By Steve Kaless
May 8th 2009 @ 3:55am
Related coverage
Why schedule representative matches on the same night?
The Kiwi team line up after losing the New Zealand Kiwis v Australian Kangaroos Centenary test at Westpac Stadium, Wellington, New Zealand. Sunday Oct. 14 2007. Australia won the game 58-0. AAP Image/Hagen Hopkins/PHOTOSPORT
The ARL might be a little miffed that the ANZAC Test has been somewhat overshadowed by the itchy feet of the last placed NRL club. But they may only have themselves to blame.
By scheduling the Test on the same night as the City Vs Country game, they’ve already taken away some of the spotlight.
In fact, there seems to be more interest than normal in the City Vs Country match, which is probably down to the fact that it is being seen as a genuine Origin trial for plenty of jumpers (given the fact that Queensland nearly makes up the entire Australian side).
This is something that those of us with more than half a brain have been banging on about for years. If the City Vs Country match is to have any point, it needs to be as a proper trial.
Remember when a certain analyst, who is constantly declaring he knows best and has the game’s best interests at heart, especially those of bush footy, wanted all Origin players quarantined from the match, instantly turning it into a farce?
So hopefully we will learn something from the exercise.
Another thing we should learn is not to have such ridiculous clashes with representative football.
All rugby league eyes should be on the Test match, especially given its billing as a rematch of the World Cup final (although New Zealand don’t have to give the trophy back if they lose).
But to have it on the same night as City Vs Country just dilutes it.
Of course, it does give Channel Nine a cracking double header. I hope they remember it at the next broadcast deal.
But what also dilutes it is when the new coach says, “I’ll be picking on form,” when what he really means is, “It will be the same old stagers”.
Why doesn’t every new coach feel the need to make a variation of the “reputations mean nothing” statement?
Rather than picking blokes in form, Sheens has gone for the novel approach of going with some players dramatically out of form.
Paul Gallen? Fair enough when the Sharks were firing, but what about when they are coming last. And he has already missed a few games on suspension.
Glen Stewart, Anthony Watmough and Brent Kite have all been pretty average for the Sea Eagles this year. Watmough’s defence against Melbourne last Friday was barely of first grade standard.
As debated on this site earlier this week, it isn’t like there aren’t plenty of other candidates.
Of course, against a New Zealand side that has Dene Halatau at hooker, it should make it all academic. b
But we’ve heard that before, haven’t we.
Get Australia's best NRL opinion emailed daily.
Like this content? Buzz it up!
Free Email updates:
Our daily emails are only sent if there is content for the sport or that author. You can subscribe to multiple daily emails; or get the daily Roar email with all our content in it. We value privacy. More...
(24)
The Link said | May 8th 2009 @ 9:13am | Report comment
The best thing about the Kiwi’s being more competitive and winning the RLWC is that we don’t hear anymore about the Kiwi No.6 being the next Olsen Filipaina….
oikee said | May 8th 2009 @ 9:22am | Report comment
Not really worried about who plays because all of them could do the job for Australia Steve, what really concerns me is the season is too long. We need more meaningful matches like City/Coutry to be a highlight, not a token jester. The same applies to maybe a Tonga/Samoan game and also we could have a PNG and Fiji and other games around a mid year break in the schedule.
What we need is someone who can bother enough to sit down and work out a proper schedule. Now is this to hard for the guys in charge, if it is then we need to let them go and get me or the dog down the road to do this. Its not rocket science, its just a matter of having someone come up with a plan to help grow the international games and other fixtures. I keep saying get rid of the dinosaurs, i will keep saying this until someone acts on what i say. Until we do this the game is stuck in the dark ages.
Pippinu said | May 8th 2009 @ 9:41am | Report comment
I was a bit surprised to learn that CvsC was on at the same time as a test – no matter which way you toss it around, it makes zero sense.
As was discussed on a another thread recently – it ceased being a true trial to aid selection a long, long time ago, and the authorities are doing little here to disguise their contempt for the game!
It now is nothing more than a bone being tossed to the provinces.
Brett McKay said | May 8th 2009 @ 9:44am | Report comment
Oikee, I’ve done it, it’s in my artcile this week. Instead of the current 30-week season, with midweek SOOs and a 26-round, 2-bye NRL season, I worked out you could make the whole season 29 weeks, comprising a 22-round (for 16 or 18 teams), no bye NRL season, 4 weeks of finals still, and 3 stand-alone rep weekends with a City-Country game on the Fri night, and SOO on Sunday.
