Thinking outside the box has never been rugby league’s strongpoint. But as we enter into an exciting new frontier where any match, event or format is being considered it is being becoming increasingly obvious that anything is possible.
With the success in the last few years of the annual NRL Indigenous All Stars match, a superb World Cup in the United Kingdom and most recently the Auckland Nines, administrators across the country are starting to realise that if you put an exciting new concept out there, the people will come in droves.
Salford City Red Devils owner Marwan Koukash has already expressed interest in putting together a consortium to take nines rugby league to Dubai.
The sky isn’t the limit, it’s just the beginning.
For Australia’s greatest concept, State of Origin, tinkering still needs to be done.
The majority of people agree that Origin takes a massive chunk out of the regular season with the NRL seemingly stopped in its tracks mid stroke as Origin pandemonium takes over.
Teams are without their best players for weeks on end and some of these representative players become burnt-out and fizzle as they return to their club sides for the remainder of the season.
The answer could be standalone weekends, with Queensland and New South Wales doing battle on a Sunday night rather than a Wednesday.
This would allow for a full week of promotion and build-up while players aren’t forced to back-up for their NRL team and fans aren’t forced to watch second-string sides without their Origin players.
A Sunday timeslot would also give nations like Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea and Fiji an opportunity to play regular mid-season Test matches against each other or even a touring French side.
But why do we have to stop there?
The NRL is attempting to tap into new markets and always looking for that edge.
It isn’t just the NRL but the clubs themselves sniffing out opportunities, financial gain and a little thing called history.
With Chinese and Russian companies as major sponsors, the Canberra Raiders (Huawei) and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (Kaspersky) were on the verge of playing a first grade match in Shenzhen before dreaded red tape put an end to the idea.
One of the sticking points was the travel and time involved in an already hectic regular season. If Origin was given stand-alone weekends, games like this could come to fruition.
While a game in China is a fantastic idea and makes sense considering the deals between the Raiders and Manly and their respective sponsors, the idea itself can be investigated further.
In the past this writer has proposed such crazy concoctions as an NRL summer league for developing areas, a New Years Eve Australia versus World All Stars match and even State of Origin played outside Australia.
If Origin does get the nod and moves to stand-alone weekends, would two NRL clubs ever consider taking a competitive match to England and a venue like Old Trafford or Wembley Stadium?
While most clubs would be missing their superstars due to Origin commitments, a few teams like the New Zealand Warriors and Sydney Roosters would still have enough star power to sell the event to the masses in The Old Dart.
The NRL brand sells itself and you can be sure that all Super League fans would salivate over the thought of witnessing an NRL match live in their own backyard.
For example, if the game was played in the UK in 2014, the Roosters would still boast Sonny Bill Williams, Jake Friend, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Anthony Minichiello with Frenchman Remi Casty an obvious selection with his Super League connection.
New Zealand is the most unaffected by Origin and would star Shaun Johnson, Feleti Mateo, Manu Vatuvei and returning favourite son Sam Tomkins.
The fixture could be played on one of the Origin weekends with the Roosters and Warriors receiving the week off when the NRL returns for the following round.
TREX
Guest
Wake up and smell the roses mate. Compare apples with apples SOO is not the RLWC or the Challenge Cup. If Englang rugby union team played all their international matches in Old Trafford they would sell out the majority of all their games, does that mean a Super Rugby derbies between the Crusaders and Blues will sellout in Manchester as well? Of course not.
greg trilby
Guest
Agree, Rog, although Football seems to swamp all else, but no one would have given much thought to rugby league before the Broncos, and not many have done so since - it really is just a northern game, and Football is even encroaching there.
BrisbaneBhoy
Guest
Amen
londonleaguie
Guest
Why would it flop? There were 67,000 at Wembley for a WC that was regularly mocked and bagged in the media, not to mention over 70k every year for the Challenge Cup final. Origin I have never seen it mocked or bagged, so why couldn't it do just as well? Also the northern RL fans who are scared of travelling outside the M62, will not want to miss it. Why Eden Park? They already have the nines. I don't see how someone from NZ can claim to know about the London sports market, when they don't live here and have never been.
BrisbaneBhoy
Guest
Wembley? Hell no! It's bad enough when they take matches to Melbourne to play, let alone to another country. Origin belongs to Queensland and New South Wales, and hence should ONLY (and) EVER be played in these two states. If they want to take matches to non traditional area's/or overseas, then they can with the '9's', the 'Racist Cup', 'pre/post-season friendlies'. Not 'Origin'. One concept I think is worth revisiting, is the 'Club World Challenge' that they had during the Super League era. Where clubs from both the NRL and the English SL face each other in a similar format to that of football's UEFA Champions League and the likes. But the 'State of Origin' should only ever be played in Qld and NSW, nowhere else. Period!
TREX
Guest
Using a London based one eye rugby league fan bias post won't help either. NRL or SOO isn't well known in London and it will be a flop. Look after their own backyard is the way for Australia RL. Take it to Eden Park where there's some interest.
TREX
Guest
Its got nothing to do with the fans but its channel nine and NRL because the tv ratings will be down dur to the facts many will be watching in bars, clubs and as a groups in their homes on a weekend.
