Crowe reveals his American dream

[thuggdogg]

i posted this at a rabbitohs forum but i think theres enough crossover in this thread to repost my own dream here:

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What if we had the winner of the world cup challenge play the winner of the AmNRL season.

Not only would identify who the best team in either code is it would leave the world would be and would leave the WCCC untouched.

It is just ONE extra game + a free holiday for the NRL team in vegas!!

lets just say its the jacksonville axeman (i use them because they seem to be to AMNRL what is manchesta united is to the EPL soccer)

then its a the axeman vs....canterbury bulldogs (etc).

We would have the reigning BEST clubb in the world vs a local american team so this would garner local interest and would be excellently promoted.

good for AMNRL health too

 

[Perth Red]

err because it would be a 120 point flogging and that will really encourage the superduper Americans to follow the code!

 

[thuggdogg]

err because it would be a 120 point flogging and that will really encourage the superduper Americans to follow the code!

i think that the NRL team would be a heavy favourite.
But only in the sense where australia crickters would be a heavy favourite over bangledesh.

point being its not a 'lock' that the nrl team will win.


evidence?

i'll take you back to another time.
another era.

2004.

i was having a sesh at the time but i remember turning on foxtel and seeing a test atch between the rugby league team of USA vs australia.

it was half time and the USA'ns were up 20-0!

with a bit of luck australia took that game down in the end with a bowen try but it came with a bit of luck. at one stage the american spilled an intercept pass that would have sealed the deal in the 70th minute.


It was an enthralling contest and me and the homies didnt know who would win, it was that close.


so if i use that as an example. then surely the best of AMNRL wouldnt be far of the pace of a st george team?

i know the NRL has improved in the years since then but so has the AMNRL according to the international forum.

 

[Perth Red]

sadly those types of results are very very few and far between in RL. Unlike soccer or other sports where a 0-0 draw or a 1-0 win can be seen regularly by the underdog, RL has nowhere to hide and even a team 10% below will rarely win. See England/GB inability to beat Australia for the last 30 years or PNG's scores this year.

 

[thuggdogg]

sadly those types of results are very very few and far between in RL. Unlike soccer or other sports where a 0-0 draw or a 1-0 win can be seen regularly by the underdog, RL has nowhere to hide and even a team 10% below will rarely win. See England/GB inability to beat Australia for the last 30 years or PNG's scores this year.

agree wid chu 100%

however, have you noticed in league-and more so in union- that the underdog is always in d game till the 60th minute or so and then its that time where the more fit, more professionalist team kcks into gear and runs away with it.

what if we had a 60 min exhibition game?

less taxing on the nrl players....

gives the axeman a shot.

a 28-16 scoreline on the cards.

id love to see the apples and tacos of the axeman up against the sowards and the gazengers of st george.

 

[Poul]

i think that the NRL team would be a heavy favourite.
But only in the sense where australia crickters would be a heavy favourite over bangledesh.

point being its not a 'lock' that the nrl team will win.


evidence?

i'll take you back to another time.
another era.

2004.

i was having a sesh at the time but i remember turning on foxtel and seeing a test atch between the rugby league team of USA vs australia.

it was half time and the USA'ns were up 20-0!

with a bit of luck australia took that game down in the end with a bowen try but it came with a bit of luck. at one stage the american spilled an intercept pass that would have sealed the deal in the 70th minute.


It was an enthralling contest and me and the homies didnt know who would win, it was that close.


so if i use that as an example. then surely the best of AMNRL wouldnt be far of the pace of a st george team?

i know the NRL has improved in the years since then but so has the AMNRL according to the international forum.

I was at the Liberty Bell Cup match at Franklin Field in Philadelphia in 2004. In reality this was an exhibition game, and the Kangaroos initially were taking it easy on the Tomahawks. That's not to say that the Tomahwks didn't play well, but when it counted the Kangaroos came through. So, I suppose the NRL premiers could take it easy on the AMNRL champs, as long as they were guaranteed their appearance money.

 

[thuggdogg]

I was at the Liberty Bell Cup match at Franklin Field in Philadelphia in 2004. In reality this was an exhibition game, and the Kangaroos initially were taking it easy on the Tomahawks. That's not to say that the Tomahwks didn't play well, but when it counted the Kangaroos came through. So, I suppose the NRL premiers could take it easy on the AMNRL champs, as long as they were guaranteed their appearance money.

^^ Heres a niggeh that knows.

exactly what im tryin ta say.

well done sir.

 

[God-King Dean]

Gabe Watson is doing his part.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/30/AR2010113004222.html

 

[mckinks]

Gabe Watson is doing his part.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/30/AR2010113004222.html

Sometimes you've got to take the good with the bloody awful.

It would be interesting to hear how he got his hands on Souths merchandise, he seems to wear a lot of it.

 

[krudmonk]

Just bring the current WCC here (neutral territory) first. No need to supersaturate the market right away.

 

[WaznTheGreat]

Kangaroos were not even trying in that game against the Tomahawks,this is well known.

Kangaroos would have won by 600 if they really wanted too

 

[chrisD]

Expanding the club challenge to be more credible like a champions league is a good idea with several massive difficulties to overcome. Even so I'd like to see it and wouldn't mind it at the expense of some NRL rounds. But it should have nothing to do with the USA (2 pools, one pool plays in oz, one in the UK).

