English RL catching up ?

[ozbash]

Melbourne Vs Leeds @ Olympic Park on a Saturday Night mid way through our season, with the Storm at full strength.. I guarentee Leeds wouldnt get within a bulls roar of them..

tough talk, that would be the bussiness end of the ESL, i think the storm would cop a flogging actually.

British footy has vastly improved in the last few years.Admitedly Aussie/NZ have helped them out with our geriatrics pushing the young Brits that bit harder, plus the coaching has improved.

very positive imo

 

[roughyedspud]

the solution...

we sync the ESL & NRL seasons so one finishes 1 week before the other, as a result the final 3 weeks of the club season would look like this..

WEEK ONE - THE ESL GF - WINNERS TRAVEL TO AUS
WEEK TWO - NRL GF
WEEK THREE - WORLD CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP @ SFS/SUNCORP/TELSTRA DOME

alternate the fixtures every year..

we don't need more teams,just the 2 winners of the NRL & ESL

 

[JW]

the solution...

we sync the ESL & NRL seasons so one finishes 1 week before the other, as a result the final 3 weeks of the club season would look like this..

WEEK ONE - THE ESL GF - WINNERS TRAVEL TO AUS
WEEK TWO - NRL GF
WEEK THREE - WORLD CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP @ SFS/SUNCORP/TELSTRA DOME

alternate the fixtures every year..

we don't need more teams,just the 2 winners of the NRL & ESL

If the WCC is to be truly taken seriously by the competitions, the media and the game in general, this in my opinion is the best set up we can hope for. Which unfortunately means it'll never happen.

 

[roughyedspud]

the thing is half of the parties involved do take it seriously...

we've had fairly big build up here in the uk since monday..it's been in the papers every day this week,it was live on tv & radio & a near full stadium...

we (the "poms") really can't do much more...

we'll play it when ever the aussies want to play it,after the final whistle last night the commentator (eddie) said "we have done our bit it's now up to australia to pick up the baton and run with it"

so run with it!

 

[Perth Red]

It's taken seriously enough in the Uk for 33,000 RL fans to trun out on a misearble evening to support the game!

Just because we (or at least some of us) don't take it seriously doesn't mean plenty of people including the players do.

Personally I loved the game, tough, hard, no quarter given. Good old fashioned RL before we all became soft with grapples and wrestling!

Showed the top SL clubs are a match for any NRL team and, we still find every opportunity to whinge about our great game instead of talking it up.

 

[JW]

True Roughy, Superleague and Pom public do it justice. But given the current setup, that's kind of understandable.

Being played under its current format though, the concept isn't given the complete respect it deserves. And no matter what individual NRL clubs do or say out of obligation for some positive publicity leading up to the game when they're in England, the fact that the NRL is happy to leave what should be a major international fixture in the off-season/trial period is an indication as to how little importance is placed on the WCC down here.

Until that changes, with a format as you've mentioned that is at the height of both Superleague's and the NRL's seasons, things won't change and it will continue to be a one-sided affair both on and off the field.

But again, your suggestion just makes too much sense for administrators to bring it in.

 

[_Johnsy]

a huge round of for the 33k people who turned up in that shyte rain and wind

 

[Quidgybo]

Only problem is, with the way the pound is, its very difficult to give up the cash that would have been made at Elland Road tonight. They'd probably need 50k in Melb to make the same sort of profit.

Thing is with a match played in Melbourne, two to three weeks after the last AFL game of the year and two weeks after the local team had just won the premiership in a blaze of publicity for RL, they may very well have got that 50k. The WCC will never be big in Oz while it is always played in the early morning on the opposite side of the planet and as a pre-season trial four months after the buzz of premiership success has died away. But if played as a home coming for a champion team carrying a premiership trophy and as a chance for fans to not only celebrate that success but perhaps cap it all by seeing their team take the title of undisputed world club champions in a contest between two premiership winning teams at the top of their form, the match is pretty much a guaranteed sell out at any Rugby League ground in Australia and New Zealand outside of Sydney. It won't fill ANZ Stadium and it won't outdraw the Grand Final but it could still easily hold its own with any club's regular season blockbuster home games if properly scheduled and marketed.

Leigh

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

if everyone is saying this isnt a true test of the best teams, whats the solution.

a proper tournament with more teams in it?

final played on home and away?

which would be the better option.

imagine now if leeds had to come down to melbourne and play off against the storm, why wouldnt that get a good crowd and help market the storm in their area.

AFL has no clubs o/seas, by bringing the Rhinos in it showcases the international component of RL to the mexicans

Agreed.
There should also be a separate TV deal which genuinely reflects the comp's worth thus offering a rich purse for the clubs to take seriously. I think you're on the money with the home/away thinking and who knows? In a few years they can host the final in neutral/emerging rugby league nations like Russia or Lebanon. Fanciful I know but you gotta dream.

