Pacific Championships 2024

[Exiled Wiganer]

14 minutes ago, Damien said:

You miss the point. It was announced with less than 2 months notice and there was barely a mention of anything until after the NRL season has finished. That's poor. Its been treated as an afterthought and is a world away from the promotion the NRL gives the NRL or SOO.

It has been pushed far more than in previous years and been integrated within the NRL timetables/events promos for much longer than before: what we are seeing is, for the first time this year, a semi professional approach. The strong viewing figures reflect that . 

[Damien]

1 minute ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

It has been pushed far more than in previous years and been integrated within the NRL timetables/events promos for much longer than before: what we are seeing is, for the first time this year, a semi professional approach. The strong viewing figures reflect that . 

Its been pathetic, I don't know how you can say this at all. There has been next to nothing coming out about this, this thread itself is evidence of that.

[The Rocket]

25 minutes ago, Damien said:

You miss the point. It was announced with less than 2 months notice and there was barely a mention of anything until after the NRL season has finished. That's poor. Its been treated as an afterthought and is a world away from the promotion the NRL gives the NRL or SOO.

No it was starting to be promoted throughout the finals series and there has been loads of stories on NRL.com from around that time as well.

I don`t know how many advertisements (and on how many different things) you expect the NRL to be running, but probably concentrating on the NRL until it was wrapped up and then to start heavily promoting the International series after that makes sense and has let`s face it, has worked.

[gingerjon]

20 minutes ago, Damien said:

Its been pathetic, I don't know how you can say this at all. There has been next to nothing coming out about this, this thread itself is evidence of that.

The NRL will be delighted they can get such a good return on so little effort. Fair play to them, I think we all wish we could have an environment like that.

[Damien]

2 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

No it was starting to be promoted throughout the finals series and there has been loads of stories on NRL.com from around that time as well.

I don`t know how many advertisements (and on how many different things) you expect the NRL to be running, but probably concentrating on the NRL until it was wrapped up and then to start heavily promoting the International series after that makes sense and has let`s face it, has worked.

I'd expect it to be announced with more than 6 weeks notice and far more news pieces than we have seen. You are the one who was defending the scrapping of mid season internationals and this nonsense condensing of the international calendar into 3 weeks. This is the typical afterthought going through the motions we get from that.

You don't always need to defend everything V'landys and the NRL does. If it was the RFL you'd be saying it was rubbish.

[Damien]

6 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

The NRL will be delighted they can get such a good return on so little effort. Fair play to them, I think we all wish we could have an environment like that.

And that's it in a nutshell, its just the bare minimum and a 3 games international season. Lets face Tonga have been proven to draw a good crowd anywhere in Australia and NZ, all the NRL need to do is put games on.

[The Rocket]

5 minutes ago, Damien said:

I'd expect it to be announced with more than 6 weeks notice and far more news pieces than we have seen.

As I said been getting coverage on Nine (which you probably haven`t seen) during the finals and heavily since and stories snowballing on NRL.com over that period.

 

7 minutes ago, Damien said:

You are the one who was defending the scrapping of mid season internationals and this nonsense condensing of the international calendar into 3 weeks.

 Some people might call that moving the goalposts but regardless I think you have me mixed up with some else here.

 

10 minutes ago, Damien said:

You don't always need to defend everything V'landys and the NRL does. If it was the RFL you'd be saying it was rubbish.

Def not me.

Anyway back on topic, given the success expect to see this get more profile and bigger venues over the next period.

[StandOffHalf]

20 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

No it was starting to be promoted throughout the finals series and there has been loads of stories on NRL.com from around that time as well.

I don`t know how many advertisements (and on how many different things) you expect the NRL to be running, but probably concentrating on the NRL until it was wrapped up and then to start heavily promoting the International series after that makes sense and has let`s face it, has worked.

Yeah, I saw ads plastered at HT on Fox during the Finals. ''The biggest sporting event in the Pacific'', etc.

