It is no secret NRL fans can sometimes be quite insular when it comes to their beloved code.
It’s not a knock by any means, a competition could be so lucky to have such diehard, passionate supporters. When it comes to the NRL and their team, nothing else matters.
There’s also a little thing called State of Origin and an odd appearance from the green and gold Kangaroos. Yep, rugby league sure is grand in our little corner of the world.
NRL and Origin dominate television ratings year-on-year and crowd figures are actually up. But for all the good the game is doing, there is a clear and present disconnect between the head office and the punters out in club land.
It’s only early days for Todd Greenberg, who is indeed a rugby league guy. And let’s not forget he took over from a banker who quickly re-branded himself as ‘Dave’. Becoming ‘Dave’ was the closest Mr. Smith got to the people.
The reality is grassroots footy doesn’t need an injection – it needs a defibrillator to the skull and an adrenaline shot through the chest.
Money is coming through at the top but it’s not trickling down the way it should.
But we digress.
This isn’t another panic piece raving about how arse-backwards the NRL have got it right now.
Take a deep breath and sing along to Monty Python’s Always Look on the Bright Side of Life – whistle if you must. Life isn’t all that bad. We can still fix the problems in front of us.
Now prepare to be shocked. Pour a stiff drink and find yourself a comfortable seat.
Are you ready?
Here we go.
Rugby league is played outside of Australia.
Are you still with us?
And rugby league wasn’t even created here.
Have a drink.
You see, the bright side of the NRL’s very fixable problems here in Australia isn’t felt everywhere else. Life goes on and so does the work. Rugby league clubs across the world are doing their small bit in pushing the greatest game of all forward.
Someone from Melbourne asked during the week why AFL isn’t a hit overseas.
This is where rugby league isn’t streets ahead of their biggest rival down under – we’re all 4000 kilometres of the National Highway ahead.
And we’re not talking about the millions of viewers across the globe that tune in to our little Aussie product.
This weekend we’ll all have our eyes fixed on Sydney Roosters and Melbourne, St George Illawarra and Canterbury, Cronulla and North Queensland. To us, these games are all that matters.
These however aren’t the only games this weekend.
We all know about the Super League over in England but did you know it’s also Round 5 of the national premiership in Ireland and Northern Ireland?
Matches include Cork Bulls taking on the Treaty City Sharks in the Republic of Ireland league and Ballynahinch playing Portadown in the Ulster league. For the uninitiated, the winners of the two competitions then play each other in an All-Ireland grand final.
In August, the Republic of Ireland Eagles will clash with the Northern Ireland Elks in two big representative matches in Galway and Portadown respectively.
The USARL heads into Week Two this weekend with new franchise, the New York-based White Plains Wombats, the talk of the American competition. Captain-coached by Matt Walsh, the Wombats hammered Bucks County 66-6 and will this week travel to Philadelphia to face the Fight.
Former NRL player Dustin Cooper’s Boston 13s are away to Northern Virginia Eagles while there will be no love lost when 2015 runners-up Atlanta host perennial heavyweights Jacksonville at Silverback Stadium. Other fixtures will be played at Tampa, Rhode Island, Washington DC and Bucks County.
Canadian rugby league to the north is in representative mode with Canada Country playing City in Game 3 of their series which Country already lead 2-0 after a commanding 30-12 win in game two.
The Wolverines are preparing for a blockbuster double header to be played at the Aloha Stadium in Hawaii on August 19th and 20th where Canada will play Fiji and Samoa face fierce rivals Tonga.
Don’t think the international game is too far away either with a festival of footy being played prior to the Intrust Super Premiership match at Henson Park on Saturday. El Salvador will clash with Chile from 12.50pm but get there earlier to see Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay in a mixture of both Sevens and Nines matches.
We could go on forever. Games in Wales, Scotland, France, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand – yes we could go on.
Okay, let’s.
Hong Kong have announced their own State of Origin series which will pit Hong Kong Islands against Kowloon and New Territories on July 9 and will act as a selection trial for the Hong Kong Thunder national team while the 2016 Dutch grand final will be held on the 18th of June at Dordrecht between Rotterdam and Den Haag.
Finished that drink?
Always look on the bright side of life footy fans.
It’s a big world out there.
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