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No major RL international matches involving big 3 but....

latingringo101

Juniors
Messages
585
Us Open managed to play it's tournament.

UEFA Champions league/UEFA cup of nations still going ahead.

Cricket Australia touring England for mini one day tour.

Rugby union having Four nations in Australia

I know Covid has been a very tricky situation for pretty much every nation around the world, but why we couldn't have just a mini Pacific tournament or something like that makes me wonder why RL is different to other sports
 

Pommy

Coach
Messages
14,657
Us Open managed to play it's tournament.

UEFA Champions league/UEFA cup of nations still going ahead.

Cricket Australia touring England for mini one day tour.

Rugby union having Four nations in Australia

I know Covid has been a very tricky situation for pretty much every nation around the world, but why we couldn't have just a mini Pacific tournament or something like that makes me wonder why RL is different to other sports

There’s no TV money in international league so playing in empty stadiums in England wasn’t going to happen like cricket is. Most of Europe is border free and the US government is just in total denial.
The sport makes more money from origin and needs the money right now. I would have preferred internationals but it’s just not realistic right now.
 

jim_57

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
4,289
Yeh I don't really see why something simple like NZ V Tonga V Samoa tri-series in NZ and PNG V Fiji game or 2 in Australia couldn't have been done as a bare minimum.

Or just play the Oceania Cup because AUS isn't in it this year anyway.
 

Pommy

Coach
Messages
14,657
Yeh I don't really see why something simple like NZ V Tonga V Samoa tri-series in NZ and PNG V Fiji game or 2 in Australia couldn't have been done as a bare minimum.

Or just play the Oceania Cup because AUS isn't in it this year anyway.

Players would have two weeks quarantine going in to NZ and then back to Aus if the borders were even open to them. This is all on top of an already short off season with the potential of players going back in to the bubble early next year. I can understand why players would just want the time with family.
 

Arucard

Juniors
Messages
589
Yeh I don't really see why something simple like NZ V Tonga V Samoa tri-series in NZ and PNG V Fiji game or 2 in Australia couldn't have been done as a bare minimum.

Or just play the Oceania Cup because AUS isn't in it this year anyway.
5 weeks in total to play 1 game. Do you think our sport has the money to cover this?
Remember players will have to quarantine 2 weeks either side of a game or tournament.
That's too much money to cover, and not fair on the players away from family especially after this current club bubble set up.
 

titoelcolombiano

First Grade
Messages
5,276
From a player point of view, they've been in a bubble all season some without seeing loved-ones. I would love to have an international season this year but they probably just want to come out of the bubble and spend time with family because it is possible that next season starts in a bubble too so I can't blame them for that.
 

jim_57

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
4,289
Players would have two weeks quarantine going in to NZ and then back to Aus if the borders were even open to them. This is all on top of an already short off season with the potential of players going back in to the bubble early next year. I can understand why players would just want the time with family.
5 weeks in total to play 1 game. Do you think our sport has the money to cover this?
Remember players will have to quarantine 2 weeks either side of a game or tournament.
That's too much money to cover, and not fair on the players away from family especially after this current club bubble set up.

Yeh both fair calls.
 

langpark

First Grade
Messages
5,867
Can anyone tell me what the situation is in NZ? Because I know at one stage they were back to normal and allowing full stadiums. How good would a full house NZ vs Tonga match be, given we'd be one of the only sports in the world that could do it!
 

Pommy

Coach
Messages
14,657
Can anyone tell me what the situation is in NZ? Because I know at one stage they were back to normal and allowing full stadiums. How good would a full house NZ vs Tonga match be, given we'd be one of the only sports in the world that could do it!

they seem to be getting small numbers of cases so I can’t see the PM allowing stadiums as they’ve been very tough on lockdowns etc.
 

Perth Tiger

Bench
Messages
3,022
Aren't the wallabies struggling to get into NZ to play their matches? cant see RL getting any better treatment.
 

adamkungl

Immortal
Messages
42,955
Actually, latest news is NZ is allowing some flexibility to ensure the internationals can be played.
Rules have been adjusted to get the Wallabies fast-tracked in, and they bid (and failed) to host the entire Championship (including SA and Argies) so certainly they are willing - although their restrictions seem to have been the downfall of hosting that tournament.

https://www.news.com.au/sport/rugby...d/news-story/a9db49f4bd43455743258286f2e9253d

It's entirely possible, even likely, that it would have been too hard for Rugby League, that we wouldn't have got the same treatment as a smaller sport, etc. But the NRL and IRL seemingly didn't even bother looking into it.

The fact is, it isn't a priority for Rugby League. Origin is, Tests are not. That's the unfortunate reality.
 

titoelcolombiano

First Grade
Messages
5,276
The fact is, it isn't a priority for Rugby League. Origin is, Tests are not. That's the unfortunate reality.

I think it goes further than that mate. The priority for RL is money. Origin makes it, with or without crowds, Tests without crowds do not. @Perth Red made the point on another thread that the ARLC's mandate is to grow the game, not just make money. The same applies to the IRL but in this siutation I can see where they are coming from.
 

yakstorm

First Grade
Messages
5,293
It doesn't help that the small amount of revenue in the Broadcast deal for Tests is just grouped with everything else. If there was a specific broadcast deal tied to internationals, we would be far more likely to see something taking place.

For the likes of Cricket Australia and Rugby Australia, not only do they have specific broadcast deals for internationals, the bulk of their revenue is tied to these deals. Not finding a way to play internationals would bankrupt at least RA.
 

adamkungl

Immortal
Messages
42,955
It doesn't help that the small amount of revenue in the Broadcast deal for Tests is just grouped with everything else. If there was a specific broadcast deal tied to internationals, we would be far more likely to see something taking place.

For the likes of Cricket Australia and Rugby Australia, not only do they have specific broadcast deals for internationals, the bulk of their revenue is tied to these deals. Not finding a way to play internationals would bankrupt at least RA.

This is the key point.

The reasoning/excuse that there's no money in it is a self-inflicted problem by the NRL. It's not a valid excuse.

If internationals don't sell, then what harm in un-bundling them with the NRL season? By this logic, the next TV deal would lose nothing by excluding internationals.
Then you could sell them separately, which I'm sure would actually prove that they are worth money. Especially if backed by a coherent, running calendar of events which I've posted about a million times on here before.
 

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