New Aboriginal comp to rival CRL

[dimitri]

The ARL's decision is pretty predictable really. They, the NSWRL and the CRL are all part of the one family, though they are autonimous bodies. It would have been pretty rude if the ARL approved the NARL without the CRL agreeing.
The decision means the CRL must give the NARL the nod before it continues. They will meet tomorrow. The CRL may allow the NARL to continue but there will have to be significant consultation and co-operation with the CRL on a number of issues including insurance, referees etc. if it is to go ahead.

You could hardly call the CRL, ARL and NSWRL autonomous bodies

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Exactly. They are but they aren't.

 

[parra pete]

If they go it alone the competition would find huge problems getting insurance..
Because of that factor alone, the proposed competition has NO chance of getting off the ground...

 

[Copa]

If they go it alone the competition would find huge problems getting insurance..

.

Why?

 

[East Coast Tiger]

I heard they have said they will play without insurance (this is just what I heard, possibly not true). I can't see how that is possible, especially when insurance covers more than just the players. Money doesn't seem to be a problem because they reckon they've got hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding so you'd think they could buy insurance, assuming someone is willing to insure them. But that's a bit like the referees. Who would want to?

 

[parra pete]

I heard they have said they will play without insurance (this is just what I heard, possibly not true). I can't see how that is possible, especially when insurance covers more than just the players. Money doesn't seem to be a problem because they reckon they've got hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding so you'd think they could buy insurance, assuming someone is willing to insure them. But that's a bit like the referees. Who would want to?

It is all fun and games until someone gets seriously hurt..Then litigation causes all sorts of problems...
The organisers have a duty of care to make sure the players officials etc are covered and registered. It would be an administration nightmare.
I have found that it is very hard to get bookwork out of officials who are new to it. I have found most clubs are blaise` about completing paper work and unless someone is right on their hammer all the time - it tends to get overlooked.
They are interested in playing football. That is the most important aspect..but they need to take in the whole package..Administration, fund raising, ground marking, refereeing, book work and correct accounting and registrations. There is more to it than saying 'we are going to set up a new competition'.
It has disaster written all over it. If the organisers think the Clubs booted from CRL will be different in the new competition they are having themselves on. A leopard doesn't chanmge its spots.
If someone is seriously hurt and there is no insurance cover...heaven help the organisation.
Finding an insurance company willing to take out insurance will be a problem...Costs will rule it out of the question if the $181 per player charged by the CRL is any indication...
The costs would no doubt surge with less players involved...
That's how I understand how the system works.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

I heard today that the NARL have an overseas company willing to insure it. Money is not an issue for the NARL a sfar as I can tell. Aboriginal people may not be rich on average and may not attract a lot of sponsors but when it comes to gaining government funding there is no end of cash available to them. They reckon they have $600k in funding and they reckon they do have some sponsors on board.

I know someone who spoke to Michael Anderson today about his plans. I asked them to ask him about the hurdles and this was the response I got back (second hand).

Insurance: as I said they reckon they've got an overseas company on baord.
Referees: he said they have people lined up, mostly from out west where referees have worked previously but have not been needed since competitions out there collapsed.
Grounds: he said where a ground in not available, they will build them on Aboriginal owned land.
CRL approval: he said the meeting with the CRL got off to a rocky start but they are on the way to a reasonable agreement, but the CRL will further discuss the situation at its management committee meeting in a few weeks.

So they seem to have most of their bases covered. Maybe it could be a goer after all. However, long term success will rely on the ability of the clubs to administer themselves properly and the ability of the players/fans to behave themselves.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Oh and also on the CRL approval situation. Anderson has said that even if the NARL fails to meet CRL approval and can't be affiliated with the NSWRL or ARL they will go ahead regardless. He even likened it to Super League, saying Murdoch did it so they can too.

 

[Perth Red]

hmmmmm this has 1/2 ar$ed disaster written all over it. The CRL would do well to keep its distance. You'd think they would learn that throwing money at something isn't a solution!

 

[East Coast Tiger]

Heard today the CRL reckon this talk of money and a lot of the other things they've said is not true. They reckon they don't have the funding they said they have and that a lot of the plans they've made don't stand up to scrutiny.

 

[parra pete]

'Boxa' might be the major sponsor...I still find it hard to believe they will be able to attract an insurance company willing to take on the competition.
It's a kite flying exercise in my opinion. Murdoch got Super League off the ground, but he was far better organised, with the structure of News Limited, than the NARL is with theirs.

 

[innsaneink]

Dreamtime.

 

[Copa]

Heard today the CRL reckon this talk of money and a lot of the other things they've said is not true. They reckon they don't have the funding they said they have and that a lot of the plans they've made don't stand up to scrutiny.

I doubt the CRL would say at this time" this rival comp has lots of money and looks to be a real success and threat to our comp".

