Rugby League Needs An Answer To The Bledisloe Cup

[hutch]

Which is?

Elitist wankers, pretentious snobs, sh*t footballers, rugby league haters and campaigns all over the world to kill off or block the growth of the premier rugby code. Union can go f*ck itself.

 

[deluded pom?]

Elitist wankers, pretentious snobs, sh*t footballers, rugby league haters and campaigns all over the world to kill off or block the growth of the premier rugby code. Union can go f*ck itself.

That's about it in a nutshell for me too and why I always want the England union team to lose. Ironically hutch in a couple of weeks time I'll want Australia to beat England and you'll be vice versa.

 

[RoosTah]

Elitist wankers, pretentious snobs, sh*t footballers, rugby league haters and campaigns all over the world to kill off or block the growth of the premier rugby code. Union can go f*ck itself.

Mate, more than half Australia's registered rugby players come from public schools, and increasingly non "north shore" type regions.

Sure, there are elitist wankers in there, but these days they ain't so cocky because for all the game's white-collar connections it's the most poorly run from a business perspective in the country and the fans know it.

To be honest I reckon you're confusing Australia with England a little... here the game may be a big deal for the posh schools, but it's way more well represented across the social landscape than you give it credit for. I went to a public school that played Union, and the Catholic kiddie-fiddler posh school up the road played League, for example.

That's true of a lot of places around the world btw - England is even changing, but in Wales in particular it was always a working class game, and in France it was played by people in the countryside. Meanwhile in Ireland it's the only major football code they have that united north and south. As for NZ - well I'd hardly call it "elitist" there...

 

[hutch]

Sorry, forgot to add a horribly boring sport to watch played mostly by average footballers who wouldn't get a start at nsw cup level.

 

[wests1]

Parra, does that mean you will cheer for the Kangas til blue in the face regardless of the fact it does our game damage? Surely I'm not the only one who finds us winning a boring result???? Add to that the fact that I don't like a number of players in the Australian team and I sleep very easily at night cheering for the Kiwis or England when they play us.
The game is my passion more than any team or even my national allegiance. And in any case, I think supporting the underdog is more Australian than any other trait I could name.

 

[RoosTah]

Sorry, forgot to add a horribly boring sport to watch played mostly by average footballers who wouldn't get a start at nsw cup level.

You mean apart from greats like Wally Lewis and Ricky Stewart who came over to League while Rugby didn't pay?

 

[wests1]

I'll also add my unqualified two cents in on the biggest idiots in terms of other codes.

AFL - can tend to pretend they know nothing about other sports. Living in Melbourne, I get such satisfaction when SOO rolls around and I see the begrudging recognition they will give it (it is through gritted teeth though). But by far the most annoying aspect for me is when AFL fans here berate RL for being a small international sport. It really winds me up. When I point out to them that they don't have a leg to stand on in that regard they say things like 'we don't pretend it's international' (to which I reply 'so what's why you play those mickey mouse games against postmen from Ireland).

UNION - I agree with people on here when they say they know plenty of normal Union fans. I do too. I just really wish more of them played up to the stereotype Again they do annoy me with the international aspect and how 'RL is tiny internationally' - no one has ever claimed it's massive!! They do tend to jump on this straight away too. British RU fans really make my blood boil though. In my experience they play up to the upper middle class stereotype that really does go against all of my personal political/social/economic beliefs.

SOCCER - I probably experience things differently in Victoria in that soccer fans I associate with tend to like to band with any sport other than AFL and so will often side with me. One of my good mates is a MASSIVE soccer nut but will always talk League with me.

 

[RoosTah]

Pommy Rugby fans are probably the most irritating around in the sport, followed closely by the South Africans. Love the Irish boys though – even when the bastards beat the Wallabies in the last World Cup, all the guys at the pub – whilst giving us plenty of stick – were just good fun, knock about down to earth blokes. Agree with you about the international criticisms though – it annoys the hell out of me too.

Seriously don’t get it coming from AFL types in particular. Also, when it comes down to it you only really need a couple big teams at rep level for it to be a good event. If England ever got their shit together and became a force for instance and beat us a few years running in big clashes, then Origin would VERY quickly be relegated to second class status. The tricky thing for me is that I love the Kangaroos – it gives me the chance to finally support blokes like Cam Smith, Cronk, Inglis – but we need them to lose for it to get there.

Funnily enough though, I reckon the increasing economic power of the NRL will help in that regard; it has reduced the economic attractiveness of the Super League, and attracted their talent here, meaning they develop more, and their best players are exposed here.

 

[shiznit]

It's simple... RL needs the Kiwis to be consistent against Australia.... And even dominant for an extended period.

Once you get to a stage where a ANZAC test is a genuine toss up... It will become popular.