Now my plan left out the mid-year Test, but maybe you could slot that in on its own weekend too, and play the Indigenous-Maori game, or a Polynesian reg game on the Fri night??
oikee said | May 8th 2009 @ 10:44am | Report comment
Good, i will have a look when you post it Brett, and what you need to do is send the bugger straight to Gallop, tell him what a dipshite he is to allow dinosaurs running the Sceduling and here is a genuine plan to help grow and have fixtures at the right time, as for the Anzac Day test, its not rocket science as i mentioned, play the game ON Anzac Day.
oikee said | May 8th 2009 @ 10:46am | Report comment
At the end of the yaer we now have a international colender, finally. Notice my speeling is getting better.
oikee said | May 8th 2009 @ 10:52am | Report comment
But your dead right, and even the NRL has to be numb not to notice that most people are tired of watching half baked teams playing while alot of guys are playing rep footy. Just stop the season and plug the holes with Good international games, people enjoy this, well i know i do. I would love to see PNG taking on Fiji, as for the Tonga Samoa match, this could become a real season highlight, imagine if this became like a origin type clash.
Brett McKay said | May 8th 2009 @ 10:53am | Report comment
Oikee, I meant this week just gone, it’s been there since Monday: http://www.theroar.com.au/2009/05/04/making-city-country-mean-something/
I’ve also sent it onto the Sunday Roast as a starting point, and depending how that goes, I’ll try dave@nrl.com!!
oikee said | May 8th 2009 @ 10:55am | Report comment
What we have to remember is that Fiji run 4th last year in the world cup, wake up, somebody wake up, thats how far we are behind other codes, i dont even know which dinorsaur i am supposed to be waking up, who’s in change of this shamble.
Brett McKay said | May 8th 2009 @ 11:01am | Report comment
Sorry if this comes through twice, but I’ve issues posting this reply.
Oikee, check out http://www.theroar.com.au/2009/05/04/making-city-country-mean-something/ – I wrote the artcile for Monday just gone…
[Ed: Sometimes links in comments means they go through to our spam folder. We've recovered your comments Brett.]
oikee said | May 8th 2009 @ 11:14am | Report comment
No worries Brett, thanks for that i will look now, another thing i could add, why not take the Anzac game to Turkey, yes thats right Turkey, we have a ready made audience over their with the dawn service and can invite the other tourists such as the Poms NZlers and maybe even the Canadians which would make a good crowd, promote the game to another country and establish a new following, I have got ideas coming out my ears, if only someone would listen.
Brett McKay said | May 8th 2009 @ 11:24am | Report comment
I’m not against that idea per se, but of all the left-field suggestions I’ve read on The Roar, that would have be a semi-finalist
Oikee, “you’re an ideas man….”
mtngry said | May 8th 2009 @ 11:33am | Report comment
Its just anther show that the organisation of RL in this country are hopeless.
The City Country should have been on Anzac day.
Millster said | May 8th 2009 @ 11:37am | Report comment
“An ideas man” who ignores the fact that firstly this idea comes straight from the world of football with the difference that we’re talking a REAL international playeds in a code that both countries follow, and secondly that you wouldn’t find a single Turk in Istanbul who would even know of the existence of Rugby League as a code. So you’d only be doing the kind of thing that AFL does in Dubai and promoting to bogan expats and backpackers…. so why spend all that money and why not just go play in Cairns or something simpler like that?
But I do thoroughly agree with your discussions on fixtures, I think the NRL could do much better and are currently shooting themselves in the foot with the way they schedule games.
One final thing to Oikee… we’ve heard you for so long defend the depth of the game, the juniors coming through, the Toyota Cup, how it doesn’t matter that Gasnier and SBW leave because their spots get filled with young talent coming through… why then the inconsistency with your comments here on ‘half-baked teams’? Surely if I am to believe what you’ve said before a million times, then even if a Test match, a City V Country AND a SOO match were on all at the same time then Rugby League is so deep that the clubs could draw on their hundreds of genius juniors and no-one would even tell the difference because of all that talent supposedly coming through… or in fact are you now admitting that the talent in the comp nowhere as deep as you’d wanted us to believe?
oikee said | May 8th 2009 @ 11:44am | Report comment
Brett, your on the right track , but as you know there is a few holes in there which i might add could easily be plugged.
Bare with me on my proposal, which could be introduced if the game had some real balls. 20 team comp, each playing 19 games a season, now these extra teams would be made up from Aderlaide , Perth, Wellington and maybe a team from PNG and another 1 or 2 QLD teams. So we have 20 teams with all states represented, so we have 19 games played by each team against every other team only Once, now thats 10 games over a weekend in all states and provence’s which means the market would not be saturated, only enchans’t.
