Rugby Australia to target top NRL talent

[Wb1234]

The difference from LIV here or even a Super League War is that the rugby authorities haven't ruled out working with this lot. I'd have an issue with players (like with LIV) going against the wider game ultimately but you can't blame anyone for talking if stupid money is being talked about.

I will say there does seem to be more buzz on this from the Aussie media on specific players which did suggest this was possibly just players angling for better NRL contracts. That said, the Daily Mail have now ran an article claiming England players are lined up and they have the Glazers / Fenway Sports and a tv deal on the table. I remain extremely dubious (why would Fenway Sports bother waiting for this when they could easily have invested in rugby before?!), I don't see how this makes money or has any commercial sense to it. The only thing is maybe the PIF got pissed off that Qatar got involved with the Nations Cup and are again happy to lose money. I could see Sky in the UK looking to buy the rights as the July-September window is what makes most sense for them to show rugby. It's not TNT Sports anyway as they have said they think the idea is a joke.

They said they will ban any player who signs

Stop talking bs

Games will clash with existing competitions and internationals

Even the 2027 World Cup

 

[Perth Red]

One of the comments on the Roar article argues against recruiting Papenhuyzen as no one in Spain is getting excited about an NRL player they've never heard of.

I hate to break it to them, but no one in Spain is getting excited about any Rugby (either code) player.

Catalans got over 30k to a SL game in Barcelona.

 

[Perth Red]

yes - British people are good at watching sport. Not great at playing though

Good at sport done in a pub. Darts, snooker, boxing.

 

[Wb1234]

Good at sport done in a pub. Darts, snooker, boxing.

MMA

 

[BODISGOD]

They said they will ban any player who signs

Stop talking bs

Games will clash with existing competitions and internationals

Even the 2027 World Cup

They haven't really. The latest quote from World Rugby CEO.

Investment into the game is great – as long as that investment is driving into the right areas and creating a more financially sustainable game for players, for the wider ecosystem, then we encourage it. We’ve got to understand what that means in the R360 case.”

English, French and Japanese clubs I expect would be most hostile to it.

It won't clash with the RWC which is October / November. The mooted dates are either a July-September or two blocks starting in April-May.

 

[Wb1234]

They haven't really. The latest quote from World Rugby CEO.

Investment into the game is great – as long as that investment is driving into the right areas and creating a more financially sustainable game for players, for the wider ecosystem, then we encourage it. We’ve got to understand what that means in the R360 case.”

English, French and Japanese clubs I expect would be most hostile to it.

It won't clash with the RWC which is October / November. The mooted dates are either a July-September or two blocks starting in April-May.

This won’t get off the ground

If it does it will be a disaster for your sport

We’ve all been through this with our super league war

The saudis will destroy your sport

lol

 

[Ride the Lion to Zion]

yes - British people are good at watching sport. Not great at playing though

All the best sports were devised by British people. We are the brains behind the operations.

 

[Ride the Lion to Zion]

MMA

Football hooliganism.

Good at sport done in a pub. Darts, snooker, boxing.

Darts was included in the mixed martial arts of one Liverpool v Man Utd contest in the 70s.

 

[taste2taste]

They haven't really. The latest quote from World Rugby CEO.

Investment into the game is great – as long as that investment is driving into the right areas and creating a more financially sustainable game for players, for the wider ecosystem, then we encourage it. We’ve got to understand what that means in the R360 case.”

English, French and Japanese clubs I expect would be most hostile to it.

It won't clash with the RWC which is October / November. The mooted dates are either a July-September or two blocks starting in April-May.

English Union said months ago that any player who signs with R360 won’t be selected for the national team. You’d think Australia, France, Japan and NZ will have the same stance.

These countries fielding thier 3rd best teams won’t be good for Union.

 

[taste2taste]

This won’t get off the ground

If it does it will be a disaster for your sport

We’ve all been through this with our super league war

The saudis will destroy your sport

lol

Smh/ Roar reports R360 has a tv deal on offer ( unconfirmed but likley to be Sky UK ) and have signed 140 players. Apparently there is no shortage of investors.

