Rugby league’s biggest threat is State of Origin
Columnist By Luke Doherty, 19 Jun 2012 Luke Doherty is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- James Tamou, NRL, Rugby League, Sam Kasiano, State Of Origin
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International rugby league risks becoming a complete joke if the constant flow of talent towards a State of Origin jersey isn’t stemmed.
Bulldogs prop Sam Kasiano is the latest New Zealand born forward to look longingly at the games showpiece event. Those looks are being returned with equal interest.
The 21-year-old moved from Auckland to Brisbane with his family as a teenager and now stands on the threshold of pulling on a Maroon jersey in the series decider in that same city on July 4.
Kasiano isn’t the only one keen to take advantage of the blurred eligibility lines.
North Queensland young-gun Jason Taumalolo is also being courted by Queensland.
The 19-year-old was born in Auckland and moved to Townsville after being scouted by the Cowboys while playing for a New Zealand under-16 team.
From there he played for the Queensland under 18′s and Australian schoolboys.
James Tamou was born in Palmerston North and moved with his family to Australia when he was 13.
He settled in Sydney, played his junior footy for the Paddington Tigers and attended Matraville High School.
The 23-year-old represented the New Zealand Maori, Junior Kiwis and was selected in their Four Nations train-on squad last year.
Today, he’s a proud New South Welshman who is even prouder to wear the green and gold of Australia.
Why? Because the lure of State of Origin is too much for any player to ignore.
It’s not their fault.
Who wouldn’t want to play in front of a crowd like the 83,110 who packed into ANZ Stadium for game two of the series?
Who wouldn’t want to test themselves against the best of the best?
Who wouldn’t want to get paid some extra coin to do it?
These men are painted as mercenaries, but nothing could be further from the truth.
They’re taking advantage of a system that isn’t protecting the wider interests of the game.
If the ARL Commission doesn’t work hand in hand with the International Rugby League to address the problem of the ever growing player drain, then the international game will continue to drift into obscurity.
It’s already a tough ask for fans to swallow a World Cup where only three teams are competitive.
That task becomes harder when the biggest nation is swallowing up some of the best talent from a competitor.
There needs to be stricter rules regarding eligibility for State of Origin which will also have a flow on effect for international rugby league.
State of Origin is a contest between New South Wales and Queensland.
Doesn’t it stand to reason that if you were born in New South Wales then you have to play for the Blues?
Or if you born in Queensland then you have to play for the Maroons?
Don’t worry about where you played your first game of senior football, a check list or guidelines.
If you don’t want to play for the state where you sucked in your first bit of oxygen then you don’t get to play.
Special cases could be brought forward for those born in other countries who came to Australia when still very young, but it should be assessed thoroughly.
This isn’t just about making sure Australia has someone competitive to play against in the off-season.
It’s about ensuring the code develops in other nations.
Origin is a money making beast. The three games are easily the biggest things on the rugby league calendar.
Perhaps some of the revenue needs to be directed towards the likes of Fiji, Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Tonga to name a few.
That may not be feasible, but there’s no doubt they need greater assistance.
The players are currently the ones making the choice to ditch their nation of birth, but the option to do so needs to be taken away.
It’s of greater importance in the long term to the game than any other issue at the moment.
You can follow Luke Doherty on Twitter @Luke_Doherty and on Sky News Australia.
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- Explore:
- James Tamou, NRL, Rugby League, Sam Kasiano, State Of Origin
June 19th 2012 @ 6:30am
QLD KIWI said | June 19th 2012 @ 6:30am | Report comment
Could not agree more with this article. It is not as if NSW and QLD are lacking talent, but the selfish mongels want to rape and pillage the Pacific Islands and NZ for their teams and bragging rights. If you werent born in either state, sorry, you cant play. You should only play for where you were born. Can you imagine the day when a Pac Island teams runs out to play Aust/Nz/GB with a real chance of knocking them over due to their huge talented team. The new commission needs to pull its head out of it’s !@#$ and leave the international game with a chance of survivial
June 19th 2012 @ 1:07pm
mushi said | June 19th 2012 @ 1:07pm | Report comment
I don’t agree with the “born” part but I think you need a stiffer hurdle than what we’ve got.
