Why don't we ever "raid" Union?

[Wb1234]

Let’s be honest that was as much as result of bad administration and lack of a truly strong professional comp as much as it was about rugby union. Rugby League is far too established in Australia and particularly Sydney for rugby union to make a significant dent

Unions signing of this guy is predatory

the nrl should take the gloves off and make all blacks players exempt from the salary cap

then go on a signing spree

that’s exactly what union did

nrl has the money to pay 2 milllion plus if they want too

 

[Wb1234]

Did union align with the Nazis in France to ban league and take all its assets? Simple question with an answer already proven but let's see if you can admit it.

Took broken glass and put it on rugby league fields

then there’s union not allowing league into the Olympics by claiming they are the only rugby code

imagine getting a sport banned because you couldn’t compete with it

 

[BODISGOD]

Did union align with the Nazis in France to ban league and take all its assets? Simple question with an answer already proven but let's see if you can admit it.

Union officials (they would have been local ones) have done damage in the past to League through awful means. Not just with Vichy France but with player poaching and the occasional effort to block League like in Serbia.

However despite that, League was still there and very competitive a few years later. It isn’t because or Vichy France that Union is bigger than League in France.

It also doesn’t come down to evil vs. not evil. When other sports were starting to question why they were played in Apartheid South Africa, Bill Fallowfield attempted to covert it to a League country (Hendrik Snyders (2011) ‘Preventing Huddersfield’: The rise and decline of rugby league in South Africa, c.1957–1965, The International Journal of the History of Sport, 28:1, 9-31, DOI.

Rugby also suffered in the likes of Nazi Germany, where Hitler preferred handball. All on the record here (https://www.thelocal.de/20140201/german-rugby-set-to-get-a-helping-english-hand).

 

[roughyed8]

For those arguing where Rugby world cup rates in televised sport events.. its number 15 (according to this dodgy site anyway)

The Most Watched Sporting Events in The World

Wondering which sporting events draw the most TV viewers around the world? Check out our list of the world most watched sporting events.

www.roadtrips.com

Out of date by a long way.

UEFA EURO 2020 impresses with 5.2 billion cumulative global live audience

Audiences for UEFA EURO 2020 are ranked among the most viewed moments of all time. Digital engagement figures also demonstrate the enormous global appeal of the competition.

www.uefa.com

Euro 2020 final attracts estimated 31 million TV audience in UK

Coverage of England v Italy match watched by more viewers than any programme since 1997 Diana funeral

www.theguardian.com

 

[gordsy]

You mean this Kurtley Beale?

Beale granted bail after being charged over alleged sexual assault

Beale granted bail after being charged over alleged sexual assault

www.foxsports.com.au

I don't think league is on a position to lecture any other codes about player behavior.
The main reason league doesn't raid rugby is we don't have to, there's enough good juniors and established stars that we don't need to take the risk.

 

[Vibing]

“At rugby we are more pro-player. Longer careers, greater life experience, more focused on player welfare and more fun.”

FMD this is funny

he forgot... & completely irrelevant in Australia

 

[AlwaysGreen]

Hitler preferred handball.

 

[Gobsmacked]

I hate Union, not because of the past and not really because of Suaalii ( although those help)
I hate Union for the same reason I hate romantic comedies... it's just stupid .
* you have penalties that nobody knows what they were for and nobody even questions it
* 3 points for a goal? So almost worth a try?
* line out
*scrum
* rucks and mauls
* the time it takes to organise all of the above
* watching a bunch of overweight/ out of shape dudes all getting watching and catching their breath because the game went for 2 minutes without stopping
* the type of over privileged private school poofs that are involved in the game .

Take away all that and I'm in
O... you did? ..
Yeah.. we call it League

Thank God.

 

[Babyface O'reilly]

Unions signing of this guy is predatory

the nrl should take the gloves off and make all blacks players exempt from the salary cap

then go on a signing spree

that’s exactly what union did

nrl has the money to pay 2 milllion plus if they want too

Are you thinking then that the NRL will then distribute those union players amongst the lower ranked clubs for fairness so the fans don’t get upset that some of those players would rather play for Roosters? The players and RLPA would fight it anyway as it’s essentially a draft. Given they’ll need time to adapt to league, if at all, won’t help the lower ranked clubs either. Poaching their players makes them look good I reckon. Rather that money spent on grass roots, it should be anyway.

 

[6 more kfc buckets]

I believe that Rugby Unions direct descendants were also responsible for starting the crusades. They even have a team named after such atrocities.
Suualii should be publicly burnt at the stake for his part.

 

[Chimp]

Of course not. But his choice has created a problem for the game and he isn't immune from consequences. You can't have him developing in the best rugby comp, either code, in the world and building his profile while at the same time being an 18 month walking billboard for union. It makes us look like a development comp and provides 18 months of advertising on the biggest sport in Australia for the code that has been trying to kill us since the beginning. I even think roosters should get cap dispensation to drop him it's that serious. At the very least word needs to come from high that he is persona non grata when it comes to rep footy.

I agree with this completely.

We can’t go down the route of ‘tear up his contract’ or have clauses in contracts that mean if you sign with Union your contract is null and void, as then, players who are disgruntled, or have been tapped up, will simply sign a short term deal with RU to get out of their existing contract, before re-signing to another NRL team.

