New North American Competition?

[frank]

36 minutes ago, The storm said:

Put it this way

 

If this league had been announced on 1st April everyone would have thought it was an April fools joke 

Don't think they do April fools day in the States.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

11 minutes ago, frank said:

Don't think they do April fools day in the States.

You never seen the Simpsons episode with the can of beer?...

 

[Cumbrian Mackem]

5 minutes ago, Wellsy4HullFC said:

You never seen the Simpsons episode with the can of beer?...

 

 

[frank]

38 minutes ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

 

Can't be right all the time.

[Yakstorm]

The US currently has between 115,000 - 130,000 registered Rugby Union players, and whilst a large number of these will have no idea what Rugby League is, etc, I'm sure the new, non-USARL affiliated teams will be able to find enough who will either have an understanding of the game (remember there are pretty significant Australian and Pacific Ex-Pat communities in the West) plus the likes of California, Oregon and Texas all have had some Rugby League activity in recent years (although not huge).

Once borders start opening up as well, it will arguably be quite easy for the US teams to recruit from Australia, if they've got money to spend, to help boost teams.  Firstly, it is possible to work for 90 days under the Visa Waiver agreement between the two countries and for those players who will be sticking around for longer, I'm sure the NARL has been exploring how to get these players E3 visas.

As others have said, there will be plenty of young talented players in NSW and Queensland, who would love the opportunity to pop over to LA or Portland for a few months and earn a few thousand for the privilege.  Sure they won't be NRL standard., but just like in the UK, NZ and France, there are a lot of really good players outside of the pro-system who can complement the local talent. 

[The Frying Scotsman]

13 hours ago, Whippet13 said:

 

Still deciding my team for 2021, ruled a few out but the Blackjacks remain a potential candidate as I've had some good times there.

Please be sure to keep us informed as to how the elimination process is going.

[Cameron Highlander]

16 hours ago, Arizonared said:

Welcome to the Venom fan club.

I was expecting to support Ottawa Aces, but I was more than pleasantly surprised to have a team on my doorstep. I've already got a bunch of people wanting to come and watch a game with me

Hi there Arizonared.  I'm supporting the Venom too.....I love the name and the badge with the scorpion.  I need to get me a shirt when they become available.   I've checked out their website , social media....not much there yet and I've signed up to get their e-mail announcements etc. Also, my granddaughter and her fiancee live in Scottsdale so when travel is allowed again I'm hoping to see some VENOM(OUS) games.  GO the V-E-N-O-M....LOL

[Keith989]

Any chance of a reddit page being setup to help follow what's going on with the league?

[Jayme2020]

1 hour ago, Yakstorm said:

The US currently has between 115,000 - 130,000 registered Rugby Union players, and whilst a large number of these will have no idea what Rugby League is, etc, I'm sure the new, non-USARL affiliated teams will be able to find enough who will either have an understanding of the game (remember there are pretty significant Australian and Pacific Ex-Pat communities in the West) plus the likes of California, Oregon and Texas all have had some Rugby League activity in recent years (although not huge).

Once borders start opening up as well, it will arguably be quite easy for the US teams to recruit from Australia, if they've got money to spend, to help boost teams.  Firstly, it is possible to work for 90 days under the Visa Waiver agreement between the two countries and for those players who will be sticking around for longer, I'm sure the NARL has been exploring how to get these players E3 visas.

As others have said, there will be plenty of young talented players in NSW and Queensland, who would love the opportunity to pop over to LA or Portland for a few months and earn a few thousand for the privilege.  Sure they won't be NRL standard., but just like in the UK, NZ and France, there are a lot of really good players outside of the pro-system who can complement the local talent. 

Same with Canada it will be easy to attract players to come for a few months.

[Jayme2020]

17 hours ago, langpark said:

I had the same question as Eddie, but not in the sense that the English teams you mention are drawcards, I am more concerned about staffing.  When Wolfpack was in SL, they had a full-time marketing team, if I am not mistaken.  They have all been made redundant.  Will they be getting much personnel back on board this year to promote one (home) game?  I highly doubt it.

But the fact the Canada national team has had big crowds at Lamport Stadium in the past, in matches against Jamaica and USA, does give me great hope that they will still pull big crowds.

For this year no but next year they should have a full size staff.

