Bring back the Kangaroo tour
Roar Pro
By Jason Cave, 22 Feb 2010 The Crowd is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- Kangaroos, Rugby League, Super League
Prior to the Super League war in 1995, a Kangaroo tour to Britain and France was considered to be the highest honour the game of rugby league could afford.
However thanks to full-time professionalism, the days of the Kangaroo tour look to be gone forever.
What I propose is that the Australian Rugby League bring back the Kangaroo tour to Great Britain. A short tour featuring only 6 games with three tests against Great Britain and three against Super League club sides as warm-up games.
A Kangaroo tour schedule could look something like this:
Game 1: Kangaroos v St Helens
Game 2: 1st Test – Great Britain v Australia (Old Trafford)
Game 3: Kangaroos v Bradford Bulls
Game 4: 2nd Test – Great Britain v Australia (Leeds)
Game 5: Kangaroos v Wigan
Game 6: 3rd Test – Great Britain v Australia (Wembley)
Should the ARL bring back the Kangaroo Tour? And who would make the Kangaroo squad based on last year’s NRL form?
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The Crowd Says (31) | Page 1 of Comments
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Springs said | February 22nd 2010 @ 10:53am | Report comment
The Kangaroo Tour should be changed for every eight years, with the Ashes every four years before the World Cup, I think that makes perfect sense.
Although for me the Kangaroo Tour should change with the times and play the international teams in Europe. Wales, Scotland, Ireland and France, plus the Ashes. If they play a club side it should be against the Super league champions, but with the ESL season over the club sides will have not retained their fitness from the past season.
King of the Gorganites said | February 22nd 2010 @ 12:29pm | Report comment
congrats to the crusaders beating Hull on the weekend. Disappointing crowd of 6K in Wrexham though. I dont know if moving to north wales is a good thing.
Springs said | February 22nd 2010 @ 8:07pm | Report comment
10K first week, 6K second game, both games played in snow, both games outdrawing anything they got in Bridgend, capacity of only 10K, two wins out of four, how is it a bad thing again?
King of the Gorganites said | February 23rd 2010 @ 11:30am | Report comment
i think its a bad thing because they have basically adbandoned RL in the south of wales, which is bigger economically, and population wise.
crowds are healty, but its never good to see them drop off by 40% within one home match.
wrexham’s hoem ground in Racecourse ground – which has a capacity of 16K. so a third full stadium is not a good look. i know the pwers that be in the ESL would be concerned by this. granted the crowds are bigger then brigend, but still not good for ESL standards. why not cardiff of newport?
Springs said | February 23rd 2010 @ 11:54am | Report comment
The 10K that they got for the match against Leeds was above the ESL average. And it is snowing.
They were originally going to move to Newport but then the Wrexham FC owner or whoever offered to buy them, I doubt they would have survive in Newport and their crowds deinitely would not have been as good.
rugbyfuture said | February 23rd 2010 @ 10:22pm | Report comment
the local area trust or local council i think were the ones who bought them.
Realist said | February 23rd 2010 @ 10:10pm | Report comment
“i think its a bad thing because they have basically adbandoned RL in the south of wales, which is bigger economically, and population wise.” Gorganites
South Wales Scorpions.
Rod said | February 23rd 2010 @ 4:55pm | Report comment
6,700+.
Snowing all week and up to a few hours before the game, people didn’t know if it was going to be played.
That fact alone would’ve turned people off going.
But don’t let the truth hold back your concern for RL in North Wales.
I listened to it on BBC radio and the crowd was right into it (radio humberside) and the commentators said the crowd gave the Crusaders a standing ovation at the end of the match.
I wouldn’t worry about South Wales, the Scorpions will fill that gap in in no time, plus the fact the Bears (new team) are coming in 2013 to play in the championship. So from going to no pro/semi pro clubs playing in Wales 3 seasons ago, we’ll have 3 in a short time.
The Crusaders average right now is around 8,500 in a 10k stadium, I don’t know what else they can do to shut certain people up, this crowd will drop next game because of the fact they play Les Catalans who will not bring many, but they still have big sides who have very good traveling support to come yet with Wigan, Warrington, St Helens and Hull KR all o play in Wrexham later on.