Of course, that's just the same ad repeated, but it did seem to be more prominently advertised than last year.

[Damien]

2 minutes ago, The Rocket said:

As I said been getting coverage on Nine (which you probably haven`t seen) during the finals and heavily since and stories snowballing on NRL.com over that period.

 

 Some people might call that moving the goalposts but regardless I think you have me mixed up with some else here.

 

Def not me.

Anyway back on topic, given the success expect to see this get more profile and bigger venues over the next period.

I'm not, you definitely were.

The point is if the international calendar is condensed into this it should be bigger and better. It isn't. Its still treated as an afterthought. This is a thread where people were bemoaning the lack of news from the NRL and the lack of stories on the NRL website. You can pretend otherwise, just like Abbo and V'landys do, all you want.

Its still bare minimum stuff.

[Dunbar]

I'm not convinced that criticism of the SH and NRL is valid here.

This is the second year of the Pacific Championship and it is bigger and better than last year with a Championship and a Bowl for both men and women.

I also saw some pretty decent discussion about towards the back end of the regular season.

If I compare it to the time when we had tri series and four nations then we are seeing just as much international Rugby League. 

My worry is England are not in it, and SH teams prefer to be in it than come here, and the risk is that our international team will be isolated - but is that a problem the SH has to solve?

[Exiled Wiganer]

3 hours ago, Damien said:

It’s been pathetic, I don't know how you can say this at all. There has been next to nothing coming out about this, this thread itself is evidence of that.

Do you live in Australia? 

[Damien]

Just now, Exiled Wiganer said:

Do you live in Australia? 

Do you?

[Exiled Wiganer]

2 minutes ago, Damien said:

Do you?

I don’t. I have though been pretty close to the discussions around this event, and it has been a massive step up in terms of bringing international league within the NRL/Fox events schedule from anything I have seen (though admittedly I have only been involved for 7 years so). 

Edited October 23, 2024 by Exiled Wiganer

[Damien]

1 minute ago, Exiled Wiganer said:

I don’t. I have though been pretty close to the discussions around this event, and it has been a massive step up in terms of bringing international league within the NRL/Fox events schedule from anything I have seen (though admittedly I have only been involved for 7 years so). 

So it was a pretty pointless question then wasn't it and your opinion is no more valid than mine unless you think none of this applies to me.

[Damien]

2 hours ago, Dunbar said:

I'm not convinced that criticism of the SH and NRL is valid here.

This is the second year of the Pacific Championship and it is bigger and better than last year with a Championship and a Bowl for both men and women.

I also saw some pretty decent discussion about towards the back end of the regular season.

If I compare it to the time when we had tri series and four nations then we are seeing just as much international Rugby League. 

My worry is England are not in it, and SH teams prefer to be in it than come here, and the risk is that our international team will be isolated - but is that a problem the SH has to solve?

I do think it's better than last year. The addition of Tonga was always going to be a boon in terms of crowds and the Government funding for games in Fiji was always going to add something too. That isn't to say that and international Rugby League couldn't be done much better than just 3 games as an afterthought at the end of the season, particularly when we were promised more with the scrapping of mid-season matches.

We are not seeing more international Rugby League than the old Tri-Nations and 4 Nations days. Throughout those days Australia regularly played anything between 5-8 games in a year. That has been cut in half and we are actually playing less end of season games than previously.

[Exiled Wiganer]

10 minutes ago, Damien said:

So it was a pretty pointless question then wasn't it and your opinion is no more valid than mine unless you think none of this applies to me.

I am not sure whether you read everything I wrote, but I explained why I have a different perspective. In so far as you wish the NRL would do more - and passionately - then I could not agree more. Plus, I agree that the timing of the announcements of international fixtures could hardly be worse. Where I think we differ is about the direction of travel which I believe is positive. 

