Serbia, Greece - reasons to be cheerful?

[EssexRL]

It seems that good stuff is happen with RL in Greece and Serbia at club and national level. Unlike other “developments” this feels sustainable. What do people think?

[Eddie]

From an outsiders point of view I agree, other than parts of the M62 corridor and a small part of SW France they seem the best bet for European expansion. 

[Damien]

Yes it's great to see. I think there is a real difference between these countries, that are working hard to develop the game and have standalone RL clubs, and some other countries that don't have that.

[Siwel14]

Good to see other nations developing, but talks of expanding Super League in those regions is laughable at this point and for the near future.

Wanting to expand to Greece and Serbia before actually growing what we have in England & France is fantasy- it would be another Toronto. Build the current competition and then locations with potential e.g. London and Newcastle will come with proper financial backing wanting to join the top league

London Lions is growing basketball in the UK currently very well, they joined the Euro Cup, have strong financial backing and it's filtering to the domestic league and youth development.

If the NBA is doing well in this country, it filters to the domestic league etc. if rugby league's international stage does good it has the same impact on the Super League - the NRL is like the Premier League, it will do well no matter what - Super League is like Ligue 1 right now, but has the potential to be La Liga.

[IM2]

5 hours ago, EssexRL said:

It seems that good stuff is happen with RL in Greece and Serbia at club and national level. Unlike other “developments” this feels sustainable. What do people think?

I think it's the right approach. club and international. seems that region is developing well

[Eddie]

4 hours ago, Siwel14 said:

Good to see other nations developing, but talks of expanding Super League in those regions is laughable at this point and for the near future.

Wanting to expand to Greece and Serbia before actually growing what we have in England & France is fantasy- it would be another Toronto. Build the current competition and then locations with potential e.g. London and Newcastle will come with proper financial backing wanting to join the top league

London Lions is growing basketball in the UK currently very well, they joined the Euro Cup, have strong financial backing and it's filtering to the domestic league and youth development.

If the NBA is doing well in this country, it filters to the domestic league etc. if rugby league's international stage does good it has the same impact on the Super League - the NRL is like the Premier League, it will do well no matter what - Super League is like Ligue 1 right now, but has the potential to be La Liga.

Who has ever said SL should be expanded to Serbia or Greece? I’ve never even read a forum fantasist suggesting that. 

[JM2010]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

Who has ever said SL should be expanded to Serbia or Greece? I’ve never even read a forum fantasist suggesting that. 

Me neither. There’s the Balkan SL for clubs in that area. 

[langpark]

6 hours ago, Siwel14 said:

Good to see other nations developing, but talks of expanding Super League in those regions is laughable at this point and for the near future.

He did not say that and not even allude to it. Way to derail what could have been a decent thread! 

[Whippet13]

9 hours ago, Siwel14 said:

Good to see other nations developing, but talks of expanding Super League in those regions is laughable at this point and for the near future.

Wanting to expand to Greece and Serbia before actually growing what we have in England & France is fantasy- it would be another Toronto. Build the current competition and then locations with potential e.g. London and Newcastle will come with proper financial backing wanting to join the top league

London Lions is growing basketball in the UK currently very well, they joined the Euro Cup, have strong financial backing and it's filtering to the domestic league and youth development.

If the NBA is doing well in this country, it filters to the domestic league etc. if rugby league's international stage does good it has the same impact on the Super League - the NRL is like the Premier League, it will do well no matter what - Super League is like Ligue 1 right now, but has the potential to be La Liga.

Greece, Serbia and other Eastern Europe countries, including Ukraine, are developing RL on their own, they have not asked to join the RFL or SL competitions or for any financial support.

[Damien]

9 hours ago, Siwel14 said:

Good to see other nations developing, but talks of expanding Super League in those regions is laughable at this point and for the near future.