 

[East Coast Tiger]

That's if they even see it as a rival comp. The reason they are talking is to see if the NARL can fit in alongsid the CRL or if it can't without being problematic. One possibility that has been mooted is that the CRL will try again to set up a comp out west to give many of the sides who cannot currently play elsewhere a game. That would deal with those out west, leaving the others to (hopefully) go back to CRL clubs.

 

[parra-matters]

Heard on ABC local radio this morning that the comp looks like getting of the ground.
There are Referees from towns that no longer have teams that are keen to ref anf plenty of players keen. Far west teams when they play costal teams will meet halfway instead of travelling the whole way. They expect to move between 25,000 and 30,000 people around the state to games each week.
I think unless each team hires a bus it's going to be a nightmare getting everybody to the grounds on time and supporters as well. How many supporters are going to travel to inverrell or tamworth to watch Nambucca v Bourke?

 

[parra-matters]

The person interviewed still believes that the CRL and ARL will underwrite it.
Good luck to them I say.

 

[Mr_Ugly]

Media Release - can't source it since I got it via e-mail yesterday (from Scotland of all places).

> Subject: "Aboriginal Rugby League rejected without dialogue"
>
> “Aboriginal Rugby League rejected without dialogue”
>
>
> Media release by the NATIONS ABORIGINAL RUGBY LEAGUE COMPETITION
>
> The chairman/CEO of the new Nations Aboriginal Rugby League,
> Michael Anderson, says he’s absolutely astonished that the
> Australian Rugby League and the NSW Country Rugby League have
> dismissed the proposed competition “without any real and meaningful
> dialogue with us”. Anderson asks in a media statement whether clubs
> are being closed down because most of their players are Aborigines.
> The statement follows below:
>
>
> Goodooga NSW.
>
> I am absolutely astonished at the reaction of the ARL and the NSW
> Country Rugby League to dismiss the proposed competition without
> any real and meaningful dialogue with us.
>
> Their declaration that this competition will not be up and running
> in 2007 is a knee jerk reaction based on the false assumption that
> they are the only ones who can sanction the game of Rugby League.
>
> The ARL says the bush belongs to Country Rugby League and it is
> their area, but they haven’t done anything in the last years to
> support the bush and the kids of the bush.
>
> We are thinking of our children and their future. Country Rugby
> League is abandoning the bush because they have failed to support
> Rugby football and the clubs in the bush. We can and will.
>
> Rugby League in the bush is dead, parents cannot afford to pay the
> exorbitant insurance costs for their children to play competition
> Rugby League that is administered by the CRL. Parents in the
> Outback have no way to ensure that their children can play Rugby
> League in any junior competitions. Furthermore, parents who do wish
> to have the children play the game are themselves leaving their
> country homes for provincial centres where their children can play.
> This has a price for each of those families in more ways than one.
>
> We want to fill the gap, we want to give a real opportunity for the
> kids in the bush to play in a real competition. We want the kids
> off the street to play sports. We want to get them off the drugs
> and out of a future life of crime. Furthermore, we want to bring
> life back into the abandoned Outback towns like Bourke and Walgett,
> we want to create events and entertainment for everybody. We want
> to give the little shops and cafes a chance of survival and
> economic benefit for everybody out here.
>
> The ARL’s quick statement dismissing this proposed competition is
> without true merit. Country Rugby League does not conduct any Rugby
> League competitions that have real merit beyond Dubbo.
>
> Moreover, even centres like Dubbo are dying. The Dubbo Macquarie
> club no longer fields a team – is this because they had a team that
> consisted primarily of Aboriginal players?
>
> Then there is South Grafton and South Lismore on the North Coast
> who once had very strong clubs in the group 2 competition, this
> year, 2007, they no longer exist, again is it because each of these
> clubs were primarily Aboriginal clubs? This is not to mention the
> once great Warath Rugby and Maitland league club in Newcastle who
> either no longer field a team or are on the verge of closing.
>
> I cannot understand why the ARL are quick to dismiss this
> competition because the Country Rugby League does not even cover
> most of the area in which the Nations Rugby League will be active.
>
> I think the ARL and the CRL should be jumping with joy that a Super
> Rugby League Competition of the nature is being proposed.
>
> On the other side of this, the ARL NSW Rugby League and the CRL
> boast about employing Aboriginal Rugby League development officers
> in rural NSW.
>
> This is a new development and a cheap shot reaction to the rise of
> the Nations Rugby League.
>
> Of course we support any effort to involve kids in sport. But these
> initiatives are at the behest of the Federal Minister for
> Aboriginal Affairs, Mr. Mal Brough, who is funding all of these
> positions.
>
> The ARL and the CRL do not employ any Aboriginal development
> officers out of their own coffers. They only provide an in kind
