Would higher level representative honours assist players in European expansion / development areas ?

[The Partisan]

With most new countries only having a small pool of players to select a national team from, I wonder if a next level of geography aligned representation could be a benefit to individuals, associations and the game as a whole.   

For instance, teams selected to represent;

* Scandinavia / Nordic Countries 

* Balkans / Baltic States 

* Mediterranean / Southern Europe 

* Eastern Europe 

* Central Europe 

* Western Europe (Excluding France) 

* British Isles (Domestic comp players in Wales, Scotland and Ireland)

 

Having another tier of representative games could assist the game grow in Europe whilst adding an extra layer of combined regional support.    

 

England still has counties competing at lower levels of the game and Australia has had various steps for a player to reach their representative zenith (e.g. Cairns, North Qld, Country, Queensland).

Obviously other areas could look at this option as well, but I see Europe as its test point.   

 

Pie in the sky I know .... but perhaps a variant of it may work.   

 

   

 

 

 

[langpark]

Developmentally, I cannot see it helping these countries at all. Will also add extra and somewhat unnecessary costs as well. 

[The Partisan]

On 12/01/2024 at 01:28, langpark said:

Developmentally, I cannot see it helping these countries at all. Will also add extra and somewhat unnecessary costs as well. 

Langpark I'd be interested to hear / read your expanded thoughts on this matter. 

Would it not just follow a similiar route to higher honours that occurred in the early days of Australia and New Zealand ?  Tiered representative games. 

Not sure how English and French systems lead to national team selection.  Direct from clubs or via tiered representative games.  

Cost wise it would be a shared across the different countries I would think. Plus only a game or two per year.

 

 

[langpark]

Well because obviously playing numbers in Aus and NZ are in the tens of thousands, so they have plenty of depth there to make tiered rep teams.  Europe is a polar opposite of that and some of the regions your mention only currently have one active nation there at the moment, for example:

* Scandinavia / Nordic Countries - right now, this would only be Norway.

* Balkans / Baltic States - Would basically be the Serbian national team maybe with a bolter from Albania, Montenegro and/or Bulgaria in there as well.

* Mediterranean / Southern Europe - Greece, Lebanon?  (Malta, Italy, Turkey seem quite inactive lately)

* Eastern Europe - Ukraine, with maybe a player or two from Poland.

* Central Europe - Czech RL only

* Western Europe (Excluding France) - Netherlands, with a couple of German players.

* British Isles (Domestic comp players in Wales, Scotland and Ireland) - Ok this would probably be the most mixed team, but would expect the majority to still be Welsh.

I think it is a non-starter.  Cost would be high.  If teams were indeed made up of players from multiple countries, then even playing home matches would be expensive.  Not to mention they would get no IRL financial support as they are not proper international matches.  And as I said earlier, still does not achieve anything.  Would Balkans vs Mediterranean, for example, really be that different (or that higher standard of match) than Serbia vs Greece?  The answer is no.

[The Partisan]

Looks like there has been at least one attempt at the concept.  

Nederlandse Rugby League Bond | Facebook

 

Edited May 24 by The Partisan

[The Partisan]

On 08/05/2024 at 04:46, langpark said:

And as I said earlier, still does not achieve anything.  Would Balkans vs Mediterranean, for example, really be that different (or that higher standard of match) than Serbia vs Greece?  The answer is no.

Take your point... but then again are Tier 1 internationals always of a higher standard than your standard NRL or Super League game?   

Would be a reward for a domestic player from an emerging European nation if they got to go to a next tier.

Maybe settle for a quick round robin of Europe Invitational v Europe Selection v British Isles (or just Wales) at this stage.  Played in the Nordic, Baltic and Benelux regions of Europe. 

Has been a precedent set in the other game  (albeit short lived)... but possibly did its job.  African Leopards - Wikipedia

Edited May 24 by The Partisan

[JonM]

On 24/05/2024 at 05:07, The Partisan said:

Would be a reward for a domestic player from an emerging European nation if they got to go to a next tier.

Not sure that it would, tbh. Playing for your country means something - it's a big draw for people to take up RL. Even playing with or against someone who has played for their country means something. Playing for your country in a European Championship, or a World Cup or against one of the world's best countries, even more so. Playing for some regional combine featuring people from a bunch of other countries that we don't necessarily like, not so much, bit meaningless. Can't think of any other sport which does this in Europe. 

[Kelsey The Ram 97]

On 09/01/2024 at 05:14, The Partisan said:

With most new countries only having a small pool of players to select a national team from, I wonder if a next level of geography aligned representation could be a benefit to individuals, associations and the game as a whole.   

For instance, teams selected to represent;

* Scandinavia / Nordic Countries 

* Balkans / Baltic States 

* Mediterranean / Southern Europe 

* Eastern Europe 

* Central Europe 

* Western Europe (Excluding France) 

* British Isles (Domestic comp players in Wales, Scotland and Ireland)

 

Having another tier of representative games could assist the game grow in Europe whilst adding an extra layer of combined regional support.    

 

England still has counties competing at lower levels of the game and Australia has had various steps for a player to reach their representative zenith (e.g. Cairns, North Qld, Country, Queensland).

Obviously other areas could look at this option as well, but I see Europe as its test point.   

 

Pie in the sky I know .... but perhaps a variant of it may work.   

 

   

 

 

 

Hi, I'm a longer time lurker on this thread, I'm not a regular poster by any means lol

 

This is an interesting concept and I'd be interested in seeing this come in to play, I can imagine this would cost a hell of a lot to most if not all of the countries involved though.

 

I could be (and would happily be) wrong though.