Euro XIIIs

[Number 16]

3 hours ago, yanto said:

I have had many a run in with the RLEF

No *hit, Sherlock.

[Hela Wigmen]

Is there any UK/Irish representatives that are/have put their hand(s) up to take part in this? 

[Eddie]

4 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said:

Is there any UK/Irish representatives that are/have put their hand(s) up to take part in this? 

They haven’t named the teams yet. Though I’d have thought any British Isles team would be better off joining L1 for shorter, cheaper and easier journeys. 

[Hela Wigmen]

Just now, Eddie said:

They haven’t named the teams yet. Though I’d have thought any British Isles team would be better off joining L1 for shorter, cheaper and easier journeys. 

There’s that and I can’t realistically see many going towards the European League but I imagine there would be a bit more of a balance between the clubs in this new European League than there is between some development sides in League One and others at the top end of League One. 

[langpark]

52 minutes ago, welshmagpie said:

I can’t remember Verona being described as a major ‘player’ just a city with an international airport. Pardon me if I’m wrong though.

Well, we did not get much info out of the podcast, but all we got essentially was:  Huracanes, Verona + 6 others.  So to me, that is to say these two are the cornerstone clubs of the competition.

37 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Why would they exist now when there is no Italian League? 

hmm, ok, not sure what to say to that, other than Thank you for adding weight to my argument.

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, langpark said:

Well, we did not get much info out of the podcast, but all we got essentially was:  Huracanes, Verona + 6 others.  So to me, that is to say these two are the cornerstone clubs of the competition.

hmm, ok, not sure what to say to that, other than Thank you for adding weight to my argument.

Not cornerstones, just the one he felt able to mention as he’s involved with that club himself. 
 

Also it didn’t add weight to your argument. Unless you’re arguing that Italy should never have a rugby league club, in which case I disagree. 

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, Hela Wigmen said:

There’s that and I can’t realistically see many going towards the European League but I imagine there would be a bit more of a balance between the clubs in this new European League than there is between some development sides in League One and others at the top end of League One. 

If I was setting up a semi pro team in Norwich (watch this space if I win the lottery), I wouldn’t be looking at the European League whatever the standard was. 

[Hela Wigmen]

11 minutes ago, Eddie said:

If I was setting up a semi pro team in Norwich (watch this space if I win the lottery), I wouldn’t be looking at the European League whatever the standard was. 

Some clubs may not have the option, Manchester Rangers were not admitted and, I believe, told applications were not welcome at that time. It may be the same going forward for other perspective clubs and if it’s a choice between nothing or the Euro League, I’m sure most would take the Euro League, finances depending. 

[Eddie]

10 minutes ago, Hela Wigmen said:

Some clubs may not have the option, Manchester Rangers were not admitted and, I believe, told applications were not welcome at that time. It may be the same going forward for other perspective clubs and if it’s a choice between nothing or the Euro League, I’m sure most would take the Euro League, finances depending. 

Yeah true, if the RFL continue to be so blinkered that they turn down sensible applications. 

[langpark]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

Also it didn’t add weight to your argument. Unless you’re arguing that Italy should never have a rugby league club, in which case I disagree. 

My argument is that this whole venture is not as robust as you lot are making it sound.  You highlighting that there is no domestic activity currently going on in Italy, furthers my argument.

[yanto]

8 hours ago, Eddie said:

I was referring to them setting up a European League. 

If you check back you actually started a thread about a European club competition a few weeks ago that was a RLEF / Red Star concept so how can you now say they have done nothing in setting up a European league ???

[Pulga]

6 hours ago, Hela Wigmen said:

Is there any UK/Irish representatives that are/have put their hand(s) up to take part in this? 

It's a mainland Europe competition.

[Pulga]

4 hours ago, langpark said:

My argument is that this whole venture is not as robust as you lot are making it sound.  You highlighting that there is no domestic activity currently going on in Italy, furthers my argument.

The Euro XIII make no mention of being professional as far as I know.

