[Sadfish]

NRL finally kick International Rugby League into touch. : Mon Aug 10, 2015 6:49 am  

from 2018 the international between NZ and Australia will be dropped and placed "in a dedicated, after NRL Season ends slot".

Will the Aussies ever get the idea that helping RL around the world can only really be done by showcasing internationals on home soil?

Re: NRL finally kick International Rugby League into touch. : Mon Aug 10, 2015 7:33 am  

The Aussies game is going the same way as English football.

All( a large % for the pedants!) the worlds best players playing in the Premier league with a useless national side. They will get less interested the more beatings they take. The clubs will dictate.

Re: NRL finally kick International Rugby League into touch. : Mon Aug 10, 2015 8:30 am  

They have opened up a standalone round for SOO which will include an opportunity for test matches for non Australian players - meaning all the PI countries can play all their NRL players, and there is nothing stopping NZ organising a test against Samoa, Tonga, Fiji or PNG - with full squads available.

Re: NRL finally kick International Rugby League into touch. : Mon Aug 10, 2015 6:37 pm  

Not surprising; most Aussie fans don't give a damn about the Kangaroos, it's all about Blues v Maroons.

Re: NRL finally kick International Rugby League into touch. : Mon Aug 10, 2015 7:42 pm  

The fact of the matter has been pointed out elsewhere.
The best players in the world don't play in SOO.
The best players in the world are not Australians

Re: NRL finally kick International Rugby League into touch. : Mon Aug 10, 2015 9:26 pm  

Unfortunately the Australians are a very isolationist nation and only look to themselves.

Maybe the Kiwis will be better at leading World Rugby League.

Re: NRL finally kick International Rugby League into touch. : Mon Aug 10, 2015 10:34 pm  

A big ask, for a country where league is very much the #2 sport, but they might well be. Such a shame that SJ won't be here for their tour, but it should still be a belter.

Re: NRL finally kick International Rugby League into touch. : Tue Aug 11, 2015 8:53 am  

Going by several NZ-based websites RL is at best the #4 sport in NZ behind RU, netball and cricket (some sites say 5th behind soccer) and the NZRL made a tiny profit of $16,000 last year, you'd have to be a fool to think NZ could make RL an international game.

Re: NRL finally kick International Rugby League into touch. : Tue Aug 11, 2015 10:08 am  

galliant wrote:

Going by several NZ-based websites RL is at best the #4 sport in NZ behind RU, netball and cricket (some sites say 5th behind soccer) and the NZRL made a tiny profit of $16,000 last year, you'd have to be a fool to think NZ could make RL an international game.

If they had NRL clubs in Wellington and Christchurch there would be a chance of making rugby league into New Zealand's No. 3 sport if not number 2.

Re: NRL finally kick International Rugby League into touch. : Tue Aug 11, 2015 10:33 am  

galliant wrote: Going by several NZ-based websites RL is at best the #4 sport in NZ behind RU, netball and cricket (some sites say 5th behind soccer) and the NZRL made a tiny profit of $16,000 last year, you'd have to be a fool to think NZ could make RL an international game. And they made that profit on the back of the ANZAC Test. How up their own a-rrse the Aussies are: The National Rugby League scrapped the Anzac Test without consulting the New Zealand Rugby League, announced the change without informing their Kiwi counterparts and, incredibly, did not even return the New Zealand governing body's calls when it attempted to seek clarification today. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/ar ... d=11494771

galliant wrote: Going by several NZ-based websites RL is at best the #4 sport in NZ behind RU, netball and cricket (some sites say 5th behind soccer) and the NZRL made a tiny profit of $16,000 last year, you'd have to be a fool to think NZ could make RL an international game. And they made that profit on the back of the ANZAC Test. How up their own a-rrse the Aussies are: The National Rugby League scrapped the Anzac Test without consulting the New Zealand Rugby League, announced the change without informing their Kiwi counterparts and, incredibly, did not even return the New Zealand governing body's calls when it attempted to seek clarification today. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/ar ... d=11494771