How to grow the international game! : Tue Nov 19, 2019 8:18 pm  

I like what Shane Richardson is saying. https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/11/11/ric ... s-circuit/

I like what Shane Richardson is saying. https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/11/11/ric ... s-circuit/

Re: How to grow the international game! : Tue Nov 19, 2019 8:59 pm  

kobashi wrote: I like what Shane Richardson is saying. https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/11/11/ric ... s-circuit/ In an ideal world yes, but as long as we are 100% reliant on TV money, then it's the TV execs who will dictate. As for a world 9's series....The World Cup 9's was played in Sydney, the most hard RL city on the planet and yet of the 60,000 available tickets, fewer than half were sold. Take it to somewhere like Hong Kong or Dubai and it'll be embarrassing. The NRL 9's started with a boom, 89,000 people over 2 days...fewer than 30,000 bothered in 2017.....typical RL marketing, flog it until it dies, but don't spend any cash marketing it. Now it's off to Perth (better than giving them an NRL franchise) to be played in the most phenomenal heat, flogging the players to keep the tv company happy The reality is that the game is run by the clubs and the international bodies have little say.

kobashi wrote: I like what Shane Richardson is saying. https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/11/11/ric ... s-circuit/ In an ideal world yes, but as long as we are 100% reliant on TV money, then it's the TV execs who will dictate. As for a world 9's series....The World Cup 9's was played in Sydney, the most hard RL city on the planet and yet of the 60,000 available tickets, fewer than half were sold. Take it to somewhere like Hong Kong or Dubai and it'll be embarrassing. The NRL 9's started with a boom, 89,000 people over 2 days...fewer than 30,000 bothered in 2017.....typical RL marketing, flog it until it dies, but don't spend any cash marketing it. Now it's off to Perth (better than giving them an NRL franchise) to be played in the most phenomenal heat, flogging the players to keep the tv company happy The reality is that the game is run by the clubs and the international bodies have little say.

Re: How to grow the international game! : Tue Nov 19, 2019 10:10 pm  

AXE2GRIND wrote:

In an ideal world yes, but as long as we are 100% reliant on TV money, then it's the TV execs who will dictate.

As for a world 9's series....The World Cup 9's was played in Sydney, the most hard RL city on the planet and yet of the 60,000 available tickets, fewer than half were sold. Take it to somewhere like Hong Kong or Dubai and it'll be embarrassing. The NRL 9's started with a boom, 89,000 people over 2 days...fewer than 30,000 bothered in 2017.....typical RL marketing, flog it until it dies, but don't spend any cash marketing it. Now it's off to Perth (better than giving them an NRL franchise) to be played in the most phenomenal heat, flogging the players to keep the tv company happy

The reality is that the game is run by the clubs and the international bodies have little say.

The 9's world circuit is a good idea. A concept should be given time to grow. If Rugby Union can have a 7's world circuit their is no reason why their can't be a 9's. You just need to be prepared to try take a hit initially with a new concept.

His bang on about the international game and without a calander its futile.

Re: How to grow the international game! : Tue Nov 19, 2019 10:36 pm  

puroresu_boy wrote:

The 9's world circuit is a good idea. A concept should be given time to grow. If Rugby Union can have a 7's world circuit their is no reason why their can't be a 9's. You just need to be prepared to try take a hit initially with a new concept.

His bang on about the international game and without a calander its futile.

If the 9's circuit is to work, then it needs to be say, Manchester, Sydney, Auckland and Toronto to start. choose 10k stadiums and fill them, then add cities as it gathers momentum. Maybe add Port Morseby or a Queensland leg, maybe a NZ south Island leg, London...once you have 5 or 6 sell outs then you can look at the USA, Dubai etc....but there needs to be money behind it and a long term plan. 10k stadiums is key. Make it a must book early event.

Comparing the 9's with the Union 7' is pointless. Hong Kong is on most Union fans bucket list, in Dubai it's held in "the sevens" stadium and attracts massive gates, in the USA they run a festival of Rugby at the same time, with schools and college competitions as well as manatuer open age grade and they get 60k in the crowds over the weekend...London get 100k over the weekend.

