Northern Raiders news

[roopy]

Here is a list of players from the AMNRL site - could anyone update it?

Coach: [SIZE=-1]Ben Kelly [/SIZE]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Team Players
[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Geneva, Arial, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Ben Kelly (Captain/Coach)
Martin "Mocca" O'Connell
Dan "Damage" Power
Jamie "Bloodnut" Rose
Jeremy "Jezza" Kosbob
Ali "Argentinian Wrecking Ball" Re
Matt DuPay
Jeff "Willie" Beeman
Hayden Lindsay
Austin Benjamin
Joel "Sick Stud" Venables
Sebastion "Georgie" Gregan
David Brown
Curtis Cunes
Tim Lawrence
Dan Howels
Kevin Sanford
Ollie Petrovic
Dylan Muzzle
Rene "Jabbar" Abdullah
[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]USA Tomahawks Internationals
Tim Griffiths[/SIZE][/FONT]

 

[Screech]

Heard they have folded. Any truth to that? This is third hand news so it may not be true.

 

[roopy]

I'd be surprized.
A few months ago they were talking about four teams from Conneticut and maybe reserve teams - so it would be strange to drop back to two teams now.

 

[Screech]

T-Hawk, Spinner, Go The Cats? Any word on this?

 

[Fatdog]

It would not suprise me if the northern raiders have folded. I am of the opinion that the management in charge at the raiders couldnt organise a chook raffle. If the AMNRL want the game to progress in the USA ( which I personaly think it can) they must seriously look at how Ben Kelly is running that team. Last year i sent a e-mail to David Nui outlining my concerns which so far has not been replied to.
I think that the AMNRL has huge potential in the connneticuit area and in the US as whole.
There are a heap of good guys at the Raiders and I hope the can get a side together and show that they can be a force in the AMNRL. I just dont think Ben Kelly shoul be running the side.

 

[roopy]

That sounds bad.
The worst possible result would be a team folding this close to the season - and it seems not from lack of players, but from 'politics'.
I hope things are sorted out quickly.

 

[Screech]

It would not suprise me if the northern raiders have folded. I am of the opinion that the management in charge at the raiders couldnt organise a chook raffle. If the AMNRL want the game to progress in the USA ( which I personaly think it can) they must seriously look at how Ben Kelly is running that team. Last year i sent a e-mail to David Nui outlining my concerns which so far has not been replied to.
I think that the AMNRL has huge potential in the connneticuit area and in the US as whole.
There are a heap of good guys at the Raiders and I hope the can get a side together and show that they can be a force in the AMNRL. I just dont think Ben Kelly shoul be running the side.

Who should be running it then? Easy to sit back on your chair and point fingers bit harder to stand up and make a difference, the same way Ben Kelly did when the Raiders were born.

 

[Fatdog]

Anyone with an ounce of people skills would be better than Ben Kelly.
Someone who could organise work, accomadation and transport for players.
Someone who doesnt blatantly lie to hide their mistakes.

May I suggest a Monkey:lol:

 

[Dakink]

Anyone with an ounce of people skills would be better than Ben Kelly.
Someone who could organise work, accomadation and transport for players.
Someone who doesnt blatantly lie to hide their mistakes.

May I suggest a Monkey:lol:

Very positive - you putting your hands up?

 

[spinnerhowland]

Maybe we need a little positive effort here. We have all seen from the past what this type of attitude can cause. Do I need to bring up Gormley involvement to make my case?
You all need to remember, we are all Rugby League Players, but few of us are in Marketing, Business Managment or Advertising for our "Real Jobs". We all volunteer our time to do the best we can. We all have differant ways of getting our differant ideas done. People who have ideas on any of what we are trying to do should put those ideas forward and maybe we can come up with some great ways to improve our teams.

 

[Fatdog]

The thoughts and opinions I am putting forward are from first hand experience. Below is the e-mail I sent to davis niu. you decide for yourselves if I have reasons to question bens ability to run a team.
And unfortunately I cant put my hand up to help the raiders as I live in sydney. But i do try and keep up with scores via the AMNRL site and would be more than happy to promote the AMNRL here in australia.



Dear David,

I am writing this email in relation to the experience
I had while playing for The Northern Raiders this
season.

