The Rocket

Taree City Bulls. Would love to be the benefactor that helps them win their first Group Three Rugby League premiership in nearly 20 years.

As V`landys has said ad nauseam, we`ll look at the results across the board from this year and work out what and how we can improve them next year. I dare say there will be a lot of thought being put into improving those television viewing figures over the next period. Television viewing figures which I thought, like the whole week, were a pretty good foundation to build off.

I didn`t read the article but I think the look on Benji`s face in the photo attached to the article gives a pretty clear impression of what the author thinks. Nup.

Not one word, c`mon. Even if you do strip away a certain amount of fawning because you believe they were paid to, the underlying or base sentiment was very positive.

Drew @DadahUniforms · Follow Just a heads up: the NRL games are being replayed right now on FS2 in America, in Sunday night prime time. @NRL #NRLVegas #NRL 2:18 PM · Mar 4, 2024 from Paradise, NV

Mate, yes that would have been marketing genius to say Oh, btw the way this isn`t going to cost us a cent, $10m is a much better headline without going into all the details of the actual financial breakdown.

This was never ever going to cost them $10m, even before a ticket was sold I`d suggest that sponsorships and deals was going to cover a very large chunk of it. You can add to that now the reported $3m in ticket sales, so it may well in fact end up not "costing" them a cent.

Some of the reactions in there are pretty funny. What the Americans said about NRL's Vegas invasion (msn.com) The reaction to the games was that of confusion and amazement from the American audience, with one New York-based writer running a live blog for The Guardian. "One of the Bunnies chokes a Manly player, but this seems to be fine. Nobody seemed to get too upset about it," David Lengel wrote at one stage. After both Tevita Tatola and Lachlan Croker were shown on the broadcast sporting nasty cuts to their face and head, Lengel described it as "human cockfighting". "ANOTHER player is bleeding! Is this normal?" he asked.  At the conclusion of the first game, Lengel - who predominantly covers sports such as NFL and MLB - praised the physical and exciting nature of rugby league "If this game came to New York, and they didn't price gouge me out of the place, I'd go and watch, no question. I`d think there would be a market for our game in that country, the question is, how do we get people to know about it.

Sounds like a mate of yours.

Two words...obesity epidemic.

Look the idea has merit, I just don`t think you`d want to dilute the travelling market by having them on the same weekend.

Mate if you`d seen the press coverage over here you`d understand, it`s been mental. So mental in fact that that idiot union apologist ftzsmmns has written another article in today`s Herald bagging it: "I think the NRL opening round is this weekend, yes? If only there had been a little more coverage! " It is just the ludicrous hyperbole that goes with it which grates" " grates" it`s really getting under his skin, meanwhile union super rugby magic round goes unannounced and unattended. But back to your question, even if it achieves not much more than what it has then I don`t think that will be a bad thing. One interesting development that seems to be coming out of the Nines being held the last couple of days has been the number of female players that have caught the eye of NRL scouts for the NRLW, given the much smaller player pool for women over here perhaps we may see the USA being a useful scouting ground for that comp, what an interesting twist that would be if we started to see decent numbers of American players in the NRLW.

NRL's Las Vegas journey the start of a 'huge win' (nypost.com) And,’’ Delany (chief executive officer of the Foxtel Group) went on, “just speaking to you (The Post) and you guys talking about the NRL in America is big.’’

" exceeding all expectations" NRL draws 5000 to Vegas launch as crowd hopes soar | The West Australian "As ticket sales went beyond 40,000 for the match on Thursday (Friday AEDT), 5000 fans converged in downtown Las Vegas to meet with players. "The crowds prompted Latrell Mitchell and other stars to compare the build-up to that of NRL grand final week, with the night far outranking any crowd for non-match-day events in Australia." Las Vegas TV networks covered the night, while there was a smattering of Americans in attendance in the crowd. "It's round one, but it feels like a grand final at the moment," Mitchell said, adding he wanted to turn Allegiant Stadium into "Trellegiant Stadium". "It's a great turnout, we appreciate it. This is why we love the game." Mitchell was not alone in his summation. Brisbane captain Adam Reynolds also compared the vibe to a grand-final week where Broncos players were treated as rock stars last year, as did Australian captain James Tedesco. NRL fan events in grand final week usually attract closer to the 1000-person mark, and none has matched the atmosphere at Fremont Street on Thursday night. Nearly 3000 fans have also travelled from England. Get a Pommy team over there, that number might be 10 000.

