for 99.99) which will hopefully help kick off a surge this month. From a revenue perspective, NRL is on track to make significantly more this year than last. Not only have more tickets been moved, but the price points have been higher as well." 55 000 definitely doable now. Also seeing a raft of clubs and pubs holding Vegas-Day themed parties on the day and seeing more and more media coverage now as the event approaches, it`s like one big season launch.

As I`d say to my kids, don`t be so bloody lazy and look it up yourself.

Rugby League and Bluey have history: State of Origin 3 Bluey episode with Ray Warren predicted future of Queensland’s win | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site Bluey may be on the path to becoming the next Simpsons with the hit TV show’s State of Origin episode predicting the future with incredible accuracy. The popular ABC kids show recently released it’s ‘The Decider’ episode from Season 3, where it showed Queensland winning the Origin series. The State of Origin themed episode was met with critical acclaim in Australia and overseas — and was particularly celebrated for the cameo appearance of rugby league icon Ray Warren as the TV commentator heard in the background of the episode. “It is winner takes all tonight,” Warren is heard saying at the start of the episode, which also had brief audio cameos from Maroons icon Johnathan Thurston as the expert analyst. The episode was released before the start of the 2022 series — and the show successfully predicted the series would come down to the Game 3 finale to be decided. Ray Warren, Johnathan Thurston and Gordon Bray feature in the episode. Bluey images - Photo Supplied. Bluey images - Photo Supplied. Bluey does Vegas ?

Sometimes it`s easy to forget but Melbourne are a genuine expansion team. Melbourne Storm’s plan to future proof roster with local juniors | The Australian However, Storm manager of Football Ponissi says it’s a stable time for the roster as they ramp up the investment in bringing pathway players through to the NRL over the next two seasons. Fa’alogo is one of the biggest stars to come through the club’s junior representatives pathways but they want more. On Saturday the club’s four grades had an open training day at Pakenham, in Melbourne’s southwest, where of more than 120 players, 70 were Victorian. A mass exodus of players in 2023 was a massive wakeup call for the Storm, who realised they needed to turn their attention to growing their own talent. “As a club we knew we had to do something because we weren’t getting players coming through.” As a policy, the Harold Matthews team (U`16s) is now entirely made of up Victorian players, and the goal is to bring them through to the NRL over the coming seasons. “We’ve decided we want to give our players from Victoria the first crack at junior representatives with the Storm,” he said. “We’ll select from the junior league down here. We’ve got a good crop over the next few years develop and the best of those can get an opportunity to continue up the pathway. “There’s a few who might be considered this year but we had a strong NRL side this year. “I’d say from 2026 onwards you’ll start to see players. Definitely 2027 and 2028.” “It’s the transfer of players coming from the juniors into the NRL, that’s an area we have to improve. We haven’t done that as well as we can. “That’s going to take time.” He doesn`t mention it but the demise of the Melbourne Rebels super rugby team isn`t going to hurt either, I believe two or three of their better juniors have already shown up on the Storms` junior teams lists.

Moffet does have his detractors but he sure sums up what a lot of people are thinking here: “The Warriors—a team with 30 years of underachievement both on and off the field— are suddenly the self-appointed gatekeepers of rugby league in New Zealand,” Moffett said. “Yet now they suddenly have the vision to ‘take over’ the country? Spare us. Their notion of monopolising New Zealand rugby league is as bizarre as it is delusional. They don’t run rugby league in New Zealand; they merely occupy a seat they’ve done little to earn.” “Their CEO speaks of five feeder teams travelling to Australia, as if this is a unique burden, ignoring the fact that their current structure has done little to elevate the domestic game,” Moffett said. “They’ve had three decades to invest in pathways, facilities, and grassroots development, and what do they have to show for it? A stagnant monopoly that has failed to grow the game in meaningful ways. “A genuine South Island rival wouldn’t just challenge the Warriors on the field—it would reinvigorate their entire organisation. Rivalries ignite passion, sell tickets, and drive sponsorships.” Ouch !

No it won`t stop there, once Perth are in and up and running it is only a matter of time before South Australia`s capital city Adelaide start pushing for a team, The Adelaide Rams were averaging 15 000 crowds before they were sacrificed as part of the Super League war settlement. Super League CEO John Ribot came out recently stating of all the Super League clubs Adelaide was one of the one`s that was on the most sustainable financial footing. South Australia, home of Australia`s aeronautical industry, Adelaide Jets anyone. Do like the Rams moniker though.

Not sure whether you`re referring to the above headlines or the deal itself. Regards the headlines, my interest only lies in the NRL gaining more brand-recognition around the world. There are lots of high-profile sporting competitions around the world, with instantly recognizable acronyms wouldn`t it be a treat if `NRL` became synonymous with the world`s largest, wealthiest `Rugby ` competition that encompassed the whole Pacific and Australasia. Re the deal itself, brilliant, why not, hope there is a genuine concerted effort to push some of the societal changes they are advocating in New Guinea. If we can pull that off in any meaningful way, what great kudo`s for Rugby League and NRL. Where next !