 

[steaming stormer]

My apologies, I was merely para-phrasing Billy Slater with that line. Take it up with him i spose. I have in other posts mentioned the similar weather conditions NSW has experienced lately.

All good mate, and I didn't see or hear the Slater comments so not sure, but I am just over it in the media all the time and may have jumped the gun. It's just that whenever we play an away game in Sydney and it starts to rain, the commentators always pull out the old 'this will suit Melbourne' line which is rubbish. We haven't had a real wet game at home for some time!

 

[Perth Red]

Given both clubs probably took close to $500,000 from the game I doubt it will leave the shores of England any time soon.

 

[Johnny_L_O]

so you slept through the game ?

You misunderstood. This was not an attack on Webb (FWIW i thought he had a good game) but more a comment on how good Slater was last night.

 

[bluey]

To me it will stay a mickey mouse game until they get the timing of the fixture right.

 

[bobmar28]

Having just been to London in December, thats an absolute crock of sh1t.

I don't know about that, winter in Australia can be a bit cold. I remember watching the game at Canberra stadium v Tigers in 2000 I think it was with snow all over the field. Something I haven't seen yet in the ESL which is played from late winter.

On the game, that field goal made it tough for the Storm with about ten minutes to go.

 

[roughyedspud]

To me it will stay a mickey mouse game until they get the timing of the fixture right.

we'll play it when every you want...but you lot don't want to play it after the grand final...

christ we even want to go down under to play it but you don't want that either..



we really need to sort this fixture out before the union boys cotton on to a world club championship game between the super 14 & european cup winners which i'm in no doubt will be done properly and played infront of 80,000 fans somewhere....and then again we will have missed the boat..

 

[dallymessenger]

I don't know about that, winter in Australia can be a bit cold. I remember watching the game at Canberra stadium v Tigers in 2000 I think it was with snow all over the field. Something I haven't seen yet in the ESL which is played from late winter.

On the game, that field goal made it tough for the Storm with about ten minutes to go.

last years first SL game with wigan at home was in snow

 

[Shorty]

Thanks Dally,I did not know the English wanted to play it down here.
I have no doubts that the SL teams are just as bit competitive as our own but I really would prefer if it was played on even grounds.

The locations should swap depending on which team wins,that means it's not always SL getting the advantage and our teams can properly compete.

The timing is also benefiting the SL,it should be at a time when both are catered for.
This way we will most probably always have a competitive match and entertainment factor.

It would also do absolute wonders for our International footy.

But alas I don't think the NRL will ever pull it's finger out.

 

[dallymessenger]

Thanks Dally,I did not know the English wanted to play it down here.
I have no doubts that the SL teams are just as bit competitive as our own but I really would prefer if it was played on even grounds.

The locations should swap depending on which team wins,that means it's not always SL getting the advantage and our teams can properly compete.

The timing is also benefiting the SL,it should be at a time when both are catered for.
This way we will most probably always have a competitive match and entertainment factor.

It would also do absolute wonders for our International footy.

But alas I don't think the NRL will ever pull it's finger out.

id love to see the old 1997 WCC thing done again.

the more english teams come and play our teams, the better theyll get and it will help test match footy.

plus their fans are amazing.

the more our teams keep getting beaten the more people will start to take notice of it.

a few years ago there was hardly much mention or even respect of sl from australian RL fans or media.

with all our good players there now, lots of us follow it quite a bit.

i dont think theres a big gap between them and us. their top 4 teams are all quite good, and getting better every year.

 

[Quidgybo]

we'll play it when every you want...but you lot don't want to play it after the grand final...

That was true when England played a winter season and we were sending a beer soaked Australian team across to play the previous year's English premiers in the middle their next season. But it hasn't been true since Super League moved to a summer season and it became possible for the two teams to meet coming off similar preparations. The only obstacles to an end of season meeting now is the two week difference between finishing times of the two seasons and the fact it remains an optional fixture only thrown together after the two premiership winners are actually decided. While that remains the case it'll be very hard to include in the post season without interferring with the rest of the international program - which in itself has become quite crowded since the Tri-Nations appeared on the scene. The match ultimately must be scheduled as a integral part of the international program with the host hemisphere, date and time of the match locked in a year in advance (at the same time as the Tri-Nations program) and the mandatory participation of the two premiership winning teams made a condition of participating in the respective competitions.

Leigh.

 

[westie]

My solution is home and away aggregate fixtures. Whoever gets the first game can either alternate or be worked out according to domestic season finish times.

Plenty of money to be made. Credible. No whinging. It has the potential to become the marquee event of the year. Showcases our game on a level AFL can never hope for.

Only negatives, apart from selfish players not wanting to earn their money, is the potential to harm the international game by coinciding fixtures. I'm sure a schedule wouldn't be hard to work out though.