I agree on the salary cap dispensation route. If a player signs with Union, they are immediately unavailable for NRL duty, the NRL can even pay their wage, but essentially, they are left to rot. I’d also say they should never be let back in our game.

That might sound an over reaction, but hear me out. $1.6m sounds a lot, and it is, but it’s a lot cheaper than having development pathways set up across the board. The Wallabies only need about 30 players at any time, and probably a maximum of 8 could come from league - it’s probably more cost efficient and easier not to bother with development pathways, and just use the NRL as a breeding ground and pay overs for the individuals once they’re cherry ripe. And if that works for the Wallabies, why wouldn’t it work for the mega rich French clubs, who already buy in the vast majority of their talent anyway.

I doubt it would get that far, but it could feasibly happen. So f**k em - any player who goes to Union ain’t welcome back and anyone who signs with union rots without game time and with no platform to promote Union. I’d even go as far as saying all NRL contracts should have an extra year on top of the club contract that is an ‘NRL’ contract, so that they can’t just keep the fact they’ve signed with union quiet. So if a player signs for 3 years with the Roosters, the contract is actually a 4 year NRL contract (with no financial value attached to the 4th year), with the first 3 years at Roosters, if they don’t sign a new extended contract at the end of the 3rd year, either with Roosters or with another NRL club (that again would have an extra year signed to the NRL), they sit out a year.

 

[Wb1234]

France somehow managed to host the inaugural RLWC (with attendances of c. 20k per game) and get to the final yet we are supposed to believe the game was killed a decade earlier. They also managed to get to the 1968 final somehow, after apparently being killed a quarter of a century earlier.

The Forbidden Game

Browse our collection of millions of new and used books. World of Books is one of the world’s largest online sellers of second-hand books. Free delivery in Australia.

www.wob.com

Available in bookshops all over England and Ireland even to union fans. Time to invest in one

Are you thinking then that the NRL will then distribute those union players amongst the lower ranked clubs for fairness so the fans don’t get upset that some of those players would rather play for Roosters? The players and RLPA would fight it anyway as it’s essentially a draft. Given they’ll need time to adapt to league, if at all, won’t help the lower ranked clubs either. Poaching their players makes them look good I reckon. Rather that money spent on grass roots, it should be anyway.

More so rich clubs pay for it themselves

warriors would be the best one for marketing purposes

 

[bazza]

Unions signing of this guy is predatory

the nrl should take the gloves off and make all blacks players exempt from the salary cap

then go on a signing spree

that’s exactly what union did

nrl has the money to pay 2 milllion plus if they want too

Doesn't make much sense to pay double what the current best NRL players get for someone that has not played the sport and isn't a huge name.
Can't remember a union player signing like that in recent times that would have made sense except maybe Jonah Lomu - which was a long time ago

 

[bazza]

Are you thinking then that the NRL will then distribute those union players amongst the lower ranked clubs for fairness so the fans don’t get upset that some of those players would rather play for Roosters? The players and RLPA would fight it anyway as it’s essentially a draft. Given they’ll need time to adapt to league, if at all, won’t help the lower ranked clubs either. Poaching their players makes them look good I reckon. Rather that money spent on grass roots, it should be anyway.

yes - would be better to have an extra 20 junior rugby league clubs running in NZ than signing a few pro players

 

[Wb1234]

Doesn't make much sense to pay double what the current best NRL players get for someone that has not played the sport and isn't a huge name.
Can't remember a union player signing like that in recent times that would have made sense except maybe Jonah Lomu - which was a long time ago

That’s what the aru did basically lol

 

[Matua]

Unions signing of this guy is predatory

the nrl should take the gloves off and make all blacks players exempt from the salary cap

then go on a signing spree

that’s exactly what union did

nrl has the money to pay 2 milllion plus if they want too

That's some interesting logic, Australia signs a player and you want to take it out on NZ.

Although, if you want to take Shannon Frizell I'll chip in some money.

 

[Wb1234]

That's some interesting logic, Australia signs a player and you want to take it out on NZ.

Although, if you want to take Shannon Frizell I'll chip in some money.

The only decent union players are in nz

nobody is paying 2 million pa for a wallaby

 

[mongoose]

f**king what? It was union literally teaming up with Nazis to ban the game and take all it's assets. "Bad administration" f**king read up mate.

League was big in the 50s and 60s in France though, so WW2 really didnt do much damage...

 

[Chief_Chujo]

League was big in the 50s and 60s in France though, so WW2 really didnt do much damage...

They never gave any of the money or assets back. The game remained banned in schools and they were restricted to the number of players they could have. It wasn't even allowed to be called Rugby League until the 90s ffs. Its a credit to the strength of French Rugby League that they could battle the war of attrition Union was waging on them for so long.

 

[PARRA_FAN]

Rugby league just sits back, smiles and goes, we've got plenty of depth dont worry, whereas Union goes, geez this League player would be handy for our game. Says a lot about the depth in Union.

Look I'll be honest I didnt mind Union some years ago because they played well and were well known, guys like Larkham, Gregan, Burke, Eales. I seem to remember League were looking at poaching some of those guys.

Now I couldnt name one Wallaby and I certainly wouldnt be the only one.

I dont know why but I watched a Wallabies game last year, it was so bad, their passing skills were horrible, they couldnt kick, so many knocks, the penalties didnt make sense. I mean we complain about the referees in our game.