taste2taste
Juniors
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First two are suburbs in greater Manchester Salford is really a city on its own
Poms don’t have a choice if the nrl owns it all
Yeah, but saying those teams aren't in Manchester would be akin to saying Parramatta, Cronulla and Canterbury aren't Sydney teams ?
Correct
It would be like saying Blacktown represents Paramatta
The NRL isn't going to suddenly create clubs of its own bat in England.
Is this some big troll? The game hasn't even happened and people are talking about moving the GF to suit US TV, and this article compares Manly V Rabbits to a FIFA World Cup????
Im all for the move back to an arvo start, nightime GFs suck, always has, if that means we get a few more eyeball somewhere else around the world then so be it, if we get paid for it even better, i wouldn't howl it down until they see what the strategy looks like and money they can receive of it
Are you able to post it?
Sorry, but post what?
Peter
A 3pm Sydney kickoff would be 8pm in California and 11pm in New York.
A league
The article
Karl Stephenovic is nutz, quote me on thatKarl Stefanovic makes financial stake in proposal to fund American domestic rugby league competition
Ardent Broncos fan Karl Stefanovic has bought a stake in the proposed US Super League, going as far as to say superstar fullback Reece Walsh will be targeted by NFL scouts after the NRL is played in Vegas.
3 min read
February 25, 2024 - 7:00PM
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
The NRL's historic double-header in Las Vegas will be a star-studded affair thanks in part to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The PM has intervened in the visa application process for some... more
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Channel 9 kingpin Karl Stefanovic has bought a stake in the proposed US Super League, hailing ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys a “genius” who can finally make the sport a smash hit in America.
And Stefanovic, an ardent Broncos fan, declared superstar fullback Reece Walsh will be targeted by NFL scouts when they watch Brisbane’s pin-up boy in Sunday’s historic NRL double header in Las Vegas.
As revealed by this masthead, a private consortium has reached out to V’landys to discuss ‘NRL America’ – a $23 million, 10-team competition in the United States from 2025.
Rugby League America consortium boss Steve Scanlan will formally present to the ARL Commission next Sunday as the NRL considers a permanent foothold in one of the world’s biggest sporting markets.
Now Stefanovic wants a piece of rugby league’s American dream.
It can be revealed the Gold Logie-winning presenter and Today Show host has made a financial investment, believing the sport can leverage the Las Vegas venture to win over the hearts and minds of 330 million Americans.
Stefanovic says V’landys’ vision, hunger and entrepreneurial spirit can see rugby league take off in the US, especially if there is a bona fide, NRL-aligned competition on American soil.
“I’ve bought into the concept with my personal Brisbane lawyer Daniel Hannay,” Stefanovic said.
“He rang me (about the US Super League concept) and I said, ‘Yes’ in a heartbeat.
“I’ll do anything to promote the greatest game in the world.
“Peter V’landys is a genius … this concept will work.”
At this stage, the NRL has no formal ties to the proposed RLA concept.
But their interest has been piqued to the extent that Scanlan, a Brisbane-based businessman who helped sponsor Tim Tszyu and Jeff Horn to become boxing world champions, will be given a platform to pitch the US competition at an ARL Commission board meeting in Vegas this week.
Scanlan first met V’landys a fortnight ago in Sydney, where he outlined plans for the “most professional proposal that has been seen in the history of American rugby league”.
RLA investors, which include Stefanovic, believe a successful, robust US competition – with official NRL backing – could help the sport with the gaming and broadcast benefits V’landys hopes to derive from their five-year Vegas deal.
V’landys is adamant there is a niche market for rugby league in the US and Stefanovic believes Broncos whiz-kid Walsh will send NFL scouts into a signing frenzy when they see him in the flesh at Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium.
“You can quote me on this … Reece Walsh is the guy most likely to light up the US agents come Sunday,” Stefanovic said.
“It’s super hard to transition to the NFL, but Walsh has got it.
“And he’s young enough.”
The code’s greatest coach, Wayne Bennett, insists the NRL must have a sustained presence in America for rugby league to truly succeed. An NRL America competition would be a huge step forward in credibility.
“Of course it (an NRL America competition) could be a success, but we have to be fair dinkum with it,” said Bennett, who was among the pioneers of State of Origin’s historic game in Los Angeles in 1987.
“I first went to the Denver Broncos in 1988 to build a relationship with the Brisbane Broncos and at the time, soccer was a minor game in America.
“Forty years on, it’s a huge game in America.
“Rugby league can go on a similar path and now the other trump card we have is the women’s game.
“I don’t believe American Football has a women’s game, so we can recruit females to play rugby league in America.
“The country is enormous and there’s plenty of athletes who don’t make the cut in the NFL.”
The NRL is making a big play to crack the US market.
Broncos assistant John Cartwright, who coached the USA in 2004, believes a fully-fledged rugby league competition would be sensational.
“An NRL competition over here would definitely help,” he said.
“If they could fund players to come over and form the basis of teams. I know content for TV is always something Americans are looking for and Americans love contact sport. They are very competitive and love sport in general.
“To get a competition up and running, get it on their screens and give them something to look at it would be great, but you need to get players over here and work on their development.
“There’s nothing American athletes can’t do. They are big, fast and strong. It would take a lot of money and resources, but it’s definitely possible. It’s just the intricacies of the game they have to learn. Our guys going to America struggle with their game (NFL) and vice-versa. Just the subtle things you learn from the first time you pick a football up, it won’t be there for those guys coming out of college.
“But the athletic potential is there if we invest in it.”
February 25, 2024 - 2:30PM
