Forget the NRL, introduce a new ARL
Roar Guru By Paul J, 17 Nov 2009 The Crowd is a Roar Guru
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Jeff Lima in action during the NRL, Round 19, Parramatta Eels v Melbourne Storm match at Parramatta Stadium in Sydney on Monday July 20, 2009. Eels won 18-16. AAP Image/Action Photographics, Robb Cox
When an independent commission takes control of the game, what should the name of the new rugby league competition be?
Here is a very brief history lesson in regards to the names of the governing bodies of rugby league over the past century.
The Australian Rugby League (ARL) was formed in 1924 to administer the running of the national team, the Kangaroos.
The premier first grade rugby league competition in Australia had been run by the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) from its first season in 1908 until the end of 1994.
With further expansion of the competition implemented for the 1995 season with the inclusion of the Western Reds, Cowboys and Warriors, the NSWRL passed control of the competition to the ARL.
The National Rugby League (NRL) was formed in the aftermath of the 1990s Super League War. Its a joint partnership between the ARL and News Corp controlled Super League, after both organisations ran premierships parallel to each other during the awful 1997 season.
So what about a new name for the game?
News Ltd have stated they will only leave rugby league if the current ARL board also relinquishes complete control of the game. So do we go back to the Australian Rugby League (ARL) name, but with a completely new board and structure?
Some have argued that the NRL brand has been tarnished in recent seasons due to off-field behaviour and the NRL name should be discarded. And considering that the NRL name was only created as a peace treaty between the warring sides, then why keep a name hastily created under such negative circumstances?
With the new governing body will come a fresh start and a bright future, so the game deserves a new name. The name should encompass all that it represents now and into the future. And rugby league should start to think big.
This is why I believe in naming the new governing body we should bring back a new AR: the Australasian Rugby League.
When the NSWRL passed control to the Australian Rugby League it acknowledged that rugby league had grown beyond a Sydney competition. The new Australasian Rugby League branding will acknowledge that the game has now grown beyond the eastern seaboard of Australia.
Rugby league fans often look west into AFL territory when they think of growing the game. And quite correctly an independent commission will look to grow the game in the southern states by further investment upon the great work of the Melbourne Storm and also possible future expansion into Perth.
But some of the greatest growth and immediate potential for the game is in New Zealand and the Pacific.
If the new board are serious about growing the game they should govern a competition that incorporates not just Australia but all of Australasia.
The region of Australasia includes Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, PNG, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean, such as Samoa and Tonga.
If you don’t think Oceania has enough potential for the new administration to include it in its future, you only have to look at the large precense of Polynesian players in the game today.
As stated in a Sydney Morning Herald article earlier this year “forty per cent of NRL players are of Tongan, Samoan, Fijian, Maori, Cook Island or indigenous heritage – but over half of the code’s elite under-20 league and two-thirds of junior representative players from western Sydney are of Pacific Island descent.”
How crazy is it to suggest that the new name should represent all of the current players in the competition?
The Pacific Cup should be played every year and its winner (this year it was PNG) should join Australia, New Zealand and England in an annual Four Nations Competition.
France has long since lost it international competitevness against the big three.
The Australasian Rugby League should not over extent itself by spending excess money in Europe but should look to invest in the game in our region first.
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November 18th 2009 @ 2:37pm
Phil said | November 18th 2009 @ 2:37pm | Report comment
I’ve got a PNG background and a team up there would not only help PNG but also help Australia understand its closest neighbour. Lot of issues with security though. Bugger all this other talk, I’m just hanging for the Bears to come back!
November 18th 2009 @ 8:25pm
Col the Bear said | November 18th 2009 @ 8:25pm | Report comment
Aren’t we all Phil..!!
The Bears are on the front foot..with the issues with Newcastle, we are not fazed..it’s business as usual and the push is well and truly on..as someone else has correctly mentioned on the daily telegraph website today.., the Central Coast Crusaders are a well established and registered basketball team who hold the state title twice in the past 2 years.. and the players from this club have been very vocal about the choice of the name Crusaders by the CRL..
don’t think this is over by a long shot.. how come the CRL didn’t pick up on this very well established club on the CC..I recall redcliffe Dolphins and gold Coast “dolphins’ what was the outcome with that…
I have also seen today where the head of the CRL.. Mr terry Quinn has said as soon as an NRL team is appointed to the CC, then the Knights will pull out..Well Mr Quinn it looks like a very short stay…
after a poll from the Star fm radio station ran for over a week, where CC residents were encouraged to name the CC teams and colours… the majority said they wanted the “Central Coast Cubs” for the Junior reps on the CC to eventually become the Bears… the CRL blatantly went against what the residents wanted..Newcastle to the CC is on par with Manly to the North shore…
Putting it simply the NRL have let this go on for way to long.. first it was Manly, then it was cronulla, then it was the storm and now it’s newcastle and thats just in the past 6/7 years……How hard is it to get it correct.. The Bears want to be on the CC, and by most Polls over the years CC supporters agree..we’re sick of this..we want our own team once and for all..every code is progressing and moving forward and expanding.. but not the NRL.. the question must be asked “WHY”
soccer can expand.. AFL can expand..Rugby Union can expand…so why not rugby League Mr gallop…lets hope the launch of the CC Bears on Friday might loosen up a few things…before this all goes on much more and begins to get nasty…
November 19th 2009 @ 6:13pm
Col the Bear said | November 19th 2009 @ 6:13pm | Report comment
Central Coast crusaders.. ahhh Whoops.. it seems the basketball rightly so arent taking this lying down..I’d expect a new name for the CC rep juniors pretty soon…
Come on Terry go with what the CC people asked for the Central Coast Cubs….
November 19th 2009 @ 10:20pm
Karlos said | November 19th 2009 @ 10:20pm | Report comment
Yeh Paul, I like your logic. The NSWRL grew into the Australian Rugby League and it is now time to acknowledge the various island nations that supply many of the players in the current NRL, THE most competitive and skill laden Rugby comp on the planet. Plenty of expansion opportunities for our game, so lets start the ball rolling. The (super league) War is over (nearly) with Murdochs Mongrels moving out (x fingers) and time to take up the challenge again.
Redb, I hope you are right and both the AFL and new ARL are given good exposure due to the digital channels coming along.