Copy and pasted from my post over on TotalRL
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The IRL need to settle a 7 week international calendar each year.
Year 1&3
May - Northern 9s (England, France, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, USA, Jamaica).
I attended the second day of the Nines. Arrived at the end of the first game between France and Wales and enjoyed what was pretty much 9 hours of international football.
Apart from Australia and New Zealand and a couple of the island nations there was only limited support for all remaining nations including England. Some teams like France, USA and Wales had nobody which was a shame because the USA did look strong for about 5 minutes against Australia.
There was no doubt in anyone's mind that the final would be Australia Vs England or New Zealand. I think if we want to see Rugby League grow internationally we need to see some kind of incentive for the NRL to sign players from the lesser nations. Perhaps players eligible for lower end nations such as France, USA, Wales, Canada, Jamaica, Lebanon etc that have never played in the NRL before could be a squad/cap exemption in the NRL and Super League? The USA side in particular was looking quite poor with just 3 NRL reps all who had played well under 20 games in the NRL.
Whoever organised the draw probably should've organised it in a way that an Australia Vs NZ final would not be possible also. Everyone around me knew it'd be Aus Vs NZ including myself. When Australia won people were happy but nobody was really surprised to see it happen.
Was fun though. Would attend next year.
I attended the second day of the Nines. Arrived at the end of the first game between France and Wales and enjoyed what was pretty much 9 hours of international football.
Apart from Australia and New Zealand and a couple of the island nations there was only limited support for all remaining nations including England. Some teams like France, USA and Wales had nobody which was a shame because the USA did look strong for about 5 minutes against Australia.
There was no doubt in anyone's mind that the final would be Australia Vs England or New Zealand. I think if we want to see Rugby League grow internationally we need to see some kind of incentive for the NRL to sign players from the lesser nations. Perhaps players eligible for lower end nations such as France, USA, Wales, Canada, Jamaica, Lebanon etc that have never played in the NRL before could be a squad/cap exemption in the NRL and Super League? The USA side in particular was looking quite poor with just 3 NRL reps all who had played well under 20 games in the NRL.
Whoever organised the draw probably should've organised it in a way that an Australia Vs NZ final would not be possible also. Everyone around me knew it'd be Aus Vs NZ including myself. When Australia won people were happy but nobody was really surprised to see it happen.
Was fun though. Would attend next year.
Which they have every right to though!The big nations poaching smaller nation players would still happen. Whether a full test or 9's CNK and Tetavano etc playing for a top side over Cook Islands always happens
Which they have every right to though!
Shouldn’t Canada now be included? With the Wolfpack making inroads, a visible International presence is surely a must?
Copy and pasted from my post over on TotalRL
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The IRL need to settle a 7 week international calendar each year.
Year 1&3
May - Northern 9s (England, France, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, USA, Jamaica).
Southern 9s (Australia, NZ, Samoa, PNG, FIji, Tonga, Lebanon, Cook Islands)
The following weekend Round 1 for a European Cup, Asia-Pacific Cup, MEA Cup and Americas Cup.
Round 2 in June.
Round 3 in July.
October/November is international finals season I.e Federation Cup (top 2 from Europe and Asia-Pacific) and Federation Shield (3rd in Euro Cup, 3rd Asia-Pacific, 1st Americas, 1st MEA).
Year 2
Repeat continental championships in May, June, July.
Oct/Nov for a World Cup 9s
Year 4
Friendlies in May and June.
Oct/Nov for a full World Cup
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Northern 9s alternates between Leeds, Cardiff and Toulouse.
Southern 9s alternates between Parramatta, Port Moresby and Auckland.
World 9s put out to applicants to host.
But it can’t sing and dance and it can’t walk.Money talks
The question should be, why do Australian refs always favour Australia. Has an Aussie ref officiating an Australia match ever made a controversial decision against Australia?
If the Wolfpack had any Canadians in the team or even an academy with Canadians in it. Until then that’s a noShouldn’t Canada now be included? With the Wolfpack making inroads, a visible International presence is surely a must?
Not cheats as such but maybe subliminally biased. It’s very strange that Australia usually get the rub of the green and the 50/50 calls more often than not when reffed by an Australian don’t you think?Didn't we have a kiwi ref for the women's final?
Are we saying all refs cheat for their country or just that all refs cheat? Looking to direct my outrage appropriately...
Agree, there should be a World 9s every four years with a regional 9s every couple of years in the intervening years.It was a high quality event, hopefully the TV viewers took enough notice to entice them along next time as it certainly deserved a better crowd than it got.
But when and where is next time? 4 years later in another hemisphere is not enough. It will be long forgotten by the next time it rolls around.
We *need* a Pacific 9s and Euro 9s next year!
Quality follow-up is International Rugby League's biggest failure, every time.
Give English fans a chance to see this format of the game on home soil.
Give Aussie or Kiwi fans another round.
and give the Americas and MEA their own annual versions of the event too.
Other thoughts...
I think October is the right time of year for this. It's a great festival to open the international season and there's far less resistance from clubs like pre-NRL events.
The Lebanon almost-disqualification was hopeless administration. Clearly some communications issues here about a strange rule that doesn't apply in other internationals.
Lebanon made a great account of themselves despite the boycott threats while Tonga looked like they hadn't trained. Fears about Lebanon collapsing seem to be unfounded. The Tonga situation is a long way from over.
Biggest disappointment for me was opening on a Friday night. I really think there could have been another 10,000 added to the total if it was played Saturday Sunday. The NRLs failure to properly schedule international events they get involved in is so poor that it almost looks deliberate. Next week we have Australia playing in Wollongong on a Friday night. If anyone wants to watch the U23s v France or the Women - tough luck.