Edited October 23, 2024 by Exiled Wiganer

[Damien]

Just now, Exiled Wiganer said:

I am not sure whether you read everything I wrote, but I explained why I have a different perspective. In so far as you wish the NRL would do more - and passionately - then I could not agree more. Plus, I agree that the timing of the announcements of international fixtures could hardly be worse. Where I think we differ is that I am positive about the direction of travel which I believe is positive. 

I'm happy to agree to disagree about whether the build up and promotion is adequate.

I find it hard to be positive about the direction of travel when it is the bare minimum and tiny baby steps. I'm also not going to be hoodwinked about new calendars and playing more games when it is less than I have seen over many years. The NRL are talking about building up something they've purposely held back and at times sought out to destroy. This is at a time when the international game should be ploughing on why the fire is hot.

I refuse to believe that with the number of competitive teams that we now have, that can all get decent crowds, that we shouldn't be doing much better than what we are seeing. If we had just played the games and gave them the status they deserve since 2017 I have no doubt that RL would be dominating the PI nations and be even bigger in NZ. Doing this for 3 games and shelving it for 11 months to then talk about the international game again doesn't cut it.

[Odsal Outlaw]

I must admit the NRL have done a good job of growing the Pacific Champs, 33k vs Tonga in Brisbane is more than we managed in two games last year. Could it be better? Yes. But at least we are seeing regular games for SH teams. The issue is it isolates us. So how can we find a solution to that. 
 

1 in 4yrs we get a WC which is good (if expanded beyond 10!), if the PC was also 1 in 4yrs and we agreed to mirror with an EU champ then the two other years could be something different. Could even use the PC and EU to qualify for a Continental Cup/6N comp in the following year. Anyway, that’s prob not the right solution either. But we shouldn’t lose the momentum they are building in Pacific.

[Dunbar]

31 minutes ago, Damien said:

I do think it's better than last year. The addition of Tonga was always going to be a boon in terms of crowds and the Government funding for games in Fiji was always going to add something too. That isn't to say that and international Rugby League couldn't be done much better than just 3 games as an afterthought at the end of the season, particularly when we were promised more with the scrapping of mid-season matches.

We are not seeing more international Rugby League than the old Tri-Nations and 4 Nations days. Throughout those days Australia regularly played anything between 5-8 games in a year. That has been cut in half and we are actually playing less end of season games than previously.

The last Four Nations was in 2016.  To be clear, you are stating that there was more international Rugby League games played in 2016 than there are in 2024?

When I get a chance, I will take a look at the comparison.

[Damien]

35 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

The last Four Nations was in 2016.  To be clear, you are stating that there was more international Rugby League games played in 2016 than there are in 2024?

When I get a chance, I will take a look at the comparison.

You said the old Tri Nations/4 Nations days and I was giving an example of a team who played in those. Australia played 6 games in 2016 which is unthinkable now. They now play half. As they and the NRL are the ones that dictate the international calendar and how many everyone else plays they are the most relevant when comparing.

Sure if you don't want to talk about teams that weren't actually in the Tri and Four Nations or cherry pick a year then we can go round in circles . Throughout the 2000s the old Pacific Cup saw teams like Tonga and Fiji play as many games as now. Tonga played 7 in 2007 for instance. Other years not as many and 1 or 2.

The point really is that we shouldn't be looking at a maximum of 2 or 3 games in a year as anything special. Teams have and should be playing many more and it was commonplace to do so not that long ago. It should be a case of Tonga, Samoa, PNG et al playing the number of games the tier 1 teams that used to be in the Tri-Nations/4 Nations years did, not the other way round. It certainly should not be a case of Australia, NZ and England playing half as much.

[Sports Prophet]

53 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

The last Four Nations was in 2016.  To be clear, you are stating that there was more international Rugby League games played in 2016 than there are in 2024?

When I get a chance, I will take a look at the comparison.

And be sure when you do that to count the three England tests which take place this year and at least a Euro WC qualifier between France and Wales. I count at minimum 11 top standard fixtures. 

