Trebian

This might be old so apologies if it is but I just came across this interesting list of NRL global Broadcasters https://www.nrl.com/operations/the-game/international-broadcasters/ It might not be a comprehensive list because Sky NZ is not listed but then neither is CH9 and Fox, perhaps these are taken as domestic ?

For once I agree with SP. Why would any NRL clubs want to break away when they have never had it so good, when the sport is expanding faster than many can cope with ? As for reserve grade, QLD Cup have always been reserve grade, what do they think being a feeder to NRL clubs means ? Looks complete BS to me.

Hmmm, I am not even sure about that. I see little to gain for the NRL in Tasmania other than the "goodwill" from spreading the game around. I don't mind that, I just hope the Storm have done their homework and are clear on why they are going there.

I have resisted commenting before now because it is a very long time since I went to a CC final. I am very nostalgic about it because the trip to Wembley used to be really something and just about every club was there regardless of who was playing. Wembley buzzed and fans partied all weekend around the city. For me, the CC was something special and far more important than Superleague. I remember a quote from a Wigan director that was reportedly said to a new coach "Beat St Helens twice and take us to Wembley and you will be a success" and I think that resonated with a lot of fans. I think the problem with the CC is that going to Wembley is no longer the event it used to be. What we need to do with the CC Final is to recreate that spectacle, make it a weekend to remember once more. These things are no longer just a match and thats it. Today they need to be much bigger entertainment events where the match is almost incidental. Things need to be built around it and if we can involve the media so much the better. SL Commercial needs to look at these things and think "Party Time" because that is what people want. I flew half way around the world to watch Wigan play Catalans in Barcelona. OK, I coupled it with a holiday in Spain but I felt that the whole experience was pretty flat. I enjoyed the game but then that was it. I bumped into a few Wigan fans in Plaza Mayor and had a few beers but there was no razamatazz about it.

Yeah there is some good coverage despite the whinging (and some of it from me). I particularly like sections where Billy Slater analyses games. He is very insightful, makes the analysis simple and at the end of it I often think Wow that guy knows his stuff. Still hoping he will relent and become head coach of Melbourne. He would be a worthy successor. Incidentally, I am pretty impressed with Kieron Foran as a newbie coach for Manly. He seems to have what it takes.

I don't know of any RL presence in Tasmania. A NSW Cup team is a nice idea but travel would be a killer. You would need to fly in and out of Launceston every week or take a 10hr ferry ride just to get to Melbourne. The AFL team works because its elite level (therefore has more money) and most of the AFL teams it would be competing with are in Melbourne.

Exactly, get this $1.13 bn for a 23,000 seat stadium in a city of 255,000 people. There is only 600,000 people on the entire island of 68,000 sq km (roughly 1/4 of the size of the British Isles). That stadium is costing every Hobart resident 4 and 1/2 thousand dollars each whether you are an AFL fan or not. How they got that through government planning I do not know. The AFL stated quite clearly that if it didn't get its stadium, there would be no team in Tasmania.

Tasmanians who have just been blackmailed into shelling out an absolute fortune to build a stadium with a roof on it in Hobart just so they can have an AFL team. I hope the Storm are going to make them pay for it if they do take a game there.

Tasmanians who have just been blackmailed into shelling out an absolute fortune to build a stadium with a roof on it in Hobart just so they can have an AFL team. I hope the Storm are going to make them pay for it if they do take a game there.

"It wont just go to the NRL to do as they please and spend on things that arent going to benefit the NRL and its clubs. " I never said that would be the case but I think the NRL will have a lot of lee way to invest in things that will ultimately benefit clubs. A thriving global Rugby League does exactly that. It grows the Brand and grows future revenue particularly when you are at the pinnacle of that sport as the NRL are. Clubs & players both know and fundamentally understand that there is a limit to how big they can become and how much they can earn if all they do is look inward within walls of Australia and its relatively small population. That is exactly the problem that faces the AFL. Want to expand to 20 clubs - well there is Tassie or the NT or what about a 3rd team in WA ? Give me a break. The NRL investing globally is the way for them to grow and it happens to be something they can achieve that their main rivals cannot. So they are far more open to investment in these things than you might think though I do admit that some of those things on my list was nostalgic wishful thinking on my part but investment in SL, investment in France, investment in SA/Japan/Pacific/wherever absolutely. The NRL will be looking for the right area where there is money, where there is a love of Rugby (either code) and where the biggest thing that has been holding the sport back has been a lack of funds / expertise. That is why they looked at investing in SL and is why they may look at investing in France or Japan (though Japan is a strange market). V'landys looks at Rugby Union as an inferior code but it is a code that has a significant global presence that RL does not. He will want to change that - maybe that will be his downfall but gee he will give it a crack.

Tesco have bought it. LoL

Of course there is but in Aus at the moment, RA is not supporting them. The best talent in schools playing Rugby are often on an NRL scholarship or are soon sounded out after leaving. That is how they picked up Suaali. As the bigger code with more money and better pathways (certainly in NSW / QLD) they tend to get who they want. In Vic Union had a very good pathways system that produced some good players but when they dumped the Rebels, guess what the Storm and NRL did. The best area they have for jnrs now is in Canberra with what the Brumbies are doing. Rugby in Australia now has 4 teams say 120 elite players which doesn't leave many opportunities for a young kid planning his future. The NRL doesn't need to do very much to take the cream of Rugby talent. You watch the mass exodus of talent out of Rugby Australia next November when the RWC finishes. If it hadn't been for last year's BIL tour and next years RWC, RA would have gone bankrupt before now.

Magic in France next year https://www.alloutrugbyleague.co.uk/news/super-leagues-magic-weekend-set-1866544 Wonder if I can wangle a holiday for about that time ?

It was postulated for a while that the NRL might buy Rugby Union in Australia. Its capitalisation at that point was about 50m or less than 1 year's profits for the NRL. I think they have been wise not to go that route.

Is there many left ? RA has been cutting pathways and women's investment. Victoria they abandoned. There isn't much in WA even now and the Bears will challenge that anyhow.