Well, there are a couple of ex-pats and German heritage players in the UK – Jimmy Keinhorst is on trial for Leeds and his two brothers are pretty decent as well. There is a team in England www.germanexilesrl.co.uk that is full of German ex-pats. They may not be powerhouses in a decade, but look at Germans, they’re built for Rugby (especially League). To be honest, Germans are more built for League than any other nation I know. So hopefully, with another large country playing the game it will bring more exposure.

I have been keeping an eye on that U/16’s. It’s great for Germany to have U/16’s playing already. The youth is where you want to aim. Get into schools. And to think none of those teams are RL powerhouses, but in a decade could be.

So who won it in 2010?

That’s good, but it’s still not enough. Union is seeing great growth in their game in England, and the Union is increasing its distance between League as the preferred option of Rugby. This needs to change. League should have the more growing room – moving into London should be a great market 13 mill people. I thought Rugby League should have tried to secure Newcastle as a Rugby League town, but they missed out. I also thought they should try and get a Manchester team. I know Salford is close, but they get 3,000 supporters, that’s ridiculous.

I like the 3-year deal, it also makes it look cheaper to the buyer. As it also does help us raise the amount every 3 years as compared to 5 or 6 and the 3 year option would insure we don’t lose money.

I think the IC will be a lot smarter than our previous negotiators, but I just hope that RL in Australia expands. WA should have been pushed a long time ago to be honest. It is the highest participator of RL outside of QLD and NSW – still, even with the Melbourne Storm in Vic. And it could have been a success had they stuck there throughout the SL war to this day. Imagine Western Australians playing in the Kangaroos, alongside Victorians.

This game needs to go national, not emulate the AFL (I think the FFA and Hockey have a better diagram to be blunt), but to make sure that a) this game survives and b) our game gets better. The more competition the better the product.

I don’t think it’s saturated as of yet. I think the stadiums can fill up a bit more to be honest. And I really like how the NRL is getting behind the Membership drive. I was a member last year of the Broncos and it was awesome (I live overseas now, so unfortunately I get my fix from sports reports), I think the Membership thing is also getting more people dedicated to their club and with kids going to school telling other kids what they did on the weekend, this membership thing can only be good.

We do need to find other ways of getting our supporters to the games, but that is why I thought Laura Sankey should have been appointed. Her whole role is to bring in money and supporters for the GB Packers. She makes sure that over 75,000 tickets are sold for each game in a town of only 240,000 people.

And with the expansion, that’s where I thought a Marco Baldi would come in handy. Those type of people know how to generate support for a relatively new sport.

We do need to expand, but we also need to grow our heartland’s support.

My bid would be for Perth and Central Coast. Brisbane Broncos should be selling out that stadium every time, so I don’t think Brisbane is a success yet.

Hey Adrien I will be in France next week, is there any Rugby League going on that weekend – I looked at the Catalans website, but it looks like they have a bye or something. Le seul problème est moi ne parlent pas français.

I think the game shouldn’t be reduced to 30mins a half, but stay at 40mins, and when the ball goes dead for any reason (knock on, forward pass, penalty, ball into touch or out of play) the clock stops. This means the clock guy would be struggling, but it would give us more viewing time and mean the players actually play for 80 mins and don’t get a smoko all the time. Think about how teams who take an 8 point lead just constantly kick the ball into touch to run down the clock, not entertaining, smart but not entertaining. This would keep the game alive a lot more as the leading team knows that they should kick the ball as high as they can to keep it in the air to run down the clock by an extra 2 seconds.

The good thing about the Australian codes is that they try and pay players within their limits. Look at how many times you see EPL teams selling to other people because they are in so much debt, even the big clubs like Liverpool. Even the NFL, NBA, NHL and to a lesser extent the MLB are shuffling the franchises into new areas because one area can’t afford the team. So the NRL, the AFL and ARU are all trying to make clubs financially viable in that area, if that means they have to invest for two decades so be it, the return will be worth it.
The players may feel underpaid, but to be honest, if we overpaid them there would be no code and they would have to change sport and not all of them can go to AFL or Union.

Still think Johnson should have replaced Harrison. Harrison is asked to play at lock, but he play like a selfish under 8s kid – doesn’t pass, and runs all over the paddock before making any ground. Te’o is a lock, runs off the halves and breaks the lines. Ben Creagh is a good lock, prefer him there than second row.

Over here we get Rugby League live in Uganda on FTA TV for crying out loud, granted, not all of the games, but Uganda gets 4 games a week – the only problem is on a volunteers wage (nothing) I can’t afford a TV.
But, nonetheless, how is it that a 3rd World/Developing Country who have absolutely no vested interest (and to be honest, don’t understand the sport) get it live whereas Melbourne, whom have a team, are left in the dark!!!

I like the idea of widening the field, but the whole field so our wingers and centres can find the gaps a lot easier and make it more exciting. The gang tackles need to be monitored, I think wrestling a player to the ground is ok to slow down play, but wrestling on the ground should be penalised. Also, common sense needs to be applied, if the third person is coming in to stop the momentum or put the ball carrier on the ground, ok, but if he is coming in to break a rib or tear a medial ligament then penalise him and they will start to pick up that hurting a player isn’t point of a tackle, stopping the ball is.

Another thing I think needs to be looked at is the tackling scenario on the ground. Whether it’s a dominant tackle or not a tackler should only be allowed on the ball carrier for a maximum of 3 seconds, and the ref should be counting aloud to let the tackler know this – this will stop the gang tackles as it will make them realise that getting 3-5 players off a ball carrier will take to long and create to many penalties. Also, it will speed up the game and make it more exciting.

