League Season Overhaul

[imported_Mystery Man]

I’ve been thinking for a long time now that the structure of the rugby league season, in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres, is in need of a major overhaul. The main problems that I see are the following: <ul> [*]NRL and SL seasons are too long; [*]Test football is a sham with no structured schedule; and [*]Lack of uniformity between the NRL and SL seasons.[/list] This is how I believe that the season should be structured : The NRL season should be 18 or 19 weeks long, starting in either the first or second week of March and finishing in the last week of August. A five-week, top 8 finals system to be implemented. The SL season could start earlier and be longer to accommodate the Challenge Cup and due to the more suitable weather conditions. The SL season should culminate in a grand final on the same weekend as the NRL grand final. The State of Origin to be played mid-season on weekends as it was this year, with all NRL matches suspended. Have two NRL rounds between each origin game. The city-country origin should be expanded to a triangular series by including a Queensland A team. Three matches would be played on the Friday nights of the origin weeks in places such as country NSW, Gosford, Newcastle, Townsville and Cairns. On the same three weekends that State of Origin is played, a home nations tournament would be played in Great Britain. This would also provide two matches each weekend and enable each team to play the other once. Investigate the possibility of a NZ Origin series to be played at the same time. Either between Auckland and the rest of NZ or Auckland, Wellington and the South Island. The months of September and October to be entirely dedicated to test football. Following the grand final, there should be a weeks break and then a best of three test series played between Australia and New Zealand. This should be an annual event. In year one of a four year cycle there would be a Kangaroo tour, in year two a Kiwi tour and in year three a Lions tour. A world cup would be held in year four of each cycle. The previously mentioned events should be held in October and in the case of the Lions tour and World cup, into early November. A combined Pacific Islands teams (PNG, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa) should be created for Test series in years 1-3 of the cycle. Like great Britain, the Pacific team would compete as individual nations during the world cup. I would also stage a pacific cup every two years during September. Here is how I envision the international season over a four year cycle : [Home teams mentioned first] Year 1 Week 1 Aus v NZ 1 France v Pacific Week 2 NZ v Aus 2 Great Britain v Pacific 1 Week 3 Aus v NZ 3 Great Britain v Pacific 2 Week 4 No Tests Week 5 France v Aus NZ v Pacific 1 Week 6 GB v Aus 1 NZ v Pacific 2 Week 7 GB v Aus 2 NZ v Pacific 3 Week 8 GB v Aus 3 Year 2 Week 1 NZ v Aus 1 Pacific Cup week 1 Week 2 Aus v NZ 2 Pacific Cup week 2 Week 3 NZ v Aus 3 Pacific Cup week 3 GB v France 1 Week 4 France v GB 2 Week 5 France v NZ Aus v Pacific 1 Week 6 GB v NZ 1Aus v Pacific 2 Week 7 GB v NZ 2 Aus v Pacific 3 Week 8 GB v NZ 3 Year 3 Week 1 Aus v NZ 1 Week 2 NZ v Aus 2 Pacific v GB 1 Week 3 Aus v NZ 3 Pacific v GB 2 Week 4 Pacific v France 1 Week 5 Pacific v France 2 Aus v GB 1 Week 6 Aus v GB 2 Week 7 Aus v GB 3NZ v France Week 8 NZ v GB 1 Aus v France Week 9 NZ v GB 2 Week 10 NZ v GB 3 Week 4 Week 1 NZ v Aus 1Pacific Cup week 1 Northern Hemisphere trial tests Week 2 Aus v NZ 2 Pacific Cup week 2 Northern Hemisphere trial tests Week 3 NZ v Aus 3Pacific Cup week 3 Northern Hemisphere trial tests Week 4 No tests Weeks 5 - 9 World Cup This is basically how I’d like to see the season go. Admittedly it mainly covers the top nations but it would be something to start from. Its main benefits are that it reduces the length of the club competitions, creates a definite schedule for test football, and introduces uniformity between the NRL and SL seasons and mid-season representative football. All comments and suggestions are welcome.