[Jayme2020]

7 hours ago, Cumbrian Mackem said:

Anybody else think that this is too good to be true? lol!!!

Lots of wild exaggerated statements flying about from the organizers of this competition and far too many unanswered questions for my liking but I’ll enjoy the ride for however long it lasts in true RL fashion

If a group came out and said were going to compete with the Sl and other top leagues sure people would take issues.But this league has not said that there saying there going to be North Americas 1st pro league.

[DC77]

21 hours ago, The Rocket said:

 Nevada as well, I believe it has a lot to do with the price of real estate in those States relative to California. The major repercussions your refer to I gather are political. making the red one blue.

It’s an equivalent of white flight. The right wingers are all bunkering down to Texas (where my brother lives).

The big issue with America is how volatile it will become as statues of slave owners come tumbling down, said tyrants get removed from currency etc. The storming of the Capitol (built by slaves) in January was just a flavour of what is to come. By 2040 non whites will be the majority (before the 1965 immigration act which ended their racist immigration policy it was 90% white, and since then the conservative white nationalist movement has grown, an acceleration we are witnessing now). The white narrative has dominated proceedings for centuries, but that’s changing, and America will change into something unrecognisable, and tens of millions will not like it one little bit.

Mount Rushmore (carved by a KKK member) has two slave owners (jefferson and washington, both of whom owned overs 600 black people (deemed ‘property’ in the constitution), while the former labelled the Natives subhuman in the ‘declaration’ and was the pioneer of scientific racism), another one (T.roosevelt) justified the ethnic cleansing of the Natives by stating “I don’t subscribe to the view that all good Indians are dead, but I believe nine out of ten are, and I won’t enquire on the health of the tenth”, and the last one, lincoln, stated “I am not, nor ever have been in favour of making voters or jurors of (*term for black people), nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people” (black people did not have the vote until 1867 (they weren’t citizens either as like everything else that too was restricted to white people), and the ban on interracial marriage ended a century later). This statue perfectly represents the DNA of the place.

A proposal five years ago to put Harriet Tubman (black slave) on the $20 dollar bill instead of Andrew Jackson was dismissed by Trump and co...catering to his base of tens of millions, before Biden started up the process again. It’s still a farce as one side of the note would be a slave, and the other (Jackson) another slave owning tyrant (who as president also pioneered the trail of tears on the Natives). This move (attempting to appease both sides) is akin to putting a tiny plaster on a dam that’s about to burst. 

A US author James Whitman (he wrote a book on the US race laws influence on the Nuremberg laws of Nazi Germany) stated the difference been America and Germany is Germany has completely dealt with its past (which was a twenty year period of its history) America has never done that, hence the enormous discrepancy in tolerance between the two today.

[Arizonared]

8 hours ago, Cameron Highlander said:

Hi there Arizonared.  I'm supporting the Venom too.....I love the name and the badge with the scorpion.  I need to get me a shirt when they become available.   I've checked out their website , social media....not much there yet and I've signed up to get their e-mail announcements etc. Also, my granddaughter and her fiancee live in Scottsdale so when travel is allowed again I'm hoping to see some VENOM(OUS) games.  GO the V-E-N-O-M....LOL

Awesome, welcome to the club

[The Rocket]

7 hours ago, Keith989 said:

Any chance of a reddit page being setup to help follow what's going on with the league?

I don`t know what `Reddit` is but it sounds like a good idea.

[dealwithit]

38 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

I don`t know what `Reddit` is but it sounds like a good idea.

If you Don’t know what it is, how can you think it’s a good idea?

[The Rocket]

1 minute ago, dealwithit said:

If you Don’t know what it is, how can you think it’s a good idea?

 

8 hours ago, Keith989 said:

Any chance of a reddit page being setup to help follow what's going on with the league?

i gather it`s something that will provide a one-stop  point to help with: read highlighted part.

[Pulga]

9 hours ago, Keith989 said:

Any chance of a reddit page being setup to help follow what's going on with the league?

Come on over mate;

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/Narl/

[The storm]

10 hours ago, Keith989 said:

Any chance of a reddit page being setup to help follow what's going on with the league?