The weather will hopefully get better as the season progresses, so that should help in regards to crowds, now if they can win a couple more games who knows how their average will end up. They also have 1 or 2 games to play in South Wales this year, so we’ll see how well the support for them is down there, maybe the crowd have abandoned them down there, who knows, but we’ll soon find out and I know you can’t wait to post the crowds figures if they don’t look too crash hot.
And KOTG, the ground does not hold 16k at the moment, it holds 10k because one end (standing room only) is unsafe, so it’s been closed for a fair while.
Jay said | February 22nd 2010 @ 12:50pm | Report comment
1. There is no Great Britian side anymore. They have disbanded into England, Wales, etc.
2. 4 Nations are a better concept if you want to grow the game. European cup and Pacific cup allows emerging nations to play against test sides. It is also more commercially viable.
Dogz R Barkn said | February 22nd 2010 @ 4:15pm | Report comment
That’s precisely what I was going to say – surely developing the 4 Nations concept is far more important than recreating old tours.
There is absolutely no way we should be taking the momentum away from the 4 nations concept.
The Bush said | February 22nd 2010 @ 5:26pm | Report comment
How does the author propose we fit it in when they are schedule to play Four Nations tournaments every year except the year prior to the World Cup, which is deliberately being left blank to ensure the teams are rested for a long World Cup year… Maybe potentially in the future it could be restored but I don’t really like the idea personally.
I don’t really like it as a concept in Rugby Union either (the Lions tours of the south). It denies other teams games against the best teams in the world, thus delaying any international growth. Rugby League should focus on it’s world cup and maybe even building tournaments within regions. I’ve previously mentioned I’d like to see a Pacific Six Nations and European Five Nations at least once in a world cup cycle to give those teams that will qualify a chance to play the best at least once before a World Cup.
Springs said | February 22nd 2010 @ 8:19pm | Report comment
The RFL has proposed an Ashes tour in 2012, ARL are hesitant because of player burnout, even though the English play more games. I cannot imagine the World Cup losers saying they list because ‘We were so tired from last year’. God they must not be fit if they are still sore a year after a game. If they are that against it, then finish the NRL and ESL two or three weeks early. The Lions and Kangaroo tours might only go for 6 weeks, when they used to play 22 games.
In 2007 Australia only played one end of season test. New Zealand and Great Britian played a full series, and New Zealand lost 3-0, fast forward a year and they are World Champions!
These Kangaroos/Lions/Kiwi tours might be the only time the big 3 can play the developing nations. Which is important in developing the International game.
International schedule:
2011- European Four Nations
2012- Lions Tour (The Ashes), World Cup qualifiers
2013- World Cup UK
2014- Australasian Four Nations
2015- European Four Nations
2016- Kangaroo Tour (The Ashes)
2017- World Cup (?)
If the players complain about burnout then why do some of them want to play Union in the off-season?
They should try playing in the 80s when players played a full season in Australia then a full season in England, plus full Kangaroo Tours.
Realist said | February 22nd 2010 @ 9:37pm | Report comment
“International schedule:
2011- European Four Nations
2012- Lions Tour (The Ashes), World Cup qualifiers
2013- World Cup UK
2014- Australasian Four Nations
2015- European Four Nations
2016- Kangaroo Tour (The Ashes)
2017- World Cup (?)”
I reckon your proposal is marketable. The RLIF, ARL and RFL would be foolish to ignore it.
hutch said | February 23rd 2010 @ 8:41am | Report comment
which means they probably will ignore it!
i like the idea of playing the ashes every 4 years, and tours every 8 years. the ashes must be great britain and not england as well. ideally the northern hemisphere would play a european cup mid year, and the southern hemisphere could have a mid season rep break for origin, anzac tests, pacific cups, kiwi origin, nz v pac islands etc. cant see it happening too soon though, the current admin has no vision or ambition to properly expand the international game.