I remember quiet clearly you saying the 9 million the NRL were spending on the Vegas adventure as being, quote "pathetic" as well, now we are possibly (being reported in the Herald today) looking at a crowd of 45 000 plus. As long as the money is spent well and targeted carefully, 23 million could be worth multiples of that. A successful day on Sunday would be a pretty good start. HST, I`m sceptical as well, but we`ll just have to wait and see how it goes and trust that the people attempting this are probably a little more dynamic than ourselves.

Having a rubbish product wouldn`t help.

I think it was Noumea that was running a try Rugby League day this weekend or soon, League Tag was first up followed by the tackle version. Give the kids a taster and then when they are ready, they may have a go at the tackle version, the one they see on telly.

You`re starting to sound like a 1960`s rocker, except you forgot to say "man" at the end.

We`re in the lounge-room ..... and can`t bloody wait either. No seriously, am travelling to Sydney to take my two sons out to Parramatta Leagues club for a slap-up lunch and a Las Vegas Rugby League double-header for dessert. Can`t wait.

Yeah of course I`m sceptical and wonder whether it`s just more of the hype leading up to this weekend, buying Super League falling into the same category. He did say in another interview though that funds from the NRL wasn`t necessary and he was more interested in just having their co-operation and shared branding, probably meaning access to and co-operation with the NRL digital arm, amongst other things. Does make you wonder how much we could have to offer if we had a whole world approach to these things though.

Interview with Steve Scanlan @ 48mins Was planning to enter NY team in SL. Now pivoted to a 10 team pro USA league. 3 teams sold so far. Been talking to NRL for 3 months. Presenting to ARLC on Sunday in Vegas. Some board members own minor league baseball teams. Most things are planned. Agile with where teams will be. 2 of 3 licenses have been bought by existing sports clubs owners. $1.5mill US license fee to buy a club license. Aiming for 2025 start up. Looking at late April season start, 16 week comp. The Jimmy Smith Show The Jimmy Smith Show on 1170 SEN Sydney. www.sen.com.au

That club means a lot to the people out there and they`re rightly proud of it, them winning is their way of getting back at all the disparaging remarks made about them and the area they live in. Take for example this deliberately mischievous headline in one of the country`s widest read newspapers, the Sydney Morning Herald, the other day: ‘I’m glad our kids don’t know how to read’: New doco reveals impact of death threats on Jarome Luai’s family A lot of sniggering around the rest of Sydney over that one.

The Panther`s probably have the smallest backline in the NRL now, hard to believe that this is not a deliberate move by Cleary and that is where he sees the game evolving. BTW, great game last night and as far as poor calls go, I believe these things always even themselves up in the wash and you`ve got to take the good with the bad. Hope it reached a massive audience on the BBC, hard to get a better advert for the game than that.

Seen that done countless times as a boy growing up on a dairy farm, if you`re wearing a glove it`s not really a big deal. The more challenging one is during a difficult calving where you`ve got to stick your arm in the cow`s ####, sans gloves, because she can`t get the calf out on her own, usually the leg`s folded back or even the head sometimes. First time I did that when I was about 14, parents were out, so it was either me or no one. Very satisfying though when you see that calf alive on the ground though, when you know if you weren`t there it would most likely have died.

I can`t see how they could stop him if he is Australian and declares that he wants to play for Australia, even if it is only so he gets the opportunity to play Origin with his Qld mates.