My 4 nations concept

[crashmon]

The only 4N's type comp going forward will only be in SH, and won't include England unless England travel to SH...  Not going to happen in NH.

Aus are not going to tour again in the forseeable future., they have made that loud and clear, there focus is on the Pacific Islands.  In fact considering that the Next WC is almost certain to be in the SH, I would not be surprised if we don't see an AUS international team in the UK again this decade.
 

Expect a cycle of Tonga \ Samoa \ PNG (possibly NZ but not sure) for the foseeable future with all games in the M62 corridor. With the occasional game vs France as well

Edited July 17, 2023 by crashmon

[The Masked Poster]

8 hours ago, Damien said:

Well it was canned because it was meant to be replaced by the bigger and better Confederations Cup. Thank the NRL for that not happening.

Yeah and I suppose I was being a bit rhetorical because I knew that. I meant it was in retrospect a foolish decision. 

[Jparrish]

12 hours ago, crashmon said:

The only 4N's type comp going forward will only be in SH, and won't include England unless England travel to SH...  Not going to happen in NH.

Aus are not going to tour again in the forseeable future., they have made that loud and clear, there focus is on the Pacific Islands.  In fact considering that the Next WC is almost certain to be in the SH, I would not be surprised if we don't see an AUS international team in the UK again this decade.
 

Expect a cycle of Tonga \ Samoa \ PNG (possibly NZ but not sure) for the foseeable future with all games in the M62 corridor. With the occasional game vs France as well

"There focus is on the pacific islands"

Yet Tonga are the only PI team with scheduled fixtures. So why can't we get New Zealand or Samoa to commit to coming over ?

Still no news on this mystery SH 4 nations thats supposed to take place this year 

Edited July 17, 2023 by Jparrish
Spelling

[crashmon]

OK Let me requote

There focus is Origin, and expanding the NRL Brand

The focus on ANY international Rigby from the NRL is probably less than 1% of any planning

But if they have to have International RL (in Aus why do you need it, when you have origin), then the small effort they will make will be to a 4 nations in the SH

Personially I don't believe that outside of England v Tonga in the M62,there will be ANY international games at the end of the year, apart from possibly a one off test involving two of NZ, Samoa, PNG, Fiji.

So for 2023 the only internationals will be played in a small corridor in the north of England.  With a possible couple of games in NZ featuring pacific islands playing each other \ NZ

[Barley Mow]

11 minutes ago, crashmon said:

OK Let me requote

There focus is Origin, and expanding the NRL Brand

The focus on ANY international Rigby from the NRL is probably less than 1% of any planning

But if they have to have International RL (in Aus why do you need it, when you have origin), then the small effort they will make will be to a 4 nations in the SH

Personially I don't believe that outside of England v Tonga in the M62,there will be ANY international games at the end of the year, apart from possibly a one off test involving two of NZ, Samoa, PNG, Fiji.

So for 2023 the only internationals will be played in a small corridor in the north of England.  With a possible couple of games in NZ featuring pacific islands playing each other \ NZ

I believe there have been five other IRL recognised men's internationals beyond the England v France match so far this year.

Four more are scheduled in addition to the England v Tonga series.

These may not be our premier nations, but countries like Greece, Serbia, Malta, Netherlands and Czechia are really taking the bull by the horns and organising their own internal calenders (seemingly without much outside support). The standard might not be brilliant, but they are taking place outside the small corridor in the north of England and should be recognised on your list for the year.

[Human Punk]

Part of the problem is that the SH international sides are made up of players that the Aussies get to see play every week in the NRL, so there's not that much enthusiasm to see them again in a different setup. The exception to that is England/GB, but we aren't really competitive enough to make it attractive. Until we can up our game by consistently comprehensively beating the other SH nations, the Aussies won't care. We need to be the giants of international RL. And even then they probably still won't be interested.

[Damien]

13 minutes ago, Human Punk said:

Part of the problem is that the SH international sides are made up of players that the Aussies get to see play every week in the NRL, so there's not that much enthusiasm to see them again in a different setup. The exception to that is England/GB, but we aren't really competitive enough to make it attractive. Until we can up our game by consistently comprehensively beating the other SH nations, the Aussies won't care. We need to be the giants of international RL. And even then they probably still won't be interested.

No I'm not buying that. Tonga have shown the enthusiasm for international Rugby League in the Southern hemisphere yet haven't played in the Southern hemisphere or 4 years, since beating Australia in front of a sellout. There is no reason Samoa can't do the same these days too and we all know the passion in PNG. NZ are always crying out for games too and any v Tonga and Samoa would sell very well.

There could be a very vibrant international competition in the Southern hemisphere with or without Australia. Considering the disdain the NRL have shown towards the international game and their scrapping of mid season internationals it is a miracle some of these teams are as popular as they are. Even when there are international fixtures they are barely mentioned or promoted by the NRL and media.

With any sort of regular fixtures the international game there would explode. The cynic in me says this is exactly what the NRL does not want and have spent a decade trying to limit.

[crashmon]

3 hours ago, Barley Mow said:

I believe there have been five other IRL recognised men's internationals beyond the England v France match so far this year.

Four more are scheduled in addition to the England v Tonga series.

These may not be our premier nations, but countries like Greece, Serbia, Malta, Netherlands and Czechia are really taking the bull by the horns and organising their own internal calenders (seemingly without much outside support). The standard might not be brilliant, but they are taking place outside the small corridor in the north of England and should be recognised on your list for the year.

Apologies

I should have said top tier international games which would be covered on mainstream TV (eg BBC, C4, Sky even viaplay).

 

Edited July 18, 2023 by crashmon

[Sports Prophet]

19 hours ago, Jparrish said:

"There focus is on the pacific islands"

Yet Tonga are the only PI team with scheduled fixtures. So why can't we get New Zealand or Samoa to commit to coming over ?

Still no news on this mystery SH 4 nations thats supposed to take place this year 

There is no mystery to it. There is no conspiracy and no NRL disdain for international RL. There is a significant fallout between the NRL and RLPA and at a guess, no post season internationals featuring the Kangaroos will be booked before this dispute is resolved. The other nations probably can’t afford to organise anything themselves, so they will be left waiting too.

Edited July 18, 2023 by Sports Prophet

[Jparrish]

6 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

There is no mystery to it. There is no conspiracy and no NRL disdain for international RL. There is a significant fallout between the NRL and RLPA and at a guess, no post season internationals featuring the Kangaroos will be booked before this dispute is resolved. The other nations probably can’t afford to organise anything themselves, so they will be left waiting too.

Given those valid points wouldn't this be a great time to book New Zealand and or Samoa for 2024 ??

Edited July 18, 2023 by Jparrish
Grammer

[Sports Prophet]

19 minutes ago, Jparrish said:

Given those valid points wouldn't this be a great time to book New Zealand and or Samoa for 2024 ??

Yes it definitely would.

[eal]

The problem with the approach of just organizing things without Australia onboard is that increasingly, the other SH teams like New Zealand, Samoa won't do anything wither without NRL approval. The international boards of these countries are basically one guy in a cubicle, they have no money or power over anything. Rugby League has no international game or infrastructure, it is a club-run game that sporadically organizes international games.