 

[adamkungl]

Sometimes you've got to take the good with the bloody awful.

It would be interesting to hear how he got his hands on Souths merchandise, he seems to wear a lot of it.

Gabe Watson made his initial court appearance in Los Angeles on Tuesday, wearing khaki pants and a green hooded sweat shirt that said "South Sydney" on the back

:lol: Obviously Rusty's promoting is doing wonders for souffs...media didn't even make the connection

 

[El Diablo]

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...-excites-the-league-world-20101204-18klj.html

New club challenge excites the league world
Brad Walter
December 4, 2010 - 5:10PM

IT was 4.02pm last Friday when the email from Russell Crowe that sparked a frenzy of excitement and debate about rugby league in the United States suddenly arrived.

"Hello Brad, I have been meaning to answer your question regarding the USA but I've been travelling doing press and this is the first opportunity I've had to sit and type out a response," Crowe wrote. "Below is a concept that has been on my mind since Peter [Holmes a Court] and I took South Sydney to Jacksonville, Florida and drew a crowd of 12,000 for Souths v Leeds Rhinos."

And so in the next 478 words, Crowe outlined his idea for staging an expanded World Club Challenge competition in Las Vegas that he predicted could become the rugby league equivalent of football's Champions League or UEFA Cup tournaments.

The email was in reply to one sent to him on November 8 seeking his views for a column on the international game and how league could be better promoted in places like the US.

It may have taken three weeks for him to respond but the timing of Crowe's email couldn't have been much better as it coincided with the NRL's end-of-season conference in Byron Bay, where Rabbitohs CEO Shane Richardson raised the idea, and the announcement of a World Cup qualifying tournament in the US next year.

The Herald has since learnt that there are a number of other developments going on behind the scenes that could help make Crowe's proposal a reality.

That would be welcome news to the likes of AMNRL boss David Niu and the likes of Lote Tuqiri, Wendell Sailor, Pat Richards, Gareth Thomas and Chris Walker, who have all helped send Twitter into overdrive with their tweets of support and encouragement for the concept.

The Guardian followed up The Herald's story last weekend and quoted Wigan chairman Ian Lenegan backing the proposal, while fans on internet forums have been debating the merits of the tournament, how many teams should be involved and the timing of it.

The most contentious issue is the impact it would have on international football, with Crowe suggesting two pools of four teams to play a round robin tournament and finals after the NRL and Super League grand finals.

To play at that time of the year would leave the current international calendar in tatters and many people living in the US or with an understanding of American sport point out that everything else gets swamped by the start of the NFL season, the Major League Baseball play-offs and the NBA pre-season.

It would also be extremely hot in Las Vegas in October, but if the WCC was played as a pre-season tournament in February (after the Super Bowl) the weather would be cooler and Americans may be crying out for a body contact sport to watch after the NFL season has finished.

Hopefully, some would then follow the NRL and Super League competitions.

An inaugaral IRB Rugby Sevens tournament in Las Vegas this February attracted about 40,000 fans over two days and was broadcast on US television.

The two events may be able to work together and league could feed off the success of that tournament.

With a population of 310 million, the US offers massive opportunities to any code that gain a toe-hold there as just 0.1 per cent - or 310,000 - Americans watching league represents a similar viewing audience to what Channel Nine attracts in Sydney for many Friday night NRL games.

There would also be benefits for the code in the US, with the staging of high quality club matches being a proven method to promote league to wider audience as evidenced in Auckland, where regular games between Australian clubs led to a demand for their own team.

While the disaster of the 1997 Super League's World Club Challenge is certain to cause some hesitation for an expanded club competition, that was created by News Ltd merely as a lure for players to join the rebel competition and involved every team rather than the top four from each hemisphere.

 

[thorson1987]

Wouldn't it be played on an NFL field?

yes, provided it isnt on Astroturf like the game was in 2004. I remember a fair few of our guys came out with injured knees in that game.

 

[RL1908]

Kangaroos were not even trying in that game against the Tomahawks,this is well known.

Kangaroos would have won by 600 if they really wanted too

They did want to, as evidenced by what they did at each kick-off after a USA try...

What disappointed me about that game - intended to showcase & encourage the code in the USA - was that the Roos took advantage of the reduced width of the field by aiming their kick-offs low and firmly across & over the touchline to get a scrum feed and deny the USA the ball & momentum after each try.

Given the Roos obvious superiority in talent & experience, it was just a low class unnecessary act in the context of what the game that day was meant to achieve.

 

[PaulyTom]

Hope the concept gets off the ground. I would be keen to go to the states for it.

 

[Quidgybo]

I prefer the current ESL v NRL premiers format to the WCC, moved to October.
While the expanded format has merit, it has various downsides.

-It would either need to cut into the club season or the international season, neither is ideal.
-It's not really the 'best of the best', we might end up seeing the 3rd best v 4th best in the final or something, undermining the finals series' of both comps.
-It lacks serious credibility, with only 2 high standard club comps in the world.

It's a mediocre idea that has been tried before, shot down since and is only getting attention because Captain Phonechucker said it.

Just play the current WCC at a sensible time

Perhaps the better course is to do both. The current WCC as a single Super Bowl match two weeks after the Grand Finals in October - a true meeting of the crowned champions in peek form. And then the eight team Challenge Series as a pre-season exhibition in February.

Leigh