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THE NRL revealed it is in danger of turning State of Origin into the Fosters beer of sport. Loved and adored overseas, disappearing at home.
Swamped by Origin I last week, two stories appeared in Mondays papers that were largely overlooked but spoke to the bipolar nature of the NRL.
Now that we have resumed normal programming, though, it is time to examine where the NRL is going and can we ever arrest it.
The first and most important was the people of Boggabilla and the towns fight for a team in the Country Rugby League amid the NRLs almost total disregard for their plight.
Not even the six mandatory footballs the CRL is supposed to supply to every country team made it their way when they ran out for their first ever formal game of rugby league.
The Boggabilla story is an example of the redemptive powers of rugby league.
Violent factions are a reality of every small town. Small biases often become blood feuds and Boggabilla was no different. Until they got their team.
Young men in town overlooked their prejudices to come together for something bigger, something greater than angry, ancient words.
Its brought the entire community together, Carl McGrady told Phil Rothfield.
Of course there was a McGrady involved. The McGradys are arguably the greatest collection of bush footballers anywhere in the country.
In small towns like this you have cliques and factions that lead to disagreements, McGrady said.
This rugby league team has united the town and brought everyone together like weve never witnessed before.
It moved Parramatta coach Brad Arthur so much he did a whip around for spare equipment to send to Boggabilla. Rugby league, coming together.
At the same time, the same day, the NRL admitted to plans to take a State of Origin game outside their home states every year.
Never one to miss a marketing opportunity, the new NRL and its commission continues to realise the money pit that is Origin and how much more cash could be made by an annual sale to the highest bidder.
Forget the $2 billion television rights. Forget the fact Origin remains, at its heart, an interstate competition between NSW and Queensland.
The game needs to be taken on the road. For a price.
Claims the Origin roadshow is about growth are a little hard to swallow.
For one, just a month before the NRL confirmed its intention to expand the game it allowed the best player in Fiji, a man who could have done untold benefit to the game if he remained in Fijian black and white, to play for Australia.
Semi Radradra is gone for Fiji now. They are looking for a new hero.
Not to worry, there is no money in Fiji anyway.
There is in New Zealand, though, and Perth, a city the NRL has teased for years.
Already the League has indicated Singapore and Hong Kong might be fitting to host NRL grand finals in coming seasons when ANZ Stadium is being rebuilt.
What good is expanding the game to international waters, though, if the game is faltering here?
Junior registration numbers in NSW are in decline. Promises to take more NRL games to the bush, made some years back, are dead. City-Country is on its last legs.
It would be easier to accept the NRLs grand plan to sell off Origin if there was a grassroots strategy in conjunction with it. They must go together. For the games sake. Grow the game here, grow it there.
My concern is that the bloodlines in charge at League Central dont go far enough back to understand the full picture.
More than 20 years ago I had the Sydney Swans in my ear telling me of all the wonderful things they were doing and how they should be taken seriously in NSW.
The AFL was looking for a foothold. That was all.
We were a rugby league state but the AFL, always building for tomorrow, was undaunted. Figures I reported in 1994 showed the AFL was spending $6 million a year on junior development in regional NSW and Queensland.
The ARL was a quarter of that, $1.5 million.
The ARLs response was simple. The AFL was wasting its money, we were rugby league states.
It was too simple. Now, AFL registrations rise every year.
Last year the AFL, a greater threat than ever, spent $25 million in both states. Traditional non-AFL states, if it needed to be said. The NRL spent $20 million.
And cant afford footballs in Boggabilla.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...k/news-story/af0863dcac71013b73444bfdc2f3816e
Swamped by Origin I last week, two stories appeared in Mondays papers that were largely overlooked but spoke to the bipolar nature of the NRL.
Now that we have resumed normal programming, though, it is time to examine where the NRL is going and can we ever arrest it.
The first and most important was the people of Boggabilla and the towns fight for a team in the Country Rugby League amid the NRLs almost total disregard for their plight.
Not even the six mandatory footballs the CRL is supposed to supply to every country team made it their way when they ran out for their first ever formal game of rugby league.
The Boggabilla story is an example of the redemptive powers of rugby league.
Violent factions are a reality of every small town. Small biases often become blood feuds and Boggabilla was no different. Until they got their team.
Young men in town overlooked their prejudices to come together for something bigger, something greater than angry, ancient words.
Its brought the entire community together, Carl McGrady told Phil Rothfield.
Of course there was a McGrady involved. The McGradys are arguably the greatest collection of bush footballers anywhere in the country.
In small towns like this you have cliques and factions that lead to disagreements, McGrady said.
This rugby league team has united the town and brought everyone together like weve never witnessed before.
It moved Parramatta coach Brad Arthur so much he did a whip around for spare equipment to send to Boggabilla. Rugby league, coming together.
At the same time, the same day, the NRL admitted to plans to take a State of Origin game outside their home states every year.
Never one to miss a marketing opportunity, the new NRL and its commission continues to realise the money pit that is Origin and how much more cash could be made by an annual sale to the highest bidder.
Forget the $2 billion television rights. Forget the fact Origin remains, at its heart, an interstate competition between NSW and Queensland.
The game needs to be taken on the road. For a price.
Claims the Origin roadshow is about growth are a little hard to swallow.
For one, just a month before the NRL confirmed its intention to expand the game it allowed the best player in Fiji, a man who could have done untold benefit to the game if he remained in Fijian black and white, to play for Australia.
Semi Radradra is gone for Fiji now. They are looking for a new hero.
Not to worry, there is no money in Fiji anyway.
There is in New Zealand, though, and Perth, a city the NRL has teased for years.
Already the League has indicated Singapore and Hong Kong might be fitting to host NRL grand finals in coming seasons when ANZ Stadium is being rebuilt.
What good is expanding the game to international waters, though, if the game is faltering here?
Junior registration numbers in NSW are in decline. Promises to take more NRL games to the bush, made some years back, are dead. City-Country is on its last legs.
It would be easier to accept the NRLs grand plan to sell off Origin if there was a grassroots strategy in conjunction with it. They must go together. For the games sake. Grow the game here, grow it there.
My concern is that the bloodlines in charge at League Central dont go far enough back to understand the full picture.
More than 20 years ago I had the Sydney Swans in my ear telling me of all the wonderful things they were doing and how they should be taken seriously in NSW.
The AFL was looking for a foothold. That was all.
We were a rugby league state but the AFL, always building for tomorrow, was undaunted. Figures I reported in 1994 showed the AFL was spending $6 million a year on junior development in regional NSW and Queensland.
The ARL was a quarter of that, $1.5 million.
The ARLs response was simple. The AFL was wasting its money, we were rugby league states.
It was too simple. Now, AFL registrations rise every year.
Last year the AFL, a greater threat than ever, spent $25 million in both states. Traditional non-AFL states, if it needed to be said. The NRL spent $20 million.
And cant afford footballs in Boggabilla.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...k/news-story/af0863dcac71013b73444bfdc2f3816e