If they don’t meet the September deadline for a 2026 kickoff they’ll be ready to go for a 2027 kick off. Causing havoc in a World Cup year.

I can’t see R360 lasting longer than 1 season, it will lose billions. Then again, LIV is still going and it’s been a disaster, in the USA it gets as few as 140k viewers compared to the PGA which averages about 3m viewers.

 

[Wb1234]

Smh/ Roar reports R360 has a tv deal on offer ( unconfirmed but likley to be Sky UK ) and have signed 140 players. Apparently there is no shortage of investors.

If they don’t meet the September deadline for a 2026 kickoff they’ll be ready to go for a 2027 kick off. Causing havoc in a World Cup year.

I can’t see R360 lasting longer than 1 season, it will lose billions. Then again, LIV is still going and it’s been a disaster, in the USA it gets as few as 140k viewers compared to the PGA which averages about 3m viewers.

Wow 130 ? Union players would be a disaster for union

Weird how it’s only the Aussie media who are leaking potential signings whilst the English media is oblivious

I still have my doubts given the annual losses likely

Union can’t turn a profit from club comps in 150 years how are they going to do it

At a club level it’s a tiny sport

 

[Steel Saints]

Smh/ Roar reports R360 has a tv deal on offer ( unconfirmed but likley to be Sky UK ) and have signed 140 players. Apparently there is no shortage of investors.

If they don’t meet the September deadline for a 2026 kickoff they’ll be ready to go for a 2027 kick off. Causing havoc in a World Cup year.

I can’t see R360 lasting longer than 1 season, it will lose billions. Then again, LIV is still going and it’s been a disaster, in the USA it gets as few as 140k viewers compared to the PGA which averages about 3m viewers.

Potentially kicking off in a rugby world cup year is just dumb. A new competition competing against the biggest event in rugby. These "investors" have more dollars than sense.

 

[Canard]

This is a RL Player managers dream.

It will be mentioned when any high profile player has salary negotiations for the next 5 years.

 

[Steel Saints]

This is a RL Player managers dream.

It will be mentioned when any high profile player has salary negotiations for the next 5 years.

That's of course if r360 is still a "thing" in five years time.

 

[Canard]

That's of course if r360 is still a "thing" in five years time.

Its all bluster I feel.

I think they really just want to buy in to the existing sport.

Like Liv there aim was really to take over the PGA, not run a rebel comp.

Not the RL player managers will care about reality though, they will overblow this to the moon.

 

[taste2taste]

Potentially kicking off in a rugby world cup year is just dumb. A new competition competing against the biggest event in rugby. These "investors" have more dollars than sense.

And you’d think R360 will have difficulty signing players in a World Cup year as its the pinnacle for Union players.

Its sounds like they are close to getting it over the line for next year but 2028 would be more realistic.

2028 would be better for the NRL, that’s when the new TV deal kicks in and with an increase to the cap we should be able to keep most players.

 

[Wb1234]

Breakaway R360 rugby competition 'attracts' FSG, Glazers and Red Bull - SportsPro

Eight teams based in different cities are on offer in the R360 franchise league and would cost around UK£15m each.

www.sportspro.com

“The Mail reports that FSG, the Glazers and Red Bull are all prepared to pay around UK£15 million (US$20 million) each for a team in R360. London, Tokyo, Dubai, Cape Town, Boston, Miami have all been touted as franchise locations”

 

[eels4lifee]

Weirdly sky sports is showing more NRLW games a week this year than NRL ones!

Are they Irish?

 

[Perth Red]

Losing 2-3 high profile nrl players, no real big deal. Losing 15-20 big deal.

 

[titoelcolombiano]

Catalans got over 30k to a SL game in Barcelona.

So is your claim that the crowd was 30k Spaniards? Or travelling Superleague fans wanting a holiday in Spain. Or are you backing the claim that there are Rugby Union players that are huge in Spain that get them excited to buy tickets?