Rugby Australia to target top NRL talent

[The Great Dane]

I hate union the way some hate afl on here, but their World Cup psses all over ours in every aspect. We can but dream…..

biggest issue is they have 8 nations that can compete with each other, we have 5 and only recently has that improved from 3.

geting France and png competitive should be RL’s main international priority.

Two of which's squads are made up almost exclusively of heritage players... It's honestly a joke that we even dare to suggest that the Samoan and Tongan RL sides are remotely comparable to the major international sides in other sports like Union, Soccer, Cricket, etc.

Only 3 or 4 sides are ever realistically a chance of winning the RWC at any on time either. So RL's not that far off the pace in that regard.

 

[CAS]

I hate union the way some hate afl on here, but their World Cup psses all over ours in every aspect. We can but dream…..

biggest issue is they have 8 nations that can compete with each other, we have 5 and only recently has that improved from 3.

geting France and png competitive should be RL’s main international priority.

Where do i say otherwise? they have a much bigger budget, huge compared to what league spends, but they and sadly others on this forum still have an answer for everything and believe the hype, they have never had 3 billion people tuning in as they have previously claimed and they do not play it in every part of the globe, Despite all the billions of players around the universe, only a few have any chance of winning it let alone reaching a Final, if we were on a level playing field i would concede to your point but we are not, if we are so tiny in comparison why do they take Umbridge and yourself when certain facts are pointed out? Surely we as a Sport are an irrelevance? Why are so many Clubs going to the wall? never mind about Rugby League, you wont get a Fan base that runs down its own game as much as RL Fans and you wont get a support that bullshits up its own Game like RU Fans.

 

[Wb1234]

I hate union the way some hate afl on here, but their World Cup psses all over ours in every aspect. We can but dream…..

biggest issue is they have 8 nations that can compete with each other, we have 5 and only recently has that improved from 3.

geting France and png competitive should be RL’s main international priority.

Samoa
Tonga
Fiji
Nz
Cooks
Png
Aus
Eng
France

nrl can deliver on 7.5 out 9

 

[Wb1234]

Two of which's squads are made up almost exclusively of heritage players... It's honestly a joke that we even dare to suggest that the Samoan and Tongan RL sides are remotely comparable to the major international sides in other sports like Union, Soccer, Cricket, etc.

Only 3 or 4 sides are ever realistically a chance of winning the RWC at any on time either. So RL's not that far off the pace in that regard.

How many heritage sides in the union. World Cup ? Loads

 

[taste2taste]

Where do i say otherwise? they have a much bigger budget, huge compared to what league spends, but they and sadly others on this forum still have an answer for everything and believe the hype, they have never had 3 billion people tuning in as they have previously claimed and they do not play it in every part of the globe, Despite all the billions of players around the universe, only a few have any chance of winning it let alone reaching a Final, if we were on a level playing field i would concede to your point but we are not, if we are so tiny in comparison why do they take Umbridge and yourself when certain facts are pointed out? Surely we as a Sport are an irrelevance? Why are so many Clubs going to the wall? never mind about Rugby League, you wont get a Fan base that runs down its own game as much as RL Fans and you wont get a support that bullshits up its own Game like RU Fans.

The biggest positive for Rugby League is that despite having no money invested it has slowly grown, there are domestic competitions around the world and currently 54 nations members of the IRL.

Compare that to Rugby Union that has spent millions if not billions into growing the game and yet it's only the number 1 sport in NZ and Fiji.

To me this says that Rugby Union is a sport that struggles to capture the imagination of the casual sports fan, it's a niche sport at best in nearly all of the countries that play it.

Union is 100 years ahead of us but for the first time in forever the IRL has an international calander, this year there are games scheduled for Canada, USA, Jamaca, Netherlands, Germany, Serbia, France, Czech Republic, Malta, Poland, Ghana, Cameroon ..etc... these games will be played in front of tiny crowds, and the standard will be poor but it's a step in the right direction.

