What do you want to see in the world of rugby league in your lifetime?

[hutch]

things are a bit slow internationally, and ive got too much time on my hands today.

we all have different views on where we want rugby league to head, and most know that the current international administration (arl) have no idea how to grow the game world wide, so if you were boss, what what you do? some ideas might be realistic, some may be pipedreams or fantasy, but this is what id love to see before i kark it.



* nrl with all the current teams plus southern orcas, based out of wellingon and play some games in chirstchurch, the wa reds and central coast bears, possibility of adelaide, but dont think so in my lifetime (nrl average crowd 25k)


* super league:
1-wigan,
2-leeds,
3-bradford,
4-hull fc,
5-hull kr, (new stadium)
6-london harlequins, (averaging at least 7k)
7-warrington,
8-manchester-salford reds, (i know most salford fans dont want to add the manchester
name, but after 105 years and still only drawing 5k max, they need a new identity IMO),
9- st helens (new stadium)
10- huddersfield
11- les catalans
12- toulouse
13- celtic crusaders (10k crowds)
14- 2nd london team
15- castleford
16- cumbria

no promotion/relegation but top 6 from national league 1 (wakefield, sheffield, oldham for eg) join top 6 from france (eg. pia, lezignon, paris)and form euro shield after their shortened season. gives teams in the lower league somethnig to aim for other than super league and european exposure. added to this mix will be the top teams from ireland, scotland, wales and russia domestic comps.

all teams in european challenge cup as well.


* mid season rep schedule every year:

- southern hemsiphere:
no nrl on the 3 weekends (not fair on clubs losing players to origin as it is now, let alone players to other rep teams), origin wed night, nz, png, tonga, samoa, fiji, play each other on weekends. eg, year 1 nz v png 3 games, tonga v fiji, samoa v aboriginals. games in home countries to actually promote the game there, not played out of campbelltown.

- northern hemisphere.
6 nations. eng, france, ire, scot, wales, russia. can be split into 2 tiers with promotion/ relegation. eg tier 1, euro championship, france, eng, wales. tier 2 scot, ire, russia. if france v england in grand final, wales play ireland for example for a spot in top tier. or they could all just play each other once like they do in union.

* world cup every 4 years from 2013. cant expect uk to host both olympics and rlwc in 2012, make it 2013 onwards. nz 2017, france 2021.
-16 genuine international teams
-one nation for life rule, or at least 5 years stand down period. id keep the eligability laws as they are now, its pretty much standard for most international sports.
-all international records kept, if a country plays another country, it is a test match. not picking and choosing which games are tests and which ones arent like we do now. (the irb are brilliant at keeping records)


*other things id love to see:

-france win a world cup
-amnrl with 20 teams, 10 from east, 10 west. east v west origin game.
-russia to fulfill potential
-once other states start developing origin standard players, do we have vic v wa as a game before nsw v qld, or do we allow nsw and qld to adopt a state. eg, wa juniors play for nsw, vic for qld.
- pacific club comp with teams from png, fiji, samoa, tonga, cooks.
- south african comp
- a full time rlif office based out of brisbane, auckland, manchester or toulouse. and definately not run by part timers from the arl.


anyway, raving on a bit. most of this stuff may just be a fantasy, but with the right admin some of it is possible.havnt really gone into end of season tours or world club challenges too much. what do you guys want to see?

 

[roughyedspud]

GB or england beat australia in a test series......just the once will do

 

[The Electric Horseman]

Wales V PNG World Cup Final

 

[Mr. Fahrenheit]

I agree with most of what youve said, but the INTL body, isnt the ARL... its the RLIF

 

[deluded pom?]

I agree with most of what youve said, but the INTL body, isnt the ARL... its the RLIF

I think a tad of sarcasm was intended in the ARL reference.

 

[NK Arsenal]

Domestic:
-A real NRL
-Bartercard Cup becomes professional with the Warriors going there
-Super League has 12 franchises (no relegation rubbish) in Leeds, London, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Bradford, Hull, Huddersfield, Wigan, Portsmouth, Liverpool and Bristol
-Professional 10 team competitions in France, Greece, Italy, South Africa, Czech Republic, USA, Germany, Serbia, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Russia that attract publicity locally and globally and draw 25k+ crowds
-International Domestic Cups (Like European Champions League)
-Winners of International Domestic Cups enter World Club Challenge held annually in different countries
-Dedicated Rugby League Channel

International:

-International Continental Zone Cups (Like Euro, Asian Cup)
-Gradual Expansion of World Cup (12 in 2012, 16 in 2016, 20 in 2024)
-Challenging Union for International attention
-International match dates with regular Test Matches
-Every Country qualifying through Continental Zones through home and away matches
-Top 10-15 nations can beat each other
-Test Matches > Origin
-All affiliate nations become full members
-An Australia A side

 

[Kurt Angle]

My life time

A British Isles League - No french sies, but a Welsh side, a Dublin side, perhaps a Scottish side, London side, and a bunch of heartlands side in a 14 team comp.

