NZ v Poms in US

[King Ben]

Well I'm sold. Booking my flights from NYC.

 

[DC_fan]

Telegraph reporting that the NRL will fine clubs if they don't release players. Hope this is true.

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...h/news-story/8c211fdb3f114d2b2afef0299921b80a

The clubs will look for a way around this

 

[DC_fan]

You have just argued against yourself. Nobody will reach the levels of the Beatles...the self contained band that write their own stuff...the band that changed everything and inspired bands to form in garages the world over...you can't reinvent the wheel.

The UK has been hugely influential since that though.

Heavy metal, midlands of England (see just about every heavy band since Sabbath, Zeppelin and Purple). Glam rock, inner city London, Bolan and Bowie (see Kiss, Motley Crue, and today Lady Gaga), shock rock, Arthur Brown (see Alice Cooper, and today Marilyn Manson), Goth rock, Crawley, West Sussex, The Cure (see every goth since...in films, tv etc also). The most recent UK creation, Dubstep.

The UK pioneered theatrics in music. Any kind of glam, doom, shock, or dark style/sound/look came from the UK. As Bowie said, the US was puritanical, conservative. It took the UK to open them up to less conventional styles (Queen were banned there in the mid 80s for petes sake..."I want to break free" too taboo). The UK never got bogged down with religion so had more freedom to express themselves...that's how The Rocky Horror Show came about, during the glam era in the UK. That could never have come out of the US.

I like to argue with myself, that way I know i will win. lol

But on a serious note. This thread has gone of course a little. I will say this that Britain is no longer the cultural power world wide that it once was. Soft power has enabled American culture to spread across the planet. Where people in general have a love of its sport, music, TV, movies, life in general and especially politics.

 

[adamkungl]

I disagree that it's good stuff. Agree that it could be better.

The tour has no more games than the 2015 version, but at least they aren't playing Leeds. Should at least be playing Tonga and 1 more Euro nation.

If I'm making a fantasy Kiwi schedule for this year

1 - Jun 23, v England @ USA
2 - Oct 13, v Tonga @ Auckland
3 - Oct 20, v Australia @ Sydney
4 - Nov 3, v England @ London
5 - Nov 10, v Ireland @ Dublin
6 - Nov 17, v England @ Manchester
7 - Nov 24, v France @ Toulouse
8 - Dec 8, v Australia @ Auckland

What they've lined up has some flaws but its a lot closer to the ideal than the Kangaroos dismal 1 test.

 

[kiwileaguefan]

Pathetic and another reason why the NZRL are incapable of running the game in this country. Playing 5 tests away from home when the game is on the brink of completely collapsing....just is unbearable.

It's more important the warriors succeed this year than a stupid test played half way around the world for money. The warriors have already said if players are not 100% fit then they won't be released...so you can count on this kiwis side being anything but a strong one.....and if they are forced to go then watch the players pull out for the end of season tour....

This is just another reason why the game is destined to never grow at the international level....a half ass match to be played in a stadium likely to less than a quarter full....

Should have been an NRL game or a world club challenge game...

 

[morningstar]

Nailed it..,,

https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/league/101852868/simon-mannering-ponders-playing-future-beyond-2018

There has been a fair amount of negativity towards the Denver test and Mannering suggests that may not have been the case if it was the Kangaroos playing England, rather than the Kiwis.

"I don't want to have a crack at anyone, but I'm sure if it was Australia taking a test over there, there would be a lot more support for it," he said.

"It's like people are saying 'it's just New Zealand going over there and so it doesn't really involve Australian rugby league or the NRL, so we don't need to get behind it'.

 

[morningstar]

Pathetic and another reason why the NZRL are incapable of running the game in this country. Playing 5 tests away from home when the game is on the brink of completely collapsing....just is unbearable.

It's more important the warriors succeed this year than a stupid test played half way around the world for money. The warriors have already said if players are not 100% fit then they won't be released...so you can count on this kiwis side being anything but a strong one.....and if they are forced to go then watch the players pull out for the end of season tour....

This is just another reason why the game is destined to never grow at the international level....a half ass match to be played in a stadium likely to less than a quarter full....

Should have been an NRL game or a world club challenge game...

Share your frustration at the lack of home tests but the NZRL are skint after making no money from the RLWC last year.

$500k guaranteed for the next 3 years is a good way to arrest that.

The 2018 UK tour and the Aus game were in place pre-world cup. It would be a bit rich to thumb your nose at the ARL and RFL at this late stage due to unprecedented Tongan support during the world cup.

