Daily Terrorgraph: Secret negotations for Kangaroos/Wallabies hybrid match next year

[pcpp]

SECRET negotiations are taking place to secure an historic Kangaroos versus Wallabies match next October.

The game has been booked for ANZ Stadium, where officials have labelled it the biggest event since the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24696270-5001023,00.html
:crazy:

 

[Nz]

Kangaroos would smash them..

RL props are built like outside centres
Their props barely have to move...
It would be interesting to see how far players would have to hustle to get onside.

 

[supercharger]

True the kangaroos would kill em

 

[Perth Red]

Would be the same as every other cross code game, RL team would easily win the RL half and RU would win the RU half due to rucks and mauls and 3000 penalties. Sad thing is more Sydney RL fans would probably turn up to watch this farce than if the WC final had been in Sydney.

 

[Nuke]

I actually believe the League team would beat the union team regardless of the rules. Sure, there are a few things the guys would have to learn about union (the bit where they chuck the fat guy in the air being one), but it'd be easy done I believe.

 

[The Tank]

Pointless. Although I'd rather see the Kangaroos v All Blacks. All Blacks seem wasted on Union.

 

[deluded pom?]

True the kangaroos would kill em

You've set yourself up for a bit of stick there sc.

 

[miguel de cervantes]

These is indeed interesting if true. Forget about the result and think about the politics involved here and what it all means. After reading the article it appears to be a money grab, though I see that they are going for hybrid rules rather than half-half. Could this be an olive branch proposed by NewsCorp to become the "owner" of a single, lucrative rugby? Why was this annoncement made the day after the RLWC final?

Another obstacle for the ARU is that it would have to receive IRB approval. "I want both of these parties to embrace it and get the politics out of it so they will see the benefits to their codes," Franks said.

It will be intereting to see if the IRB give the go ahead for this. If yes, and the game is a popular sucess and actually decent to watch, I doubt that it would be the last game of its kind and rugby may well be on track to be unified once more. This game could be extremely historically important.

 

[roughyedspud]

you already play a hybrid game in australia don't you ?

 

[RL1908]

Why was this annoncement made the day after the RLWC final?

Because they presumed that the Kangaroos were going to win the RLWC yet again, and there would be plenty asking "who would beat the Kangaroos" and "Who can the Kangaroos play now?"

What's in this for RL?

How many of the Wigan team that played against Bath in the mid-1900s went on to play/work in RU?

Don't dance with the devil.

 

[miguel de cervantes]

How many of the Wigan team that played against Bath in the mid-1900s went on to play/work in RU?

Please enlighten me.

The only things I can see in this for league would be gloating rights, a fat paycheck and some international recognition for league. Could also be a real kick in the guts for the ARU if they got flogged.

What's in it for union?

 

[roopy]

on the 9 news this morning they are saying 12 man sides, unlimited tackle, 5 man scrums.
Basically league from 1953, which is what Union is desperately trying to morph into.

 

[macavity]

the proposed rules are set up to try to guarantee a wallaby win.

 

[mean_maori_mean]

Surely this idea came from when the Kangaroos thought they were the best team ever / invinceable not after they were beaten from the kiwis team who beat them in 05' series and took them to golden point in '06.

 

[Johns Magic]

Well league has been trying to bend the rules as much as possible to make their rucks like union rucks. Should be interesting, particularly if you play league scrums. The Wallabies could throw in three more outside backs in the front-row.

 

[macavity]

the only way you could make it work, and semi-fair, is to have a limit on the numbers in rucks (say 2 on each side), and no mauls.

otherwise you will see the wallabies forwards do 40m rolling mauls, and the roos get penalised for pulling it down every time.

the big question, of course, is how far the defensive line will have to retreat.

 

[roopy]

It will probably never happen and just be the way Union gets to mention league in every article for the next year so someone reads about their sport.

 

[Scubby]

Shouldn't the World Cup runners-up be spending most of October 2009 working out how to win an International tournament (which would be just a couple of weeks away) rather than this nonesense? :roll:

 

[RL1908]

Please enlighten me.

Because, in my view, the cross-code games acted to break down the barriers between the codes. Now, you can say that is a good thing, and don't be so paranoid, but of the Wigan team, look how many subusequently felt comfortable enough with the RU side of the ledger that they subsequently left RL for RU as a player or coach, or others (like Radlinksi) were targetted by RU. In comparison, how many Bath RU players tried RL?

Wigan:1. Radlinski, 2. Jason Robinson, 3. Tuigamala, 4. Connolly, 5. Offiah, 6. Henry Paul, 7. Shaun Edwards, 8. Cowie, 9. Hall, 10. O'Connor, 11. Haughton, 12. Cassidy, 13. Andy Farrell, 14. Smyth, 15. Murdock, 16. Scott Quinnell, 17. Johnson.

Other Wigan players from that era also went to RU in coaching/admin, includng Joe Lydon and Billy McGinty.

Here's Farrell in 2003, speaking well before he went to RU (so his comments aren't RU-spin)...

Nonetheless, Farrell admits that his respect for rugby union has increased tenfold since the exhibition matches in which Wigan played then-mighty Bath in both codes. "I used to think it was boring. And there's that north-south thing, which is stupid, really. But I learnt a lot in that game against Bath about how technical it is - the rucking, the mauling, the line-outs, the scrummaging.

"It's a completely different game, in fact. You score tries, kick goals, play with an oval ball, and that's about it. Not half of those playing rugby union could play rugby league, and not three-quarters of those playing rugby league could play rugby union."

The Independent - Saturday, 20 September 2003

Sure, all of the above could have happened anyway in the post-RU turning pro era & Wigan had all the top RL players, but there is no reason RL should help it to happen - and the Bath-Wigan game smoothed the path for Wigan players to join RU (as Farrell has offered above).

 

[miguel de cervantes]

It's odd how Farrell said you score tries in union. Are you sure it wasn't union spin?