 

[imported_global13]

Mate, I agree, an overhaul is overdue.Both the nrl and esl seasons need shortening to allow more focus on rep and international football but the club bosses will continue to veto anything threatening club gate receipts.
International rugby league needs urgent attention. The pacific region needs regular pacific cups.They need inclusions as undercards for tests between australia, nz, GB or the home nations, france, even png. They need incentive and help (not just money).
France needs help capitalising on it's momentum after their world cup success and numerous test matches since. See the french ru is already pilfering their league stars.
Russia is on a tightrope - fall and say goodbye for good, success and other eastern european/ eurasian countries may get a taste of the greatest game.
Morocco and lebanon , the first has a comp but needs assistance and exposure, the second may soon have a comp. If it succeeds what other north african countires may join?
Italy and spain? Players of italian heritage aren't hard to find and work has already started for a comp- hopefully soon. French rl heartlands lie just over the border from spain, a team from spanish catalan could join the french comp with expansion from there.
NZ- a stronger domestic comp, north v south origin.
North america is a must.
Great britain and the home nations- what is happening there! County of origin is a start , a home nations plus france series is compulsary. Wales R.U. struggle to team tonga who get thrashed by the all blacks and still it looks as if harris and cunningham are gonna join them.
So much potential, so much to work with but the faceless Rugby league international federation seem (apart from tas bateiri ?spelling) not interested . Shit, andrew johns could be and should be huger than any union wannabes.Rugby league has the product, has the talent but friggin nuff-nuff administrators piss in their own pockets and realise only their own ambitions but not those of rugby league.
Yeah, I agree, league needs a solid structure for it's domestic comps tied in with regular internationals between the best nations, and decent , meaningful exposure for the intermediate and fledgling ones and the sooner the nrl, esl, rlif, frl etc attend to this the sooner we'll see john o'neils smug grin wiped off his face,
cheers, global13.
please excuse my waffling.

 

This message has been deleted by the author.

 

[legend]

What Mystery Man has proposed is probably a little shorter than the current format we now have and the players no doubt would look forward to a reduced schedule. I also think the Lions tour should incorporate a tour of France as well. I really think they are on the verge of becoming a competetive League nation again and every effort should be made to accomodate and what better way than to play the mighty Kangaroos. I also think the French need to have their own ESL side to ensure competetiveness.

Ahhh, if only I was a billionaire. I would pour millions into the development of RL every year to show the world we have the greatest game of all.

 

[Hass]

There are a few glitches in the program. Firstly, this spells the end of the Traditional Kangaroo Tour. It used to be the best promotion for the game in Britain, however this structure sees any possibilty of that kind of tour gone. Instead replaced with a 3 Test Series and nothing more.

People in Australia have not embraced International football at the end of the season. The only thing they embrace is the Roo Tour which by the time the Tests were played had hitNovemeber and the people were refreshed.

However as for playing tests in Australia after the season has finished, it would struggle to gain support. I'd prefer to see the year kickoff with Internationals, and while I won't go into detail now I'll post my International plan for League up hopefully tonight (if not then tomorrow).

Cheers.

 

[legend]

Hass, what if they expanded the squad to say 28 or 30 players and play the strong clubs in mid week games? I think it could be done and i'd be real interested in seeing how the fringe players go against the top ESL sides like Wigan, Bradford, St Helens, Leeds etc and then tack on a short tour of France by starting with a match against a presidents XIII and then two tests against France.

Another thing I would like to see is an academy side from the U.K to come to Australia and play against a select side from both the Bundy Gold cup and a first division select XIII. All players chosen for these games must be under the age of 21 and with the proposed changed to first division and flegg I think this could be a definite possibilty as well. It all just needs proper planning from all parties to make it work.

 

[legend]

Mystery Man certainly does live up to his name. For some reason he has unjoined the forum and has vanished into thin air.

 

[Hass]

He's always been the one to start these monumental threads, disappear, then come back when there are 50 posts on them.

He's more than a mystery, he's an <u>enigma</u>.

Cheers.

 

[legend]

There was a bloke called Enigma on WORL once. Is this the same person? This should be handed over to the X-files.

 

[imported_global13]

There can never be too much footy for the fans, for the players that's not the case. Rugby league obviously causes untold wear and tear that takes more toll the longer a season is so to increase rep and international football without seriously reducing the domestic comp will see more and more injured and flat players by years end.
But the club bosses don't want any eating away of potential revenue with reduced home games. Just look at the farcical situation in england where the top 4 play each other up to 4 times in the regular season, some midweek games but certainly some wekends that could be freed up for rep/ international footy.Who gives way?
The way I see it less home clubgames means lower gate receipts at years end butan increase in meaningful internationals means more funds to central governing bodies . With a streamlining of these governing bodies, with decent promotion of internationals , placing internationals at the pinnacle of all games not just tacked in willy-nilly, with a structured international calender and a long term fixed plan, with a sympathetic media , with these things and more, rugby leagues coffers can fill andif the moneyif distributed into junior development, fledgling nations, more promotion, more rugby league for the fan but no burnout to the players.Bigger crowds to less club games will balance some loss for the club bosses, other benefits will trickle down, up, across to the clubs. All can prosper if if the whole package is improved.
I don't have a set plan myself for the club, rep and international seasons, just a belief that improving international football will see more junior involvement- national jerseys worn, kids playing games etc which only improves our game from bottom up. Footy fans will still have an abundance of games, players will have something to play for other than a premiership, other nations will be exposed to the almighty kangaroos , try to emulate them and dream of beating them ( and maybe one day france wil beat us again just like in the '50's when ?60,000 watched france bedazzle us at the scg).
It's a mighty job but not inconceivable, we've got the fans, the players, the game but do we have the administrators , do we have the media?
Cheers, global13.

