I will not be silent about this

[gyallop]

The reserve grade that Casey Clark played while he was in OZ was for the Helensburgh Tigers. In the Illiwara comp. They won their Grand Final. The reason he wasn't first grade was cause they were so loaded on NRL kick backs. Have you seen him play? He's the #1 on my list for being selected. But there plenty more. Taylor Ally from Jacksonville should be there too.
I've played with an against some of Australia's best. And when they come to the USA I think customs takes their skills. Cause from Danialle Wagon to Shannon Hagardy and Dustin cooper they're not super stars. But maybe it is the US LEVEL IS SH!T.

Fact is if the Selected USA team is nothing more then an Australia 2 team. Cause if they were that good they'd be playing for Australia. Right?

Matty Helensburgh had only one former NRL player in the squad, Ian Donnelly who was at the end of a modest career. The second comment doesnt make sense if you play for Australia you arent good you are one of the best players on the planet. The continued comments about the high standard of league in the USA and comparisons to australian comps is absurd and like me making similar comments about our american football league ( which is played by failed or retired league players or those too fat or slow to play league in the main)

 

[MattyCLark]

Never said that Casey and or I should be on the WC squad. Casey would be if he wouldn't have gotten injured in the Colonial Cup match.
Also never said that the USA had a high level of RL. But there are high level players that should b on the WC squad. Over some Australian players.
So now Australia has 2teams to play for.

The selection it a joke and I'm done and hope Casey is done with RL. This is the 2 time I've seen the Tomahawks F--k over their players. Was just hopin to have a team to cheer for in the WC. Cause they are no USA TEAM


So sorry you boys don't understand my comments. Won't happen again.

 

[byrner]

Never said that Casey and or I should be on the WC squad. Casey would be if he wouldn't have gotten injured in the Colonial Cup match.
Also never said that the USA had a high level of RL. But there are high level players that should b on the WC squad. Over some Australian players.
So now Australia has 2teams to play for.

The selection it a joke and I'm done and hope Casey is done with RL. This is the 2 time I've seen the Tomahawks F--k over their players. Was just hopin to have a team to cheer for in the WC. Cause they are no USA TEAM


So sorry you boys don't understand my comments. Won't happen again.

No we actually have about 6 teams to cheer for. A lot of other squads are made up with aussie players anyway.

As I said earlier I feel for you guys, but the problem here is with you governing body. Hopefully with the f..k up all the amnrl players will move to the usarl and they can become the governing body soon.

 

[gyallop]

Edit: I've found the squad.


I've barely heard of any of those players. The fact that guys like Pope, Shorten, the Clark brothers, Cunz, Taylor Welch, O'Malveney, Wiggins, Muliumu etc have missed out is a joke.

Matty Clarke just posted that Casey would have been picked but for injury and has said he himself isnt of standard refreshing honesty there. on this list you have 2 aussies and a very old kiwi so how would their selection change anything?

If the one player the USA guys are screaming about that should have been picked wasnt due to injury they are either being deliberately misleading or just out of touch with what is really happening!!

 

[gyallop]

Luke Hume out and Taylor Welch in according to the official 24 man squads on rlwc2013.com

 

[Boston13s]

samoa picked 2 and tonga 5 but one is an aussie who last played reserve grade in the qld cup.

I am still confused by the whingers in the USA (from a playing pool smaller than one club in my local comp ) 8 residents have been picked so it isnt the number but who. I know little of Duratalo except that they say he is from union but every USA player I know comes from union and plays more games of union in a year than league, maybe he is the same. the other thing that amuses me is that they dont regard Hawaii as part of the USA as they dont count the hawaiian kid.

I also find it ironic that an aussie with no connection to the USA other than being there who himself took a tomahawk spot from american born players wants to challenge the rights of players with birth and blood line connections to the USA!

I think the guys here just have some question marks over some of the domestic players picked. Hopefully I can shed some light on some of the players in question:

Andrew Durutalo (USA Eagles) - To my knowledge has never played league which understandably will upset guys who have worked their asses off for years to make the squad. Why didn't they play him in the Colonial Cup to get some RL experience?

Gabriel Farley (Southampton Dragons) - I'd never heard of this fella until the squad was announced. A quick google says he's an Aussie on dual citizenship studying in the USA.

Kristian Freed (Connecticut Wildcats) - Freedy is a great guy but is an Aussie with a US passport.

Mark Offerdahl (Connecticut Wildcats) - Another great guy but is an Aussie with a US passport. By all accounts I hear Mark is currently living in Chicago.

Craig Priestly (Southampton Dragons) - Craig is a good guy and set up the Dragons this year. But again is an Aussie who I think qualifies as he's been here 3 years or more.

