USA 2024

[yakstorm]

More about the Nines;

In addition to the combine and double-header, the NRL will also hold a two-day nines tournament for under-18s and open level for both men and women.

“It’s exciting for us to open this up to the rugby league community which exists already,” Abdo said.

“We are working with USA Rugby League. We are putting together nine’s tournament. We’ve had a huge response and 27 teams have already entered.

“It’s not just for rugby league teams. We think we can attract some rugby union teams.

“It will be played across two days and there will be prize money for the winners. It’s about connecting them to the rugby league community.

 

[wain]

In my wildest dreams this is what I would have hoped for…never did I think they’d actually get their shit together and work with usarl to host a tournament…and a juniors tournament too!
this could be a watershed moment for nrl growth, and usarl growth and foundation in the US!
but with so many false dawns,I will keep my excitement holstered for now.

 

[yakstorm]

In my wildest dreams this is what I would have hoped for…never did I think they’d actually get their shit together and work with usarl to host a tournament…and a juniors tournament too!
this could be a watershed moment for nrl growth, and usarl growth and foundation in the US!
but with so many false dawns,I will keep my excitement holstered for now.

It's a promising start. If the NRL & USARL can commit to the 9s being played in each of the 5 years the NRL launch will be played in Vegas, I can definitely see it growing very quickly, especially if they actually promote teams signing up for 2025 from March next year.

Not sure what the agreement with Allegiant Stadium looks like, but if it allows for extra events on the day, it would be amazing with the Finals could take place at the stadium on the Saturday.

 

[RedVee_8]

Hopefully in future years they might attract a couple of teams down from Canada.

 

[wain]

Hopefully in future years they might attract a couple of teams down from Canada.

And Hawaii too. With no pro teams and large Polynesian population, and closer proximity to Australia….i think it can be a great outpost for RL. Oahu has just over 1mil residents.

 

[RedVee_8]

And Hawaii too. With no pro teams and large Polynesian population, and closer proximity to Australia….i think it can be a great outpost for RL. Oahu has just over 1mil residents.

I agree.
I think They need to go back there with a Pacific Cup match. Maybe a Nines visit could build from that.
Gotta try.

 

[yakstorm]

Latest on USARL governance reforms.

International Rugby League update on US Governance Reform

International Rugby League update on US Governance Reform

www.intrl.sport

So far only the following clubs are considered member clubs and are eligible to vote in January's AGM: Jacksonville Axemen, LA Bandidos, LA Mongrel, San Diego Barracudas, South West Florida Copperheads RLFC, and Tampa Mayhem

 

[RedVee_8]

Latest on USARL governance reforms.

International Rugby League update on US Governance Reform

International Rugby League update on US Governance Reform

www.intrl.sport

So far only the following clubs are considered member clubs and are eligible to vote in January's AGM: Jacksonville Axemen, LA Bandidos, LA Mongrel, San Diego Barracudas, South West Florida Copperheads RLFC, and Tampa Mayhem

3 Florida and 3 Cali?

I hope the NRL Las Vegas experiment will drive more clubs to reach the required standards for affiliation.

 

[yakstorm]

3 Florida and 3 Cali?

I hope the NRL Las Vegas experiment will drive more clubs to reach the required standards for affiliation.

Agree. There is still a little bit of time for clubs to get their submissions in, I think Jan 3 is the cut off.

I will say I'm happy it's not just clubs from the South East. When I saw that the PCRL hasn't been approved yet as a member league, I was worried it would be a continuation of the same issues that have haunted US Rugby League for the past 15 years with a small group running everything.

 

[yakstorm]

Oregon Rugby League has it's first official club, the Willamette Valley Haybalers.

Club is based out of Corvallis in Oregon and will represent the Linn & Benton Counties.

 

[baggygreen man]

With a new year fast approach, thought it was time for a new thread.

Utah:
Utah Junior Rugby League has announced an U17s Men & Women’s 9s competition to run from December to February at Zions Bank Indoor Stadium in Herriman.

The clubs entering teams are the Timp Panthers, Wolfpack, Rabbitohs, Phoenix & West Side Pitbulls.

Meanwhile the Utah RLA has confirmed that the Provo Broncos, Riverton Seagulls, Herriman Roosters & Glendale Storm are all back for 2024. Their Twitter account has indicated another 1-2 teams maybe joining, which is exciting.

Good to see this thread and updates on Yank league yakstorm.
How has the game progressed there since this timeline.

One night in Philly — how the USA Tomahawks nearly pulled off the greatest upset in rugby league history

When Australia met the USA in Philadelphia one cold night in 2004, it was supposed to be a smash-up but after 40 minutes the Tomahawks were on the verge of one of the biggest boilovers in sporting history.

www.abc.net.au

 

[baggygreen man]

USA Hawks to play Jamaica Reggae Warriors in Kingston on December 2.