 

[Valheru]

As mentioned a few pages back, if the ball was only in play for 30 minutes ( as it is for the RUWC ) in the RLWC all games would be close, tier 2 countries can hang on and be competitive for 30 minutes against tier 1.

Union fans ruthlessly troll the league WC, I can only assume they are threatened ? They realise that if in the next couple of decades International League can get its sh#t together people will start to realise it's a far superior spectator sport ?...I mean why else would they spend all thier free time trolling league

The ball isn't in play for 80 minutes in league though. Depending on the source, it is estimated to be in play between 50-55 minutes in rugby league.

it is still a valid point but you can't compare 80 with 30.

 

[Pneuma]

Two of which's squads are made up almost exclusively of heritage players... It's honestly a joke that we even dare to suggest that the Samoan and Tongan RL sides are remotely comparable to the major international sides in other sports like Union, Soccer, Cricket, etc.

Only 3 or 4 sides are ever realistically a chance of winning the RWC at any on time either. So RL's not that far off the pace in that regard.

Mr Happy strikes again!

 

[Valheru]

4 teams have won the RU World Cup and 5 have been in the Final. For such a global game so we are told it’s a tad predictable. Yeah but, what about Rugby league? RL spends the square root of f**k all in promoting the International game to be honest in comparison and isn’t too far behind the above stats. Again, you will NOT see the world playing RU, you will see the same 4 countries in Nov/Dec and they will come to you in June, every 4 years you will put 90 or so past the cannon fodder ( unless you are the wallabies) until you settle down for NZ vs SA in the Final again. More than Rugby League, but we don’t beat our chests about it.

The tippy top of any world cup is exclusive

Soccer, being by far the biggest and most popular has only had 8 winners in it's 22 editions (9 if you count Germany and West Germany as being different). Only a further 5 nations have made the final without winning it.

What soccer has is far more nations being capable of making a run to the semis, quarters or being generally competitive in the pool stages. Union has more competitiveness in its top 10 nations than league, that can't be denied.

We can go on about Tonga and Samoa all we like but that really isn't sustainable in terms of growing the sport. What Rugby has over league at the moment is penetration in to 4 key markets that we don't, those being South Africa, Argentina, Japan and to a lesser extent France. Those markets all dwarf the pacific ones and have actual money, population and pathways to develop sporting talent if the will existed to do so. We are obviously furthest along in France of the 4 but well behind union.

 

[Canard]

Without looking it up, I believe the Wallabies won the RUWC in 1987 and I think 1991. Back when we were actually decent. In those early years the ABs were considered 'chokers' because they were arguably the best and most consistent team, but then crumbled at the WC.

Nah the 87 one is considered a Clayton's Cup because of the absence of the Boks, and the ABs didn't win it again until 2011.

 

[taste2taste]

The ball isn't in play for 80 minutes in league though. Depending on the source, it is estimated to be in play between 50-55 minutes in rugby league.

it is still a valid point but you can't compare 80 with 30.

The ball is in play for roughly twice as long in league.

The RUWC games that have had scores of 80 - 10 are the equivalent of 160 - 20 in league.

 

[jim_57]

I hate union the way some hate afl on here, but their World Cup psses all over ours in every aspect. We can but dream…..

biggest issue is they have 8 nations that can compete with each other, we have 5 and only recently has that improved from 3.

geting France and png competitive should be RL’s main international priority.

Fiji would be easy enough to get up there as well. I’d say beating NZ in 17 and pushing them all the way in 22 means they are already as competitive as Samoa who only needed to beat England to make the final on the soft side of the draw.

They have by far the most local born NRL players of all the Pacific Island countries already, probably more than the rest combined.

 

[Wb1234]

The ball isn't in play for 80 minutes in league though. Depending on the source, it is estimated to be in play between 50-55 minutes in rugby league.

it is still a valid point but you can't compare 80 with 30.

55 vs 28 mins

almost double

 

[Valheru]

The ball is in play for roughly twice as long in league.