Re: How to grow the international game! : Wed Nov 20, 2019 3:49 am  

This is veering away a bit from the OP but it reminded me of a conceptual international calendar that I came up with a year or so ago. Some of the teams and suggestions included aren't necessarily conceivable at this moment in time, but it just serves as a framework as to what I think would work well in terms of setting up a regular structure that follows a cycle of competitions. Most fans of this sport have their own ideas as to what they would do to if they were in charge, but this was just a bit of a way for me to put something together that I think would be a bit refreshing if it was at all possible. Make of it what you will! The format is essentially a three-year recurring cycle. One of the problems for me with the international setup is the fact that a lot of the time, games are more or less thrown together with little notice or time for any real anticipation or marketing. I think with a set structure it would be easier for teams themselves to be more prepared and settled leading up to each block of internationals, and would probably help with promotion and ticket sales a bit more. YEAR ONE The first year is split into four competitions across two regions - Atlantic (ANC) and Pacific (PNC). This serves as a means to qualify for next year's World Six Nations. Essentially there are two spots up for grabs in the Atlantic, and four in the Pacific. There's also a chance for the emerging nations to qualify for the tournament with their own concurrent competition. Not saying there are enough teams/players at the moment for each of these emerging nations to enter a team, but hey it's conceptual! YEAR TWO The second year is the main event - the World Six Nations with the teams that qualified from last year's tournament. Quite straightforward really. Also no reason why the teams who didn't qualify can't hold their own tests to make sure that players/teams are holding international games every year. YEAR THREE The third year serves as a Test Season. It's a chance to set up a rolling cycle of tours, origin games and 9s tournaments, or even the World Cup for that matter. FWIW I know there's a pile of other things about our international game that need to be looked at, but for me I'd love to see something along these lines. A solid, structured calendar which makes sure every team is playing regularly and helps smaller nations have a shot at improving their own standards, whilst also keeping fresh with a rolling cycle. If there's any question about the idea of those smaller nations making a name for themselves, take a look at this I wrote a couple of years ago when Hong Kong played Japan in their first ever sanctioned international RL game. There's also a mention of last year's Emerging Nations World Championship in Australia which featured the likes of Canada, Greece, Malta, Thailand and other so-called second and third tier nations. Baby steps for the most part, yes, but still good to see some concerted effort in other parts of the world.

This is veering away a bit from the OP but it reminded me of a conceptual international calendar that I came up with a year or so ago. Some of the teams and suggestions included aren't necessarily conceivable at this moment in time, but it just serves as a framework as to what I think would work well in terms of setting up a regular structure that follows a cycle of competitions. Most fans of this sport have their own ideas as to what they would do to if they were in charge, but this was just a bit of a way for me to put something together that I think would be a bit refreshing if it was at all possible. Make of it what you will! The format is essentially a three-year recurring cycle. One of the problems for me with the international setup is the fact that a lot of the time, games are more or less thrown together with little notice or time for any real anticipation or marketing. I think with a set structure it would be easier for teams themselves to be more prepared and settled leading up to each block of internationals, and would probably help with promotion and ticket sales a bit more. YEAR ONE The first year is split into four competitions across two regions - Atlantic (ANC) and Pacific (PNC). This serves as a means to qualify for next year's World Six Nations. Essentially there are two spots up for grabs in the Atlantic, and four in the Pacific. There's also a chance for the emerging nations to qualify for the tournament with their own concurrent competition. Not saying there are enough teams/players at the moment for each of these emerging nations to enter a team, but hey it's conceptual! YEAR TWO The second year is the main event - the World Six Nations with the teams that qualified from last year's tournament. Quite straightforward really. Also no reason why the teams who didn't qualify can't hold their own tests to make sure that players/teams are holding international games every year. YEAR THREE The third year serves as a Test Season. It's a chance to set up a rolling cycle of tours, origin games and 9s tournaments, or even the World Cup for that matter. FWIW I know there's a pile of other things about our international game that need to be looked at, but for me I'd love to see something along these lines. A solid, structured calendar which makes sure every team is playing regularly and helps smaller nations have a shot at improving their own standards, whilst also keeping fresh with a rolling cycle. If there's any question about the idea of those smaller nations making a name for themselves, take a look at this I wrote a couple of years ago when Hong Kong played Japan in their first ever sanctioned international RL game. There's also a mention of last year's Emerging Nations World Championship in Australia which featured the likes of Canada, Greece, Malta, Thailand and other so-called second and third tier nations. Baby steps for the most part, yes, but still good to see some concerted effort in other parts of the world.

