Hungarian RL?

[Der Kaiser]

I have received an Email from Kevin Rudd the Euro officer basically asking a Hungarian guy who lives in Hungary if he can get a side either to the Beograd cup in Serbia in May or the Munich 9s on July 30th!Heres hoping in time we have another country to our ever growing list.League in Europe is really expanding.Maybe chance for the French guys to get French RL on Eurosport again!

 

[yakstorm]

Fantastic news, the momentum is really there in Europe at the moment, and hopefully it will encourage more and more to take the chance to take up Rugby League in their country. Spain would be a nice one to come on board next

The more nations that take up the code has surely got to improve the standing of the Euro federation and its ability to draw sponsorship and funding.

 

[screeny]

Yeeeesssssss! My dream of a Holy Roman Empire RL Test side is back on track! Just need those damned Austrians to get it on and we'll be sorted.

 

[dimitri]

the more countries the better

we must be very close to getting IOC acknowledgement soon with the amount of nations joining the game

 

[YANTO]

Ah yes Euro RL...................boy are we working hard......just a few but we will fight them on the beaches etc.....
European RL is LOOKING GOOD.

 

[DIEHARD]

Yeeeesssssss! My dream of a Holy Roman Empire RL Test side is back on track!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Your dreams are scary.

 

[ali]

Some guy in Australia is trying to start the Portugese RL. There was a big add in todays issue of RLR. Apparently he is coach of an under 12 team and his wife is related to 2003 Jersey Flegg player of the year Isaac DeGois. He is following the Lebanese model.

 

[screeny]

Oh bloody hell. It's difficult ot crticise these people as they're all passionate leaguies whose efforts could lead to lebanese-sized successes, but it is all a bit embarrassing at the same time as there's no criteria in place from the RLIF to regulate ex-pat organisations.

At the least we shouldn't allow them to call themselves just by their country names.

 

[dimitri]

The RLIF

doesnt even regulate the nrl or ESl

how can we expect them to regulate these kind of bodies


the rlif is a toothless tiger

 

[screeny]

Agree, but they can take the lead in issues such as national credibility. Instead of pasively allowing a bunch of (well-intentioned) Greeks, Maltese, Macdonian and now Portuguese ex-pats to pass themselves off as legitimate national rep sides, they can say they must have a XIII appendage whenever they play or risk being excommunicated.

That wouldn't cost them a penny.

 

[bender]

Agree, but they can take the lead in issues such as national credibility. Instead of pasively allowing a bunch of (well-intentioned) Greeks, Maltese, Macdonian and now Portuguese ex-pats to pass themselves off as legitimate national rep sides, they can say they must have a XIII appendage whenever they play or risk being excommunicated.

That wouldn't cost them a penny.

Yeah, but why? Do you think people could really care one way or the other? Fans of the international game, or people who go to these games will fall into one of the following categories:
a international fans (who would go no matter what)
b People who know little about the game but want to see an event or support their country of heritage. (I cant see how having XIII after their name would do anything but discourage their attendance).

I know people talk about credibility but honestly, we all know the limitations of the RL international game and putting Xiii after it does nothing to assist things. If the game takes off in the native land then great if not, then so what at worst, it means that Greece, Malta etc get to play games against another International selection. It is not as if international statistics count as Test Matches etc, which is the real test as to whether or not a nation is bona fide.

 

[screeny]

Credibility, credibility, credibility. These sides ain't the national sides and therefore shouldn't be allowed to pass themselves off as such - for all their good intentions.

 

[griff]

they must have a XIII appendage

As you know I agree with you screeny, but is it absolutely critical they have a XIII inch appendage? :lol:

 

[dimitri]

i agree


hungarian x111 looks good compared to (a, invitational etc etc)


and also shows is not a test side

 

[TheFirstRabbitoh]

the more countries the better

we must be very close to getting IOC acknowledgement soon with the amount of nations joining the game

Why should the IOC care about a bunch of countries with a few dozen playing?

 

[dimitri]

because the IOC states you must have 30 or so countries with official bodies i think

 

[TheFirstRabbitoh]

because the IOC states you must have 30 or so countries with official bodies i think

Yeah, but is the IOC going to recognise a club, for example, who might have 30 blokes on their list as a 'national governing body'?

I think you'll find they have pretty strict criteria. Italy or Greece for example, who have a side based in Sydney and a 'governing body' connected to this, wouldn't be recognised as such without a reasonable-sized domestic league.

Or Singapore, which is basically a single club, probably wouldn't be considered a 'governing body' by the IOC.

I think you'll find only about 12-15 countries tops would fit their criteria at the moment. Some of the ones who've played in the WC (think Lebanon at the last one) wouldn't have been from a country with a legitimate 'governing body' in the IOC's eyes.

At the end of the day, there are sports which have a much, much bigger worldwide following, that aren't an IOC sport.

 

[dimitri]

rugby union had a country like namibia with 4 teams

and yet they are still counted as a national body


that is no different to lebanon

 

[TheFirstRabbitoh]

It's no different to Lebanon now - but it's very different to Lebanon back then, when there was a team called Lebanon, formed entirely from Sydneysiders of Lebanese extraction - but no RL in Lebanon itself.

Besides, I don't know if the IOC would care about Namibia when they look at RU. Among the 90-odd that 'officially' are members of the IRB, there are well over 30 nations with a stable domestic rugby union, even when the total players number would be lucky to be more than a few hundred. It's still a lot more than, say, Hungary, Italy, Malta or Greece... who I'm assuming you're trying to count in your numbers.

It's good being optimistic, but Dmitri, you gotta be realistic too.

 

[Atticus Finch]

Personally, I think the Commonwealth Games/ Asia Games route would be the best way to go first, building to the Olympics in years to come. The beauty of participation in events like that - aside from the obvious great international publicity - is the opportunity they bring for building the profile through relatively inexperienced amateur competition, leaving the full-time pros out of it.

Using students, amateur leagues, armed forces etc, such a thing could be a quite competitive international rugby league platform - certainly more so than the big three dominated professional scene.

Mind you, all that is hot air really, as there seems to be no league administrator with the imagination to see what could be achieved.