Rugby league sceptics are always quick to label the game as being ‘predictable’.
While a few Youtube clips of Benji Marshall and more or less any Origin match are quick to dispel this myth, there is a part of the NRL more predictable than Jason Ryles giving away a penalty at the crucial moment of a match.
The pre-season.
2013 may have just ticked over, but already the headlines between now and early March can be written. Any fan knows the run sheet.
Player X is training the house down (who or what house in particular we’re never told). Team Y has a good blend of youth and experience (or in other words, ignorance and apathy). And Canberra has been tipped to come last again.
Aside from these though there’s another issue that’s on the repeat cycle, the argument over whether the NRL should put into place a pre-season tournament or continue its scatter gun trials method.
It’s a hard argument, and one that is probably tainted by nostalgia.
Ask any rugby league fan who stayed up to watch the 94 Kangaroo tour and they’ll go misty eyed talking about the Tooheys Challenge, and if you are talking about the 92 series won by the Illawarra Steelers over arguably the team of the decade in the 1992 Broncos, then I’ll happily join in with you.
This was a different time however, and whether the feel good vibes would exist for such a tournament today are questionable.
The AFL has run its pre-season cup for over 20 consecutive years, and every year it still needs to defend its legitimacy to its own fans as people moan about travel, favoured draws, player burnout etc.
On the other hand though… trials.
Every couple of years I think I’ll try KFC again. Yeah I know last time it made me ready to call the priest for my last rites, but I’m desperate and a weak man. Inevitably it ends up being just as terrible as it was previously.
That’s how I am with trials.
I go, promise I’m never going to another again, only to a couple of season later find myself paying full price to watch two teams of 40 players drop the ball and jog into the defensive line. For the spectator who can attend a season-proper NRL match, they really have no redeeming quality, save for an easy way to get autographs for the kids.
One or two like the Charity Shield are a bit more fair dinkum, but most contain a level of play painful to watch. Which is ok, I guess, considering the stage of the season, but why am I paying full price for half the quality?
As far as solutions go I don’t really have any, and would be more than happy to have the All Stars match as the only sanctioned pre-season game to get all the wacky rule experiments and new tattoos out of the way.
Those not involved can just play against their NSW Cup/Queensland Cup reggies affiliates at the training ground and let members come down to watch for free.
But if the NRL and the clubs really do want to go the more commercial route and make the pre-season a financial and development mechanism, they may as well go the whole hog by doing a proper draw, getting a naming right sponsor and a shiny trophy for the thing.
Because right now all we’ve got to lose are the half-arsed trial matches which, let’s face it, aren’t exactly up there with what the Colonel’s offering in the temptation stakes.
Follow Chris on Twitter @Vic_Arious
oikee
Guest
Just reading this morning the Cowboys trail and fundraising event in Mt Isa is offically sold-out Chris. The Cowboys really promote themselves in the North. Our marketing needs to really get better at selling our game. p.s ,,, i also for the first time in 100 years seen a NRL ad on tv yesterday selling the game to parents and kids, about time.
Johnno
Guest
Love the simply the best song. Good old school stuff, these footy highlights. The game sure has got faster, and the players now are so much more athletic. SBW and Greg Inglis would be unstoppable.
maximus182
Roar Guru
You say you are forced to pay full price?.. Just don't go to a trial, go to a season-proper game... Most trials should be played in country areas (a lot are) so people who can't get to season games can get an NRL experience....
oikee
Guest
Yes, i dont think we will ever get rid of trails. Proper playing conditions and giving as many players as possible a run is what coaches will always want. Going in cold is asking for trouble. Mind you, they have all been flogged i have been reading. What i am really looking for to this year, here are just a quick two things, i have many more, "The Book of Fueds returning". and of course the Roosters and Bulldogs.
DanielG
Guest
My apologies if anyone else has already said this but Chris Chard has clearly missed the point. The point of trials is to trial players, every top player has at some point had to be a fringe player first. If we stop fringe players playing in trials in a few years time we'll be complaining that there isn't enough depth of top quality players. Case in point would have to be Jack Reed, was playing Qld Cup for Norths gets a chance to train with the Broncos in the off season then gets a few trial games and there you have it he plays in First grade that year and takes off. Obviously it may take a couple of seasons for most players but the trials give them that opportunity. Personally I love seeing the up and comers whom I've watched in U20's, Qld or NSW cups get a shot at a trials game for an NRL team. Playing these fringe players also helps prevent burnout and gives a break for the players who are playing every regular season club game plus finals and state of origin and internationals and/or players who've had off season surgery.
Redb
Roar Guru
I enjoy the NAB Cup, certainly good to see the footy return. The crowds are modest by AFL standards but still pull good numbers. I went to the 2011 NAB GF with 40,000 at Etihad. I doubt that many would turn up to a trial (practice match). For mid and bottom clubs the pre season cup is good for the fans looking for improvement. For the previous years Top 4 it's viewed as a training run.