Having more league playing nations can only be good for the sport. What was the score. Any footage?

 

[yakstorm]

Having more league playing nations can only be good for the sport. What was the score. Any footage?

USA Hawks defeated the Jamaica Reggae Warriors 30 - 26.

Vision of the game is at https://youtube.com/live/gOu5Z7V1Q_Y (around 20 mins are missing when the stream went down)

 

[yakstorm]

How has the game progressed there since this timeline.

Since the Liberty Bell Cup the game has gone forward and backwards and forward and backwards again and again.

We went from 6 teams in the North East in 2004 in the AMNRL to a peak of 11 (10 in the NE + Jacksonville) in 2010, before we had the AMNRL / USARL split.

AMNRL folded in 2014 with just 5 teams. The USARL started with 8 teams in 2011 and grew to 14 by 2015 with 3 pools (5x North East, 5x Mid Atlantic, 4x South East) before decreasing to 11 (6x North East, 5x South East) in the pre-COVID 2019 season.

We then had the NARL pop up, the California Rugby League, which was first USARL affiliated, then broke away to become the Championship Rugby League and then fizzled out all in a three year window, the Pacific Coast Rugby League emerged out of the clubs the Championship Rugby League kicked out along the way and the North East USARL clubs broke away to form Rugby League United.

In 2023, the game looked like this:
- 4x Clubs in the North East RLU
- 4x Clubs in the South East USARL
- 4x Clubs in the Pacific Coast California Conference
- 4x Clubs in the Utah Rugby League (PCRL Utah Conference)
- The disbanded Championship RL with 7x clubs

We also had a Utah Junior RL kick off with 5x Clubs playing men's & women’s U17s 9s matches.

For 2024, we know there will be an inaugural National Women's Premiership with three clubs from the West (Santa Rosa, Los Angeles & San Diego) and three from the East (Jacksonville, Tampa Bay & a new club called the Valkyries) and the NRL Vegas 9s in February.

The Utah Rugby League has indicated that it will have at least 5 clubs & potentially 6 for the Men's National championship, the South Florida Speed have indicated they may rejoin the South East competition, Oregon now has a club and is affiliated with the PCRL, so maybe in the mix in some way and Oneida FC is hoped that they might rejoin the RLU after playing one off matches against Boston.

An unknown is whether any of the Championship RL teams may find their way into the PCRL for 2024. The clubs that were playing up until June were the Provo Steelers, Sacramento Immortals, San Francisco Savage, Las Vegas Islanders, Salt Lake Spartans, Utah Saints, East Palo Alto Razorbacks and North Bay Warriors.

There are also plenty of other individual clubs around that we're not yet sure of their plans in 2024 such as the Carolina Storm, Cleveland Rugby League, Roots Rugby, Music Highwaymen, Nashville RL, etc.

Hopefully 2024 will mean more clubs playing competition games than 2023.

 

[yakstorm]

So the Valkyries, who will play in the Eastern Conference of the inaugural USA Women's National Championship, will be based out of North Carolina.

 

[baggygreen man]

Since the Liberty Bell Cup the game has gone forward and backwards and forward and backwards again and again.

We went from 6 teams in the North East in 2004 in the AMNRL to a peak of 11 (10 in the NE + Jacksonville) in 2010, before we had the AMNRL / USARL split.

AMNRL folded in 2014 with just 5 teams. The USARL started with 8 teams in 2011 and grew to 14 by 2015 with 3 pools (5x North East, 5x Mid Atlantic, 4x South East) before decreasing to 11 (6x North East, 5x South East) in the pre-COVID 2019 season.

We then had the NARL pop up, the California Rugby League, which was first USARL affiliated, then broke away to become the Championship Rugby League and then fizzled out all in a three year window, the Pacific Coast Rugby League emerged out of the clubs the Championship Rugby League kicked out along the way and the North East USARL clubs broke away to form Rugby League United.

In 2023, the game looked like this:
- 4x Clubs in the North East RLU
- 4x Clubs in the South East USARL
- 4x Clubs in the Pacific Coast California Conference
- 4x Clubs in the Utah Rugby League (PCRL Utah Conference)
- The disbanded Championship RL with 7x clubs

We also had a Utah Junior RL kick off with 5x Clubs playing men's & women’s U17s 9s matches.

For 2024, we know there will be an inaugural National Women's Premiership with three clubs from the West (Santa Rosa, Los Angeles & San Diego) and three from the East (Jacksonville, Tampa Bay & a new club called the Valkyries) and the NRL Vegas 9s in February.

