US Professional Rugby League Coming Soon!!

[8Ball]

Surely the Americans won't find it hard to understand the concept of "grounding of the ball over the line."

 

[winnyason]

tv deal and teams been decided not heard a thing as yet....................

 

[RL1908]

Surely the Americans won't find it hard to understand the concept of "grounding of the ball over the line."

If RL in the USA wants to succeed, the more NFL rules it adopts, the more that RL doesn't offer anything to an American to differentiate RL from just being a poor man's form of NFL.

The struggle between the attack and defence to stop the ball being grounded for a try is one of the most emotionally intense viewing moments of a RL game, particularly on TV, all those grimacing (helmet-less) faces and contorting and twisting bodies, and it is arguably unique to RL (doesn't happen as often in RU) - I'd wouldn't throw that away just because defenders in the NRL are on notice that they can't committ reckless illegal acts to stop a try.

 

[RedVee]

^ agree.
BTW I'm a little over the changing rules fetish the NRL coaches seem to have.

 

[Sam_the_man]

^ agree.
BTW I'm a little over the changing rules fetish the NRL coaches seem to have.

Just thank your lucky stars you don't follow union. Every year they kick out and bring in dozens of new rules trying to clean up the ruck and maul....the magic bullet they are looking for is called a play the ball.

If we can crack the American market our sport will take off globally, make no mistake about that.

 

[RL1908]

Just thank your lucky stars you don't follow union. Every year they kick out and bring in dozens of new rules trying to clean up the ruck and maul....the magic bullet they are looking for is called a play the ball.

The ironic twist is that RU in the 1800s originally had a play-the-ball, and now only RL and American football have it! :
THE REAL RUGBY GAME

 

[Poul]

What effect is this professional competition going to have on domestically produced players, and how long do you think it will take for there to be a significant improvement in the performances of the Tomahawks?
I reckon that the Tomahawks will qualify for the next World Cup, and in 2013 they can finish in the top 8,to improve on their current ranking of 15.

 

[bowes]

If the pro league has a significant amount of Americans and is a success then the improvement (to second tier level, not to challenging big 3 just yet) will be instant as there will be an influx of pro players from college football etc to fill the team than just the AMNRL players with a few expats

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

I've seen the Tomahawks playing before, they are def not expats.

 

[yankeeboy]

I wish I got to play in front of a sold out Lang Park for a high school game. f**king crazy stuff.

It really is. I played in front of 5000 every Friday night on an off week, and there were games we had crowds of over 10,000. This is for an average team in Dallas, where there is lots of other stuff to do on Friday nights. In the smaller towns where there is nothing to do literally the entire town will go to the games, which can sometimes mean 20,000 or more people in towns of populations of 25,000 or so.

High school and college sports in the US are where the real tribal loyalty lies, not with professional teams.

But even with little profile just getting 5,000 won't be enough to survive. Major League Soccer had about 10k or so its first season, and it didn't break even for many, many years. The league has to be profitable quickly if it wants to survive with such a low profile. It really has the potential for growth, but if it starts out with such low numbers it won't build to something manageable.

 

[Sam_the_man]

It really is. I played in front of 5000 every Friday night on an off week, and there were games we had crowds of over 10,000. This is for an average team in Dallas, where there is lots of other stuff to do on Friday nights. In the smaller towns where there is nothing to do literally the entire town will go to the games, which can sometimes mean 20,000 or more people in towns of populations of 25,000 or so.

High school and college sports in the US are where the real tribal loyalty lies, not with professional teams.

But even with little profile just getting 5,000 won't be enough to survive. Major League Soccer had about 10k or so its first season, and it didn't break even for many, many years. The league has to be profitable quickly if it wants to survive with such a low profile. It really has the potential for growth, but if it starts out with such low numbers it won't build to something manageable.

In all honesty Yankeeboy, how do you think the American public will take to rugby league which has similarities to the NFL? Do you think there is enough of a similarity there for an instant understanding of and like of rugby league?

 

[krudmonk]

I think our tendency to point out RL's similarities to gridiron are in opposition to RU. Americans don't know sh*t about either nor even that there are multiple codes, so this new comp will seem much more exotic than familiar. As has been said before, people mainly see it as "football without pads," so that will instantly stand out above the parallels between tackle count and series of downs.

 

[deluded pom?]

There's now a poll on the NRLUS site regarding where people would like to see the franchises placed (wouldn't this be down to whoever is stumping up the necessary cash?) I can't believe Washington DC wasn't in the list that appeared in RLR. DC has a fair amount of rugby culture and has had a league team for a while now as opposed to some of the other cities mentioned which are a bit random to say the least.

 

[krudmonk]

Oh great, Northern California isn't even an option.

 

[bowes]

I've seen the Tomahawks playing before, they are def not expats.

I said with a few expats, they're nearly all Americans but usually have a couple of Aussies (or maybe it was Yankee expats in Australia)

 

[elbusto]

'As the interest continues to build around the NRL 2010 kickoff, a tremendous amount of inquiries have been directed to where the potential team locations are going to be developed. A number of options are available, with existing AMNRL club regions being ideal locations given the established presence of rugby league in those communities.'

Looks like they will try and keep current Clubs in current locations where possible

 

[Poul]

There's now a poll on the NRLUS site regarding where people would like to see the franchises placed (wouldn't this be down to whoever is stumping up the necessary cash?) I can't believe Washington DC wasn't in the list that appeared in RLR. DC has a fair amount of rugby culture and has had a league team for a while now as opposed to some of the other cities mentioned which are a bit random to say the least.

I've just submitted my vote for Washington DC. I think the capital should definitely have a team. It's a big city with some "rugby" culture, with two AMNRL teams (Slayers, Eagles) in its environs. Currently Washington is 5th in the poll (admittedly with only a small number of votes), with Jacksonville, not surprisingly, way out in front. Boston is also polling well. Whether this poll will have any bearing on the placement of the franchises, ... who knows? But I do think it is a good way to try to engage the potential fans, even distant ones such as myself.
Get your vote (www.nrlus.com) in now. :-k

 

[joshreading]

It certainly is curious though. If it isn't just a way to engage the fans (which is a good idea) then what really could be made of an internet poll?

Jax have put a link promoting the poll so in some regard they must take it seriously. Maybe the money from TV (it is being promoted as a 'made for TV' competition) will cover expenses wherever it goes.

I wish some more substantial info would come out. I find the fact that Jax Axe are still ''applying for a team" when there City has been mentioned as a certainty a little disconcerting. I certainly hope this comes off

 

[ParraEelsNRL]

I said with a few expats, they're nearly all Americans but usually have a couple of Aussies (or maybe it was Yankee expats in Australia)

I watched them in Goulburn and they were all yanks for gods sake.

 

[hutch]

I watched them in Goulburn and they were all yanks for gods sake.

ive had an expat mate play for the tomahawks in sydney. they are mostly american players from the amnrl but they do have a few heritage players which is no drama.