Re: How to grow the international game! : Wed Nov 20, 2019 4:23 am  

I think we need to hold a WC every second year.
The 4 year cycle works for other sports who have other comps in place, but we basically have nothing going on except a few ad hoc things for the years between WCs.
We should have qualifying games in even numbered years, and World Cups in odd numbered years, and have a permanent organising group doing nothing but organising World Cups.

Re: How to grow the international game! : Wed Nov 20, 2019 9:00 am  

The one thing that Richardson is absolutely right about is that, we need a plan, with specific goals and the international program has to be laid out well in advance and again, with some thought about when, where and why we are playing the games.
As with all things RL, there is currently no sensible forward planning.

As for the 9's, I'm still not sure, they can be great to watch (just as 7's can be) but, they never seem serious.
('s is what you play when you dont have enough numbers for a full game.

Re: How to grow the international game! : Mon Nov 25, 2019 10:02 pm  

wrencat1873 wrote:

The one thing that Richardson is absolutely right about is that, we need a plan, with specific goals ...

Here is a plan:

admit Toulouse and London into Super League in 2021;

admit New York and Ottawa into Super League in 2023.

admit Avignon, Bradford and Newcastle into Super League in 2024.

admit Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago into Super League in 2027.

Following this last set of admissions, simultaneously create a north American conference with these three plus Toronto, Ottawa and New York, and thereby enable a serious north American television deal.

All of a sudden Super League has a more national profile within Great Britain, and a genuine international footprint.

With those club developments in France and six north American cities, expect rugby league to take off in France and north America.

Re: How to grow the international game! : Mon Nov 25, 2019 10:36 pm  

[quote="JEAN CAPDOUZE"]Here is a plan:admit Toulouse, London, New York, Ottawa, Avignon, Bradford, Newcastle, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago. All of a sudden Super League has a more national profile within Great Britain, and a genuine international footprint. (/quote]

You will need these 10 clubs to find at least 25 quality players each to be able to compete at professional level. 250 more quality players. Shane Richardson who started this subject off actually said that England - the core of Rugby League in the norther hemisphere - did not have enough quality players for even 12 clubs and suggested SL dropped to 10 for a quality competition.

The big criticism of France is despite Les Catalans being around for well over a decade they still rely on a lot of imports, and the problem in North America admitted by Brian McDermott is that continent won't produce any significant number of quality RL players for decades if ever unless there were systems in place to do this, and there aren't. I think your rabid enthusiasm for the game is absolutely fine, but it doesn't apply to the serious matter of finding growth for the International game.

Re: How to grow the international game! : Tue Nov 26, 2019 3:44 am  

Donnyman wrote:

The big criticism of France is despite Les Catalans being around for well over a decade they still rely on a lot of imports, and the problem in North America admitted by Brian McDermott is that continent won't produce any significant number of quality RL players for decades if ever unless there were systems in place to do this, and there aren't. I think your rabid enthusiasm for the game is absolutely fine, but it doesn't apply to the serious matter of finding growth for the International game.

Ottawa, according to the genius Canadian entrepreneur Eric Perez, is planning to put systems in place to produce a significant number of quality players. Hopefully New York and eventually even Toronto, as well as the north American teams that follow, will see the wisdom of doing the same thing. In the meanwhile Toronto needs to pursue a strategy of recruiting rugby union stars (which they are doing) and more good NRL players.