Les Soloai (Featherstone Rovers) - I am not 100% on this but I thought Les was based in Hawaii. When he was selected for the RLWC was the first I heard of his link to Featherstone. He played in the Colonial Cup which is credible (And I think he was flying in from Hawaii for this). The problem with the Hawaii guys is that there is skepticism if a RL competition even happens there. There is certainly no mention of it on the AMNRL website.

Lelauloto Tagaloa (Hawaii Chiefs) As with Les, I believe Loto was flying in from Hawaii for Tomahawks games (Huge wraps for that). But again is there an actual RL comp in Hawaii?

Taylor Welch (Chicago Griffins) I'm confused why Taylor has been announced as a Chicago Griffins (Union) player. Press releases were sent out this year with him playing for the Chicago Stockyarders (League) and also the New York Raiders (League) & Connecticut Wildcats (League). He is a born and raised American who moved to Warrington in 2003 and took to league then.

Hopefully this maybe sheds some information on these players that otherwise hasn't been available.

Also, what is confusing is that in the official squad announcements are that people's clubs have been announced differently than the squad announcement last week. The changes are in bold below. Garvey is an Ipswich Jets player (Formerly a Bull), Freed & Offerdahl played with the Wildcats here this summer but were previously with those clubs in France.

Mark Cantoni (Dalby), Andrew Durutalo (USA Eagles), Bureta Faramio (Mackay Cutters), Gabriel Farley (Southampton Dragons), Kristian Freed (Racing Club Lescure), Michael Garvey (Pennsylvania Bulls), Roman Hifo (Papakura Sea Eagles), Daniel Howard (Wentworthville Magpies), Stephen Howard (Tuggerong Bushrangers), Judah Lavulo (Cabramatta), Haveatama Luani (Wests Tigers), David Marando (Belrose Eagles), Ryan McGoldrick (Salford Red Devils), Clint Newton (Penrith Panthers), Mark Offerdahl (AS Carcassone XIII), Joseph Paulo (Parramatta Eels), Junior Paulo (Windsor Wolves), Matthew Petersen (Cudgen Hornets), Craig Priestly (Southampton Dragons), Tuisegasega Samoa (Redcliffe Dolphins), Matthew Shipway (South Newcastle), Les Soloai (Featherstone Rovers), Lelauloto Tagaloa (Hawaii Chiefs), Taylor Welch (Chicago Griffins)

 

[byrner]

I think there is some form of racism going on here. It seems to me with all the players outline above that the real issue a lot of people have is that some of these people arnt 'full blooded americans'.

 

[Rhode Island Rebellion]

I think there is some form of racism going on here. It seems to me with all the players outline above that the real issue a lot of people have is that some of these people arnt 'full blooded americans'.

Its a world cup competition. Its all about nationalism. If you wanted to have a tournament just call it a tournament, not a world cup.

 

[Evil Homer]

Curtis Cunz added as 'team ambassador': http://www.rlwc2013.com/rugby-league-world-news/article/1150/cunz-becomes-the-face-of

 

[Western_Eel]

USA did alright in the the liberty cup in 2004

 

[spinnerhowland]

EXPLAINING THE USA SITUATION FOR THE OVERSEAS FAN - Key to developing a new sport in a country where the sport is UNKNOWN in any real way at all.... ENGAGE THE LOCAL SPORTS FAN and PROMOTE THE ELITE DOMESTIC PLAYERS AS THE BEST. In the USA this is even more important due to th ePATRIOTISM that this country is known for when it comes to supporting their own. So.......here we are and the Rugby Leagu...e World Cup 2013 RLWC is happening. I am sure a lot of ...people in Australian, New Zealand, the UK, France, etc are all very aware due to the media attention it gets. Even in countries small in size and population where the sports is popular with the masses, it will get attention and be noticed. BUT in a country like the USA the only way you will engage the LOCAL fan is put some LOCAL players, who are well known because they have played in the domestic comps for a few years, they have been apart of the qualifying process, and the DOMESTIC Rugby League Community KNOWS THEM, IDENTIFIES with them and feels as if they are ENGAGED with their efforts. For those not familiar with the USA here is our competition to get our fans to show an interest in a team where they no NONE of the players, and the sport is MINOR. There is this thing called the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE, many of you know it as the NFL. It is the most powerful sporting brand in the WORLD and it is in the middle of its season. Then there is COLLEGE FOOTBALL, and anyone who has been to the USA knows just how big that is with about everyone in the country. And then through some unfortunate coincidence, the last week of October just happens to be the WORLD SERIES of MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL (I trust some of you have heard of the NY Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and the like) - So if you think that the Rugby League Fan in the USA is going to be interested in a team of guys they have never heard of, playing a game they have only just found out exists, then you are sadly very wrong. And even more so, if you think they will hear anything about the RLWC on domestic media when all this other stuff is happening, again your sadly wrong. The only way the Rugby League Community of the USA would have shown any interest in the team would have been if some of the TRUE KNOWN LOCAL PLAYERS where on it. The players would have promoted themselves, it would have given their teams and their leagues something to engage the LOCAL FANS with, and the younger players would have looked up and said "I know that guy, I wanna play in a WC on day."
NO TRUE, KNOWN DOMESTIC PLAYERS on the National Team, means there is nothing to ENGAGE the Domestic Fan with. Therefore this is the single biggest missed opportunity for the development of Rugby League in the USA!
(IN the middle of the NRL Finals in Australia - how much attention would be shown to an Ice Hockey Tournament being played in Canada get? Even if an Aussie team was playing in it! (No offense Aussie Ice Hockey Teams, I am sure you feel our pain))