I’m also keen to hear the overwhelmingly higher number of quality test matches we saw in 2016. As that is what is continually being suggested.

Edited October 23, 2024 by Sports Prophet

[Dunbar]

7 minutes ago, Damien said:

You said the old Tri Nations/4 Nations days and I was giving an example of a team who played in those. Australia played 6 games in 2016 which is unthinkable now. They now play half. As they and the NRL are the ones that dictate the international calendar and how many everyone else plays they are the most relevant when comparing.

Sure if you don't want to talk about teams that weren't actually in the Tri and Four Nations or cherry pick a year then we can go round in circles . Throughout the 2000s the old Pacific Cup saw teams like Tonga and Fiji play as many games as now. Tonga played 7 in 2007 for instance. Other years not as many and 1 or 2.

The point really is that we shouldn't be looking at a maximum of 2 or 3 games in a year as anything special. Teams have and should be playing many more and it was commonplace to do so not that long ago. It should be a case of Tonga, Samoa, PNG et al playing the number of games the tier 1 teams that used to be in the Tri-Nations/4 Nations years did, not the other way round. It certainly should not be a case of Australia, NZ and England playing half as much.

Of course I am talking about teams that weren't in the Tri or Four Nations, that was the point of my post.

I don't have to cherry pick a year, you name the year when we had a Tri or Four Nations and we can take a look to see if there was just as much or more international Rugby League played in 2024 compared to that year (I said just as much, you changed it to more).

Here is the list of years:

1999 - Tri Nations

2004 - Tri Nations

2005 - Tri Nations

2006 - Tri Nations

2009 - Four Nations

2010 - Four Nations

2011 - Four Nations

2014 - Four Nations

2016 - Four Nations

 

[gingerjon]

1 hour ago, Dunbar said:

The last Four Nations was in 2016.  To be clear, you are stating that there was more international Rugby League games played in 2016 than there are in 2024?

When I get a chance, I will take a look at the comparison.

2016: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_rugby_league_in_2016

2024: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_rugby_league_in_2024

[Matthias Wald]

5 hours ago, Damien said:

Its been pathetic, I don't know how you can say this at all. There has been next to nothing coming out about this, this thread itself is evidence of that.

this thread proves the disinterest of the readers of this page for international rugby compared to an eleventh M62corridorclub in SL....

Exceptions are great people here, but too few

 

But to be so negative to such a smashing adience and ratings sucess of the NRL lokks a little bit negatve

[Damien]

25 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

Of course I am talking about teams that weren't in the Tri or Four Nations, that was the point of my post.

I don't have to cherry pick a year, you name the year when we had a Tri or Four Nations and we can take a look to see if there was just as much or more international Rugby League played in 2024 compared to that year (I said just as much, you changed it to more).

Here is the list of years:

1999 - Tri Nations

2004 - Tri Nations

2005 - Tri Nations

2006 - Tri Nations

2009 - Four Nations

2010 - Four Nations

2011 - Four Nations

2014 - Four Nations

2016 - Four Nations

 

There are plenty of years teams played more than now and as I said it was quite frequent for teams to be playing more than 3 games a year. If you don't accept that that's fine. Playing 3 games in a single 4 week block inherently limits the games that any team can play and that is automatically less than teams often played before.

The current situation is no improvement, and it is just not correct for people and administrators like Abbo to make out it is. It certainly isn't for the tier 1 nations. 2000-2010 was pretty good for many nations. As I said we had years were Tonga played 7 games, Fiji 6 games etc. After RLWC2013 was when the NRL nonsense regarding the international game really began to ramp up. All of the top 8 nations should be playing regularly in that 5-8 games bracket as NZ and Australia regularly used to and we shouldn't be accepting 2-3 games as good. We now have the top nations and have failed for a decade to take advantage of it.

If we are talking at cross-purposes then I'm happy to leave it.