Now with your idea of the City / Country matches yes very good but play them the 1st weekend, along with maybe a couple of Tests from PNG,Fiji, and Tonga Samoa, to fill the weekend gap, on the next 3 wednesday’s,, allowing players to recover for these games rather than having only 2 days 1st weekend, like you mentioned the build-up would be intense. If we had the Sunday games it would only allow players 2 days to recover before they had to go into battle. So we have 3 weekends to fill up with other International games, surely we could easily do this, turn these games into a permanent fixture and rotate stadiums from where origin will be played so fans have a good international game to attend.
The bottom line is we need to build our international games, lets do this. I just heard the Bunnies have signed Crocker, and looks like he will be playing origin,
At some stage.
oikee said | May 8th 2009 @ 11:49am | Report comment
My point being, this weekend we dont have 1 game of league played between now and sunday, a international with Tonga Samoa would have been well attended. Same would apply to PNG and Fiji Brisbane, if you play them with no other footy on People will attend. Just on a plus note, i have always enjoyed the City Country game. Will be watching it again tonite, shame it was not on at 7.30, but the test match takes priority.
oikee said | May 8th 2009 @ 11:58am | Report comment
Arh, Milly, your always raining on my parade, yes you have soccer everywhere in the world it needs no promoting. I agree with you on that, but with the Turks and trying to grow league we could do this if we had some clever marketing guys, same as Union taking its game to Tokyo and Dubai. We are still in the game of growing, unlike football which already has grown Milly.
All i am saying is if we had the brains, we could try a few new ideas, not take the world by storm, will never happen but as you keep telling me, we need to grow and have the game played in more countries, this is what i am trying to acheive. Hope you are not trying to knock this, your the guy saying we are not a world sport.
oikee said | May 8th 2009 @ 12:01pm | Report comment
Not sure about your comment on Half baked teams, we have at least 100 current players in England who would gladly come back to good money into a new team here in oz, unlike soccer players who dont want to play in a half baked a-league with geriatric imports from overseas.
oikee said | May 8th 2009 @ 12:03pm | Report comment
Sorry, Milly, you leave yourself open you know i will give it to you.
oikee said | May 8th 2009 @ 12:09pm | Report comment
Just on those overseas players, most are internationals or have origin experience. Also this year we have 2 players from England, Ellis and Tansey, both have shown that they can compete in the NRL, super league is doing nicely in England thank you. The hard yards of importing players from NZ and OZ is starting to pay dividends. Thats behind the scenes, something one tends to over-look.
sunshinecoaster said | May 8th 2009 @ 2:46pm | Report comment
Every year i watch the City v Country game and every year im board off my tits by half time,ill give it another go tonight and hope for the best
Millster said | May 8th 2009 @ 3:26pm | Report comment
Oikee – ok to be positive, I actually agree with doing something with ANZAC Day? How about an ANZAC day test ALWAYS played in NZ, would grow the game there where it already has a bit of roots to grow from, would be a great tribute to the ANZAC partnership, would be reasonably balanced in terms of Kangas being stronger but Kiwis being at home, and would not clash so much with the AFL stuff going on in Oz. Alternate it between Auckland and Christchurch…
Millster said | May 8th 2009 @ 3:29pm | Report comment
On half baked teams oikee my criticism was more simple. All I’m sayoing is that you’re always on about how the depth of talent is there in League and how no player cannot be replaced by an up and coming youngster.
All I’m saying is… if that’s really the case then why are you so fussed about clashes between rep games and club fixtures? Why if the League player group is so deep is it a problem to take the top 4 or 5 players for each club for a week? Surely those awesome juniors of yours should be able to fill in no problems, and not make for ‘half baked’ teams on those weeks (your words not mine)… I’m just raising an inconsistency between yourr logic today and what you were telling us about the depth of RL all last year.
westy said | May 8th 2009 @ 11:17pm | Report comment
Sunshinecoaster the people of Orange did not seem to mind. Crowd of 8500 or so to a country match not to bad. i think it is all to do with flying the flag in the bush. Whatever code I think it is appreciated by the locals.
38000 at the Suncorp stadium is not to bad either. All in all the ARL would be quite pleased. I think it is important to understand these rep games are not run by the NRL. They still remain as does the SOO with the old guard.The old guard still have strong connections with the bush and CRL.