 

[gyallop]

EXPLAINING THE USA SITUATION FOR THE OVERSEAS FAN - Key to developing a new sport in a country where the sport is UNKNOWN in any real way at all.... ENGAGE THE LOCAL SPORTS FAN and PROMOTE THE ELITE DOMESTIC PLAYERS AS THE BEST. In the USA this is even more important due to th ePATRIOTISM that this country is known for when it comes to supporting their own. So.......here we are and the Rugby Leagu...e World Cup 2013 RLWC is happening. I am sure a lot of ...people in Australian, New Zealand, the UK, France, etc are all very aware due to the media attention it gets. Even in countries small in size and population where the sports is popular with the masses, it will get attention and be noticed. BUT in a country like the USA the only way you will engage the LOCAL fan is put some LOCAL players, who are well known because they have played in the domestic comps for a few years, they have been apart of the qualifying process, and the DOMESTIC Rugby League Community KNOWS THEM, IDENTIFIES with them and feels as if they are ENGAGED with their efforts. For those not familiar with the USA here is our competition to get our fans to show an interest in a team where they no NONE of the players, and the sport is MINOR. There is this thing called the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE, many of you know it as the NFL. It is the most powerful sporting brand in the WORLD and it is in the middle of its season. Then there is COLLEGE FOOTBALL, and anyone who has been to the USA knows just how big that is with about everyone in the country. And then through some unfortunate coincidence, the last week of October just happens to be the WORLD SERIES of MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL (I trust some of you have heard of the NY Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and the like) - So if you think that the Rugby League Fan in the USA is going to be interested in a team of guys they have never heard of, playing a game they have only just found out exists, then you are sadly very wrong. And even more so, if you think they will hear anything about the RLWC on domestic media when all this other stuff is happening, again your sadly wrong. The only way the Rugby League Community of the USA would have shown any interest in the team would have been if some of the TRUE KNOWN LOCAL PLAYERS where on it. The players would have promoted themselves, it would have given their teams and their leagues something to engage the LOCAL FANS with, and the younger players would have looked up and said "I know that guy, I wanna play in a WC on day."
NO TRUE, KNOWN DOMESTIC PLAYERS on the National Team, means there is nothing to ENGAGE the Domestic Fan with. Therefore this is the single biggest missed opportunity for the development of Rugby League in the USA!
(IN the middle of the NRL Finals in Australia - how much attention would be shown to an Ice Hockey Tournament being played in Canada get? Even if an Aussie team was playing in it! (No offense Aussie Ice Hockey Teams, I am sure you feel our pain))

No disrepect but arent you preaching to the converted? isnt the bigger picture the 313,900,000 other Americans who havent heard of RL? who are these 6 true known players?
I switch off when some of your supporters say american born guys like Clint Newton should be picked just because they were born there WTF
What about a challenge game to give these guys a shot at seeing how good they are......that would surely create the interest you crave??

 

[gyallop]

USA did alright in the the liberty cup in 2004

against a drunk australian team playing touch!

 

[RedVee]

My biggest issue is with players being picked that are seemingly registered as Union players.
I also have an issue - maybe due to misunderstanding - with the seeming turn around from the Colonial Cup. It seemed like real progress was being made, USARL players were getting picked, they agreed to extra games (why if not to work on combinations and promotion prior to the RLWC?); then it just seemed to be "flick the switch, bad to the bad ol' days" time.

Spinner, I have actually watched the Australian Ice Hockey team ikn an International against a Euro team in 89 (I think). Got our arses smacked.

 

[bender]

I think the guys here just have some question marks over some of the domestic players picked. Hopefully I can shed some light on some of the players in question:

Andrew Durutalo (USA Eagles) - To my knowledge has never played league which understandably will upset guys who have worked their asses off for years to make the squad. Why didn't they play him in the Colonial Cup to get some RL experience?