 

[Studebaker]

I wish Mystery Man would sign on and stay, or just piss off alltogether.

 

[imported_Mailman]

Some excellent ideas there Mystery Man.

However, I do not agree with having a Top 8 system for the NRL finals series. I feel having 8 teams rewards a mediocre season for teams who may just scrape into 8th place or 7th place.

For a 14, 15 or 16 team competition, I think the right number of teams for the finals is 5. We have seen it work in the past, and it also rewards teams who work hard to finish in the Top 5 at seasons end. Having 8 teams is far too many.

 

[imported_Mystery Man]

The reason that I unsubscribed was because I forgot to hide my email address. I've since rejoined and changed that particular option. Having said that, I'll be disappearing back into the shadows for at least a couple of months following tonight due to commitments that I have. On to the topic...

The Warlock

As legend said, my proposed season is quite a bit shorter than the current setup so I don't think that the players' enthusiasm would be dampened too much. The reason that I chose to start the test series so soon after thegrand final(s) is to keep the season compact. There would be a two week break between the grand final and the first test and I feel that this is adequate. It must be remembered that many players would have already have hada months break, or more, before the test series kicks off. Also, if there was to be a 4-6 week break the season would be stretched out too long. There are a number of disadvantages to this. They are :
<ul> [*]The longer the season the shorter the off-season. This can lead to player burnout and could result in inadequate preparation for the following year. [*]Test football would end up either being reduced or being played into November and possibly December. One of the main reasons for post-grand final tests failing in the past has been because the break has been too long between the grand final and the tests and, as a result, people lose interest in football. Also, people (in Australia particularly) don't seem to have an interest in football in November. This is summer and cricket season.[/list] I understand where you are coming with regards to player burnout, but I did take that into consideration when formulating this schedule. The NRL season is 6 or 7 weeks shorter than the current setup. legend I did actually include France in the Kangaroo and Kiwi tours. I had both Australia and New Zealand play a test against them in the leadup to the series against Great Britain. If France were to improve I would have them playing a two test series against both nations. I also had France tour the Pacific, New Zealand and Australia at the same time as the Lions. Note : By the way, I've never gone under the name Enigma or anything else. Hass I know that I have not included a traditional Kangaroo tour but that was due to me wanting to restrict the number of matches. Tradition is a great thing, but, in this case, I feel like it is getting in the way of progress. As I said above, the reason that I feel that end of season test football has not worked in Australia is because the break was too long after the grand final and the tests were held too late in the year. With a reduced NRL/SL season, it will still be what is traditionally "a football time of the year" when the tests are being held. I also think part of the problem for the failure of test football after the grand final is because : <ul> [*]a) like many things is rugby league, the administration weren't prepared to stick with something if it didn't work immediately; and [*]b) fans were never really able to get excited about test football because, in recent times, it has been under a different format every year. The reason why series such as the state of origin and rugby union's tri-nations have been so successful is because they are the same format every year, people know what to expect, and, therefore, people get excited because it means something to them.[/list] Mailman I understand where you are coming from. Eight teams out of fourteen is too many for a finals series. However, from a commercial perspective I understand the reasons for it. In addition to more finals matches and therefore more gate-takings, TV revenue, sponsorship and media exposure, it keeps people interested in the season for a longer period of time as there are more finals spots available. Earlier in the year, on the WORL boards, I started a thread about a superior, top-eight finals system. It went for five weeks and was a vast improvement on the current system (I was told that another member, Glenn C, had already suggested the exact same system long before I came up with it). The main advantages of it are that it eliminates the flaw of the McIntyre system and the old ARL (current AFL) system that means that a top 4 team can be eliminated after their first loss. The other advantage, which is especially relevant to a 14 team competition, is that for a bottom 4 team to win, they must win five consecutive matches. If, as I believe is necessary, you have home-ground advantage all throughout the finals (excepting the grand final), it would making winning the title from outside the top 4 extremely difficult. Here is how the system works. For the purposes of this example, assume that all the higher-ranked teams win each match. 1 v 4 3 v 6 1 v 2 2 v 3 1 v 2 2 v 3 4 v 5 3 v 4 5 v 8 6 v 7