A continental Europe League - a Barcelona side, a Dutch side, an Italian side, a Serbian side, 1 or two German sides and a bunch of French sides. in a 12 team comp.

A strong(er) Russian comp of 12 teams, all at least semi-pro.

A East coast wide USA comp - all one city sides. NY, Chicago, Boston, Washington, Philly, Atlanta, Jacksonville and a number more in a 12 team comp.

And an NRL probaly around 18 teams.

A dedicated RL payTV channel showing every single game from all 5 comps.

 

[Kumul]

For myself and all PNGeans ...for the Kumuls to Beat a Full strentgh Australian side in Australia

 

[PARRA_FAN]

If most competitions were competitive, then we'll see a real world club challenge

NRL, SL, Bartercard Cup, SB Cup, Russia, France

Hopefully we'll see more ex-NRL and ESL players/coaches in the AMRL, French Elite Comp, PNG Comp, Russian comp.

Reduce the both the NRL and ESL comps to make way for more International games.

More RL test matches in Melb, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin

A tougher and more competitive European champion

16 team WC, hopefully played in Russia, USA.

Tougher rules:

*As mentioned, if you play for another country, you arent allowed to play for another.
*5-6 years residence
*WC Qualifiers, same as the current, you must have at least 6 local players.

Tri Nations in both hemispheres:

North: Great Britain, France, Russia
South: Australia, New Zealand, PNG

Quad Nations, top 2 nations in both tournaments

European tournament. 10 team tournament

World 7's or World 9's, all International teams. Play it in developing nations.

Hopefully Russia, PNG, USA to be competitive.

France to draw massive test crowds

Aus vs GB test match to draw 80,000 at Telstra, and same crowd figure at Wembley.

 

[screeny]

Obviously me running the game....but if I had one wish - just one - it would be for France to win the World Cup and overhaul the rah rah dogs in France.

 

[deluded pom?]

Some competent RLIF adminstrators wouldn't go amiss. Oh and a pair of balls for each of them (unless a darn good female comes to the game's rescue).

 

[nadera78]

wow, big list, but I'll just go with 5 that would have a big impact.

1)Sl to have a 2nd French team and one from Wales. And a London team doing well.

2)NRL to have teams in Perth and (a 2nd from) New Zealand.

3)The NRL/ARL to fund a Pacific RL Academy, where the best 16 year olds from the region are taken to Aus on 2 year scholarships and educated while getting top RL coaching. This would give us a steady supply of talent from the region making it's way into the NRL.

SL/RFL to do the same with players from around Europe. The knock on effects would be enormous, as the smaller nations (who are unlikely to be in a postion to host pro comps inside the next 30 years) would have a supply of players playing at the top levels. Within 10 years of the academies being set up we would have at least half a dozen countries competing on a level playing field.

4)The RLIF to clearly and sensibly lay out qualification criteria for international players. It's not brain surgery, just look at what every other sport does and follow their lead.

5) The RLIF to have a full time group of admin and development officers, and not be based out of the NSWRL HQ. And for them to organise a world cup every 4 years. Also a Pacific Cup (full sides) and European Cup held every four years. The intervening years see tours held as per usual.

 

[RLIF]

1. Southern Orcas to join NRL,
2. Bartercard Cup to go Pro
3. Wales to join Super League,
4. Ireland to join Super League,
5. 10 Competitive nations who can beat each other regulary:
Australia,
NZ,
England,
France,
PNG,
Tonga,
Wales,
Ireland,
Fiji, and
Samoa.
6. NZ to win the Rugby League World Cup
7. Wales to beat England in Wales in front of 20,000

 

[MarionMorrison]

1. Northern and southern comps brought into line so that players are free to play test matches at tehend of the year;
2. a five nations (Eng, Wales, Irish, French,Russian) comp kicked off at the same time as AUS/NZ/PNG played whenever a Quad nations is not.
3. Decrease number of Aus/NZ players in SL.
4. Reds/Orcas in NRL, Welsh/2nd french side in SL
5. Remove the restriction that SOO players have to be eligible for Australia.

 

[Mr. Fahrenheit]

This is what id like to see (my F7s article)

International Rugby League... an Oxymoron?

Since the official Rugby League World Cup announcement on 19/04/07 the wider community has ridiculed the concept of International Rugby League. The reasons for the general public’s sceptical attitude can be categorised into three sections;

* Credibility
* Competition
* Promotion

These categories are linked, as a better standard of competition improves the credibility of International RL, which increases revenue and enables the RLIF to intensify their promotional efforts.

The fluidity of the eligibility of players is one of the major issues that undermine the credibility of International RL. Some NZ players appear to choose State of Origin appearances over Test caps (Hunt) and others treat less favourable countries as a ‘back-up’ if they don’t qualify for one of the major teams (Solomona.) This is compounded by the unavailability of players due to club committments, e.g. in recent years the April test between Australia and NZ has become farcical due to some ESL clubs blocking the participation of NZ internationals.

