NRL eye SL takeover

[The 4 of Us]

Surprised this hasn’t grabbed attention on here yet. What do we think? 

Edited February 24 by The 4 of Us

[Damien]

It's had loads of attention on here going back months 

[yipyee]

Suppose if you can't beat them buy them

[The 4 of Us]

17 minutes ago, Damien said:

It's had loads of attention on here going back months 

I mean the article, recently reported comments emanating from Aus! 

[DlEHARD]

I hope this happens.

[gingerjon]

8 hours ago, The 4 of Us said:

I mean the article, recently reported comments emanating from Aus! 

Six month old comments and then V’landys saying there are no discussions or plans at this time.

[langpark]

Great, is this the 11th thread now?

[Expatknight]

If it ever happens, which I doubt, they couldn’t do any worse than the shambolic way the game is run here now, at least V’landys has a proven track record, but you have to ask the question ’ what is in it for the NRL ? ‘ and as far as I can see, very little. We keep making the same mistakes year in, year out, there are too many in the game with their own agendas, it really does need a root and branch shake up and the making of some very hard decisions which will probably hurt a few people. Sadly we are not in the same world as we were 30, 40, 50 years ago when there was a lot less competition for your time, effort and money as there is now. There are still a lot of people involved in our great game who just like to plod on, tinkering a bit here and there and hoping it will be alright in the end, and when someone comes along who DOES shake it up a bit ie Derek Broadbent at Leigh, they are up in arms. The IMG thing is probably a move in the right direction if only for the fact it has made people sit up and take notice.

Edited February 25 by Expatknight
Typo

[gingerjon]

Shall I put in font size one million just so people understand nothing is happening at this time and whatever fantasy you have - similar to when 'the Hearns' are going to be the quick fix requiring no work - would not be what the NRL would do anyway.

Anyway, the crucial bit:

If they approached us, we’d certainly look at it.

“At this stage, they haven’t approached us

[dkw]

15 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Shall I put in font size one million just so people understand nothing is happening at this time and whatever fantasy you have - similar to when 'the Hearns' are going to be the quick fix requiring no work - would not be what the NRL would do anyway.

Anyway, the crucial bit:

If they approached us, we’d certainly look at it.

“At this stage, they haven’t approached us

Its the very epitome of click bait nonsense isnt it.

[Just Browny]

31 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Shall I put in font size one million just so people understand nothing is happening at this time and whatever fantasy you have - similar to when 'the Hearns' are going to be the quick fix requiring no work - would not be what the NRL would do anyway.

Anyway, the crucial bit:

If they approached us, we’d certainly look at it.

“At this stage, they haven’t approached us

He did say "never say never" though.

[Whippet13]

28 minutes ago, Expatknight said:

If it ever happens, which I doubt, they couldn’t do any worse than the shambolic way the game is run here now, at least V’landys has a proven track record, but you have to ask the question ’ what is in it for the NRL ? ‘ and as far as I can see, very little. We keep making the same mistakes year in, year out, there are too many in the game with their own agendas, it really does need a root and branch shake up and the making of some very hard decisions which will probably hurt a few people. Sadly we are not in the same world as we were 30, 40, 50 years ago when there was a lot less competition for your time, effort and money as there is now. There are still a lot of people involved in our great game who just like to plod on, tinkering a bit here and there and hoping it will be alright in the end, and when someone comes along who DOES shake it up a bit ie Derek Broadbent at Leigh, they are up in arms. The IMG thing is probably a move in the right direction if only for the fact it has made people sit up and take notice.

I agree it is very doubtful the NRL thing will happpen, but there are people who are trying to improve things, and I'm not aware of anyone involved in running British RL being "up in arms" about how Derek has gone about doing things at Leigh. 

[Bull Mania]

The whole NRL thing seems to come from some folk tweeting it out of hope than anything.  It's never going to happen. It's a massive job owning SL and going up against the monster that is premier league football in this country. As big and as awesome the NRL is, they have no incentive for the amount of money and resource they'd have to put into to. 

[The Future is League]

11 hours ago, The 4 of Us said:

Surprised this hasn’t grabbed attention on here yet. What do we think? 

Why would the NRL be interested in any part of British Rugby League when the RFL's idea of expansion is to put another team on the M62?

