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More good news from Fiji


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7 hours ago, The Rocket said:

 I wonder who he is, could he be a brother, the way the post was laid out was like someone associated with the game.

That was my first thought - that David and Graham Middleton were Aussie RL`s equivalent of the McWhirter twins, Ross and Norris, who founded the Guinness Book of Records. (They were a regular combination on children`s TV over here in the early 70s until Ross was assassinated by the Provisional IRA in 1975).

My first encounter with the mine of information known as David Middleton was the 1989 NSWRL yearbook.

On topic, does anyone have any hard statistics on the growth of RL in Fiji ? I`ve only ever seen media stories and the sort of anecdotal evidence like the passage highlighted in your quote from The Australian.

We could better calibrate our optimism if we had figures on registered players, TV viewers, schools, etc, along with the comparative figures for RU.

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57 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

We could better calibrate our optimism if we had figures on registered players, TV viewers, schools, etc, along with the comparative figures for RU.

Google seems to turn up plenty of activity - http://www.fijibati.com/ is full of details about secondary school competitions and under-19 national finals this week.

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12 hours ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

Silktails went down heavy today losing 56-6 against st Mary’s.

It was never meant to be a cakewalk, their over here now in the big time and it is up to them to improve. Hopefully what they learn here they will take back to Fiji and will lift the whole standard of League in that nation as well.

There was an article on the news with them on friday night, they all talk of their NRL dreams, it`s up to them now to make it.

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4 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

It was never meant to be a cakewalk, their over here now in the big time and it is up to them to improve. Hopefully what they learn here they will take back to Fiji and will lift the whole standard of League in that nation as well.

There was an article on the news with them on friday night, they all talk of their NRL dreams, it`s up to them now to make it.

Absolutely. The team needs time to settle down and more gameday experience .

Even if only 1 player from the squad wins an NRL contract then that for me counts as a success.

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On 28/03/2021 at 10:30, Cumbrian Mackem said:

Absolutely. The team needs time to settle down and more gameday experience .

Even if only 1 player from the squad wins an NRL contract then that for me counts as a success.

Heartily agree with the first sentence.

On the second, what would count as success for me is if the Silktails serve as a magnet for RL interest in Fiji on and off the field. Progress to a place in the NSW Cup, attract good crowds to their home games, increase sponsorships, player numbers, etc.  In short, become to the NSW Cup what the Hunters are to the QLD Cup.

We shouldn`t see every RL competition as instrumental to the NRL. Other competitions need to have their own independent value if the game`s capacity is to grow.

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1 hour ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Narrow loss for the SIlktails today 30 - 26. Fought back strongly according to the match report.

The big defeat last week was to a team regarded as one of the favourites for the competition.

That is a much better performance and very encouraging by the silktails in only their 2nd ever Ron Massey cup match.

The ridiculous amount of rugby talent available for the silktails almost certainly ensures that they will be a huge success.

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7 hours ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

The ridiculous amount of rugby talent available for the silktails almost certainly ensures that they will be a huge success.

Something that`s occurred to me is whether the Silktails would be able to draft in players to cover injury problems. Without having to quarantine them. Because there are plenty of talented Fijians playing in other competitions in Australia.

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3 minutes ago, unapologetic pedant said:

Something that`s occurred to me is whether the Silktails would be able to draft in players to cover injury problems. Without having to quarantine them. Because there are plenty of talented Fijians playing in other competitions in Australia.

Not sure but I think a squad of 28 players should be enough for the season.

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21 hours ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

That is a much better performance and very encouraging by the silktails in only their 2nd ever Ron Massey cup match.

The ridiculous amount of rugby talent available for the silktails almost certainly ensures that they will be a huge success.

Rugby League talent. There are big school and club competitions in Fiji, and rapidly growing comps for women and girls. There will be some players signing from union, but the vast majority of Silktails players will have grown up playing tgg.

"Just as we had been Cathars, we were treizistes, men apart."

Jean Roque, Calendrier-revue du Racing-Club Albigeois, 1958-1959

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On 02/04/2021 at 07:26, Cumbrian Mackem said:

The ridiculous amount of rugby talent available for the silktails almost certainly ensures that they will be a huge success.

 

11 hours ago, nadera78 said:

Rugby League talent. There are big school and club competitions in Fiji, and rapidly growing comps for women and girls. There will be some players signing from union, but the vast majority of Silktails players will have grown up playing tgg.

Here is a perfect illustration of why RL fans need to speak the same language in all locations. Imagine this sort of misunderstanding replicated millions of times the world over, and it ought to be clear how difficult we are making it to grow the game.

I`ve said it before but... -

RL should be referred to as "Rugby League", colloquially shortened to "League". Never to "Rugby".

RU should be referred to as "Rugby Union", colloquially shortened to "Union". Never to "Rugby".

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