Just a few of the headlines around the world today. PNG side is most ambitious and complex move in NRL's history Radio New Zealand 1h Papua New Guinea to join NRL in £301m ‘diplomacy deal’ against China funded by taxpayer City AM Australia inks $518m rugby deal with Papua New Guinea to combat China influence The Straits Times 20:12 Australia turns to rugby to curb China influence in PNG BBC Australia and Papua New Guinea strike deals to counter China Deutsche Welle Inside PNG’s NRL deal: how the licence was won and what comes next Yahoo! Sport PNG’s historic NRL entry. Yahoo! UK & Ireland China benched, PNG takes field in sport-security pact The North West Star The prime minister, Pvl and the president: How PNG made it to the NRL The Age Sports diplomacy: why the Australian government is spending $600 million on a new NRL team in PNG The Conversation

Jeez what an attitude. A player on $1.2m will save nearly $500k per annum in tax under the proposed arrangement, that`s a million dollars extra income over 2 years. I suspect that we will see a lot of good players signing two or three year contracts to take advantage of this. For players on mid-range contracts those tax exemptions will be invaluable in maximising the financial return on what is often a short playing career. Players will be lining up. The club may initially become a bit of a revolving door, but I`m sure as the club evolves they will work out ways and means for players to see plenty of their nearest and dearest and we will see plenty of extensions when they realise it isn`t that bad. Christ, it`s not like they are being asked to go and play on Mars,

NRL ramping up the promotion for the opening round in Las Vegas now, have seen advertisements on FTA (Wigan and Warrington are in there) during the cricket Test match between Oz and India and seen the same ad in the afternoon and evenings in general, also have heard promos on the radio as well. And still two and a half months to go.

Moving on to 2025: NRL 2024: ARL Commission acquire accommodation properties in Port Macquarie and Brisbane | The Australian ARL Commission acquires accommodation properties in Port Macquarie and Brisbane as asset base grows to nearly $110m The NRL has already purchased: - Mercure Kawana Waters on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast for $20m. - Quest Hotel in Sydney’s Woolooware for $20m. - Gambaro Hotel – rebranded the Beetson Hotel – in Brisbane for around $30m. Love the rebranding of the Gambaro, great choice.

Thankfully I dare say the NRL will take absolutely no notice of them.

Had a look and it was the RLPA (players union) pushing it. So effectively on the women`s behalf. Look the argument is despite mid-week stand-alone games rating very well - sometimes over a million - the RLPA is arguing that because the women are part-time and mostly holding full-time jobs they want to be compensated for having to play midweek. The other downside is the mid-week crowds are poor. The NRL, who are keen to sell the NRLW broadcast rights in the next tv deal are arguing that if they play them on the weekends prior to NRL games they`ll be up against other NRL games and will rate poorly, devaluing their worth. At the end of the day it has been shown that fans don`t mind turning up early to catch the women`s game on a double-header with the men`s team from the same club, so without being compensated for playing weeknights this is where they would rather play at the present. So it`s a bit of a chicken and egg situation. It appears the NRL have agreed to shift the games to weekends, build support, and perhaps ultimately, as the wage levels of the women`s game increase to the point where the players can go fulltime and from there perhaps shift some games back to mid-week where it has proven to rate well.

Fumbleball fans are nuts, it really is like a cult, the crowds they got while not huge certainly put the stand-alone NRLW crowds to shame. The real evidence is in the TV broadcast viewing figures, the NRLW games regularly appeared in the top30 rating programs for the day. On the other hand in the whole fumbleball-w season I only saw 2 games appear in the top 30 programmes, and one of those was a semi and the other the GF despite both being on FTA primetime Saturday night. In fact the fumbleball - w GF rated half of what the NRLW achieved in the overall figure, the 25 - 54, 16 - 39 categories and let`s not forget their comp has been around several years longer than the NRLW.

The increase in doubleheaders in this coming year was requested by the NRLW players themselves.

It was the same when I was growing up on the mid-north coast, League was huge and I reckon at school on sports day the split was probably 50/50 League Soccer and pretty much the same on weekends. Back in those days everyone followed Rugby League, even the soccer participants, very few would have followed EPL. Having said that League at junior levels is still very strong in the larger regional towns and I`d say going close to matching it with soccer, a few of the smaller towns would no longer field league teams, but they might have a soccer team. I remember when I was about 14 our village fielded a soccer team for a couple of years, one team we came up against was a team from a neighbouring small town whos` League team were playing soccer for a year, let`s put it this way, they were very physical.

I can only imagine what a schmozzle it must be.

That and the lower north shore of Sydney would be lucky to add a thousand players, and that is prob being very generous.

There was talk of the collapse of the women`s domestic competition, the W-League, due to a lack of funds, not so long ago. The men`s competition took a hammering in their broadcast deal, the women`s is basically worthless. The women are basically playing for the love of it, and even that may not be enough. No domestic League and it`s going to be very hard to get noticed by international scouts. The whole situation is compounded when the main codes are offering minimum wages that will soon be $60k Oz, with soon most likely 2 twenty teams competitions, the more popular with 30 person squads and the other about 40 or whatever they have.

Until they start losing and once the other soccer nations, namely South American amongst others get over their gender bias and accept womens` sport, the Matildas position in the pecking order of world`s women soccer will go south pretty quickly, as will Australia`s love affair with them. The signs are already there. Basketball has a lot of false dawns in this country it would take a large decline in the popularity of the main codes for them to break through the ceiling in popularity levels that it has already reached but been able to breach several times.