June 19th 2012 @ 2:17pm
Jackson said | June 19th 2012 @ 2:17pm | Report comment
it’s not gonna happen qldkiwi
pacific islands are rugby heartlands all the way, there is a proud tradition stretching a long way back, notions of rugby have even been incorporated into traditional warrior cultural elements…
Goodbye international rugby league…
June 19th 2012 @ 10:50pm
Recalcitrant said | June 19th 2012 @ 10:50pm | Report comment
Maybe Oz should just play as two separate places. NSW and QLD and get rid of the Kangaroos concept to make it fairer on everyone else.
June 19th 2012 @ 6:38am
Mike said | June 19th 2012 @ 6:38am | Report comment
Great article, couldn’t agree more. The IC must step in immediately and prevent Kasiano from playing for the Maroons, if they don’t the 3rd origin game will be a sick joke dominated by this issue. If they can sack Gallop and clear him out of the buiilding before dark surely they can work this one out in the same time frame.
The international game must be preserved at all costs. The Kiwis look to be on the verge of having one of their best eras ever. If you add Tamou and Kasiano to the mix they would have a team capable of mixing it with Australia every test. The Poms now have almost an entire forward pack playing in the NRL. Throw in Sam Tomkins and their best SL players and they too may be competitive.
Imagine if the we had international games with the same intensity and competitiveness of origin, the benefits to all concerned would be enormous. The IC must make this aim a priority.
June 19th 2012 @ 6:54am
Emric said | June 19th 2012 @ 6:54am | Report comment
Is it the job of Australian rugby league to look after the international game? Surely this job falls to the irl?
June 19th 2012 @ 7:24am
Boomshanka said | June 19th 2012 @ 7:24am | Report comment
The Australian Rugby League is in a position to stop the blatant raping of Pacific Island and Kiwi talent, so yes they have an obligation.
June 19th 2012 @ 7:51am
Emric said | June 19th 2012 @ 7:51am | Report comment
couldn’t it be argued that the only thing the ARL needs to worry about is the health of the ARL. The IRL should be worried about the internaitonal health of the game
June 19th 2012 @ 9:53am
Australian Rules said | June 19th 2012 @ 9:53am | Report comment
What about this:
Should the BCCI worry only about the state of Indian cricket, and leave the international health of the game to to ICC?
The answer might be yes, but …what if the actions of the BCCI DAMAGE the health of international cricket?
Don’t all stakeholders carry a responsibility…especially the strongest ones?
June 19th 2012 @ 1:09pm
mushi said | June 19th 2012 @ 1:09pm | Report comment
The BCCI operate in a corrupt circle of self interest. II’d trust the son of Kim il jong to put aside his self interest before the BCCI .
June 19th 2012 @ 9:55am
clipper said | June 19th 2012 @ 9:55am | Report comment
The trouble is that the NRL are a very big fish in a very small pond and have become league – there hasn’t been a WC winner outside the NRL for 40 years and doesn’t look like any other country will have a shot anytime soon.
June 19th 2012 @ 10:47am
David said | June 19th 2012 @ 10:47am | Report comment
Clipper I would not show your ignorance there. The poms have got a very good chance at next years world cup. If they make the final it is a one off game and anything can happen. They will be tough to beat at home. The past will mean nothing.
June 19th 2012 @ 1:03pm
clipper said | June 19th 2012 @ 1:03pm | Report comment
We’ll see…Australia are $1.25 to win – that’s overwhelming odds and England 8-1, so obviously bookmakers don’t share your view, unless they like to lose a lot of money by understating their chance – still doesn’t change the point – they used to win a fair bit when league had a bigger presence in the UK
June 21st 2012 @ 12:06pm
Crosscoder said | June 21st 2012 @ 12:06pm | Report comment
Yes Clipper you have been banging on about the small pond,ever since keyboards were around.
NZ won the last WC.No one has a clue as to the capabilities of the Poms or Frogs next year.The Roos were raging favourites against the Kiwis last time and lost,much to the chagrin of FitzSimons who predicted the Roos would win easily
Funny how the anti rl brigade,go into the cone of silenece when the unexpected happens.It would absolutely shatter their ru egos ,if any one but the Roos won .