Tlux
Guest
Aren't 26 rounds of football +finals enough? Everyone knows trials are just as important as international friendlies in football. If the NRL teams try to market the event as being a legitimate sporting contest, then there is a problem. But anyone who's been around the block a few times knows to stay clear of trials/friendlies. Like OP said, trails are good for taking the kids to the local grounds, get some autographs etc.
Hez
Roar Rookie
Fair call, but isn't that what we have now?
Chris Chard
Expert
Personally I think moving the Allstars match (or equivalent)to the end of the season as some are suggesting would be the wrong call The NFL Pro Bowl is held in the week preceeding the Super Bowl and, well, it sucks. By the end of the season no one gives a rats and the games end up being 83-62 because no one is willing to put their body on the line. Fans don't like it, players don't like it and eventually crowds and financial support would dwindle IMO. In saying this though I think the WCC at the end of the season could work, due to all players being match fit and having some incentive to win.
Hez
Roar Rookie
Johnno, I agree but surely the end of the season would be best for the trial (marquee) matches that are actually physical? That way these games will not effect the regular season through injury or burn out.
Hez
Roar Rookie
Potential injuries are the only thing that I am really interested in.
NickF
Guest
The other problem of the pre season games are the injuries. Just ask Chase Stanley from the Dragons who was out for most of the season after a stupid tackle in the Souths Grand Final (some players take the game a bit too seriously). Players are not match fit and can have problems in tackles gone wrong.
oikee
Guest
:) Justin will be signing autograph's Chris, Geez whiz, dont you read anything i say. No worries Chris, keep up the good work.
Chris Chard
Expert
Hi MG Ha ha yeah mate, as much as I like to stir Broncos fans about the 92 Tooheys Challenge the reality was it was a pretty ugly match, as the 4-2 scoreline suggests. Still, I'd put it a notch above the last trial match I had the displeasure of attending. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QSzgNFwpkc Agree with your country sentiments, but let's give the country kids a product a bit closer to what they see on the telly Cheers CC
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
I think your memory is hazy. If it's a 2 min break at the end of 20mins, the same fatigue will be felt, it's just like a try has been scored. Really the only thing that can help fatigue is to review how interchanges work. Reducing them, and even looking at say having 2 on the bench who can be interchanged often, and 2 who can only replace a player. EIther way, I don't see the point in a preseason cup. Better off a quick day of rugby league nines or something similar.
Chris Chard
Expert
Hi Matt No relation to Aaron mate? Agree trial games are good for the country, but when there was a pre-season comp they still had games in Parkes, Dubbo, Bundaberg, Broken Hill, Alice Springs....there was in fact more regional games than there is under the current 'choose your own trial' system! Mainly because venues were dictated by the league so no club could wimp out and just have a game at their regular home ground. http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/competitions/tooheys-challenge-cup/venues.html Cheers CC
Chris Chard
Expert
Ho Oikee Thanks for all the comments Agree with you mate that the idea of taking any NRL matches to regional areas or capital cities in the Affiliated States is a good idea. But we shouldn't treat these people as mugs by giving them a second rate product. A Broncos trial in Mount Isa? Great stuff. I just feel sorry for the poor kid who goes along to see Justin Hodges play and ends up seeing a bunch of blokes he's never heard of go round. If it was a pre-season comp with something actually on the line ($$$) would not the sides have more incentive to play stronger sides? Of course the answer is to take competition NRL matches out to these areas in addition to trials, which is thankfully beginning to happen more frequently. And don't get me started on the GC vs Warriors Burleigh heads trial. If people want to see the Titans play they can go to Skilled Park during the year, not to mention Pizzey Park can fit less people than the Thirroul Butchers' home ground. Take the match out West, or maybe have it at the new Coomera Cutters Juniour footy club if it's to be on the Coast. Cheers CC
Chris Chard
Expert
Craig Field having a blinder! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H_u6DJQwog
oikee
Guest
You say fans dont take it serious, yet 20 thousand averages turn up. ? Me thinks some poeple have too much time on their hands. Rugby league cant be investing in fluff competetions, like our old amco cup or panasonic or whtever it was called, mate i have moved on, our code needs to move on. I would rather start a nines comp, send out invite's to the AFL, :) Yes a invite, like we sent Demetriou for the Origin game in Melbourne he rejected, same as Union and even Soccer if they wanted to field a team, but invite all codes to send a team or two to NZ and play in the rugby league nines tournament if we start one up. With prize-money of 1.5 million ,,,,lets say 500 thousand the winner, 400 thousand second 300 thousand so on so on, until the money is gone. This would be fun for all.
Australian Rules
Guest
The NAB Cup (and its various predecessors) is merely an opportunity for clubs to try out some juniors, test the fitness of players returning from injury, experiment with game plans and try players in different positions or roles. For the AFL itself, it's an opportunity to experiment with different rules (or "interpretations") and have a "soft start" to the season proper. Average crowds are about 20k and the average ratings are about 160k (on Fox only). Fans don't take it seriously and nor should they. Since 2000, only 2 winners of the Pre-Season comp gone on to win the AFL Grand Final: Essendon in 2000 & Geelong in 2009. That said, a bit of footy is better than no footy at all!