USA team for Kangaroo matchup

[Nook]

There's an interesting idea over at TotalRL about a way to make the Yank v Aussies match more competitive which wouldn't comprimise the attractiveness of the fixture.
I think most of us agree that a 130 - 0 flogging is best avoided. With that in mind, I think the team to take on the Aussies should have more of an all stars feel. I think that by beefing the Tomahawks up with a handful of marketalbe professional players, the organisers could simlutaneously boost the competitiveness and attractiveness of the US team. Potential players that could be included:

Brian Carney
Marcus Bai
Adrian Lam
Andy Farrell
Lesley Vainakolo
Paul Anderson
That French half everyone seems to have raps on.. Rinaldi?
etc

I'm not saying include all these players. I reckon 4 or 5, especially in key positions, would be a real asset - the team would be mainly American, and so maintain attractiveness for the crowd, as well as being more entertaining and competitive.

If Fox gets behind the game, it could be a dream promotion - the invincible Aussies, playing the toughest code on earth, versus the Yankee selection complete with a plucky Irishman, a big Poms, a wily Frenchman, a man mountain from Enzed and a big lad from the jungles of PNG. I'd certainly pay to see it.

 

[DIEHARD]

Yea I think an attractive game with a few international ring ins is very much preferable to a 150 to nil flogging,

 

[gaterooze]

Great idea, Nook. Call them the USA All-stars or something. A few ring-ins in key positions... Keiron Cunningham at hooker... and they could make a fist of it. Still get beaten, but not by an embarrassing margin.

This game should be about showcasing League, and not a 'true' Test match. I reckon Murdoch is using this as a litmus test for whether a professional League competition could be viable in the USA. And that would be a godsend for The Greatest Game -- we would completely overtake Rugby Union as an international sport. With Russia and the USA as real players in the League fraternity, as well as continued growth in the UK, the sky is the limit.

 

[Moffo]

top idea, has murdoch confirmed that this is going ahead yet?

Cheers,
Moffo

 

[paulmac]

I think its definately preferable to see say 10 American players with 7 guest players of NRL standard take on the Aussies than a 150-0 scoreline.
The match could be promoted as the Australian Kangaroos v the US Barbarians.The match then gains more credibility than a "test".The american public who arent the most rugby knowledgeable nation would assume that the "Barbarians"are just the nickname for the national team.

 

[Jeffles]

Amercan All-Stars is a better idea than playing the Tomahawks. The scoreline would be more encouraging for potential investors.

 

[mono_mal]

yeah i like the American all stars idea.
on top of this if the Americans could field overseas based players qualifying under the grandparent rule they could find themselves mildly competitive.
use it as a promotional tool for international rugby league and field players from developing rugby league nations to prop up the Tomahawks team.
eg.
El Masri - Lebanon
Rinaldi - France
Illynisavoy - Russia
Carney - Ireland
Bai / Wilshere - PNG
Briers - Wales
Horne - Scotland
Kativerata - Fiji
Vaikona - Tonga
Paul - New Zealand
Rutgerson - South Africa
Rua - Cook Islands
Lolesi - Samoa
if they take their pick out of that mob and many more they could field a very formidable team.
perhaps field 9 americans and 8 international players so the Tomahawks still dominate the side.

 

[Front-Rower]

So much for representing your country...could you imagine Steve Waugh going to play for Bangladesh

 

[mono_mal]

of course Steve Waugh wouldnt represent Bangladesh.
but i'm sure if he did the profile of the game wouldve been a lot higher.
front rower, think about it. who really cared when Australia played Bangladesh at cricket?
the general public is simply not interested in thrashings when it comes to league and its hardly going to do anything for league in the us if the yanks cop a hiding.
therefore we need to think outside the square to capture the publics imagination.
what good comes out of the game if Australia wins 150-0 in front of a 5000 strong crowd in New York.
the Americans that do watch the game will quickly turn away from the sport and as you should know competitive games are a lot more entertaining. eg. state of origin in comparison to this years Australia v Wales game.
it would also develop the Tomahawks players if they were playing with first class team mates and they would pick up skills through such a simple measure as the weeks training session before hand.
i understand your veiwpoint front rower though add up the positives and negatives from both sides then pick the most beneficial to rugby league.
in my eyes the All Stars concept is a clear winner.

 

[bender]

Fittler, Tallis and Ricketson are three guys unavailable for Australia who immediately jump to mind as being good all stars.

 

[yakstorm]

So much for representing your country...could you imagine Steve Waugh going to play for Bangladesh

No, he would possibly do what his brother did a couple of years ago and represent Ireland.

 

[griff]

It's either Australia v USA, or it's an Australia v Rest of the World exhibition match held in the USA.

Australia playing a team called the USA All-Stars, with a team dominated by international ring-ins would, quite rightly, be seen as a joke by the media.

Rugby League would be shooting itself in the foot if it tries to strengthen the US side to make it competitive, if in the process of doing so it ceases to become a true USA representative side.

I agree with what Yakstorm said on the other thread, this game is not about competitiveness, it's about showing America and the world that the US has a team, and that they play league. Ring-ins would just weaken that message.

 

[yakstorm]

Ring-ins only have a place as such if they have some connection to USA, like Retchless, O'Neill and Peterson. They have all worn USA jersey's before, so at least there is some legitimacy for them turning up to try and keep the score down.

I agree with Griff if it is a side with all these star players, call it a Rest of the World, still the more I think about this match, the more I think USA should be given the go they can make it work.