Is there a BLM team 

 

[Yakstorm]

Washington DC Calvary have announced that they'll play their home games at the Evergreen Sportsplex in Leesburg, Virginia

 

[Omott91]

25 minutes ago, Yakstorm said:

Washington DC Calvary have announced that they'll play their home games at the Evergreen Sportsplex in Leesburg, Virginia

 

Nice, 1500 capacity ground. Even if they half fill it for the first couple of years that will be a success for them imo.

  I believe the Canadian teams will have higher ambitions and will be success stories of this comp.

[gingerjon]

12 hours ago, DC77 said:

A US author James Whitman (he wrote a book on the US race laws influence on the Nuremberg laws of Nazi Germany) stated the difference been America and Germany is Germany has completely dealt with its past (which was a twenty year period of its history) America has never done that, hence the enormous discrepancy in tolerance between the two today.

A pretty accurate observation. One could easily say the same about the UK, as proved by a lot going on at the minute whenever anyone suggests that the Empire was anything other than a jolly jape.

But that's for a different board altogether.

In the meantime, in the absence of a Chicago team, I'll be mostly keeping an eye on Ottawa (for their two games this year) as my cousin will likely be attending and the wider league in general.

Hopefully teams will be as realistic with their venue choices as DC are being.

[fieldofclothofgold]

12 hours ago, DC77 said:

It’s an equivalent of white flight. The right wingers are all bunkering down to Texas (where my brother lives).

The big issue with America is how volatile it will become as statues of slave owners come tumbling down, said tyrants get removed from currency etc. The storming of the Capitol (built by slaves) in January was just a flavour of what is to come. By 2040 non whites will be the majority (before the 1965 immigration act which ended their racist immigration policy it was 90% white, and since then the conservative white nationalist movement has grown, an acceleration we are witnessing now). The white narrative has dominated proceedings for centuries, but that’s changing, and America will change into something unrecognisable, and tens of millions will not like it one little bit.

Mount Rushmore (carved by a KKK member) has two slave owners (jefferson and washington, both of whom owned overs 600 black people (deemed ‘property’ in the constitution), while the former labelled the Natives subhuman in the ‘declaration’ and was the pioneer of scientific racism), another one (T.roosevelt) justified the ethnic cleansing of the Natives by stating “I don’t subscribe to the view that all good Indians are dead, but I believe nine out of ten are, and I won’t enquire on the health of the tenth”, and the last one, lincoln, stated “I am not, nor ever have been in favour of making voters or jurors of (*term for black people), nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people” (black people did not have the vote until 1867 (they weren’t citizens either as like everything else that too was restricted to white people), and the ban on interracial marriage ended a century later). This statue perfectly represents the DNA of the place.

A proposal five years ago to put Harriet Tubman (black slave) on the $20 dollar bill instead of Andrew Jackson was dismissed by Trump and co...catering to his base of tens of millions, before Biden started up the process again. It’s still a farce as one side of the note would be a slave, and the other (Jackson) another slave owning tyrant (who as president also pioneered the trail of tears on the Natives). This move (attempting to appease both sides) is akin to putting a tiny plaster on a dam that’s about to burst. 

A US author James Whitman (he wrote a book on the US race laws influence on the Nuremberg laws of Nazi Germany) stated the difference been America and Germany is Germany has completely dealt with its past (which was a twenty year period of its history) America has never done that, hence the enormous discrepancy in tolerance between the two today.

Good post very interesting 

[fieldofclothofgold]

I lived in USA for many years Philadelphia Pa and though the difference between the two codes of Rugby are gradually being recognized, but even explaining the the differences is difficult even when showing footage of RL . It is such a big country with a large population and there are many minor sports compared to the Big 3 , I used to like watching Lacrosse, very skillful, but what I saw played in front of not too many spectators.  I think RL can find its spot in the Sun ,but I think it needs to go into the high schools and colleges if it hasn't already done so

[The Daddy]

9 hours ago, Yakstorm said:

Washington DC Calvary have announced that they'll play their home games at the Evergreen Sportsplex in Leesburg, Virginia

 

That's a League One type ground with a very low capacity. That doesn't seem ambitious at all 

[langpark]

So, since kick off is exactly 11 weeks away. When might we start to see these new entities assembling a squad and starting to train? Most of their players will never have played RL before.

For that reason, I think people should stop calling this league 'professional', at least for its first year.