NRL the culprit for not expanding rugby league

Random countries WTH !!! I await with interest Ynui Creek the global comp,that entails India and China as a starting point for union. You are guessing (and therefore wrong)about the grassroots situation for rugby league in the countries I mentioned.Therefore I suggest do a little archive research into the RLEF and it will bring you up to speed.Italy.Lebanon,Ukraine,Serbia,Czech and Russia all have grassroots comps,ranging from schools,clubs,t universities to military forces.And also Jamaica. The very reason rugby leagueachieved stage 3 status in the commonwealth games for entrée,is mainly a result of their development work in Commonwealth countries. Money has been provided by profits from the RLWCs,from Govt grants in which they are operating,from Eurozone grants and of course volunteers ie passionate rl fans.

When did NSW last win State of Origin? Way back before NZ won the World Cup...

Oikee, Your passion is undeniable. As is your narrow mindness and bias. Most of the RL world - I mean world - don't give a rats about the rivarly between two states of Australia and would be much more passionate about genuine high quality international rugby league rivalries. Yes Origin is an intense spectacle, hyped to hell, and some good footy to watch. Just because you cream your pants about it every yeart is hardly an indicator that the rest of the world does. Apart for a few million people who are rapidly passionate about what State they grew up in, and some bandwagoners who will get into anything hyped up, Origin an okay event but hardly one that anyone else can get too passionate about. Anyone else being the 50 million (or whatever) people in the world who like RL. Problem is your bias and narrow view is shared by many of the most powerful people in Rugby League, those running the NRL. Pretty much the same situation for global cricket while the Board of Control for Cricket in India holds the tiller - except all the BCCI are interested in is $ while for NRL is only NSW and Queensland. With power comes responsibility and the need to think of the bigger picture and not just your own interests. Take away Origin in Australia and the sky will fall in? Well not really, RL prospered for nearly a century without it... Saying SOO is/should be the pinnacle of RL is like claiming the scaling of Ayers Rock is the world's best mountaineering achievement. Delusion. Everest is out there you just can't see it.

Vested interests = morons

"The National Rugby League (NRL) is considered the best rugby league competition in the world by quite a distance. Its only challenger is the English Super League. Both of these leagues are guilty of not spreading the game. Why is rugby league not played in global powerhouse countries such as China, the United States Of America, or even Canada and Japan?" It is the 'European' Super League and the game is played in both American and Canada.

Naming random countries doesn't counter the fact that these countries do not have a global competition to participate in. Rugby League International does not have a tiered global competition to grow the minnows like other truly global sports do.Those coubtries you mentioned aren't likely to have a grass roots that could compete with the local stamp collecting enthusiast clubs. With no proper grass roots to speak of where does the money come from to grow it? The powerbase is in Australia and pulling fans in is the only viable way to go.

If rugby league tests have died Geronimo,there are a lot of people watching a mirage on Tv in this country and Nz when a test is on. Domination!!! I will give you domination ABS v Walls.And a nice 70 point win by the Boks a few weeks ago against Marge and Tina. Better put the genie back in the bottle methinks.

Ynui Creek Perhaps you can ask the same question why would youth in countries like Italy want to take up rugby league ,which they are doing in continually growing numbers(and union already established there).And why in countries such as the Ukraine,Serbia,Czech,Jamaica,Lebanon,Norway take up the code in increasing numbers,when other sports are available and have been for ages. Because they want to. And why in Russia where union because of the Olympic's inclusion of union7s and official recognition by the govt,still get an increasing number of people taking up rugby league,to the extent the code is lobbying the Govt to also get recognition which opens the way for grants etc.

already been tried with super league. bunch of over paid mercenaries and a brisvegas mob who thought they were god's gift. left with one good team and a shambles with the same ethos as blake fergo. ribot was going to take over the world while all but destroying the same teams that now dominate the game. thank super league for the likes of ferguson, earl, dugan, sandow et al not for making league universally recognised. take away the rubbish new rules let the refs make their own decisions- except shane hayne- and keep the suburban grounds you'd get 20k to a manly home final at brookie compared to 12k at SFS. bigger not always better. let the world watch bloody soccer ain't that a great product.