 

[adamkungl]

Pathetic and another reason why the NZRL are incapable of running the game in this country. Playing 5 tests away from home when the game is on the brink of completely collapsing....just is unbearable.

It's more important the warriors succeed this year than a stupid test played half way around the world for money. The warriors have already said if players are not 100% fit then they won't be released...so you can count on this kiwis side being anything but a strong one.....and if they are forced to go then watch the players pull out for the end of season tour....

This is just another reason why the game is destined to never grow at the international level....a half ass match to be played in a stadium likely to less than a quarter full....

Should have been an NRL game or a world club challenge game...

There's so many contradictions here I don't know where to start

 

[DC80]

I like to argue with myself, that way I know i will win. lol

But on a serious note. This thread has gone of course a little. I will say this that Britain is no longer the cultural power world wide that it once was. Soft power has enabled American culture to spread across the planet. Where people in general have a love of its sport, music, TV, movies, life in general and especially politics.

Your comment ain't based on reality. I've provided the links previously, soft power the UK was ranked #1 in 2015, now #2 to France. If you were solely talking politics then obviously the UK is nothing what it was, the other fields its never been as powerful. The Premier League has only become the most watched sports league on the planet in the last 15 years. Prior to that the English game was almost totally domestic. In every other field the UK has never been as big.

In terms of sports I've provided links to global social media following; here it is again,

http://fanpagelist.com/category/top_users/view/list/sort/fans/page1

In the top 20 most followed people/shows/brands etc (page 1), five are on sport, all are from one sport (Ronaldo, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Messi, Manchester United).

Next 20 (page 2), three sportsmen, Neymar, Beckham..and The Rock (if you wanna call WWE a sport). WWE is head and shoulders the most popular "sport" out of the US, the only one that would have household names.

Next 20 (page 3), one sport, Chelsea. Next 20 (page 4), four from sport, Bayern Munich, Nike football, FIFA World Cup...and John Cena. Next 20 (page 5)..Arsenal...and WWE.

So in the 100 most popular (of anything) on social media, all but three sports based are from football (the other 3 being WWE).

Next 20, three from sport...Manchester City, Adidas football, Ronaldinho. Next 20, three from sport...Liverpool FC, Kaka, Ozil. From the next three pages (up to 200 which is as far as it goes), most followed sports game is EA Sports FIFA (its the only sports game on the list). The first US sportsperson (not from WWE) is a basketballer who comes in at #197.

When it comes to sports the US is a cultural wasteland. Since you brought up "life in general", it's a basket case. Not to delve too deep...guns, racism, segregated society, religious fundamentalism, lawsuit culture, death penalty, prisons overflowing, politicians invoking God every 5 minutes (having to bullshit about your religious belief - as it's everyone's business - to get elected), humongous wealth disparity...lots of good stuff (id take the weather/beaches) but plenty of horrific stuff.

 

[kiwileaguefan]

There's so many contradictions here I don't know where to start

Go on then........the game is on its knees in this country and due to the NZRL inability to run the sport it's close to the end. In my region for the first time since the 1960's we won't have a men's competition. Added to this NZRL in their wisdom have decided to slap each player with a $5 affiliation fee which for a lot of our people in my region was the last straw and have walked away from the game.

The warriors succeding this season is the the most important thing for the game in 2018 in NZ. I know of so many people who have just had enough of the game due to their poor performances over the past 6 years. Then you add the Kiwis poor performance at the World Cup it's hard for people to stay engaged.

Now NZRL have put making money in this mickey mouse test before the fans in this country is a mockery. But then again they need the money to pay their own salaries and cars they drive around...

The quality of this test will be average....how is it they think a game between two teams that by that stage only have a handful of training runs appeal? Would have been better playing an NRL game which will be more than likely of higher quality as they would have been training months before hand.

Like i said they force players to go play this test, then you watch them pull put of the end of year tour like last time.

 

[adamkungl]

Go on then........the game is on its knees in this country and due to the NZRL inability to run the sport it's close to the end. In my region for the first time since the 1960's we won't have a men's competition. Added to this NZRL in their wisdom have decided to slap each player with a $5 affiliation fee which for a lot of our people in my region was the last straw and have walked away from the game.

The warriors succeding this season is the the most important thing for the game in 2018 in NZ. I know of so many people who have just had enough of the game due to their poor performances over the past 6 years. Then you add the Kiwis poor performance at the World Cup it's hard for people to stay engaged.