[JohnM]

2 hours ago, Expatknight said:

If it ever happens, which I doubt, they couldn’t do any worse than the shambolic way the game is run here now, at least V’landys has a proven track record, but you have to ask the question ’ what is in it for the NRL ? ‘ and as far as I can see, very little. We keep making the same mistakes year in, year out, there are too many in the game with their own agendas, it really does need a root and branch shake up and the making of some very hard decisions which will probably hurt a few people. Sadly we are not in the same world as we were 30, 40, 50 years ago when there was a lot less competition for your time, effort and money as there is now. There are still a lot of people involved in our great game who just like to plod on, tinkering a bit here and there and hoping it will be alright in the end, and when someone comes along who DOES shake it up a bit ie Derek Broadbent at Leigh, they are up in arms. The IMG thing is probably a move in the right direction if only for the fact it has made people sit up and take notice.

they couldn’t do any worse than the shambolic way the game is run here

that may be your view but in my view that is not the case The season is but two games in and already the coverage we are getting is far more and of far better quality than just one season ago. Sure, things are not perfect by any means but this is the first real full  season under  "Re-Imagining Rugby League" and the signs are good.

Edited February 25 by JohnM

[Father Gascoigne]

If one stops to think about it for more than three seconds, they'd come to the realisation that there is nothing the NRL could do to boost the game in Britain. 

It would come down to how little money the NRL can get away with 'investing' in order to procure benefits in a decidedly one-sided relationship (dictating the calendar, player pathways that would benefit the NRL, and other such details that cement the NRL as the chief overlord of the game). 

[Expatknight]

1 hour ago, Whippet13 said:

I agree it is very doubtful the NRL thing will happpen, but there are people who are trying to improve things, and I'm not aware of anyone involved in running British RL being "up in arms" about how Derek has gone about doing things at Leigh. 

I don’t recall saying that anyone involved in running the game were up in arms, what I did say was people involved in our great game, which, to me, means supporters as well as those who run other clubs not necessarily the RFL, and if I remember correctly there were plenty of those who had a lot of negative things to say. Just my opinion, for what that’s worth. 

[Griff]

10 minutes ago, Father Gascoigne said:

If one stops to think about it for more than three seconds, they'd come to the realisation that there is nothing the NRL could do to boost the game in Britain. 

Nail on head

[hunsletgreenandgold]

Some confusing arguments here and irony. The single biggest thing SL/UK RL is getting media attention for is....Vegas. 

Who's initiative is that again? Huge credit should go to Wigan and Wire for running with it as well. 

[Damien]

9 minutes ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

Some confusing arguments here and irony. The single biggest thing SL/UK RL is getting media attention for is....Vegas. 

Who's initiative is that again? Huge credit should go to Wigan and Wire for running with it as well. 

Wigan went to the NRL and made that happen and paid for the travel. It didn't take a takeover of SL. It was also mutually beneficial, let's not pretend there isn't anything in it for the NRL to have thousands of England fans going. They were persuaded of the benefit of that with the number that went last year.

Both leagues working together and co-operating for the betterment of the game on all fronts is exactly what people want to see. We want things like an Ashes tour to be confirmed rather than V'landys just saying how important the international game is. None of that is requires a takeover.

[Exiled Wiganer]

Vegas was Wigan’s idea by the way, it had nothing to do with reimagining anything.

[Toby Chopra]

If the NRL was a global brand like the PL, NFL or NBA then I could see merit in being taken over by it and rebranded under that name. But it isn't - it's shockingly invisible here in Europe, for such a great competition. The best domestic rugby competition on the planet - either code - and even in union circles it's barely visible. 

So as others say, it's hard to see what we'd get that we can't already through other means or with other partners, while keeping autonomy.

I feel that the NRL would be pushing at an open door if it made a major push to expand its brand and fan base in Europe (none of which needs a tie up with British rugby league by the way.)

But instead it seems to have targeted the US as the market to crack. I have my doubts, but let's see.

[Dave T]

3 hours ago, Just Browny said:

He did say "never say never" though.

We'll read this when it's font size one million and get back to you then.

[Sports Prophet]

For what it’s worth, I think governance of the SL represents a great opportunity for the NRL and opens doors to riches greater than could be achieved in governing the South Pacific alone.

[Archie Gordon]

51 minutes ago, Damien said:

Wigan went to the NRL and made that happen and paid for the travel. It didn't take a takeover of SL. It was also mutually beneficial, let's not pretend there isn't anything in it for the NRL to have thousands of England fans going. They were persuaded of the benefit of that with the number that went last year.

Both leagues working together and co-operating for the betterment of the game on all fronts is exactly what people want to see. We want things like an Ashes tour to be confirmed rather than V'landys just saying how important the international game is. None of that is requires a takeover.

I'm not opposed to greater involvement of the NRL in the UK game but, as per the above, it ought to start with being more cooperative partners of the WCC and international game.