> funding and that is an office to work out of and access to a
> telephone.
>
> More than this they employ people from major city centres and not
> people who live in and know the bush .
>
> An example of this is the employment by the NSW Rugby League and
> the CRL of an Aboriginal development officer from Dubbo who will
> come to Walgett and other centres to organise something for the
> children.
>
> One-day carnival events. Not good enough. We want more than this
> and the Nations Aboriginal Rugby League will provide it.
>
> Contact Michael Anderson at phones 02 68 29 63 55 and 04 27 29 24
> 92, fax 02 68 29 63 75.
>
>
> Original release
>
> NSW Aborigines form own Rugby League
>
> An inaugural Nations Aboriginal Rugby League competition is set to
> commence competitive Rugby League across northern NSW from
> Newcastle to Bourke. Newly appointed Chair CEO, Michael Anderson of
> Goodooga, said “We need to ensure NSW Country league gets rid of
> racist elements, who are actually holding back Aboriginal Rugby
> League development. "
> MEDIA RELEASE:
>
>
> NATIONS ABORIGINAL RUGBY LEAGUE (NARL)
>
> “The inaugural Nations Aboriginal Rugby League competition is set
> to commence competitive Rugby League across northern NSW from
> Newcastle to Bourke,” announced the newly appointed Chair CEO,
> Michael Anderson of Goodooga, after a meeting at Balmain Leagues
> club on Monday 8 January.
>
> “Aboriginal communities across NSW are in total disarray and are
> decaying through oppression, which is compounded by an escapist
> mentality of drug and alcohol abuse, which is literally killing our
> people and destroying the future lives of many families and
> individuals.”
>
> “Aboriginal people have responded to this new Nations Aboriginal
> Rugby League competition with a level of enthusiasm not seen
> before,” Michael Anderson says.
>
> “There will be 14 clubs competing: Bourke, Walgett, Goodooga, Moree
> Mission Jets, Moree Boomerangs, Toomelah Tigers, Tamworth, Narwon
> Eels (Armidale), Tabulum (Bunjalung) Nambucca, Gimbissi Warriors
> (Kempsey), Dunghutti Titons Bellbrook Kempsey), Taree, and
> Newcastle All Blacks. There are four other clubs seeking to
> participate, however, we will not be bringing any more teams into
> the 2007 competition, but we will review our plans for 2008 and
> could admit a further two clubs.
>
> “Meetings have been held with the Australian Rugby League and NSW
> Rugby League both of whom have reacted positively to this
> competition, but negotiations are continuing with a view to
> formally affiliating with NSW Rugby League.
>
> “There are a number of matters to be ironed out concerning the
> effect this new competition will have on Country Rugby League and a
> meeting is being convened by NSW Rugby League development group to
> bring together Nations Aboriginal Rugby League and Country Rugby
> League for formal discussions next Wednesday 17 January at the
> Gosford Central Coast Leagues club.
>
> “When asked by the NSW Rugby League what relationship could be
> forged with Country Rugby League, the Aboriginal delegates from as
> far as Bourke made it very clear that Country Rugby League and
> their divisional administrators have done nothing to encourage
> Aboriginal people to continue participating in Country Rugby League
> competitions, because Country Rugby League development has not been
> seen for 30 years, especially in western and north-western NSW.
>
> “Furthermore, every year for the past five years, all we have seen
> from Country divisional leaders is the expulsion of Aboriginal
> owned and controlled Rugby League clubs for no good reason. Our
> delegates made it very clear - our time with Country Rugby League
> is finished.
> “We need to ensure NSW Country league gets rid of racist elements,
> who are actually holding back Aboriginal Rugby League development.
> I hope the meeting on 17 January with NSW Rugby League and Country
> Rugby League will lead to a more co-ordinated approach to Rugby
> League development in NSW,” Michael Anderson said.
>
> “The energy of our young athletes can be directed into sport rather
> than making babies and wasting energy and their talent on civil
> disobedience. Nations Aboriginal Rugby League competition will
> replace hopelessness with hope, but in order to achieve their
> potential, they will soon realise they need to be healthy to reach
> the peak of their sporting prowess.”
>
>
> Contact: Michael Anderson 0427292 492 or 02 68 29 63 55
>

 

[Perth Red]

In many ways they obviosuly are responding to what they see as a great problem, and great opportunity to get RL re established in remote communities. It is a shame that they can't work with the CRL but it seems like there are a few burnt bridges.

Anybody else sick of the "it's because were aboriginal" excuses. Its as bad as listening to Mundine. It wasn't because they were aboriginal some of these teams got kicked out, it was because they were thiugs who don't know how to play RL in the spirit of the game.

 

[East Coast Tiger]

The CRL now says it won't affiliate the NARL either so it will have to go it alone. Apparently the first NARL trial matches have been set down for Feb 10 so they'll have to get their arses into gear pretty quick to meet that timeline.

 

[stuke]

not much time left to get this organised.

they would be better off waiting and planning it properly....but.....i doubt it will get off the ground anyway.