I applied on the AMNRL website to play in this years
competition. I received two replies from AMNRL coaches
at the Raiders and the Wildcats.

My first reply was from Ben Kelly at the Raiders. He
seemed very keen to get me to play. He said I would
have to pay some rent for the time I was there as he
had rented a house for the summer for a few other
aussie guys. I had no problem with this as I was
taking holidays from my work in Australia and was
going to treat it as a holiday.

I confirmed all the details with Ben before booking my
flight and he assured me that everything was set. So I
booked my flight to New York. A few weeks later I got
call from Ben saying that he had to come back to
Australia to sort out some visa issues. I had to delay
my flight because of this and went a week later.

I left Australia early May and flew to New York and
arrived an hour after Ben. He said he wasn't able to
wait and give me a lift to Milford as he had to work
early in the morning. So I booked a car ($200us) to
drive me to the house that Ben said he had rented.
Upon arrival at the house Ben said the other boys
would be there to let me in as it was 2.30am, but no
one was there. As this was my first time out of
Australia I had no idea where I was, so I slept in the
bush till morning. There wasn’t a note or anything at
the house so I walked around Milford for hours looking
for a phone to contact Ben.

When I finally got in contact with Ben he was at work
seemingly unconcerned about my welfare. But told me to
wait where I was until he finished with his client so
he could pick me up.

Ben tried to explain the situation by telling me that
the bloke he was renting the house off pulled out at
the last minute. But he knew I was coming and knew I
would be going to the house and he made no attempt to
contact me, wait at the house till I arrived or at the
least leave a note on the door telling me of the
situation.

Unfortunately this was only the beginning of Ben's
lies and mismanagement. Not only did he now have four
players and one of their girlfriends without
accommodation the jobs that were promised had also
fell through. Instead of trying to rectify the
situation Ben left us to find accommodation and work.
I didn't need work as I had money but the other guys
needed money and were relying on these promised jobs
to have money to live off.

The icing on the cake was when via an e-mail Ben
accused me of "talking sh*t" back home about the whole
situation. On the contrary I had posted a message on a
forum connected the Illawarra Tooheys League site
saying how exiting the competition was and how much
potential it had in the States. I spoke of how we had
done school visits and how much marketability Rugby
League has in the USA. Below is the link to the
message posted

http://groups.msn.com/IllawarraRugbyLeague/general.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=752&LastModified=4675523667822419146

I decided to leave after one game, which we did win
over yourselves(sorry I had to mention that). If you
remember the game you may recall that it was a
spiteful game and the Aussies in our side were a bit
agro. This may have been a result of us sleeping on
floors, lounges and in seedy hotels since arriving in
the country.

I feel I need to send this e-mail not as a get square
aimed towards Ben but so hopefully measures can be put
in place to stop this happening to others.

I was lucky that I had money so I could just leave but
the others had to stay and find work so they could buy
a ticket home.

I feel the AMNRL has the makings of a major sport in
the US and I regularly check the website and see more
teams and states are becoming involved.

My main concern is that having someone as unreliable
as Ben in a position that requires a certain amount of
people skills and management ability could possibly
make the AMNRL look unprofessional.

What you do with this e-mail is up to you. But at the
least I hope Ben is monitored more closely next year
and this doesn’t happen again.







Since this e-mail has gone without reply I feel this is the next best place to voice my concerns.

 

[War Pig]

Fatdog, I say that the next time you go to the States or you refer someone, go to a team that really needs numbers. The Slayers, Media, and Philly are just a couple that could use players.

 

[Fatdog]

I have a few freinds who were keen to come over last year and are still keen. I will definately point them to one of those teams.

 

[spinnerhowland]

I know that the Slayers and the Mantarays could use a few extras.
Be aware though, the AMNRL has put a cap of 4 "import" players per team.
This will include anyone who is not in the USA on a permanent kind of basis.

 

[Fatdog]

With all the expansion going on in the US i think it would be good to let people in Australia know that the game is growing on an international scale. If anyone would like to pass on any stories, game results or anything else of interest please let me know as I do have some contacts in the Rugby league media. And at the moment we could do with some good news stories in rugby league.

