Continuing the trend of crazy ideas.. New Caledonia

[Frusty]

On 02/11/2017 at 11:00 AM, Snooping Unionite said:

Georgia probably wouldn’t be the best fit for League and there is still a fair bit of momentum behind the Union set up. Probably the majority of their pro players are props in the French Top 14 and all their teams have the speciality of a bulldozing scrum. Their backs by comparison are very much lacking (but they have produced a few gems in the last few U20 tournaments).

 

Also things might be moving in the right direction for their national side as they have finally managed to secure a test match against Italy, to see how they match up and this might lead to 6N entry. Italy will be a tough team though for them as they have a more balanced squad selection and the two fully-pro Italian sides have finally got their acts together this year. I’d also like to point out as a Scot, that Scotland did beat Georgia by a fair margin last autumn.

 

World Rugby are investing heavily in Georgia having recently hosted the U20 World Championships and a local multi-millionaire has invested heavily in new training facilities. The are not a country Unions authorities are forgetting about so it might be better for League to look at other opportunities.

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The Georgia sugar-daddy is Bidzina Ivanishvili a multi-billionaire - he is one of the seriously wealthy Oligarch types. Very well connected politically as well as you'd imagine an ex-Prime Minister would be. 

Chances of RL getting the upper-hand in Georgia are somewhere between zero and none. 

[Allora]

On 03/11/2017 at 12:48 AM, JoneslessBishop said:

B rad interesting you suggest straight to the NRL as opposed to NSW/ QLD Cup 1st. Maybe an end game. The latter for me would be an interesting complement to Catalan and Toulouse. An NRL team would be a direct competitor for top French players. However, on the pro side, one of the reasons that PNG are often suggested as a non-starter in the NRL is the volatility of their currency against AUD (although i am not convinced by that as they would be funded primarily by their share of the AUD broadcasting deal). However, as New Caledonia’s home currency is the Euro, far less exchange volatility, so one less obstacle.

 

As per that old thread, Hawaii is fascinating to me as a NRL expansion location. Imagine Jared Hayne turning out for them? He had real visibility in the NFL and could put RL on the map for a Hawaii team. Would probably come to late for him though. Hawaii in the NRL as well as American teams in the English structure could be huge for American RL. 

New Caledonia's currency is the CFP franc

[Lounge Room Lizard]

Georgia is a very dodgy place and the last time RL was there, it had a number of dodgy people involved looking to use RL as a front company to do some dodgy things behind it. I believe Kevin Rudd of the RLEF amongst others back then, was threatened if they didnt further back the Georgian RL. Not a surprise that the RLEF stopped helping them!

We need the right people in place to launch any serious attempt to push the code in a Nation or even area of a Nation. The wrong person can cause massive problems and can give the game a bad reputation. If we have just one or even two people we have to be careful they dont suffer burn out which is often the case with many trying to develop the Sport.  How much time and effort has been wasted on trying to push the game in areas where we have neither the right structure or even people in place.

It also will take many years to properly build anything with substance anywhere. Hoping that a couple of Union Clubs and a few players will take up the game, is not a real good foundation to work on. It might work to a degree, but often it is a waste of time and money. Many Union players make average or even poor League players as history has often shown. Plus many will choose Union over League, which is not a surprise, when it comes down to a choice of which to play, when dates clash. You cant just rely on hoping Union players will play and support the growth of the game.

Better to spend time, money and effort developing our own players even if that takes a few years to produce the fruits of good developed adult players. Ideally we need somebody to promote the game to Schools, Universities and to build from there. There are people doing Schools and Youth work in the Netherlands, Germany, Czech Rep, Serbia, Norway etc. It just takes time and patience but will give us a good foundation in time in them places.

[Getmefood]

On 3 November 2017 at 11:57 AM, jim_57 said:

Such an idea would obviously have a lot of boxes to tick as would any club but it is an interesting idea.

Perhaps a simpler option to start would be to partner with a current club to play a couple games in NC and take on a few French players.

As for interest I would imagine a semi-pro team would be the first and only of it's kind in New Caledonia, not sure what the general vibe is there in regards to Rugby League but I'm sure a high level team would generate a bit of interest.

You do make good points but this would hopefully turn New Caledonians into genuine RL players and hopefully beef up the stocks of the French national side.

[JoneslessBishop]

9 hours ago, Allora said:

New Caledonia's currency is the CFP franc

Comes as a surprise as  I thought NC is part of France. Pegged to the Euro? 

[Allora]

22 minutes ago, JoneslessBishop said:

Comes as a surprise as  I thought NC is part of France. Pegged to the Euro? 

I have been to Noumea, Lifou and Isle of Pines many times and they deal in francs but will take Au dollars and I believe Euros and US Dollars in many places.

[Damien]

If nothing else the game taking off in New Caledonia would give a big boost to the French national team.