Wanting to expand to Greece and Serbia before actually growing what we have in England & France is fantasy- it would be another Toronto. Build the current competition and then locations with potential e.g. London and Newcastle will come with proper financial backing wanting to join the top league

London Lions is growing basketball in the UK currently very well, they joined the Euro Cup, have strong financial backing and it's filtering to the domestic league and youth development.

If the NBA is doing well in this country, it filters to the domestic league etc. if rugby league's international stage does good it has the same impact on the Super League - the NRL is like the Premier League, it will do well no matter what - Super League is like Ligue 1 right now, but has the potential to be La Liga.

If only anyone had said that. However no one did.

Edited May 21, 2023 by Damien

[Eddie]

38 minutes ago, Damien said:

If only anyone had said that. However no one did.

I can’t wait for the Partizan Belgrade v Rhodes Knights SL season opener myself. 

[yanto]

14 hours ago, EssexRL said:

It seems that good stuff is happen with RL in Greece and Serbia at club and national level. Unlike other “developments” this feels sustainable. What do people think?

Norway Turkey Czech Netherlands... four other developing countries that are "sustainable " and doing the hard yards. 

Serbia and Greece get the publicity but some great work going un noticed in the above mentioned countries. 

Will be interesting when the Dutch host Serbia  in October as they have not met since 2006.

3-0 to "Oranje" in the previous meetings

 

[Siwel14]

15 hours ago, Eddie said:

Who has ever said SL should be expanded to Serbia or Greece? I’ve never even read a forum fantasist suggesting that. 

Well if you weren't insinuating that then fair enough, on first read that's what it looked like.

My comment wasn't specifcally directly about those nations (more general) and from many things I see on similar threads this just happens to be the one I commented on, hence why I went on a tangent that ran off topic.

Obiously you don't see the build-up of things I read before putting that in this thread, I will be more careful next time.

No worries 

[bazza_merged]

20 hours ago, JM2010 said:

Me neither. There’s the Balkan SL for clubs in that area. 

yes - one positive in these countries being close by is that playing cross-border leagues makes it easier to start the game in smaller countries with a few teams and play at suitable levels rather than having to wait for enough local teams for regular competition

[HartwoodHarvard]

Would be good to see Lebanon replicate Serbia, Greece, and the Netherlands by playing more internationals with domestic players against other developing nations. They have a decent domestic scene and would be a good opponent for a team like Serbia

[langpark]

2 hours ago, HartwoodHarvard said:

Would be good to see Lebanon replicate Serbia, Greece, and the Netherlands by playing more internationals with domestic players against other developing nations. They have a decent domestic scene and would be a good opponent for a team like Serbia

Lebanon domestically are probably closer to Turkey's level than Serbia. Which is good as they are nearby-ish to one another. 

[EssexRL]

My interest in two countries is that they appear to be adopting a bottom-up home grown approach which strikes me as a much more stable and sustainable approach to the growth of the game than, say, creating a team that aims to get into SL. Standalone vibrant leagues in other counties would be great. I tend to think evolution beats revolution.

It seems that the developments in both counties are significant if modest (at the moment).

[Tre Cool]

International RL should give more support to these countries, I'd like to see more Serbia/Greece/Lebanon and less Ireland/Scotland/Italy in internationals / world cups.  We are not ru or soccer and need to stop trying to magic it up from top down with those nations with little to zero club rugby. 

[Gomersall]

 

[Bradman Better]

Turkey would be a better investment than Greece. They have amateur league teams already. 

Just add half Aiden Sezer (Leeds) and prop or second row Emre Guler (Canberra Raiders) and stir.

[Damien]

1 hour ago, Bradman Better said:

Turkey would be a better investment than Greece. They have amateur league teams already. 

So does Greece.

[fighting irish]

I think the Balkan Super League is an extraordinary idea. The fact that (however modest) they are making it work (all on their own initiative) is nothing short of amazing. You could argue that we'd better leave them alone to get on with it, unless we put the kibosh on it. Although, I think it might make sense to ask them to advise us (BARLA) on how to do it, over here. 

Edited June 5, 2023 by fighting irish