June 19th 2012 @ 12:57pm
Meesta Cool said | June 19th 2012 @ 12:57pm | Report comment
Unfortunately the precedence has been set, If Kasiano is stopped fron plaing for Queensland, thenTamou and all before will have to also relinquish their positions. I see nothing wrong with Kiwi’s islanders etc who are selected by ‘Either state’ also being able to play for their country of birth, these two choices Country and SOO allegiance, once made, should not be able to be rescinded.
I see no indication that the rules of SOO state anywhere, that participants need to be born or raised in either state. ,, The wording of this should be sorted quickly before any more damage is caused to international RL. Tamou and Kasiano can play State of Origin, but need to be New Zealand players. unless they have lived in Australia for less than 12 years. (twelve being my suggestion, because a player that is now 22 yr old could not have been predicted to be a competent first grader at 10yr old when he entered Oz! ).
If Kasiano isn’t allowed to play in game 3, would this mean that game 1 and two results are ‘null and void’?.. This year is ‘open slather, next year should see definitive guidelines for players registering for either state. surely this is an easy task….
June 19th 2012 @ 7:04am
steve b said | June 19th 2012 @ 7:04am | Report comment
Luke your right about not blaming the players for wanting to earn that extra coin,,because as a league player the commitment is high the chance of injury to cut your career short could be only one game away,, for most its not but majority only play around ten years in the top grade ..So they have to try and make as much out of the game as they can,, when the opportunity arises to play for SOO or rep no matter who it is,, if they can meet the guidlines they are going to play ..The blame for this sits squarely on the shoulders of the NRL,,.and its become beyond a joke,when you see a Kiwi run out for Aus or NSWelshman run out for QLD etc etc it just takes any cred away from the eligibility process ..The new commish must have this on top of the pile as a first fix ..Where you were born,, or if you were born somewhere else,, then where you first registered to play jnr league,, and if by chance you never played anywhere as a jnr,, it should be where you first registered as a snr ..Black and white no grey areas…
June 19th 2012 @ 7:30am
boomtown said | June 19th 2012 @ 7:30am | Report comment
Origin is the pinacle of the game. That’s just a fact. The best players, wherever they are from, should be playing in Origin, not sitting around waiting for international games that no-one really cares about.
June 19th 2012 @ 9:12am
Mum Tuakeu said | June 19th 2012 @ 9:12am | Report comment
Totally agree with you.Why would they sit around and wait. Take up the opportunity is what I say lols. If kiwi want their players then offer them the opportunity to wanna play for NZ
June 19th 2012 @ 10:15am
Drew said | June 19th 2012 @ 10:15am | Report comment
Good point but it still makes it unfair for the international game as under the present rules, those guys become eligible for Aussie test jerseys – WC being the exception provided you’re from a smaller nation.
To some degree this may be remedied if we had something along the lines of a Pacific Cup. This would probably work best if you had stand-alone Origin for the round. Say you had 3-4 nations (eg Fiji, Tonga, Samoa) and they played in the same weekend as the Origin. Could either be on the same day as a curtain raiser, or play the night before. Whichever we did though we ought to televise the lot.
I had left NZ out as I felt they might be too dominant but you could still throw them in I guess. The alternative to the Pacific Cup could be NZ vs a combined Pacific team which may be more competitive, over three matches again like Origin.
Maybe I’m snorting something but I reckon it could work if thought out well-enough.
June 19th 2012 @ 10:06am
Tiger said | June 19th 2012 @ 10:06am | Report comment
Origin is not the pinnacle of the sport of rugby league. Get your head out of the sand, the sport exists outside of nsw and qld!
June 19th 2012 @ 1:01pm
Meesta Cool said | June 19th 2012 @ 1:01pm | Report comment
Yup!… agree, — not sure that no one cares about international RL though, Some of us ‘non Queenslandaahhhs’ love to see Oz or Kiwis playing the Poms.
June 19th 2012 @ 7:32am
Benson said | June 19th 2012 @ 7:32am | Report comment
International rugby league will continually be held up to ridicule whilst they try to create an international calendar based around players of heritage.
We can’t on one hand complain about Kasiano and Tamou and than be fully accepting of the fact that 40% of the NZ team were born in Australia.
Look at the world cup next year, Samoa and tonga will be made up of Austtalian and NZ born players except for 4 or 5 players. What does that do for local development.
Eligibility rules can’t be compromised due to the strength of a nation.
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June 19th 2012 @ 7:55am
JonD said | June 19th 2012 @ 7:55am | Report comment
You could always have different eligibility rules for SoO then for the Internationals. Plausibly one could play for NSW on state level and then NZ on an international level. I’m not saying this should be the case just throwing the idea out there. It would save the international game from losing players due to SoO. And, as long as SoO remains the games showpiece the eligibility rules will have to be relaxed. Otherwise what will we do with great players that come from Vic or WA?
June 19th 2012 @ 8:12am
steve b said | June 19th 2012 @ 8:12am | Report comment
JonD its a good point you make about WA and VIC however if you going to call it SOO then thats what it should be ,,or change the name and the concept and call the new team combined states or something similar ,,however JD this is along way down the track yet and first they must sort out the mess called SOO..Because thats what its not at the moment…
June 19th 2012 @ 1:17pm
Meesta Cool said | June 19th 2012 @ 1:17pm | Report comment
Steve b, Origin is far from a ‘MESS’. The problems with Origin are minor, just iron out the eligibility rules and leave the game alone!, it IS our league’s BIGGEST attraction!. The chance for many fans to support a team in a ‘finals’ situation!. you gotta love it!
We are making a lot of fuss over something that a sub committee of ‘impartial spectators’ (even people with ho knowledge of our game) could make right in a one day brain storming session. ..
We just need to separate Origin registration from international registration!.
June 19th 2012 @ 2:34pm
steve b said | June 19th 2012 @ 2:34pm | Report comment
Meesta Cool its the eligibility that is the mess and we have a new commish so what are they waiting for !!!
June 19th 2012 @ 3:04pm
Meesta Cool said | June 19th 2012 @ 3:04pm | Report comment
Maybe the end of this season, a season that has probably highlighted the problem, more than previous ones.. I am sure the commission will have this high on their agenda, it is a MUST that we stop internal squabbling like this, from an outsiders point of view – it can only be seen as ‘childish behaviour’.
I often wonder if the IC or any other ‘ruling body’ take the time to read these forums, Sometimes I believe that it should be made compulsory reading….
June 19th 2012 @ 9:06am
Ian Whitchurch said | June 19th 2012 @ 9:06am | Report comment
JionD,
That happened to Australian Rules, with the Queenslander Jason Dunstall. Dunstall is one the five best full forwards there ever were, along with Lockett, Coventry, Coleman and Hudson.
After earlier playing in the combined “Allies” side, that represented everywhere that wasnt Victoria, SA or WA, he was picked for Victoria in 1986.
The ‘Allies’ concept didnt work very well – its hard to get enthused about either a side full of players from other than your state, or a side that will get belted if one of the big states pick their best players.
June 19th 2012 @ 11:25am
Timmuh said | June 19th 2012 @ 11:25am | Report comment
Ian, the “Allies” came in after Dunstall played for Victoria – mid 90s when the AFL was looking for a way to have the three big states all have competitive games on the same weekend.
The early eligibility in Australian Football’s SoO allowed for a major state to take priority over a smaller state, even if the true origin was a small state – unless the small state was playing against a tier1 state at the same time. Hence, Dunstall played for Vic and Qld; Carey played for SA and NSW; some NSW players played for NSW against Vic and for VicB against Tas in the same year. That was changed later so that players were eligible for only one state. For Australia Football that system did not work, as smaller states did have a team and selection could be compromised (for example, Tasmanian Darren Pritchard was selected for Victoria on a weekend Tasmania was playing).
For rugby league it could work, as there are (for now) only the two sides. Why not allow players from other states and countries to become eligible for the first club of the two represesnted states where they played a league game. Anyone ot from NSW or Qld who ends up playing for the Storm or Warriors (or Raiders if strict NSW boundaries are enforced) still has an issue, but a New Zealander whose first club is in Sydney could be eligible for NSW while still being an NZ player internationally – exactly as JonD has said.
There may be good reasons why that won’t work, that as an outsider to the game I’m not aware of.
June 19th 2012 @ 12:11pm
Jaceman said | June 19th 2012 @ 12:11pm | Report comment
The All Blacks have been pilfering the Pacific Islands for years (and more recently so has Australia) so whats the problem.
June 19th 2012 @ 3:05pm
Samvandamn said | June 19th 2012 @ 3:05pm | Report comment
Because Jaceman
The state of the Rugby Union international game is a thousand times stronger than the League Internationals.
The fact that Australia is soaking up talent from New Zealand and the pacific Islands just to strengthen their State vs State game is to the detriment to League on an International scale.
If league is going to grow as a sport there needs to be a decent world competition, otherwise it will just continue to be a sport that not many people care about outside of Australia/NZ.
Samoa, Tonga and Fiji have strong rugby union teams compared to their insanely weak league teams.
June 19th 2012 @ 8:53pm
D Maaga said | June 19th 2012 @ 8:53pm | Report comment
the all blacks have many kiwi born pacific islanders to pick from anyway.
June 19th 2012 @ 8:53pm
D Maaga said | June 19th 2012 @ 8:53pm | Report comment
the all blacks have many kiwi born pacific islanders to pick from anyway.
June 20th 2012 @ 11:42am
kiwidave said | June 20th 2012 @ 11:42am | Report comment
Rubbish, there are more NZ born players for the islands than there are island born players for NZ.
June 19th 2012 @ 12:58pm
Ian Whitchurch said | June 19th 2012 @ 12:58pm | Report comment
Timmuh,
Thanks for the exact details of how Australian Rules tied itself in knots over Origin eligibility.
Splitting Origin from International eligibility is a good start.
June 19th 2012 @ 7:59am
oikee said | June 19th 2012 @ 7:59am | Report comment
What do you mean a threat. Why is it that when rugby league has a chance to grow and become a huge internationally watched sport, we get some fluff piece about the game being under threat. Please stop being negative, this is why Gallop had to go.
Look, origin is the game changer, when your on a roll and nothing can stop that train from rolling forward, why would you want to stop that from happening to try and get a international game take off that wont ever gain traction.
Origin is huge, and can take rugby league even further without worrying about the international game. Forget international.
What rugby league has to do now is grow origin even bigger. Get NZ involved now, a 3 team origin contest. NZ is a small country, only 4 million, even less if your looking at league players. They could have a team .
You make origin the pinnacle, which it is, lets not bs the fact that origin sells, internationals are a drop back. So bring NZ into the contest.
This game has got to get smarter.
Also we need to start buying the best players worldwide. If England or France have any good player or players, buy them, the ARL or NRL whatever we are going to call it, has got to become the biggest show on earth, expand it to 20 teams so we can add the best players to the comp.
The game has got to start thinking big, bigger than what we are doing now, all this talk about origin killing the international comp is negative bullocks. The international comp is practically non-exisitent anyhow. Lets make league bigger by growing the origin series.
America should be our next growth target area. If we grow Australiasian rugby league, we can keep sending it into America, build up a audience over their, maybe asia as well.
This is where the money is my friends, we need to get our heads around this, forget international, it’s time is up. We can still play it, but the players will come from the ARL comp from Australia. If your any good, you will be in the ARL, NRL or whatever they are going to call the game. That needs to get sorted as well. I thought they were going to bring the game under one banner. We still have ARL, NRL.
The clock is ticking, John Grant has to start making a noise.
June 19th 2012 @ 8:12am
Emric said | June 19th 2012 @ 8:12am | Report comment
Oikee are you saying that international league is a waste of time?
June 19th 2012 @ 8:28am
steve b said | June 19th 2012 @ 8:28am | Report comment
oikee so under your new concept including players from all over the world, I gather you’ll be changing the name from SOO and throwing out the eligibilty rules ?
June 19th 2012 @ 8:43am
turbodewd said | June 19th 2012 @ 8:43am | Report comment
A 3 team Origin contest will never work.
The first Immutable law of sports fans is that their biggest drawcard is seeing the best vs the best. Ali vs Foreman, Federer vs Nadal, NSW v Qld. Throw NZ in the mix and you dilute it. there is also no natural NSW v NZ rivalry.
June 19th 2012 @ 9:07am
Ian Whitchurch said | June 19th 2012 @ 9:07am | Report comment
Shorter Oikee.
Yes, it’s a threat, but I dont care about Rugby League, I care about Queensland winning
June 19th 2012 @ 9:25am
AGO74 said | June 19th 2012 @ 9:25am | Report comment
Mal Meninga couldn’t have said it better himself.
June 19th 2012 @ 9:25am
Mum Tuakeu said | June 19th 2012 @ 9:25am | Report comment
Money talks ppl. To do a 3 way SOO..well if the New Zealand government have tge money to put up a team go for it if not then jus siton the side an watch the two state going head to head with each other. NO MONEY oh well. If I get picked to play for SOO I wont pass the opportunity just because Im a NZ born. SOO is da shizzz. It a privledge to be playing in the SOO.
June 19th 2012 @ 12:30pm
warren said | June 19th 2012 @ 12:30pm | Report comment
Oikee – having NZ involved will take away from Origin as well as the international game. The entire concept is built on state rivalry and to bring in another team would kill off the essence of the success of the contest.
SOO is for Australian players only. No one who has played or pledged allegiance to another country at any age group should be considered. To do anything else will make the concept a bunch of exhibition matches.
June 19th 2012 @ 12:39pm
Sylvester said | June 19th 2012 @ 12:39pm | Report comment
Warren, why would having the odd Kiwi take away from SOO? The fans are barracking for their state, aren’t they, not a nationality? Does Kaisiano pretending to be an Aussie to play for QLD make it any more right?
June 19th 2012 @ 8:39am
turbodewd said | June 19th 2012 @ 8:39am | Report comment
Origin eligibility has been a joke for years:
Adrian Lam – PNG
Lote T – Fiji
Tonie Carroll & Brad Thorn – NZ
Greg Inglis – NSW (born there, played RL in NSW until aged 16 – yet he’s a Maroon!!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?)
ACT – since when is this part of NSW?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
I suggest that Origin must formally allow a 2 non-NSW/Qld players per team. They would be called Honorary Blues or Honorary Maroons. This would allow ALL of the best players to play in Origin. Benji Marshall would be the NSW halfback in a nanosecond.
And the rule about where u played your first RL game at age 18 is ridiculous!
June 19th 2012 @ 9:28am
AGO74 said | June 19th 2012 @ 9:28am | Report comment
There is a very funny song on youtube about how all the places you mention are actually in Queensland.
June 19th 2012 @ 1:16pm
mushi said | June 19th 2012 @ 1:16pm | Report comment
Wow funny you just isolate the QLD ones hey.
Talk about people operating in self interest.
By the way why would benji be the NSW half back? I thought he was eligible for QLD prior to playing for NZ based on him playing there as teenager?
But hey keep those blue eyes focused on the prize.
June 19th 2012 @ 4:22pm
turbodewd said | June 19th 2012 @ 4:22pm | Report comment
You would have to have a SOO draft. So the loser of the previous series gets to choose a kiwi, once drafted he is a Honorary Blue or Maroon for rest of his career.
June 19th 2012 @ 2:37pm
dishes said | June 19th 2012 @ 2:37pm | Report comment
yes, and as a true New South Welshman would say, “Queensland started it!” hahaha
June 19th 2012 @ 8:48am
oikee said | June 19th 2012 @ 8:48am | Report comment
I am not saying international league is a waste of time, origin is our big selling card, not international league. If we keep growing origin, we will eventually grow international league,. I think we are trying to do things backwards.
If we got all the best players from around the world playing in the NRL, the international game will get better over time because the players will be better.
The super league is not going to change, it can only be a feeder comp for the best NRL players. Like it is doing now, lets not think otherwise.
This is not negative, it is possitve really. Having 50 to 80 thousand s crowds, ? Negative, Possitive?
The game has got to change, we need to change the way we think, the way we do things. We have built up a massive origin series, now we need to take this further.
NZ is thinking internationals, forget that, think Origin series , we include NZ and this is how they grow, not internationals that dont hold half as much interest.
This is what i cant understand, why we have huge crowds and then want to chop this in half or less by playing a international game. Origins are the future. Time to embrace it dudes.
June 19th 2012 @ 10:11am
Tiger said | June 19th 2012 @ 10:11am | Report comment
Well we better tell all of the hundreds of thousands of players in England that playing for their country means nothing and that origin is the future?
What a joke, your post makes no sense and does nothing to grow the sport! The international game is the way to grow the sport, rugby league exists outside of two Australian states you know!
June 19th 2012 @ 11:10am
Emric said | June 19th 2012 @ 11:10am | Report comment
850,000 AU dollars per game, per year would bank rupt the NZRL and thats without the proposed increase to 100,000 dollars per player
June 19th 2012 @ 1:01pm
Ian Whitchurch said | June 19th 2012 @ 1:01pm | Report comment
Emric,
I’d just tell the players “You’re in for half the net gate, after we’ve hired the stadium and paid the support staff”.
June 19th 2012 @ 3:55pm
Emric said | June 19th 2012 @ 3:55pm | Report comment
wouldn’t work Ian..
The NZRL made a small profit from the one test match this year (NZ V Australia)… would they make enough profit playing in NZ to be able to make such a deal?
June 19th 2012 @ 4:24pm
Boomshanka said | June 19th 2012 @ 4:24pm | Report comment
The New Zealand taxpayers / ratepayers didn’t do too well out of the RWC either.
Otago’s new stadium is struggling and the Otago Rugby Union is on its knees.
How much did the NZRFU provide one to the temporary facilities at Rugby League park in Christchurch after booting the Canterbury Rugby League out of its 30 year lease?
At least the NZRL made a profit.
June 19th 2012 @ 4:31pm
Sylvester said | June 19th 2012 @ 4:31pm | Report comment
Boomshanka: the NZ Govt paid for the temp stadium in Chch. The total cost was about $35 million.
Rugby league will still get to use it, so it’s a win-win.
June 19th 2012 @ 4:41pm
Boomshanka said | June 19th 2012 @ 4:41pm | Report comment
Government = Taxpayers IMO
I used to watch league on a Wednesday night at the showgrounds during the season as well as international matches (even seeing the South Island beat Australia in the early 80′s).
Now we get two matches this year (Auckland vs Canterbury – last week) and the local grand final.
June 19th 2012 @ 5:30pm
Emric said | June 19th 2012 @ 5:30pm | Report comment
The New Zealand taxpayers / ratepayers didn’t do too well out of the RWC either.
The NZRU and NZG both planned for a approx 40 million dollar loss. The real loss was 32 million dollars considering the size of the event and the fact that NZ had to fork over a 50 million dollar hosting fee it was a sustainable loss.
Otago’s new stadium is struggling and the Otago Rugby Union is on its knees.
All the Unions in New Zealand are struggling at the moment. We are in the middle of a economic recession and New Zealand as a small country as not weathered the storm as well as others. Otago made some horrific mistakes but the NZRU stepped in and did what was needed to put things right again. The new stadium is actually doing really well with the highlanders averaging around 20,000 a game at the moment not bad considering the stadium is designed to only hold 29,000, Dunedin has a population of approx 130,000. The All Black test there this year will sell out.
The NZG poured the cash into rebuilding the stadium until Lancaster (AMI) Stadium can be rebuilt. There are arguments about what shape the new Stadium should take. The NZRU did not boot out League an accommodation was reached this move benefited league as well. You have to remember unlike Australia, Rugby Union is king.
the NZRL has made profits which is good
June 19th 2012 @ 9:01pm
D Maaga said | June 19th 2012 @ 9:01pm | Report comment
where did you get the idea from Bs that the new otago stadium is struggling? the rugby world cup upgrade was the best thing to happen to the country and nz sports in years because other sports including rugby league will benefit from it.
June 19th 2012 @ 3:57pm
Renegade said | June 19th 2012 @ 3:57pm | Report comment
I’m starting to think somebody else is posting under Oikee’s name today……this doesn’t sound like someone who is passionate about the growth of rugby league.