I think the split has actually forced the hands a bit of the Leaguies over there. I noticed in Chattanooga they are trying to introduce Rugby League into Middle and High Schools. This is a good thing for League, because before that League was only held to the clubs playing in the AMNRL and the closest thing to playing League if you weren’t in any of the teams was EagleTag – its just OzTag with a nuanced name – or Union. So this is a good move forward in some respects, although I hope this isn’t a Super League fiasco once again.

I like that idea better, as then the English might actually have players involved as well, along with Welsh and French and possibly Scots and others. I also think Jarrod Sammut should be considered instead of Dobson. Sammut had a hard task getting the Crusaders to be competitive and they were the shock of the season last year.

I would put Baiteri in there as well, mind you the second rowers look pretty strong there, as does the lock position.

Great article Wookie, I find this a nicely unbiased piece – which is rare on this site. I think the AFL has the right idea, put a pin in the map and keep putting resources into that pinpoint until that pinpoint is putting resources back into them. The NRL needs to learn to do that with WA, Super Rugby will do that with Melbourne – as the ARU know they need the rich clients from Victoria to make Union more viable in this country. Also, the A-League needs to sell the franchises to overseas buyers who will spend money for a while – a bit like the Dutch teams that were looking at buying the Brisbane Roar (as the Roar have their origins in the Dutch community i.e. the Orange uniform). If Ajax, or Twente or PSV were to buy the Roar than they would send their players over here on a loan if they needed the players to get some game time outside the top tier, also this would lead to Australians having a gateway into Europe.

Bring in 2 openers, move Watson to 6, Hussey to 3 (and captain) and move Ponting out to 12th man.

If Ipswich is ever to come into the NRL they better not use the Jets name – I’m from Ipswich and the Jets aren’t as good as they should have been. They have made the GF once, but lost. I think they need a totally new team, keep the Jets in the Q-Cup and I think set up the team in Greater Springfield as you could then draw crowds from Logan and Beaudesert (Springfield is on the border of Ipswich, Logan, Beaudesert and Brisbane, very unique). Don’t call them Western ———- because Western teams would leave out Logan supporters (although Logan seem to follow either the Titans or Broncos). Ipswich need to call it something that can draw as many people as possible.

I think Ipswich would have a bigger rivalry with Gold Coast as both cities are fighting for the second spot as the most populous city outside of Brisbane in QLD. The mayors have been giving each other a bit of stick and this might add some rivalry, a bit like Oakland Raiders v San Francisco 49ers.

If Brisbane got another team it needs to derive from something that has historical importance – a bit like how Everton survives and thrives in Liverpool. May be something like the Valleys or a community team.

Beo your right, the reason why half of us Queenslanders don’t want another Brisbane team is because we need to sell out Broncos matches before we ever create another team. A city like Brisbane should always be selling out Rugby League matches (including International games).

I still think a lot of them watch league, they just don’t support anyone. It sounds like otagobeef watches league, but doesn’t support anyone, and fair enough – a team is a club and a club is a community and that should never be destroyed. I don’t think 40-50k just stopped watching league altogether because their team was dropped. I think a lot of people might have refused for a while, but some of them watch it still or they wouldn’t be league lovers. Beowulf and Col the Bear, do u guys watch Rugby League (specifically the NRL)?

Lets expand and reclaim. Go West and stake the heartland. So have the CC Bears – heartland and have the WA (whatever….they should do a community poll on which name to call themselves, this would add local interest and make the people feel like they own some of the team for naming it, like the Titans) – to claim new land.

WA is needed, just as London Quins are needed in the Super League. LondonRL has had a major increase in participation since their inception (going all the way back before they were called the Broncos), it will take time, but with the new IC and the new TV deal looming League needs to expand nationwide. It will be hard for a long time, but with adversity comes opportunity and this should be the ringing words in every League lover’s head (along with the big wigs).

Perth is a great choice for Rugby League as you would have a lot of Saffers (South Africans) who would see another option to Rugby Union (especially to watch in the off-season, and to play). Also, Perth has a lot of Queenslanders (my direct family included) who move to WA for mining purposes and would love to watch a league game. This adds a bit more to the Perth economy as well and would make Perth a city for all codes, and this is one thing I know Brisbane makes sure that everyone knows. There are adds around here advertising the teams that Brisbanites should get behind, and I think Perth (and WA) could do.

The QRL needs to shut up and sit out. I’m a Queenslander through and through, but I can’t stand the QRL, they almost lost all support from the Q-Cup teams and now they have lost all support from the NRL clubs. The independent commission is meant to be independent. What about NZRL or the VRL, what say do they have in it, nothing yet there are clubs there!!!

The ARL should be focused on AUSTRALIA, not just QLD and NSW. Bring in the commission and bring on the best business heads in the country. Hopefully the QRL is only left to growing the game at the grass roots level from now on.

Great ideas, and the Atlantic cup just finished an hour ago and USA only just won against Jamaica 36-26 and that was a come from behind in the last 10mins. So may be incorporate Jamaica into it as well, and possibly Canada.

I would wonder how the souths could afford him, due to them buying the rest of the Burgess brothers as well (there is another 3 of them – all forwards, but only the younger 2 would be worth it). Souths have the most formidable forward pack in the comp, so they do need a great back, but every1 knows that forwards are more expensive than backs, so how do they afford it? And where would you put the other 2 younger Burgess brothers (they are twins), in the centres (as 2nd rowers usually are good centres)?! Than where would Inglis go, there is just no room for all of them! Along with Ben Lowe and Beau Champion!!!