Springs said | February 23rd 2010 @ 11:38am | Report comment
The ARL don’t anyway, the RFL want this type of schedule but are being held back by the ARL. If a Kangaroo Tour is every 8 years then a player will most likely only be able to go on one, making the Tour a whole lot more valuable and exclusive.
billiris said | February 22nd 2010 @ 9:12pm | Report comment
If we continue along with the four nations concept, in 15-20 years time the developing nations who participate as the 4th nation will grow to become a greater power, thus ensuring greater competition in the international game. If France, Wales or one of the islander teams become stronger international rugby league will be better for it. Most think that the international competition in union is profoundly stronger. This isn’t the case. Only 4 or 5 team have a real chance of winning the world cup and nations like Italy or Canada are sually on the end of embarrassing scorelines.
The strength of intrenational rugby league can only increase through the continuation of the current 4 nations concept as well as the world cup every 4 or 5 years. In 20 years Rugby League will challenge union internationally. Boycotting an ashes tour, which focuses ony on 2 powerhouses will enhance the prospects of a greater international competition in the long term.
King of the Gorganites said | February 23rd 2010 @ 11:34am | Report comment
“Only 4 or 5 team have a real chance of winning the world cup ”
This article has rasied some good points, some of which i agree with. i would like to see the return of the ashes and proper tours. a proper tour can help mature players.
billiris please do not make silly comments like the ones above. we dont want to turn this thread into a code war. those comments are clearly not true.
instead of claiming we can be bigger internationall then RU in twenty years, lets first take small steps
billiris said | February 23rd 2010 @ 4:32pm | Report comment
Gorganite, I was referring to the rugby union world cup. Well I will list the 5 teams then, England, Australia, Nz, South Africa, France. I like both codes.
King of the Gorganites said | February 23rd 2010 @ 4:58pm | Report comment
thats a very narrow view. what about the 2007 semi finalist Argentina? Or 2009 Six nations champs Ireland (who drew with Australia and beat the Saffas last year). Or the 2008 six nations champs Wales?
Dont forget rugby is played around the world. RL is not.
Realist said | February 23rd 2010 @ 10:06pm | Report comment
“thats a very narrow view. what about the 2007 semi finalist Argentina? Or 2009 Six nations champs Ireland (who drew with Australia and beat the Saffas last year). Or the 2008 six nations champs Wales?” — Gorganites
Wales and Ireland have never come close to winning the World Cup. In fact, I don’t think either nation has made it past the quarter-finals.
Argentina were thrashed by South Africa in the semi-final and, didn’t didn’t play New Zealand or Australia during the early stages? The only teams they played were the unreliable, beatable teams from the northern hemisphere.
“Dont forget rugby is played around the world. RL is not.” Gorganites
Rugby union is relatively unknown in most regions of Asia and South America. Very few European nations rate it as one of their most popular sports. It isn’t very popular in North America.
For the record, almsot half as many countries play rugby league.
J said | February 24th 2010 @ 2:09am | Report comment
Realist you not very relistic are you.
unknown in South America, played in Argentina, Brazil, Paragauy been to rugby world cup, Chile, Uraguay
Asia, Japan, South Korea, Kazakstan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Asian 5 nations
in fact if you watch the 7′s circuit there are many more teams so your statement is slightly inaccurate
Realist said | February 24th 2010 @ 8:31pm | Report comment
“Realist you not very relistic are you.
unknown in South America, played in Argentina, Brazil, Paragauy been to rugby world cup, Chile, Uraguay
Asia, Japan, South Korea, Kazakstan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Asian 5 nations
in fact if you watch the 7’s circuit there are many more teams so your statement is slightly inaccurate” — J
I never said rugby union wasn’t known in South America and Asia! What I said is it’s relatively unknown in most areas of South America and Asia. The fact you could only list a few countries from both continents — most of which don’t take the game very seriously — proves my point!
The sport is relatively unknown throughout most regions of China. There are only 4,200 players and just 10 clubs in China. There are over a 1.2 billion people living in China. Do the maths.
You cited Uruguay, yet you failed to mention that it has less than 6,000 players. I know it’s a small nation, but it would have more players than that if it was taken seriously by most Uruguayans.
