Jamaica National Club Championship Game

[gnidir]

In case you were wanting to watch, here the link:

More than 20 years in Jamaica now, in my opinion one of the most underrated successful development stories of our game.

 

u

[Damien]

It certainly is. Good to see.

[Douglas]

25 minutes ago, gnidir said:

In case you were wanting to watch, here the link:

More than 20 years in Jamaica now, in my opinion one of the most underrated successful development stories of our game.

 

u

It most certainly is but the question is now how do we take Jamaica to the next level of producing players at a semi-professional and professional levels for the leagues in the UK and France and even NRL?

[Toby Chopra]

35 minutes ago, Douglas said:

It most certainly is but the question is now how do we take Jamaica to the next level of producing players at a semi-professional and professional levels for the leagues in the UK and France and even NRL?

Semi professional: almost impossible due to visa rules

Professional: Need to find 18-20 year olds good enough to play for Jamaican national team for visa purposes and good enough to earn a place at a Superleague academy and see if they can develop into full-time professionals.

I'm not sure we've had anyone reach that point yet, so we'd need to increase coaching and scouting resources into the Jamaican domestic system to see if it will produce the players needed.

As ever with rugby league, it's a question of whether that's the best use of limited resources, and who pays.

[Douglas]

24 minutes ago, Toby Chopra said:

Semi professional: almost impossible due to visa rules

Professional: Need to find 18-20 year olds good enough to play for Jamaican national team for visa purposes and good enough to earn a place at a Superleague academy and see if they can develop into full-time professionals.

I'm not sure we've had anyone reach that point yet, so we'd need to increase coaching and scouting resources into the Jamaican domestic system to see if it will produce the players needed.

As ever with rugby league, it's a question of whether that's the best use of limited resources, and who pays.

It’s a pity that Jamaica isn’t situated in the pacific as it would be perfect and ideal for NRL pathways development programmes.

[Damien]

3 minutes ago, Douglas said:

It’s a pity that Jamaica isn’t situated in the pacific as it would be perfect and ideal for NRL pathways development programmes.

You could say that about most places.

[Douglas]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

You could say that about most places.

True but Jamaica is unique in that for a small and relatively poor island country their track record of producing world class athletes for multiple sports is phenomenal.

[JM2010]

I think Jamaica is a good option for development as it’s going to cost a lot less money than more developed countries, has strong ties with the UK and has a large community living in the UK. I think they could become quite strong a playing nation if time and money was invested

[Eddie]

I wonder what happened to the team that we (this forum) sponsored before Covid, that was a lovely kit, anyone remember what they were called? 

[Douglas]

26 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

I think Jamaica is a good option for development as it’s going to cost a lot less money than more developed countries, has strong ties with the UK and has a large community living in the UK. I think they could become quite strong a playing nation if time and money was invested

It most certainly would but again like always it comes down to funding and who’s willing to pay for it all.

plus Jamaica is unfortunately very isolated thousands of miles away from the UK and Australia.

[Tommygilf]

1 hour ago, Eddie said:

I wonder what happened to the team that we (this forum) sponsored before Covid, that was a lovely kit, anyone remember what they were called? 

The Hyenas I think? Played in Pink?

[Eddie]

1 hour ago, Tommygilf said:

The Hyenas I think? Played in Pink?

Yes definitely pink and green

 

edit - found some pictures on page 4 of this thread 

 

Edited September 6 by Eddie

[Gomersall]

 

[JM2010]

How many professional players in the SL and NRL are eligible to play for Jamaica? I imagine they could field quite a strong team

Edited September 6 by JM2010

[Tommygilf]

37 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

How many professional players in the SL and NRL are eligible to play for Jamaica? I imagine they could field quite a strong team

 

 

[Whippet13]

8 hours ago, Eddie said:

Yes definitely pink and green

 

edit - found some pictures on page 4 of this thread 

 

West Kingston Hyenas are still playing. They finished 5th of 6 in the 2026 NCC and lost 44-22 to St Catherine Thundercats in the first round of the play offs.

[gnidir]

12 hours ago, Eddie said:

I wonder what happened to the team that we (this forum) sponsored before Covid, that was a lovely kit, anyone remember what they were called? 

West Kingston Hyenas. They still compete in the NCC. Most Clubs are pretty consistent now.

 

I should have read the comments before posting this. Apologies for the double up

Edited September 6 by gnidir
update

[Eddie]

12 hours ago, JM2010 said:

How many professional players in the SL and NRL are eligible to play for Jamaica? I imagine they could field quite a strong team

It wouldn’t be a Jamaican team or do anything for the game in Jamaica though. Would you have any interest in an American lacrosse team playing as England because the players had English grandparents? 

Edited September 7 by Eddie

[JM2010]

59 minutes ago, Eddie said:

It wouldn’t be a Jamaican team or do anything for the game in Jamaica though. Would you have any interest in an American lacrosse team playing as England because the players had English grandparents? 

I’m not saying fill it completely with heritage players but a mix of both heritage and domestic.

[Pulga]

It's a shame we can see what has worked in Jamaica but the IRL ha E no interest in replicating it.

[JM2010]

Is the North American Competition between Jamaica, Canada and USA still running?

[gnidir]

Yeah, the Americas Championship still runs, There were some issues with the USA hosting the last scheduled part I think, but dont quote me on that. 

[Damien]

Just on Jamaica:

Canada and Jamaica men, their ‘A’ teams, U19s and Masters sides are set to meet on Saturday 10 October 2026, at the Terry Fox Stadium in Brampton, Ontario in a festival of rugby league.

At the centre will be the senior men’s match, which will kick off at 6pm local time for world ranking points, while the ‘A’ team game will see Canadian Selects take on Jamaica Exodus.

https://www.internationalrugbyleague.com/article/813/canada-and-jamaica-announce-four-game-festival