Gabriel Farley (Southampton Dragons) - I'd never heard of this fella until the squad was announced. A quick google says he's an Aussie on dual citizenship studying in the USA.

Kristian Freed (Connecticut Wildcats) - Freedy is a great guy but is an Aussie with a US passport.

Mark Offerdahl (Connecticut Wildcats) - Another great guy but is an Aussie with a US passport. By all accounts I hear Mark is currently living in Chicago.

Craig Priestly (Southampton Dragons) - Craig is a good guy and set up the Dragons this year. But again is an Aussie who I think qualifies as he's been here 3 years or more.

Les Soloai (Featherstone Rovers) - I am not 100% on this but I thought Les was based in Hawaii. When he was selected for the RLWC was the first I heard of his link to Featherstone. He played in the Colonial Cup which is credible (And I think he was flying in from Hawaii for this). The problem with the Hawaii guys is that there is skepticism if a RL competition even happens there. There is certainly no mention of it on the AMNRL website.

Lelauloto Tagaloa (Hawaii Chiefs) As with Les, I believe Loto was flying in from Hawaii for Tomahawks games (Huge wraps for that). But again is there an actual RL comp in Hawaii?

Taylor Welch (Chicago Griffins) I'm confused why Taylor has been announced as a Chicago Griffins (Union) player. Press releases were sent out this year with him playing for the Chicago Stockyarders (League) and also the New York Raiders (League) & Connecticut Wildcats (League). He is a born and raised American who moved to Warrington in 2003 and took to league then.

Hopefully this maybe sheds some information on these players that otherwise hasn't been available.

Also, what is confusing is that in the official squad announcements are that people's clubs have been announced differently than the squad announcement last week. The changes are in bold below. Garvey is an Ipswich Jets player (Formerly a Bull), Freed & Offerdahl played with the Wildcats here this summer but were previously with those clubs in France.

Mark Cantoni (Dalby), Andrew Durutalo (USA Eagles), Bureta Faramio (Mackay Cutters), Gabriel Farley (Southampton Dragons), Kristian Freed (Racing Club Lescure), Michael Garvey (Pennsylvania Bulls), Roman Hifo (Papakura Sea Eagles), Daniel Howard (Wentworthville Magpies), Stephen Howard (Tuggerong Bushrangers), Judah Lavulo (Cabramatta), Haveatama Luani (Wests Tigers), David Marando (Belrose Eagles), Ryan McGoldrick (Salford Red Devils), Clint Newton (Penrith Panthers), Mark Offerdahl (AS Carcassone XIII), Joseph Paulo (Parramatta Eels), Junior Paulo (Windsor Wolves), Matthew Petersen (Cudgen Hornets), Craig Priestly (Southampton Dragons), Tuisegasega Samoa (Redcliffe Dolphins), Matthew Shipway (South Newcastle), Les Soloai (Featherstone Rovers), Lelauloto Tagaloa (Hawaii Chiefs), Taylor Welch (Chicago Griffins)

Can i ask for an honest answer to the following question:

Leaving aside the development advantages, would this side be strengthened or weakened by the inclusion of 4 or 5 USARL or AMNRL players? For me, this really is the most important question. More than any other nation, it is quite clear that the USA needs a possibles vs probables or homebased vs the rest game, like some of the other nations have. This would have really stopped a lot of the controversies, i would have thought.

 

[deluded pom?]

Bearing in mind bender this is an organisation that would arrange for trials prior to international matches that would never actually take place. The players then selected for the match usually comprised of the usual suspects and some players with no or minimal experience of RL that suited the AMNRL's agenda. A Probables v Possibles match was never ever in their plans. I seriously believe this is Niu's way of saying "If I can't control RL in America then I'll make sure the ones who will won't gain anything from the WC".

 

[Rhode Island Rebellion]

Bearing in mind bender this is an organisation that would arrange for trials prior to international matches that would never actually take place. The players then selected for the match usually comprised of the usual suspects and some players with no or minimal experience of RL that suited the AMNRL's agenda. A Probables v Possibles match was never ever in their plans. I seriously believe this is Niu's way of saying "If I can't control RL in America then I'll make sure the ones who will won't gain anything from the WC".

100% correct.

Does anyone know what Steve Johnson is professionally trained in, in Australia?

 

[deal.with.it]

He's a manager of some sort at ipswich jets, ceo of western corridor nrl bid, and possibly also involved with a law firm.
The usa squad sucks, but no where near as much as some others.

 

[Rhode Island Rebellion]

He's a manager of some sort at ipswich jets, ceo of western corridor nrl bid, and possibly also involved with a law firm.
The usa squad sucks, but no where near as much as some others.

Law Firm...

 

[Dakink]

Any response or even acknowledge meant from the RLIF?