It doesn't need wholesale changes. In markets where RL is well known and recognised, RU can EAD but in new and emerging markets and even areas where RL has been played for years but hassled by RU, changing the name to League XIII seems like it could work. No, RU does not "own" the word Rugby the same way the ITF doesnt own the word tennis, but holy jeebus they make it difficult for Rugby League in places..
Even if the is correct (i would call it hopeful), RL still cannot work with this.... Our sport is called "Rugby Competition" and we are surprised when people think it is a Rugby competition?!?!?!?!?!?!? I dont care either way on whether we keep of ditch "Rugby" (i dont think it is all that valuable a brand for us, but history and shit....), but we cannot keep the current brand and expect anything other that what we are getting now. The trend of sharing umbrella terms for sport is to put a defining term first; Australian Football/American Football/Rugby Football/Association Football, 9s Rugby/7s Rugby, etc. This is the absolute minimum RL need to meet. Im personally fond of Gridiron Rugby, but it could be just about anything; we have 120 years of history, im sure we could find SOMETHING to throw in....
XIII Rugby/ Rugby13s? I agree 'League' is the dumb word. I assume the original use of League was not meant to become the name of the sport.
Ive never been a fan of "13s". A number is hard to own... It would need to be something genuinely unique for the IRLF to claim completely; Origin could be a good one (though it doesnt make heaps of sense), a name from a games founder (Gilltinan, Trumper, one of the NU blokes) or as i have suggested before Gridiron (it exploits the popularity of NFL and we do have solid historical connections) Yes, this i agree with..... Of the history i have read, it seemed the NSWRL and the NU hoped to realign with the RU. The original move to independence by RL seemed to be an attempt to shock the conservative Private school twats in charge of the Rugby establishment. It was several years before RL was established as a permanently separate sport and, by then, "Rugby League" had become the sports name. The end of WW1 would have been the time to change the name, but branding was hardly a huge issue back then.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/former-allies-blow-whistle-on-nrl-referees-boss-tony-archer-on-facebook-20160424-godska.html I wonder why this is.... Im sure it has nothing to do with the fact that they call themselves "Rugby" while we call ourselves "Rugby Competition". Surely people arent just mistaking use for a Rugby competition...
Funny thing is, if we didn't separate from union all those years ago you would assume the one rugby code would look like rugby league today which has progressed over the years, whereas Union is stuck in the dark ages.
We have been calling ourselves Rugby League for over 120 years, let's just keep it that way! If new people to our sport prefer to call it Rugby XIII or Game of XIII that's ok, but our official name should be Rugby League!
Step 1. Create the best Rugby comps on the planet, of either code. Step 2. Market the game using those comps.
Knowing these alternatives would almost need a degree in RL history. The people that know of these alternatives would already understand that Rugby Competition and Rugby Competition are different sports..... In these new areas, the name of the organisation will be the name they use and Rugby League will make us look like a Rugby Competition. Id personally propose the opposite; keep Rugby League as the colloquial term (we're not going to stop people using it if thats what they prefer), but change the official name to something unique and distinct so people being introduced to the game for the first time wont confuse us with Union....
Definitely a weird idea, but it might be enough to make people notice it and remember... There might again be problems in telling people it is a sport and not just a football league of some random code. Also, it might come across as pathetic as the VFLs International Rules and their plea for people to take them seriously.... Edit: the easiest choice by far would be NRL Football but im not really a fan of that...
It's now December. AIMS had their most recent meeting on the 18th of November but no news of RLIF membership into AIMS or SA. http://www.rlif.com/article/1649/frustrating-delay-to-international-recognition