AZ_RBB
Guest
I think this is an awesome idea. Old Trafford sits fairly idle through June and July, perfect time to host a NRL double header. But I highly doubt the players and coaches will be keen on the massive round trip especially during Origin time. Have an Origin game there and Ch9 will be very unhappy. But that doesn't mean that the NRL shouldn't work on it.
londonleaguie
Guest
I think it would be a good idea. The one thing with Origin, is there are plenty of UK based fans who rave it up as being the best of the best (not me though, still put IRL top), so I think we would see the Northern based fans who usually refuse to travel outside the M62 travelling down to Wembley to watch. Also, I have found that even some RU fans who hate RL, have praised Origin, so they may be interested in going too. It's all about raising rugby league's profile in England at the end of the day and playing at Wembley is the best way to do it. There are also plenty of Aussies and Kiwis based down here, who turn out for the international games, but won't go to watch a SL team based in London. Using London Broncos as a measure for the interest in London isn't a good idea and I say that as a Broncos fan and attendee.
londonleaguie
Guest
Why? In England RL clubs can be called 'rugby' too. It's not exclusive to Union.
londonleaguie
Guest
I have to correct you, football is all that matters in the Capital. Yes I would say that American football has a bigger profile in London than rugby league, note rugby league not NRL. This is mostly due to the free promotion given to the sport through mediums such as tv, film and books and the growth of American culture in the UK. They have sold out Wembley, but I doubt they'd get over 10k for a regular team playing week in, week out, as opposed to a couple of matches a year. RL fills out Wembley every year with the Challenge Cup final too, plus has had two decent crowds for international matches in the last couple of years.
Frank Spinetti
Guest
They have the Super League Grand Final there every year. #justsayin'
JezRu
Roar Pro
Personally I feel the NRL should concentrate on our own backyard, and by own backyard I mean region (asia-pacific). I'd much rather see an NRL game taken to PNG, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga or one of the SE Asian nations. There is a huge opportunity to grow the sport in our own region and the NRL and ARL can work together to make this happen. Together with annual NRL games I also believe the ARL and NZRL need to be playing regular test matches against the PI nations. These games must at times be played in their country also, not always in Aus or NZ. We should be playing these nations every year in a competition similar to 6 nations, Rugby championship. Every 4 years we have a Northern Hemisphere tour with the WC on the alternate 4 year cycle (2 years apart). The role of growing the game in the UK and Europe surely falls in the lap of the RLIF and RFL? The English could do similar systems in the Nth to Include aspiring European nations i.e. a comp following the rugby 6 nations, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy. Every 4 years the UK would get to see the best of Aus and NZ with the Nth Hemisphere tour. It could either be against a Great Britain side (my preference) with additional games against France and Italy or play each nation seperately (might drag tour on too long). These regular fixtures would improve the standard of the developing league nations and make for far more competitive WC's. It will potentially expose huge numbers of new fans, showing that there is a pathway to professional sport through RL. For me, taking an NRL game to a nation where they already have a professional RL competition seems pointless. Lets get our own region sorted and get people from our region interested in RL not preaching to the already converted.
Rog
Guest
Steve, having grown up in London, rugby league is far less popular than it would be here in Perth, Melbourne or Adelaide. Soccer and union is all that matters in the capital, the London Broncos last year averaged around 2,000 crowds. I would suggest that Londoners would be far more aware and knowledgeable about Gridiron than the NRL, yes the London Bronocs is not the NRL but it is an indication of the lack of interest in league in London. If you did a straw poll for example of locals if they knew who Billy Slater was or who Tom Brady was, my educated guess would be Brady would win hands down.
George
Guest
Some good ideas except concentrate on developing countries like China and Russia in particular. The UK sells out Wembley and Old Trafford each year anyway with its own teams in the Challenge Cup and Grand Final and NRL games would be preaching to the converted. Inviting new countries to play in the Aukland Nines or a shoulder tournament for developing nations would be exciting. Indeed a Super Cup team competition for winners of fledgling leagues in Russia, US, South Africa and those in Asia would give them a great opportunity. They may be able to participate in a Dubai Nines if, as I hope, it comes off. The sports going well with a real feel good factor as more and more people appreciate the skill and excitement of the code which is so exportable. We just need to make sure the new ideas. Are the right ones and that there is not overkill. We long for League to come around after a break but no one wants saturation.
Epiquin
Guest
Have you been living under a rock. It was a disaster. People tuned out in droves.
Ryan Ranger
Roar Rookie
Is Old Trafford ready? Going by the ridiculously short in-goal areas (as seen at the RLWC), you'd have to say NO.
turbodewd
Guest
Where is the proof that the fans didnt like it?! Id still watch it on a saturday or sunday night. It could still stay on wednesday night, just make it 3 weeks in a row.
Riot Act
Guest
England used to have their own origin match which was called "War of the Roses" - Yorkshire vs Lancashire. They dropped this match in favour of the England vs Exiles match, which works due to the high proportion of Australians and Kiwis playing in the Super League.. But that trend is reversing, and we are now seeing some of the best English players join the NRL - eg Morley, Burgess brothers, Widdop, Tomkins, Mossop, Hock, Graham. In a few years from now, a more appropriate match to be played at Wembley / Old Trafford in parallel with the State of Origin would be a fully UK "Travelers vs True Blues". (By they way, the phrase "True Blue" is not just for Aussies, it actually originated in Coventry, England in the middle ages).
Frank Spinetti
Guest
People in London don't like watching Rugby League. Sorry.