Now NZRL have put making money in this mickey mouse test before the fans in this country is a mockery. But then again they need the money to pay their own salaries and cars they drive around...

The quality of this test will be average....how is it they think a game between two teams that by that stage only have a handful of training runs appeal? Would have been better playing an NRL game which will be more than likely of higher quality as they would have been training months before hand.

Like i said they force players to go play this test, then you watch them pull put of the end of year tour like last time.

They're unable to effectively support the game because they're broke, and you have the shits with them for making money. What are they gonna do, throw monopoly money at local comps to fix them?

You're concerned about the impact on the Warriors, when the Warriors had a mere 4 players in the WC side anyway.

You complain about the game never growing at international level but call an attempt at growth a pointless mickey mouse game.

I've been critical of the NZRL many times over the last few years, and it isn't perfect but this is without doubt a positive move which hopefully can finance some improvements in the coming years.

 

[kiwileaguefan]

They're unable to effectively support the game because they're broke, and you have the shits with them for making money. What are they gonna do, throw monopoly money at local comps to fix them?

You're concerned about the impact on the Warriors, when the Warriors had a mere 4 players in the WC side anyway.

You complain about the game never growing at international level but call an attempt at growth a pointless mickey mouse game.

I've been critical of the NZRL many times over the last few years, and it isn't perfect but this is without doubt a positive move which hopefully can finance some improvements in the coming years.

They are unable to support and run the game...i have never seen any money in my 10 years in administration come from NZRL to the district's....the best competition (in my eyes) was the NJC U18 and U16 that ran in conjunction with the Bartercard Cup which got canned because it cost to much, yet the amount of players that went professional from that competition was massive.... .the NZRL will make money this year but at the detrimental of the jeresy.....no wonder the Kiwis record is so poor with the amount of times they play Australia and England away from home.

The kiwis are a rabble and will be lucky to win one game this year. Just sick of seeing NZRL putting the jeresy behind making money....especaily in a region that I personally believes has little chance of succeeding.

 

[Pommy]

They are unable to support and run the game...i have never seen any money in my 10 years in administration come from NZRL to the district's....the best competition (in my eyes) was the NJC U18 and U16 that ran in conjunction with the Bartercard Cup which got canned because it cost to much, yet the amount of players that went professional from that competition was massive.... .the NZRL will make money this year but at the detrimental of the jeresy.....no wonder the Kiwis record is so poor with the amount of times they play Australia and England away from home.

The kiwis are a rabble and will be lucky to win one game this year. Just sick of seeing NZRL putting the jeresy behind making money....especaily in a region that I personally believes has little chance of succeeding.

North America seems to be doing better than anew Zealand from your posts.

 

[batley]

Pathetic and another reason why the NZRL are incapable of running the game in this country. Playing 5 tests away from home when the game is on the brink of completely collapsing....just is unbearable.

It's more important the warriors succeed this year than a stupid test played half way around the world for money. The warriors have already said if players are not 100% fit then they won't be released...so you can count on this kiwis side being anything but a strong one.....and if they are forced to go then watch the players pull out for the end of season tour....

This is just another reason why the game is destined to never grow at the international level....a half ass match to be played in a stadium likely to less than a quarter full....

Should have been an NRL game or a world club challenge game...

Time you got a grip and stop contradicting yourself in your various posts.You are wanting these games played in NZ which would be a financial disaster, were, in the UK and the States they wont be.It's not the NZRl to blame for the state of the game it's the players.Same with the Warriors who are down about 4,000 season ticket s from last season due to some woeful results.

 

[yakstorm]

There wasn't a lot of movement available for the NZRL to add a significant number of additional home games for 2018 to be honest.

As already mentioned, the Kiwi tour was announced prior to last year's RLWC and the Test Match against Australia was locked in with the new broadcast deal.

As such, the only gaps in the schedule were around Origin and the weekend before the Kangaroos Test.

For mid-year, Samoa and Tonga had already committed to the Pacific Test, England didn't want to travel to NZ, and the NZRL didn't think a match against Fiji would be profitable.

As such, it was either play no match or chase the US option and earn the NZRL 1.5m over the next 3 years.

Now that's not to say the NZRL shouldn't be doing more to raise interest at home, and maybe they could squeeze in a match before the Australia Test (maybe a NZRL XIII vs someone), but they had limited their flexibility by agreeing to matches in advance.