The RUWC games that have had scores of 80 - 10 are the equivalent of 160 - 20 in league.

I'm not sure it's that simple. In blow outs a lot of the time spent out of play would be conversions wouldn't it? That is different to competitive RU games where it is Scrums, line outs, penalty goals etc. I would like to see ball in play stats for RLWC blowouts but can't find any.

 

[taste2taste]

The tippy top of any world cup is exclusive

Soccer, being by far the biggest and most popular has only had 8 winners in it's 22 editions (9 if you count Germany and West Germany as being different). Only a further 5 nations have made the final without winning it.

What soccer has is far more nations being capable of making a run to the semis, quarters or being generally competitive in the pool stages. Union has more competitiveness in its top 10 nations than league, that can't be denied.

We can go on about Tonga and Samoa all we like but that really isn't sustainable in terms of growing the sport. What Rugby has over league at the moment is penetration in to 4 key markets that we don't, those being South Africa, Argentina, Japan and to a lesser extent France. Those markets all dwarf the pacific ones and have actual money, population and pathways to develop sporting talent if the will existed to do so. We are obviously furthest along in France of the 4 but well behind union.

Yes true about the markets, you can also add the UK as Union has a greater reach, thanks largely to the 6 nations, which is thier equivalent of Origin.

I believe the USA could be leagues best chance to grow quickly, as people have pointed out many times on these boards, you'd only need a comp a quarter as successful as Major League Soccer and you'd have the biggest and richest rugby ( league or Union ) comp in the world attracting players from both codes.

 

[Perth Red]

Samoa
Tonga
Fiji
Nz
Cooks
Png
Aus
Eng
France

nrl can deliver on 7.5 out 9

Eh! Only 5 of those can compete, the other 4 are cannon fodder. why leave out Lebanon, wales, Scotland, Ireland etc in the cannon fodder group?

 

[Wb1234]

Eh! Only 5 of those can compete, the other 4 are cannon fodder. why leave out Lebanon, wales, Scotland, Ireland etc in the cannon fodder group?

Yeh England and France was being generous

 

[jim_57]

Eh! Only 5 of those can compete, the other 4 are cannon fodder. why leave out Lebanon, wales, Scotland, Ireland etc in the cannon fodder group?

Eh! Only 5 of those can compete, the other 4 are cannon fodder. why leave out Lebanon, wales, Scotland, Ireland etc in the cannon fodder group?

Lebanon and probably Ireland are stronger than Cook Islands & France.

I wouldn’t consider PNG & Fiji Cannon fodder” in a group with NZ, England, Tonga & Samoa.

Tonga 24 - 18 PNG - 2022
PNG 28 - 10 GB - 2019

NZ 24 - 18 Fiji - 2022
Fiji 44 - 18 Samoa - 2019
Fiji 4 - 2 NZ - 2017

Both have done reasonably well with limited opportunities in the last 5-6 years. More importantly they are 2 nations that aren’t reliant on heritage players.

 

[The Great Dane]

Mr Happy strikes again!

It may be uncomfortable, but it is the truth.

The amount of mercenary behaviour in IntRL is getting ridiculous as well. There're guys who are choosing to represent a different nation every season at this point, it's getting beyond a farce.

 

[The Great Dane]

How many heritage sides in the union. World Cup ? Loads

None of them would have anywhere near the percentage of heritage players in their squads as the Samoan and Tongan RL sides, especially not the major nations.

I haven't seen Tonga's team for this year, but they've had as few as 1 Tongan born and raised player in their squads at times since 2017, and Samoa's squad for this year has like 3 or 4 players born in the islands, and even then at least a couple of them moved away at a very young age. Any team with that little local representation would be considered a joke in RU.

 

[Pneuma]

Great article by Spiro Zavos on the Roar. The reason the wallabies have fallen in a heap is, you guessed it, Jones loves Rubby League. Followed by nearly 500 comments agreeing.