The RLEF's version states that it would be professional.

I'd say the RLEF has a much harder road.

[langpark]

8 minutes ago, Pulga said:

The Euro XIII make no mention of being professional as far as I know.

The RLEF's version states that it would be professional.

I'd say the RLEF has a much harder road.

I will meet you halfway.  They did mention 4-5 draft (pro or semi-pro) players being centrally contracted and given to each team.

[Pulga]

17 minutes ago, langpark said:

I will meet you halfway.  They did mention 4-5 draft (pro or semi-pro) players being centrally contracted and given to each team.

True.

I just hope they can work together.

There must be some merit in the idea if two seperate groups are trying to do the same thing.

[Eddie]

10 hours ago, langpark said:

My argument is that this whole venture is not as robust as you lot are making it sound.  You highlighting that there is no domestic activity currently going on in Italy, furthers my argument.

You have no idea how robust it is and neither does anyone on this forum. 

[Tommygilf]

I'd hope lessons for this are learned from the Balkan Super League. Clearly Serbia were the bedrock of that competition followed by Greece and this allowed teams to come from other smaller (rugby league wise) places such as Tirana, Albania and Turkey just off the top of my head. To my mind it has to be assessed what are the strengths and how do we maximise them. From the Euro XIIIs we know Italy and Spain are potential sources of investment, add Serbia, Czechia, Ukraine (are we openly legal in Greece yet), maybe a French, Norwegian or Irish side or even a Lebanese side. If this could get going on TV next year it could be a major boost for the game in these countries before many of them are represented in some form at the world cup. 

I think we should also clarify what the teams are for this competition. Are they independent clubs that qualify through winning their domestic league? or are they effectively select XIIIs from those countries? or are they a mixture of both to ensure the weaker domestic leagues can compete with the stronger ones.

I'm excited for this and hope that both groups can come together to make something happen. The growth of this has potential at a relatively low level to be very broad in scope across Europe. 

[Big Picture]

This sounds like an attempt to build something with multinational reach on a low level grassroots foundation which realistically is all there is in most of those countries.  Personally I can't see that working.

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, Big Picture said:

This sounds like an attempt to build something with multinational reach on a low level grassroots foundation which realistically is all there is in most of those countries.  Personally I can't see that working.

That’s the spirit. 

[Tommygilf]

1 hour ago, Big Picture said:

This sounds like an attempt to build something with multinational reach on a low level grassroots foundation which realistically is all there is in most of those countries.  Personally I can't see that working.

There's a fair few sports that do that across Europe to be fair.

[Tommygilf]

Could it be?

[Hela Wigmen]

Potential inclusion from Scottish, Irish and Welsh sides - interesting. 

Still sounds a madcap idea for amateur clubs but we can dream.

[Tommygilf]

Just now, Hela Wigmen said:

Potential inclusion from Scottish, Irish and Welsh sides - interesting. 

Still sounds a madcap idea for amateur clubs but we can dream.

Thats my thoughts really. Perhaps these have been more open than the RFL - in such light it would be interesting to see what would happen for an English team to apply

[Big Picture]

32 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

There's a fair few sports that do that across Europe to be fair.

Teams playing across national borders week in and week out, at semi-pro or non-pro level?  Which sports might those be?

[Tommygilf]

11 minutes ago, Big Picture said:

Teams playing across national borders week in and week out, at semi-pro or non-pro level?  Which sports might those be?

You're changing the parameters here. They've stated they want 8 teams which is not enough for a full years competition, meaning this will be at least alongside national leagues. Also, there is clearly the aspiration that semi-pro (at least in terms of funding) is the basic aim, not amateur - as how could a draft work in that environment.

Off the top of my head, Handball and basketball have European wide competitions and are not totally professional nor do they have major a TV presence in the UK. I know for a fact even Cricket have a European competition that I very much doubt is fully professional.

Indeed in RL we already have the example of the Balkan Super League operating across national borders with minimal levels of investment.