Thailand Rugby League Thread

[Bronco Rob]

I'm not sure what the whole two bodies in Thailand is all about or who is the genuine article but the TRL is planning on starting their comp in October.

I've heard some bag Shannon Crane, I don't know him at all but at least it looks like he has been building up to this point rather than simply rushing to get things off the ground for the local comp. It's just shame that we again see this occurring where 2 bodies can't have bi-partisanship and work towards a common goal in the betterment of Rugby League.

Thailand Rugby League planning to break ground in Asia with local competition

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http://www.nospam18.com/images/nations/thailand/Thailand-Rugby-League.jpgBy Richard Cowley, Date: 24/6/14
Like all things in rugby league nothing is as simple as it seems. There are currently two separate bodies flying the flag for Rugby League in Thailand. RLP does not take sides and will report updates from both nations as they come to hand. This article by RLP is the latest from the TRL.
On the 18th of October the Thailand Rugby League are planning to make history with the commencement of the first senior domestic rugby league competition in Asia.
The first round will see a Double Header take place in Bangkok. In the first match the Asoke Bangkok Eels will take on the Lat Phrao Bangkok Bulldogs. The second match will see the Samut Prakan Roosters will go head to head with the Pattaya Sharks.
The competition consists of 4 teams, 3 based in Greater Bangkok and one team in Pattaya. There will be 6 games played before the final series commences in November which will take see the duration of the competition run over 9 weeks. The Grand Final is in Bangkok on December 13.
Thailand Rugby League Chairman, Shannon Crane has the mammoth task of making it all come together. Crane has also been working to cater for the increased interest in Rugby League in Thailand with planned expansion will be on the cards in 2015.
“We have Chiang Mai and Phuket entering the league in 2015 and if the interest levels are as expected in the Thai capital a further two sides will be added, one in Greater Bangkok and a second Pattaya based team for 2015. We are already looking at running a second tier league from the halfway point of this year’s competition. With player numbers already exceeding the 17 players per team per week we will be looking to create a feeder side to each team so the players not selected for the 17 each week can get game time in a pseudo reserve grade game before the main fixture.”

Crane explains how important the new domestic league is to the game in Thailand. “The domestic league is the final piece of the puzzle when it comes to developing the game in the Kingdom. We have been running coaching clinics for school boy aged kids in Central Thailand in Bangkok and Pattaya, Chiang Mai in the north and Phuket in the south since 2012.”
“We had to postpone our 5 week University League due to the political instability affecting mostly the Bangkok area but the domestic league is where we get 17-35 year old Thai players working under rugby league coaches with some Australian, New Zealand and European based players helping to bring the Thai player’s skill along. This only helps ensure our national team gets stronger."
In what is an exciting time for rugby league in Thailand, Norway will be travelling to Bangkok to take on the Thailand national rugby league team on the 12th October 2014 (6 days before the local competition commences).
When asked why Thailand looked to Europe to find their next opponent in Norway Crane provided the following explanation.

“ We sat down with numerous member countries since our game against Greece last October to discuss our 2014 schedule. With the league commencing in 2014 we felt the best thing was to select one team for this year and once the league was done look at Internationals in March/April and October 2015. December 2015 may also be added to the calendar.”
“We had Norway, Sweden, Russia and Malta in discussions for this year. In the end due to their calendar and the fact they were looking to send a predominately home grown based team to Bangkok, Norway were the best fit.”
“There was a lot of discussion last year around the Greece game saying that it was Greece A. The team sent to Bangkok by Greece had former NRL players and current QLD/NSW Cup players. There was not a player on that team that wasn’t on a paid contract somewhere. We had a team of amateur players, some of which playing their first ever game of rugby league and in the end we had some work related withdrawals and played this 20 man Greece team with 14 players. We had some Thai Heritage players from Australia but the reality is we put the first ever full Thai team on the field and they ended up being beaten 90-0 by a team of professional players.”
“Half that Greek squad continued to Athens and the other half returned to Australia. The Greece team beat a full Hungary team by the same score the next week, with half amateur players and the addition of Braith Anasta.”
“It really highlights what we knew from the beginning in that the Thailand spirit inside these players will see them keep coming and coming until the end. The Greek team spoke glowingly of the performance of our players. Norway we feel will be a great player mix to see how far we have come.”
With a big 2014 on the cards and 2015 looking even brighter. The TRL are currently working towards meeting the RLIF’s accreditation.
The RLIF accreditation starts with Observer , Affiliated and then Full Member status. It takes many years of stable local competition and growth amongst other things before full member status is granted by the RLIF. Rugby League Planet wishes the TRL all the best with their goal of one day becoming a Full Member nation.

http://www.nospam18.com/rlp-nations...o-break-ground-in-asia-with-local-competition

 

[mj9]

It's my understanding The so called other body would be interested in working with anyone who genuinely wanted to help the game in Thailand and would happily hand over all their players and support a domestic comp if only the TRL would stop asking for money at every opportunity they get. Their comp started with a double header last week where more than one person played 2 games as it appeared they didn't have the required numbers to fill the squads. One game cancelled this week because of kits being destroyed in week one. If they paid their bill from last years manufacturer I doubt they'd of had that issue this year.

 

[DC_fan]

The game needs to be developed in Asia in countries like Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, China and Japan.p

 

[Bronco Rob]

It's my understanding The so called other body would be interested in working with anyone who genuinely wanted to help the game in Thailand and would happily hand over all their players and support a domestic comp if only the TRL would stop asking for money at every opportunity they get. Their comp started with a double header last week where more than one person played 2 games as it appeared they didn't have the required numbers to fill the squads. One game cancelled this week because of kits being destroyed in week one. If they paid their bill from last years manufacturer I doubt they'd of had that issue this year.

If true about asking money for franchises, that's a disgrace. Developing RL into a new market or any sport shouldn't be about making a dollar and good luck in trying to make money out of it.

 

[miguel de cervantes]

Some info on the TRL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPzBLs2x5BI

Sorry about the rest of the video though....

 

[Evil Homer]

If true about asking money for franchises, that's a disgrace. Developing RL into a new market or any sport shouldn't be about making a dollar and good luck in trying to make money out of it.

A lot of things about this seem pretty suspect but they do seem to be getting things done right now so we'll have to see. Thailand is a pretty strange place TBH and it doesn't at all surprise me to see this sort of thing.

 

[mj9]

If you watch the video posted 2 posts a above how many times did you hear the word franchise. That's their goal to sell franchises. By the way they competition has been running 3 weeks now. Last 2 weeks have been only 1 game each week. Looks like they have been playing 7's with the same players running out in different jerseys each week.
The other group held a 9's tournament in Phuket earlier in the month and had more than 40 Thai nationals plus about a dozen thais from Australia and about 20 expats.
While they might not be as media focused or savvy to date they have played against the Philippines 3 times and Japan once while also having played against the Latin heat and competing in the Cabramatta 9's.
Clearly 60 people is not enough to run a comp with nor is the 15 or so the TRL seem to have each week. Seems like the logical thing would be to sort your shit out and work together. The is obsviously a reason that it hasn't been done but with all the available history it would suggest to me that the thailand stars group not the TRL group. The stars have a history of completing the events they advertise where there seems to be excuse year after year and week after week from the TRL.

 

[SJR]

Latin Heat are playing Thailand Stars in Canberra on January 16.

 

[DlEHARD]

Latin Heat are playing Thailand Stars in Canberra on January 16.

Excellent. I very much support the work of the Thailand Stars.