Clash may nurture infant code
ADAM SMITH
| January 30, 2012 12.01am
Tasmanian Rugby League president Justin Kearney.
TASMANIAN Rugby League president Justin Kearney hopes next month's pre-season clash between the Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos will have a flow-on effect on the sport locally.
The two biggest NRL clubs will battle it out at North Hobart Oval on February 18 in the last pre-season fixture for both outfits. Line-ups near full strength are expected.
Rugby league is played in summer in the state to avoid clashing with its brother code AFL, a move Kearney believes can help lift the profile of the sport.
And with names such as Billy Slater, Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk set to match up against Justin Hodges, Sam Thaiday and Jharal Yow Yeh, a jump in numbers could be expected.
"They are two of the biggest rugby league clubs in the world, playing in the biggest rugby league competition in the world," Kearney said.
"We don't compete with the other codes, we want to see more players at the senior level.
"We want to move our competition to the north as well, and we want to increase our junior base. One of the most important aspects is the Melbourne Storm are bringing down their community carnival, which is a festival of junior rugby league.
"In three years we have managed to maintain our senior competition and that's getting stronger.
"Certainly the standard of play is getting stronger, we have a junior development officer getting into the schools, just taking small steps.
"This is a real big event for us because it will give us momentum to build the game, but we are being very careful.
"When you are building a new competition like this you have got to make sure you don't go too quickly because it can fall over."
The TRU is working with TSL side North Hobart to help promote the event.
Kearney said it might seem peculiar that two competing codes were assisting one another, but getting more national sport into the state was a win for the community.
"We are not interested in any code wars or competition. From our point of view we are a summer alternative.
"I want to model ourselves on AFL, I don't want to compete with them, and I'm excited about the partnership with the North Hobart Football Club."
Tickets for the match can be purchased online from the NHFC website.
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