IRL Priority Nations

[Gomersall]

https://www.intrl.sport/article/419/irl-board-identifies-priority-nations-

[Pen-Y-Bont Crusader]

3 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

https://www.intrl.sport/article/419/irl-board-identifies-priority-nations-

Great to see.

[gingerjon]

4 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

https://www.intrl.sport/article/419/irl-board-identifies-priority-nations-

Should have happened a while back but good to see it laid out like this. Hopefully will make a difference.

Wales do need to actually play some games though.

[Pen-Y-Bont Crusader]

4 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Should have happened a while back but good to see it laid out like this. Hopefully will make a difference.

Wales do need to actually play some games though.

Now they have a home ground at the Gnoll, that should be easier. I’m not a big fan of Neath but it’s a start. 

[gingerjon]

2 minutes ago, Pen-Y-Bont Crusader said:

Now they have a home ground at the Gnoll, that should be easier. I’m not a big fan of Neath but it’s a start. 

Let's hope so! Any non-World Cup games at all (for the senior men) would be a massive step forward.

(Or, rather, step back to where they were a few years back, ready to take some steps forward).

[NRLandSL]

Great news, wouldn’t expect the IRL to do something smart for once. Honestly suprised they didn’t pick Samoa, Tonga, Lebanon and the US.

[NRLandSL]

17 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Should have happened a while back but good to see it laid out like this. Hopefully will make a difference.

Wales do need to actually play some games though.

They played as much as England last year. Every nations to play more. 

[NRLandSL]

Also saw the NRL are letting each club sign 2 PNG development players that won’t count to towards the salary cap. Will help guys like Glare, Voro and Max get a contact.

[JM2010]

Which African nation should they use? I think Nigeria have a lot of potential 

[Pen-Y-Bont Crusader]

Ghana I would imagine.

[langpark]

France and Wales are good choice.  However PNG is a bit baffling.  I wonder what the "significant investment" they speak of actually entails.  But surely whatever it is, will only be a drop in the ocean compared to what NRL and Aus govt. are investing in PNG.  So it seems pointless in a sense.  As for the African nation, I don't know much about them, but I guess it is lower risk as the money can go a bit further in Africa.

I also wonder what this means in practical terms.  Do they each get a development officer, who then just does his/her?  Or will there be specific targets and KPIs that have to be reached over a period of time?

I would have liked them to have left the other two spots open to applicants to be honest.  But again, positive news nonetheless.

Canada would have been a perfect target if Wolfpack were still around.

[langpark]

6 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

Which African nation should they use? I think Nigeria have a lot of potential 

Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon seem the most active.  South Africa may be in with a shot though, if IRL deems they have the biggest "potential".

[gingerjon]

16 minutes ago, NRLandSL said:

They played as much as England last year. Every nations to play more. 

They've played three senior men's internationals across two seasons and, currently, have no games scheduled.

Hopefully, this means that 'Euro A' will happen and feature Wales and France.

[NRLandSL]

5 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

They've played three senior men's internationals across two seasons and, currently, have no games scheduled.

Hopefully, this means that 'Euro A' will happen and feature Wales and France.

France, England and Wales should all play each other once a year. Mid season.

[Just Browny]

12 minutes ago, langpark said:

However PNG is a bit baffling.  I wonder what the "significant investment" they speak of actually entails.  But surely whatever it is, will only be a drop in the ocean compared to what NRL and Aus govt. are investing in PNG.  So it seems pointless in a sense. 

I think we have seen with Crusaders and Catalans that just having a club side doesn't on its own lead to improvement of the national side, especially since there will be pressure on that PNG club team to be competitive in the NRL (which a pure PNG side would not, currently).

The 'random African country' is a strange one for me. Wouldn't a better choice have been somewhere like Serbia where they have been playing rugby for ages but lack the funds to step up in quality?

[NRLandSL]

15 minutes ago, langpark said:

France and Wales are good choice.  However PNG is a bit baffling.  I wonder what the "significant investment" they speak of actually entails.  But surely whatever it is, will only be a drop in the ocean compared to what NRL and Aus govt. are investing in PNG.  So it seems pointless in a sense.  As for the African nation, I don't know much about them, but I guess it is lower risk as the money can go a bit further in Africa.

I also wonder what this means in practical terms.  Do they each get a development officer, who then just does his/her?  Or will there be specific targets and KPIs that have to be reached over a period of time?

I would have liked them to have left the other two spots open to applicants to be honest.  But again, positive news nonetheless.

Canada would have been a perfect target if Wolfpack were still around.

How is PNG baffling, it’s the country with the most intrest in the sport in the world and probably the most players. And it isn’t even close to reaching its potential, yes it is most definitely a priority nation.

[Coggo]

Wales, France and PNG. Fishing where there are fish to expand the player base. Must be the NRL’s idea. 

Edited April 17 by Coggo

[Coggo]

This is where we Brits go wrong. We think successful expansion is a 5K+ attendance somewhere outside the M62. It ain’t. 

[langpark]

1 minute ago, NRLandSL said:

How is PNG baffling, 

I just explained why.  Because whatever the amount the IRL puts in, will be absolute crumbs compared to what the NRL and Aus govt. are putting in. Are you aware of that or do I need to dig up the articles?  $600 million I believe was the amount.

[DoubleD]

45 minutes ago, langpark said:

Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon seem the most active.  South Africa may be in with a shot though, if IRL deems they have the biggest "potential".

Kenya will be in the mix. Don’t think Cameroon will be

[JM2010]

45 minutes ago, langpark said:

Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon seem the most active.  South Africa may be in with a shot though, if IRL deems they have the biggest "potential".

The first three you mentioned might be an easier win, especially the first two due to the sizeable communities in the UK

[langpark]

2 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

Kenya will be in the mix. Don’t think Cameroon will be

Correct, I forgot about them. 

[langpark]

Just now, JM2010 said:

The first three you mentioned might be an easier win, especially the first two due to the sizeable communities in the UK

I would hope that having "sizeable communities in UK or Aus" is not even in the equation when they are assessing these nations. If it is, then we are surely going down the wrong path (yet again). 

See: Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Lebanon. 

[DoubleD]

2 minutes ago, langpark said:

I would hope that having "sizeable communities in UK or Aus" is not even in the equation when they are assessing these nations. If it is, then we are surely going down the wrong path (yet again). 

See: Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Lebanon. 

I expect it will come down to how much funding each of those governments is going to commit to the game to support in parallel with the IRL

[JM2010]

3 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

I expect it will come down to how much funding each of those governments is going to commit to the game to support in parallel with the IRL

I think a combination of both would work. UK based players could be used to help promote the game in these countries as well as in the UK communities. Ghana and Nigeria have a domestic set up already which is where the money should be invested