 

[spinnerhowland]

Feel Free to Use this story.
After a meeting today between The Jacksonville Axemen chiefs and Mr.. Michael Mayes of Concessionaires (the concessions operator at the UNF Stadium Field) we are pleased announce that a deal has been reached to allow $1 beers to be sold at ALL Axemen home games.

Drew Slover from the Jacksonville Axemen said "This deal has huge in our efforts to attract fans to the games. With our home games being player during the summer months here in Florida it was a key part of our marketing to allow beer sales to our fans."

Daryl Spinner Howland welcomed the news from a fans perspective as well saying "One of the biggest goals of our operating plan is to keep the sport of Rugby League within the financial budget of ALL fans. We do not want to discourage or eliminate ANY potential fan due to cost of attendance. With our season tickets being sold at only $20 for all 5 home games and this announcement of $1 beers we feel that an afternoon out supporting the Axemen should cost the average person not more than $12 for entry, a burger and a couple of beers."

The Axemen hope to release the brand of beer that will have exclusive rights at all games in the near future.

 

[spinnerhowland]

Feel Free to use this story
Press Release

The Jacksonville Axemen are pleased to be able to announce our Title Sponsor, T-Mobile.

T-Mobile has the full support of all Axemen players and staff and they are all committed to promoting and marketing T-Mobile products and services at all times.

Axemen Chief Daryl Spinner Howland quoted yesterday, "Out of loyalty to their commitment I will be at the T-Mobile store next week to change my cell phone service to them. Sponsors agree to these partnerships in return for promotion and marketing of their products. I hope to be the first of many to honor their commitment to the Axemen by committing to them by using the service they offer"

In addition to the initial terms of their sponsorship that gave them the title sponsorship of the Jacksonville Axemen, T-Mobile has also offered a $50 service credit on New Service to season ticket holders of the Jacksonville Axemen.

Mr. Drew Slover, Axemen CEO said "This is a major boost for the Axemen. With our season tickets being sold for only $20, which is only $4 per game, those people that purchase an Axemen season ticket and are in the market for new cell phone service will actually come out in front with the $50 credit being offered."

Plans are being made to by local T-Mobile chiefs to travel to the War at the Shore in New Jersey and partner with a local outlet to set up a marketing tent during the event.

We are working on trying to get the same credit offer for all attendees of the war at the shore should they switch service to T-Mobile. More details will follow in regards to that deal.

We hope this is a start in partnering trends within the AMNRL teams and their sponsors.

 

[PowWow]

Played for the Raiders in 2004 and Ben Kelly bent over backwards to help me, work, place to stay the lot, he even gave me all my protein powder. Its not like Australia over there, these guys aren't there to wait hand and foot on every Aussie "gun" that comes over, they work real jobs and do what they do for the love of the game.

 

[roopy]

Played for the Raiders in 2004 and Ben Kelly bent over backwards to help me, work, place to stay the lot, he even gave me all my protein powder. Its not like Australia over there, these guys aren't there to wait hand and foot on every Aussie "gun" that comes over, they work real jobs and do what they do for the love of the game.

Thanks for putting some perspective in this thread PowWow.

 

[Fatdog]

I am not and never have been a "gun player". I went to play in the US for the experience I wasnt expecting to be waited on hand and foot. The only expectations I had when i went over were what Ben had set for me. A place to stay (rent about $100us p/w) a job if i needed it and a car for me and the other aussie boys to use. The only thing he delivered on was the car. A two door jeep for five full grown men and one of there girlfriends. trust me travelling anywhere was a hassle.

We were lucky that we did receive help from other parties otherwise we all would have been left stranded. These people helped us not because they were bens friends but because they felt sorry for us and knew ben was known to "promise the world and deliver an atlas". Their words not mine.

My sole reason for bringing this up was to let the AMNRL what was happening. the facts are there in the e-mail I sent to David Nui. The problem you have now is six or seven guys who are now back in Australia talking to other footballers about their experience in the USA. What do you think they are telling them? How do you think that makes the AMNRL look?

I'm done with this topic. What the League does is their business I just hope this doesnt happen to some poor kid who goes over on the promise of a job and a place to stay and gets stuck with no money in a country that is unfamilair to them.