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Why doesn't he set up his own league then?

Sir Kevin Sinfield wrote:

Is Eric Perez the best thing to ever happen to Rugby League?

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/41544831

Yes he is, by a long shot.

My only reservation is over the choice of Hamilton, rather than a big cosmopolitan city like Montreal, which we were told was a likely second club. Boston of course is a good choice. Hopefully Montreal will be part of the next round of north American clubs who join Super League, along with New York, and a couple out of Chicago, Philadelphia, and Jacksonville.

Willzay wrote:

Why doesn't he set up his own league then?

Because he wants to eliminate from Super League the pathetic little pit and mill towns of northern England, which are of no benefit to the growth of the game.

JEAN CAPDOUZE wrote:

Because he wants to eliminate from Super League the pathetic little pit and mill towns of northern England, which are of no benefit to the growth of the game.

Maybe you'd show a different attitude if Chorley had survived to make SL.

JEAN CAPDOUZE wrote:

Because he wants to eliminate from Super League the pathetic little pit and mill towns of northern England, which are of no benefit to the growth of the game.

You've just lost the expansion argument right there Jean, shocking attitude.

Taking the "best game in the world" to new cities and spreading the RL gospel, is a far more positive "sell".

Perez has certainly breathed life into the sport and the RFL ought to get him on board to help drive a much increased TV deal, someone in RL with vision and ambition is as rare as rocking horse muck and he seems to have both.

JEAN CAPDOUZE wrote:

Because he wants to eliminate from Super League the pathetic little pit and mill towns of northern England, which are of no benefit to the growth of the game.

IF it was not for all the little pit and mill towns rugby league in the old days would not have been around now so get on your bike you phoney French git

We should progress with a mixture of support, enthusiasm and caution - I still remember a bloke playing keep ups with a ball at OT a few years ago. A N.American league would be brilliant but the first stop for this expansion is via SL, which could evolve to a Union in the Southern Hemisphere 'SUPER' type set up - first step is a 20 team and 2 division SL.

Willzay wrote:

Why doesn't he set up his own league then?

Be careful what you wish for. A successful North American league could blow Super League out of the water, given the nature of the TV sports market across the Atlantic. That would would mean that we wouldn't just be losing talent to the NRL.

At the end of the day, we have two parties that can complement each other to create something bigger than the sum of their respective parts. The RFL has structures, a talent pool and established clubs, but poor commercial reach and a limited audience. Perez is offering new audiences and new commercial opportunities, in exchange for tapping into what we already have.

Chorley's Jean may have said it a bit abrasively, but the sentiment isn't far from the mark - this sport can't grow and it can't improve without expanding to new markets. What I worry is that those who oppose this sort of expansion aren't so much worried about the sport failing, but are in fact worried about it succeeding.

He wants 5 or 6 North american teams within the next 10 years which means we can finally lose all the rabble that just brings our game down

St Helens
Leeds
Wigan
Hull FC
Warrington
New York
Toronto
Catalans
Hamilton
Las Vegas
San Diego
Miami

That would be mint

Regards

King James