Now that the NZRL has locked in some cash, it should be aiming for a big 2019 home Test season.

Great Britain will be on their way down, so they should be able to get 1x match there at home. V Australia will most likely be in Australia, but there is enough time between the Australia & GB games for 2-3 matches.

 

[Foreign Legion]

The New Zealand Rugby League has today confirmed that the New Zealand Kiwis will play six Test Matches in 2018, including a mid-year match against England in the United States.

The match, which will take place at Mile High Stadium in Denver, will be the first of three Tests between the two nations taken to the USA over the next three years in the lead up to the 2025 Rugby League World Cup.

Speaking at the announcement, New Zealand Rugby League chairman Reon Edwards told the New Zealand Herald that the test is an important step for the sport’s international development.

“Rugby League is making impressive strides in the United States and Canada,” said Edwards.

“This test match is an opportunity to showcase the highest level of our sport in the North American market, which has significant participation and commercial potential. NZRL has worked with the Rugby Football League and the Rugby League International Federation on this, agreeing to play a New Zealand-England Test in the United States each year for the next three years.”

In addition to the mid-year Test match, the Kiwis are set to play the Kangaroos in Auckland, before embarking on their tour of Europe which will feature matches against England and France.

2018 New Zealand Kiwis Test Programme:
Saturday 23 June 2018; Kiwis v England; Denver, Colorado, USA

Saturday 13 October 2018; Kiwis v Australia; Auckland, NZ

Saturday 27 October 2018; England v Kiwis; Hull, England

Saturday 3 November 2018; England v Kiwis; Liverpool, England

Sunday 11 November 2018; England v Kiwis; Leeds, England

Saturday 17 November 2018; France v Kiwis; TBC, France



http://www.asiapacificrl.com/2018/02/27/nzrl-confirm-new-zealand-kiwis-itinerary-2018/

 

[Foreign Legion]

There are a few things about their approach which is not widely understood in Britain, New Zealand and Australia.

The first is the significance of the venue. Basile has been courting stadiums since the beginning. Outside the NFL season, these enorma-domes lay dormant. They are looking for tenants and willing to offer favourable terms.

The venue itself and the Denver Broncos PR executives are promoting this event. His model is very much to get the venues and those venues' major tenants to do the heavy lifting for the RLWC 2025 team.

Under that strategy, there is no point going to a city or a stadium where they don't intend to play a World Cup game and/or base a franchise in their proposed domestic league.

Using Sports Authority Field is not about this game in June. It’s about building a relationship with the venue that will hopefully carry through to those ends.

It’s also about placing a line in the sand. Dick’s Sporting Goods Park is holds 18,000 people, Sport Authority Field takes 76,000. For once, rugby league is aiming higher than rugby union – no pun intended.

They want a point of difference. The official event Twitter account even corrected Mile High for calling it a “rugby” game. While British fans rightly claim equal ownership of the word, clearly RLWC 2025 have made a marketing decision not to ride the other game’s coat-tails.

Which brings us to another important distinction: they aren’t chasing expats. Contrary to popular opinion (including mine until yesterday), they aren’t chasing existing rugby fans even though Denver is the sport’s US capital.

“No pads. No blocking. Six Downs” says the advert for the “rugby league football challenge”. “Football”. They are going for NFL fans – unashamedly.

We are not in Denver because some people there people know who Johnny Wilkinson and Dan Carter are. We're there chasing the hundreds of thousands who know John Elway.

The local NFL team is going to promote us as one of their own to a fanatical sports market. We have three years to make it work.

http://www.rugby-league.com/article/51933/we-got-issues-selling-rugby-league-to-the-us

 

[Foreign Legion]

 

[Pommy]

Has there been any word on who is broadcasting this in the US yet? Yes a great crowd would be good but ratings should probably be an even more important thing.

 

[yakstorm]

Match is on sale: https://www1.ticketmaster.com/event/1E005461EBFE4F1E

Prices vary from $15 to $109. All Bays in the lower bowl is on sale. The last 10 rows are currently on hold, same with the first 12 rows of the corner bays.

For the second tier, it's behind the sticks they are selling into, with the really cheap seats on the wings of the Northern Stand.

Despite only been on a sale for a bit over 24 hours, Bay 105 (middle-most expensive bay) is selling really well and is majority allocated, whilst the $15 seats Bays have also had some significant traction.

There is then a scattering of sales around the rest of the ground, with the first couple of rows in most bays now allocated.