International RL's lack integrity, including the absence of sufficient competition has led to the decreasing interest in this level of the sport. Greater international competition assists the development of the sport in other nations which in turn boosts the credibility of tournaments such as the RLWC.

The 2003 Rugby Union World Cup was deemed a success due to their promotion strategies. The fixtures were promoted as ‘events’ and this encouraged an AFL obsessed city in Adelaide, to sell out a match which had a score line of 146-0. The RLIF cannot emulate the efforts of the International Rugby Board without similar funding; however it cannot obtain the necessary financial support if its product continues to be undermined domestically. These issues have led to the present situation, where a spectacle between 34 Australians is viewed as the pinnacle of this sport.

The improvement of International RL is reliant upon the power of the RLIF. These issues cannot be addressed unless the RLIF has the ability to organise more international fixtures despite protests from other governing bodies in Australasia and Europe. If there was an increase in the number of international games played between the ‘second tier’ nations and the major countries (Australia, NZ, Eng, France), the standard of these teams is bound to improve, this could lead to players like Solomona pledging their allegiances to lesser nations. Secondly the RLIF must be able to impose time periods where all clubs MUST release their international players, irrespective of the country they would represent.

I propose the RLIF aims to integrate the ‘second tier’ nations by dividing International Rugby League into 2 confederations, European and the Rest of the World.

* The European region can consist of; England, France, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Lebanon, Russia, Georgia, Serbia and Holland.
* The ROTW region can consist of; Australia, NZ, PNG, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Cook Islands, USA, Japan, West Indies and RSA.


These confederations could both host 6 nation tournaments in 4 year cycles. This has the potential to decrease the gap in standards between the major nations and the rest. The following is a proposed International timeline which caters for these contests.

*
* 2008 Oct/Nov:
o 10 nation Rugby League World Cup
* 2009 Oct/Nov:
o Quad-Nations – Australia, England, NZ and France
o European Cup Qualifiers – European Region (except England and France)
o ROTW Cup Qualifiers – Pan-Pacific Region (except Australia and NZ)
* 2010 Oct/Nov:
o ROTW Cup (6 nations) – Australia, NZ + 4 qualifiers
* 2011 Oct/Nov:
o Quad-Nations – Australia, England, NZ and France
o World Cup Qualifiers – the rest.
* 2012 Oct/Nov:
o 12 nation Rugby League World Cup

If the proposed tournaments in the timeline were created, the credibility of the International game would rise as the players would be less tempted to switch allegiances and the general public would appreciate the increase the standards because it would mean more competition. The RLIF has the potential to gain increased revenue in future as the higher standards and wider geographical span would result in more commercial interest, these funds can be utilised for promotion and then the RLIF would actually be position to rival the advertising efforts of the IRB.

Vast improvements are required by the RLIF to raise the standard of the international game, but one can only hope that the day arrives in which RL can reclaim the poignance of International tests, and if appropriate measures are undertaken, that day is not too far away.

 

[Lockyer4President!]

I think everything I mention below is very doable within 10-15 years time.

Tests
* A top tier (OZ/NZ/ENG) regularly beating each other.
* A second tier (based around France and PNG) that are capable of pulling off the odd upset and generally being competitive with the big three.
* Days/weekends set aside just for international matches/Origin
* More organisation of the lower tier nations (Wales/Russia/USA/some of the Pacific Islands)
* More Tests and more tours

Clubs
* Expansion of the NRL and SL to 18 teams each.
* SL crowds averaging 15,000 and NRL crowds averaging 25-30,000.
* A distinct 12 team second division for both the NRL and SL. (The SL second division could be based around 7 National League teams and 5 French teams).
* A 4 team World Club Challenge to be held 2 weeks after the NRL and SL grand finals.

I'll think of more later.

 

[screeny]

You do all realise that the topic starter mentioned 'in your lifetime' don't you? Most of the things collectively listed are achievable in a decade or so in my opinion.

It is either a sign of just how little faith we have in our administrators or that most of you are in your nineties.

 

[deluded pom?]

You do all realise that the topic starter mentioned 'in your lifetime' don't you? Most of the things collectively listed are achievable in a decade or so in my opinion.

It is either a sign of just how little faith we have in our administrators or that most of you are in your nineties.

What if we are sonny? Stop being ageist.;-)

 

[Lockyer4President!]

You do all realise that the topic starter mentioned 'in your lifetime' don't you? Most of the things collectively listed are achievable in a decade or so in my opinion.

It is either a sign of just how little faith we have in our administrators or that most of you are in your nineties.

Chances are that couple of us posting in this thread will be dead in 10 years. :sarcasm:

edit: If I lived for another 50-60 years I'd like to see league overtake union as the the most popular rugby code and be second only to soccer as the worlds most popular football code. That's about it. Oh, and for AFL to get f**ked over by a super-league type split but not recover from it like league has.

 

[deluded pom?]

Chances are that couple of us posting in this thread will be dead in 10 years. :sarcasm:

What a lovely little ray of sunshine L4P is :roll: