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What does the success of the Auckland Nines, the Four Nations and the push for an expanded World Club Series mean?
It means that rugby league needs an international focus in order to stay relevant in the modern world of globalised business and sports.
Many fans lament the passing of historical clubs from the professional scene. Famous names such as the North Sydney Bears, Newtown Jets, St George Dragons, Western Suburbs Magpies, Illawarra Steelers and Balmain Tigers have all felt the professional axe in one form or another.
These clubs need not have experienced relegation or extinction since other foundation clubs managed to survive. The fact remains, however, that they did not survive. In its most basic essence, these clubs were unable to make themselves relevant to a modern world.
And this is the important point. It is not a matter of whether a club is a traditional or historical one. Neither is it a matter of being an expansionist club. Many of those clubs, too, have felt the professional axe.
What is important is relevance. Can a club make itself relevant in a modern age? This is what matters for a club’s survival in the professional ranks.
It seems almost like an oxymoron but for a traditional club, expansion and an international focus is the key to survival. By making such a club relevant in a globally directed world of entertainment, the chances for survival are likely to increase.
Soccer well understands this with their various world club tournaments. Australia’s recent successes through the Wanderers and the Socceroos should be the envy of all rugby league fans.
While the size of the markets between the two codes differ markedly, the concept is the same. International money and recognition ought to never be dismissed by clubs and fans.
With this in mind, rugby league clubs ought to be clamouring to be part of a successful international calendar, be it the World Club Series, a World Nines tournament or some other such event.
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