A Tonga 3 match series in England?

[The Rocket]

7 hours ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Assuming that continues to be true, how will it change if we never play them?

Maybe we all have to have a little patience. A lot of these nations have only just begun to show genuine competitiveness.

Success and time will raise their profile.

A WC with four  cracking Quarters, two semis worthy of being finals and the big one in front of 50 000 will help.

[unapologetic pedant]

6 hours ago, The Rocket said:

My first girlfriend spoke French.    " I am Papuan. " Correct me if I am wrong. 

Great doco here the other night, Shaun Dorney , long time ABC correspondent in P.N.G. Captained the P.N.G. National Rugby League team in his early years there. Great team photos on a bus.

I am surprised that you had no comment when we were discussing the relative sizes of different RL playing nations the other night and the topic of Papuan reunification came up.

My grandfather spent the war in New Guinea, when asked what he did, he used to say I collected `butterflies`. Came back with a magnificent butterfly collection.

Tell me if this explanation is gratuitous. I`m assuming from your first sentence that you don`t already know what follows -

The "Je suis..." slogan was first used as "Je suis Charlie" after the terrorist attacks on the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine. Then subsequently in other contexts. It`s an expression of solidarity. Similar to JFK `s "Ich bin ein Berliner" after the Berlin wall went up.

BTW, if you visit Germany and wish to express that same sentiment with locals, don`t do it in Hamburg or Frankfurt.

Pretty sure I did, relevant to Papuan reunification, make some references to the West Papuan RL team and the Indonesian government. Forgotten which thread. Almost certainly nothing to do with the stated topic.

Hope your grandfather wasn`t a butterfly collector like the one in John Fowles` first published novel.

[The Rocket]

1 hour ago, unapologetic pedant said:

The "Je suis..." slogan

I`m sorry mate your reference was too subtle for someone as literal as myself, but  I like it.

I don`t think he had anyone locked up in the garage.

[17 stone giant]

Regarding international teams, I was interested to see on Wikipedia that lots of international teams have been founded in the last 20 or so years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_men's_national_rugby_league_teams

I'm not sure how they define "founded" and what (if anything) existed before, and likewise I don't know how often these teams have gone on to play, but it's surely a good thing that so many countries do at least have a team.

[unapologetic pedant]

11 hours ago, 17 stone giant said:

Regarding international teams, I was interested to see on Wikipedia that lots of international teams have been founded in the last 20 or so years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_men's_national_rugby_league_teams

I'm not sure how they define "founded" and what (if anything) existed before, and likewise I don't know how often these teams have gone on to play, but it's surely a good thing that so many countries do at least have a team.

When RU went pro, because in the popular mind RL was synonymous with professional and RU was synonymous with amateur, there was a real danger that RL might be even more globally submerged, since many would assume its reason to exist had evaporated.

We`ve been lucky that the pro-RU era has been roughly concurrent with the age of the Internet. Massively more people can get to see that RL is a different game from RU. I would identify this as the primary reason why so many new nations have established an RL presence.

The confusion and problems with the word "Rugby" remain, but with care and thought they can be better addressed than before. Through the opportunities it affords to circumvent mainstream media, the Net has been a blessing for international RL.

[rlno1]

On 23/07/2020 at 20:11, Damien said:

Well the costs mainly. If the worry that some of about Tonga is if it would be profitable this worry is essentially doubled flying over 2 teams. All the costs are essentially doubled for no more revenue.

I'm sure a TV contract could solve that problem. sponsors etc.

Also the most obvious things is crowds would need to be back.

[rlno1]

On 22/07/2020 at 22:02, Damien said:

It really shouldn't be difficult to have a 4 yearly cycle World Cup with a European Championship and Pacific Cup in the middle on a 4 yearly cycle. Then have Northern hemisphere tours and Southern hemisphere tours either side of that. A nice varied cycle with something for everyone.

Just like in football with the WC and European Championship played halfway between.

Problem is Australia have most of the money and only see the game as NRL, Origin and maybe the pacific. Only do things for a profit.

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

19 hours ago, The Rocket said:

Maybe we all have to have a little patience. A lot of these nations have only just begun to show genuine competitiveness.

Success and time will raise their profile.

A WC with four  cracking Quarters, two semis worthy of being finals and the big one in front of 50 000 will help.

Both Fiji and Tonga beat New Zealand in the 2017 World Cup. That was now 3 years ago.

3 years of missed opportunities to ride that wave of the 2017 World Cup, all we’ve had over in the UK is yet another 3 match series against the kiwis, incredibly disappointing. It’s not like we have a rigid international calendar fixed in place.

[The Rocket]

23 minutes ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Both Fiji and Tonga beat New Zealand in the 2017 World Cup. That was now 3 years ago.

3 years of missed opportunities to ride that wave of the 2017 World Cup, all we’ve had over in the UK is yet another 3 match series against the kiwis, incredibly disappointing. It’s not like we have a rigid international calendar fixed in place.

Until the broadcast value of the International calendar can compensate for a shorter domestic season with a dedicated International window, the current  situation may well prevail.

It is talked about down here, so I think we will eventually get there.

 

 

[Damien]

4 hours ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Both Fiji and Tonga beat New Zealand in the 2017 World Cup. That was now 3 years ago.

3 years of missed opportunities to ride that wave of the 2017 World Cup, all we’ve had over in the UK is yet another 3 match series against the kiwis, incredibly disappointing. It’s not like we have a rigid international calendar fixed in place.

I agree. You could really go back all the way to the 2013 World Cup, and 4 more years, were the game never capitalised on a fantastic tournament.

[Tommygilf]

4 hours ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

Both Fiji and Tonga beat New Zealand in the 2017 World Cup. That was now 3 years ago.

3 years of missed opportunities to ride that wave of the 2017 World Cup, all we’ve had over in the UK is yet another 3 match series against the kiwis, incredibly disappointing. It’s not like we have a rigid international calendar fixed in place.

 

6 minutes ago, Damien said:

I agree. You could really go back all the way to the 2013 World Cup, and 4 more years, were the game never capitalised on a fantastic tournament.

Its unbelievably frustrating