The Utah Rugby League has indicated that it will have at least 5 clubs & potentially 6 for the Men's National championship, the South Florida Speed have indicated they may rejoin the South East competition, Oregon now has a club and is affiliated with the PCRL, so maybe in the mix in some way and Oneida FC is hoped that they might rejoin the RLU after playing one off matches against Boston.

An unknown is whether any of the Championship RL teams may find their way into the PCRL for 2024. The clubs that were playing up until June were the Provo Steelers, Sacramento Immortals, San Francisco Savage, Las Vegas Islanders, Salt Lake Spartans, Utah Saints, East Palo Alto Razorbacks and North Bay Warriors.

There are also plenty of other individual clubs around that we're not yet sure of their plans in 2024 such as the Carolina Storm, Cleveland Rugby League, Roots Rugby, Music Highwaymen, Nashville RL, etc.

Hopefully 2024 will mean more clubs playing competition games than 2023.

Many many thanks for that comprehensive update @yakstorm.

 

[yakstorm]

Ontario Ospreys from Canada have announced that they'll play against three USA Women's RL teams this year.

Tampa Mischief : Jan 26, Tampa, Fl
Carolina Valkyrie : Jan 27, Tampa, Fl
Cleveland Outlaws : Apr 20, Toronto, ON

They'll also take part in the NRL Vegas 9s on Feb 29/Mar 1.

 

[NRLMad]

Since the Liberty Bell Cup the game has gone forward and backwards and forward and backwards again and again.

We went from 6 teams in the North East in 2004 in the AMNRL to a peak of 11 (10 in the NE + Jacksonville) in 2010, before we had the AMNRL / USARL split.

AMNRL folded in 2014 with just 5 teams. The USARL started with 8 teams in 2011 and grew to 14 by 2015 with 3 pools (5x North East, 5x Mid Atlantic, 4x South East) before decreasing to 11 (6x North East, 5x South East) in the pre-COVID 2019 season.

We then had the NARL pop up, the California Rugby League, which was first USARL affiliated, then broke away to become the Championship Rugby League and then fizzled out all in a three year window, the Pacific Coast Rugby League emerged out of the clubs the Championship Rugby League kicked out along the way and the North East USARL clubs broke away to form Rugby League United.

In 2023, the game looked like this:
- 4x Clubs in the North East RLU
- 4x Clubs in the South East USARL
- 4x Clubs in the Pacific Coast California Conference
- 4x Clubs in the Utah Rugby League (PCRL Utah Conference)
- The disbanded Championship RL with 7x clubs

We also had a Utah Junior RL kick off with 5x Clubs playing men's & women’s U17s 9s matches.

For 2024, we know there will be an inaugural National Women's Premiership with three clubs from the West (Santa Rosa, Los Angeles & San Diego) and three from the East (Jacksonville, Tampa Bay & a new club called the Valkyries) and the NRL Vegas 9s in February.

The Utah Rugby League has indicated that it will have at least 5 clubs & potentially 6 for the Men's National championship, the South Florida Speed have indicated they may rejoin the South East competition, Oregon now has a club and is affiliated with the PCRL, so maybe in the mix in some way and Oneida FC is hoped that they might rejoin the RLU after playing one off matches against Boston.

An unknown is whether any of the Championship RL teams may find their way into the PCRL for 2024. The clubs that were playing up until June were the Provo Steelers, Sacramento Immortals, San Francisco Savage, Las Vegas Islanders, Salt Lake Spartans, Utah Saints, East Palo Alto Razorbacks and North Bay Warriors.

There are also plenty of other individual clubs around that we're not yet sure of their plans in 2024 such as the Carolina Storm, Cleveland Rugby League, Roots Rugby, Music Highwaymen, Nashville RL, etc.

Hopefully 2024 will mean more clubs playing competition games than 2023.

Thanks also

 

[yakstorm]

Final Full & Affiliate members for the USARL elections. PCRL is also now recognised as an affiliate League.

• Club Full Members: Jacksonville Axemen, Los Angeles Bandidos, Los Angeles Mongrel, San Diego Barracudas, Santa Rosa Dead Pelicans, SW Florida Copperheads, Tampa Mayhem
  
  
• Club Affiliate Members: Glendale Storm, Herriman Roosters, Provo Broncos, Riverton Seagulls

Not sure what the voting rights are for affiliate members, but there is now a West Coast skew with 4 clubs to 3.

 

[yakstorm]

Other USA news:

- USA to play Canada on Friday, March 1 in the lead up to Vegas NRL matches.
- Masters RL event featuring USA, Canada + Australia to also be played in the lead up to Vegas NRL matches.
- Rumour is that the Sacramento Immortals are set to join the PCRL