I’ve seen Chilean rugby union on Joost. I only saw about a dozen or so spectators at the games, though the coverage of the game was fairly good. The game’s participation rate in Chile appears to be strong enough to suggest it has a future.
Don’t even mention rugby union in Brazil. The sport has been there since the 19th century, yet it only has 3,500 players and 10 clubs. When you consider that Brazil has a huge population, it is evident that the nation doesn’t rate rugby union at all.
Why am I citing these figures? To show you that rugby union isn’t the global giant that its fans make it out to be. It does have a base to work with in many regions of the world, but it is still relatively unknown in most of them.
rugbyfuture said | February 24th 2010 @ 9:15pm | Report comment
thats like me stating that the roosters, penrith, wests and the warriors should be kicked out of the NRL because obviously they cant be heartlands with teams not getting in the top eight in the last 5-6 seasons
Realist said | February 24th 2010 @ 9:18pm | Report comment
“thats like me stating that the roosters, penrith, wests and the warriors should be kicked out of the NRL because obviously they cant be heartlands with teams not getting in the top eight in the last 5-6 seasons”
What you said is completely irrelevant. It’s stupid, too.
rugbyfuture said | February 24th 2010 @ 9:32pm | Report comment
sorry, meant to post it on the next thread down
J said | February 24th 2010 @ 2:11am | Report comment
Ohhhh and austrlaia and New Zealand were knocked out by england and France respectivley. Argentina beat France twice at the world cup, opening game and 3rd and 4th playoff.
Realist said | February 24th 2010 @ 8:43pm | Report comment
“Ohhhh and austrlaia and New Zealand were knocked out by england and France respectivley”
The British commentator who called the quarter-final between Australia and England referred to England’s victory as the greatest upset in the history of the tournament. England lost 36-0 to South Africa during the pool stage of the tournament. Face facts buddy, the northern hemisphere teams are unreliable. They can grind out a victory over the southern hemisphere teams every now and then, but they lose to them — sometimes by a fair few — more often than not.
New Zealand choked. Again!
Jason Cave said | February 23rd 2010 @ 4:14pm | Report comment
When one thinks of Kangaroo Tours, the following come to mind: the 1967 tour featuring the ‘bowler hat’ incident involving John Raper; the 1973 tour, when the third and deciding test of that series was played on a frozen pitch; the undefeated tours of 1982 and 1986.
jus de couchon said | February 24th 2010 @ 12:32am | Report comment
Queensland and NSW v the M62[thats a motorway in Northern England}. Kangaroo tours , youre aving a laff. Stick to the NRL and SOO and give us all a break from your endless hype about “the Greatest Game”
sheek said | February 24th 2010 @ 8:11am | Report comment
The 1967/68 was the first Kangaroos tour I ever heard of, while holidaying in Australia with my family. The man in the bowler hat obviously caught my attention.
But I was 11 then, & strangely, more into soccer, cricket & tennis. Living in PNG at the time, I didn’t know much about the big sports. Rugby league & union didn’t really hit my radar until I attended boarding school in 1969.
It would be good to see an abridged version of Kangaroos tours return, even like the one Jason suggested. There’s no reason for the 4N comp to be held annually. Apart from the fact, they don’t have much else internationally to throw at the public!
Anyway, the 67/68 team was full of champions. Sadly, I never saw the captain Reg Gasnier play live. He quit the game through persistent injury still only 28. Johnny Raper, Graeme Langlands, Billy Smith, Ron Coote, Ken Irvine, John McDonald, Noel Kelly, Peter Gallagher, Elton Rasmussen & Les Johns are just some of the other great names from that tour.
There were even some shock omissions – Bob McCarthy, Bob Fulton, Arthur Beetson & Dick Thornett. Another certainty, John Wittenberg sat the season out in a contract dispute.
jus de couchon said | February 27th 2010 @ 12:01am | Report comment
In 5 years time what will International League be like? Answer is no one knows. The people that run the game have no Idea about long term planning i.e having an Idea and sticking with it.