agree completely. I forgot about the Ashes. If you had 4 Nations in 2014 and 2016 then Lions tour/Ashes in 2015 (including a 3 match series with Kangaroos, perhaps a series with NZ - Baskerville Shield? - and some tests against some of the Island nations) that would be an awesome international schedule. Two things I would say about the Ashes and GB Lions. Firstly, I have never understood why rugby league's Ashes are contested by Australia and Great Britain. The Ashes is Australia vs England. I'm all for bringing back both Great Britain and the Ashes. But separately. There's no reason you can't have both Australia vs England and Lions tours (although I doubt they would both happen yet). For the time being it should be one or the other. Secondly, there is no point bringing back the GB Lions if they are just the England team wearing a different jersey. Which brings me back to my first point. Rather have England tour the Southern Hemisphere, contest the Ashes, Baskerville Shield and some one-off tests. Save the return of the Lions for when Wales, Scotland and Ireland can produce players of that calibre. It might be a while off (although Wales do have some good players coming through), but it's worth the wait.

While their is Origin, their is hope. Rugby Union will always struggle to topple league, because Origin is a class above all other contests. And the rarity of only seeing 3 games a year never dilutes that passion, unlike rugby union which has 1000 tests a year.

Agreed Geronimo. Can't sink money into an international comp that doesn't exist. What does mining do when it wants cheap labour? Set up expos in New Zealand. There are a ton of high calibre athletes that don't make the NFL or other equivalent comps in other countries. Set up a roaming academy to test athletes overseas and try and bring them to the game. Greater diversity - more chances of the world paying attention to rugby league. It won't work the other way around and pulling talent in is a lot cheaper than trying to build grass roots in places that don't know you. Best to get their own house in order too - higher integrity (no drugs - less tattooed bogans) - harsh penalties for attacking the head - more humble individuals to carry a brand etc.

RL tests died when Australia dominated and the Wallabies and Socceroos became competitive - the genie has flown....

Sorry to state the obvious here but for a code that is introspective and has little to no presence outside of 3 countries - when your code is very similar to another code that already hooks into the Olympics and has an established womens competition it's almost too late to grow foreign leagues. Hell there's even a global competition for homosexual men - not thought of too progressively by a lot of league fans but hey it's an example of looking to the future in a multi-cultural, gender and sexual equality world. The similarities in codes is a proverbial snooker. Why would an Argentine or a neighbouring person in Peru take up Rugby League when Rugby already has a strong foothold with the depth of history behind the Rugby story in Argentina (through wars, union strikes, social and technology changes). Rugby league has no history in many territories where Rugby has already sewn grass roots seeds. It would take more money than the NRL or the AFL combined could throw at to compete. Realistically it's best to expand it like the Americans do with Grid-iron. Look to Globalise the local competitions and expand the viewer base first. That's going to require a bit more pizzaz, some exhibition games and athletes that can connect with a global audience and local athlete's that can work with the NRL to act on that scale. Imagine if every club worked as hard as Russel Crowe to promote the game outside of Australia. More visionary individuals like that are needed to sell the product overseas. No fabricated teams just an internation product and great sales propositions.

The Raiders 7 or so Leagues clubs are absolutely raking it in. I don't think they are worried about the football operations running at a loss..

Yes, that's right. Building momentum over time by staging regular matches is the only way to develop international league. Without this, you can never have a storyline for international matches that fans, sponsors and the media can follow. This story is, dare I say, Marketing 101.

your really branching out of late. First it was just sports, but you've gone into fiscal policy and now marketing. Is there any topic that you can't rabbit on in complete ignorance of?

I wish you were right hutch but fact is there is bugger all of a junior comp on Vic. There is a comp .. About 9 teams or so that cover basically the whole state. Coming from the Latrobe Valley, if my son wanted to play rl he simply could t as there was no club there. Closest about an hour and a half away. No viable. In fact, even if I lived in cranbourne where a club is, I would still be traveling over an hour for some games . As I said, grassroots needs a lot of work ... Like that done by the afl in Sydney where there are 5 leagues

Great post and I share quite a few of your views. There needs to be a set schedule for ALL nations. It is important for these other nations to attract players and build momentum to improve over time. I also think there is room in one out of those 4 years to reintroduce rugby leagues ashes, the 3 test series between Australia and Great Britain. During this time nz can play the pacific islands in a three test series as well. I don't think we need the 4 nations in 3 out of 4 years.

Atoms are the science faculty,