 

[clives_bootlace]

There's an interesting idea over at TotalRL about a way to make the Yank v Aussies match more competitive which wouldn't comprimise the attractiveness of the fixture.
I think most of us agree that a 130 - 0 flogging is best avoided. With that in mind, I think the team to take on the Aussies should have more of an all stars feel. I think that by beefing the Tomahawks up with a handful of marketalbe professional players, the organisers could simlutaneously boost the competitiveness and attractiveness of the US team. Potential players that could be included:

Brian Carney
Marcus Bai
Adrian Lam
Andy Farrell
Lesley Vainakolo
Paul Anderson
That French half everyone seems to have raps on.. Rinaldi?
etc

I'm not saying include all these players. I reckon 4 or 5, especially in key positions, would be a real asset - the team would be mainly American, and so maintain attractiveness for the crowd, as well as being more entertaining and competitive.

If Fox gets behind the game, it could be a dream promotion - the invincible Aussies, playing the toughest code on earth, versus the Yankee selection complete with a plucky Irishman, a big Poms, a wily Frenchman, a man mountain from Enzed and a big lad from the jungles of PNG. I'd certainly pay to see it.

get ya hand off it stupid!!!...how do these players qualify??
if your going to do it , it has to be a bit fair dinkum, i know americans arent the brightest race on the whole but they would soon gerry as to there team being a united bloody nations!!!!

 

[screeny]

Agree with the anti-All Stars lobby here.

As I said somewhere else earlier this match is a shot in the arm for the AMNRL administration. It is the int'l RL community telling them they are 'in the inner sanctum'. Just think how energized and enthused the AMNRL officials and the domestic clubs will be with the news Australia is coming.

Keeping these guys motivated and in the game is by far the most important aspect of this match, not getting as close a score as possible or an extra 500 people through the turnstiles.

only by having a completely motivated domestic administration will league in the USA continue to grow.

 

[yankeeboy]

I don't think that Americans would go to see a Roos vs Barbarians match- a public that isn't really interested in Rugby would be even less interested if the Americans weren't really involved.

The only way something like this would work would be with a large ex-pat community- like with Hispanics in California and Texas and soccer.

This match should also be played outside of NY and Philadelphia. League has little exposure in the "League Heartlands of the USA", so it really wouldn't make a difference. I would suggest a small, soccer specific stadium.

The Home Depot Center in Los Angeles or Crew Stadium in Columbus would be wonderful choices, that would help expand knowledge of League outside of the North East.

Have the Tomahawks vs Roos, but give the Hawks some GP rulers who can bolster the ranks a bit. However, taking the Americans away would not entice people to come and watch.

I think that adveristing "The Roos are the best in the world. Can the Tomahawks pull off the biggest upset in sports history?" might work. They should be sure to say "World Champions" in the adverts.

Also, I think that they should show the match on Fox free-to-air, instead of FSW. They should also show the Tri-Series and some NRL matches as lead-ups to get people acquainted with the sport.

I see no reason why a well advertised match couldn't pull off a crowd of at least 10,000- I remember that Dallas had "WAR- World Arena Rugby," featuring two fake teams of Union players from Dallas and LA. They had 2 matches- 1998 and 2000, I think, and they had crowds of around 5,000.
http://rugbymag.com/archive/2000/september/arena.htm
http://wesclark.com/rrr/8_15_00.html
These articles dicuss the 2 matches held. They had around 3500 people each- with no advertising!
I can see a well advertised match possibly selling out the Home Depot Center.
They (Fox, the ARL, and the AMNRL) need to try to get this all to happen, and they'd have a ready-made market for a Pro Comp in America.

 

[joshreading]

I still think a Presidents 13 or really 17 would be good, not alot of internationals but some to plug the gaps. A decent half, I would scratch around to find ANY connection to the US. Also five eigth is important also.

Also imagine if you got a fairly high profile NFL player, suppose you play it in New York as said I am sure that Lachlan Murdoch with his fingers in a million pies could come up with a name.

We have already seen that really good athletes (eg. Nate Smith and the fella from the Florida arena football team) stand out even above the seasoned Rugby league players from the US so an NFL player could make a massive difference. (and draw curious fans from their team)

 

[joshreading]

Hey just a thought, are there many US Players in union overseas say in the Pommy Zurich prem, I am sure there is and they could be a bit of a hand.

 

[JVinAZ]

Sorry Josh,

this match is scheduled to occur on the return trip from the Tri-Nation, that is late Nov or early Dec. Both the ZP and NFL are in their competitions at this time. Even if this weren't the case it is unlikely that clubs in either organization would release athletes to play a physical sport in which they are inexperienced and where injury is a real possibility. It is not uncommon US sports contracts to limit the physical activities of atheltes in the off-season, I imagine this is the same in other countries. In the case of ZP, this has nothing to do with the RL-RU dispute, but simply protecting their investment, just as the NRL and ESL, or any other professional sports organization, to do.

 

[JVinAZ]

yankeeboy,

Free to air on Fox? NO WAY!!! We're talking about the last weekend in Novenmber, that is Thanksgiving, only the biggest football weekend of the year. The only non-football events that can possibly attract viewers, that is make money, are figure skating "specials" and the PGA Skins Game. There is no sandwich time between NFL games, given the the NFL contract that requires gemes to be shown at 1 an 4 PM EST. Most Fox affiliates can make more money by showing infomecials than showing a sport that most americans are aware of, rugby, let alone a distinction, RL, that most american rugby enthusiests are unaware.