The Bledisloe is suffering for the same reason.... Once the All Blacks stranglehold is consistently challenged and broken... That should gain in popularity again,

People want to watch a fight.... Not a mugging...

 

[hutch]

You mean apart from greats like Wally Lewis and Ricky Stewart who came over to League while Rugby didn't pay?

You mean the two rugby league juniors who went to a school that only played union, so they played it, excelled like most league players do before returning to their sport of choice for their professional career.

 

[strong_latte]

It's simple... RL needs the Kiwis to be consistent against Australia.... And even dominant for an extended period.

Once you get to a stage where a ANZAC test is a genuine toss up... It will become popular.

The Bledisloe is suffering for the same reason.... Once the All Blacks stranglehold is consistently challenged and broken... That should gain in popularity again,

People want to watch a fight.... Not a mugging...

Bingo. Although I would argue that Aussies respond better to a bigger Ashes style rivalry with England than NZ because the relationship is effectively the reverse of the Aus NZ and because England has its own competition.

 

[wests1]

Roostah, completely agree on the competitiveness of the two other big nations. If they reach our standard (or even if Australia has a period where we drop a little - not too much of a stretch considering who will be retiring within the next 3-4 years) interest peaks.
Clearly you are one of the normal RU fans I mentioned in my previous thread.

 

[pHyR3]

RL needs to stick solid with a name for such a test match/series.
As far as I'm concerned, "Anzac Test" is the strongest brand we have.
We need to pump the promotion of this match to make it stronger than Bledisloe.
I know the trophy isnt the anzac trophy, but thats ok.
RL needs to commit to strong branding, ala 6 Nations, Bledisloe etc

I agree, but maybe it could be moulded to create a Anzac Test Series, or Anzac tour. Best of 3.

It definitely needs to be moved post season though, kills NRL momentum having it in round 7 or whatever.

also, apparently we're not allowed to call it 'anzac' anything due to some copy right issues. It's now the trans-tasman test.

 

[WaznTheGreat]

It's simple... RL needs the Kiwis to be consistent against Australia.... And even dominant for an extended period.

Once you get to a stage where a ANZAC test is a genuine toss up... It will become popular.

The Bledisloe is suffering for the same reason.... Once the All Blacks stranglehold is consistently challenged and broken... That should gain in popularity again,

People want to watch a fight.... Not a mugging...

Queensland won 8 million Origin's in a row and State of Redneck was more popular than ever.

 

[siv]

My main issue revolves around the timi g of the ANZAC Test

Its too early and should occur after SOO

My preference us to continue to grow International RL via post season internationals

The period from 3rd weekend in October and Novemberis a perfect International season

And I love the fact that the last game of the calender year is the 2 best international teams

 

[docbrown]

Facts
There's been 3 Rugby Championships
NZ have won all 3 - 100% win rate
Including the Tri-Series they've won 13 out of 19 tournaments (69%).

There's been four 4 Nations
NZ & Australia have won 2 each - 50% win rate
Including the Tri-Nations Australia have won 5 (63%) and New Zealand 3 (37%) out of 8 tournaments.

The Tri-Series/4 Nations has been the more competitive tournament in terms of winners.

 

[docbrown]

2014 Anzac Series
Game I - 2/5/2014 AUS 30 bt NZ 18 Crowd: 25,429 @ SFS
Game II - 25/10/2014 NZ 30 bt AUS 12 Crowd: 47,813 dh @ Lang Park
Game III - 15/11/2014 NZ 22 bt AUS 18 Crowd: 25,183 @ Wellington

Congrats to New Zealand the 2014 Anzac Series Champions!*


*if the rugby league powers had any sense

 

[Sgt. Kabukiman]

You mean apart from greats like Wally Lewis and Ricky Stewart who came over to League while Rugby didn't pay?

You are dumb as dogshit. f**king hell.

 

[Canard]

UnionTah most be livid with that result.

His private school chardonnay must have turned sour.

 

[pHyR3]

2014 Anzac Series
Game I - 2/5/2014 AUS 30 bt NZ 18 Crowd: 25,429 @ SFS
Game II - 25/10/2014 NZ 30 bt AUS 12 Crowd: 47,813 dh @ Lang Park
Game III - 15/11/2014 NZ 22 bt AUS 18 Crowd: 25,183 @ Wellington

Congrats to New Zealand the 2014 Anzac Series Champions!*


*if the rugby league powers had any sense

i like it, but i feel its a bit to Aus/NZ-centric.

to build a good international scene i think you need more than just 2 or even 3 nations. You need at least 3 nations on essentially equal chance of winning, and then 2-3 more than can pull the odd upset. That should be Samoa, Fiji and PNG. Placing NSW/QLD Cup teams there will help a lot and increasing player payments through regular test matches (e.g. pacific cup).