the North Harbour Rays play host to the in-form NSW Country Eagles on Thursday night at Brookvale Oval. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:30pm (AEST).
The Rays are fresh off the bye after an 55-34 opening round loss to a rampant, Rebels laden, Melbourne Rising and will be keen to get their season back on track at the (or at least one of the) spiritual home(s) of North Harbour rugby union.
Outside of a clear attacking intent in the opening game, not much can be read from a side largely made up of non-Super Rugby players. Although coach Geoff Townsend noted, “The bye coming when it did was good for us because we were able to get a lot more detail into the guys and we all feel that the changes that we have made in the squad will shore up our defence.”
Matt Lucas has been rotated with Josh Holmes and 19 year old Warringah product, Harry Jones, makes his debut on the wing. Cam Crawford, Luke Holmes and Mitch Lewis, who impressed against the Rising, are also key players for the Rays.
The Eagles are coming off a strong victory over their Queensland Country cousins and will look to put an exclamation mark on their early title aspirations.
A team playing with pace and utilising upcoming talent beautifully, the Eagles are perhaps the best example so far of a team of many parts coming together.
With players from the Waratahs, Western Force and Sydney club rugby, against the odds the Eagles are playing as a cohesive unit with rhythm across the park.
I’d suggest that this is the Western Force influence of Pat Dellit and Ed Stubbs, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
Kane Douglass will not be seen in Eagles colours this year after an early release was granted, though Cam Treloar and Mitch Chapman will ably fill the second row.
Tala Gray was a clear stand out in their win at Bond University and, with Stephen Hoiles, will also add starch to the Eagles pack.
Keep watching Andrew Kellaway who was electric on the Gold Coast.
Prediction
In a competition in which combinations and tactics evolve from week to week, and as experience with the new rules and new teammates evolve, the extra match together will be a huge advantage for the Eagles.
Despite a strong home ground showing by the Rays, I expect the Eagles to win by 8 in a high scoring affair.
Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:30pm (AEST).
If you are following the action live, be sure to share your thoughts on the match in the comments below.
sheek
Roar Guru
Eddard, It's drawing a long bow to suggest a rugby league match between traditional rugby league rivals in Sydney's south-east will impact significantly on a rugby union home game on Sydney's northern beaches! As if the leather-patched, well-heeled north shore mob care about anything happening south of the harbour bridge! Apart from the CBD, of course. The Rays-Eagles game didn't rate because not enough people in general, care. I have to keep reminding myself that The Roar is one of the final redoubts of the rugby union diehard fan, & opinions expressed here don't necessarily reflect the reality of the wider sporting community. I guess I just have a more traditional view on the concept of teams required to make a national comp enduringly successful.
El Gamba
Roar Guru
Only according to the self proclaimed expert Rob!
There are some issues in regards to conditioning ad physique of some of the players, compared to our Currie Cup, but that will obviously improve in the next few years. I thought some of the tackling was quite poor, but again as the quality of the conditioning and physique improve so will technique and ability. Other han that the rugby is decent, good positive intent, need a bit more street smarts, but remember it was only one game I saw. I liked seeing kids aroud the ground with a ball standing around as that is where the interest and growth is coming from. Hopefully the ARU stick with it and grow it from strength to strength.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
BiltongBek, What did you think of the game in general?
I was fortunate enough to see this match on Supersport this afternoon, the Country Eagles were quite fortunate with two of their tries, purely pouncing on errors made by Harbour inside their 22. Might serve them well to learn the lesson of sometimes being a little more astute in your decision making. Simply running everything from anywhere can cost you as they saw in this match.
In Brief
Guest
The teams that will really matter will be those in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, and NSW Country. Brisbase excepted these areas have been starved of top flight rugby. In the previous ARC the Perth Spirit haf the highest crowd numbers. Participation numbers are rising in these new regions, and launching the NRC to capture the imagination of the local community is perfect timing.
Mike
Guest
I do think Rays have a good strip - despite its resemblance to a UNO card!
Pman
Guest
Exactly WCR. As a minimum. An integrated marketing strategy is a minimum and they should be NRC mailchimping, tweeting and facebooking all the registered Rugby players in the country weekly/fortnightly or at least monthly. But where is the ARC "you don't know me... Yet" style campaign? That's the emotive stuff that resonates with the fans. But I appreciate the costs of producing these things. An integrated social media campaign is a must though that to my knowledge hasn't been employed.
RobC
Roar Guru
Done! All Thursdays locked in all the way til Oct 16. Only going to miss one. Looking to watching replay for yesterdays game, though I hear its inferior to watching six tackles and a kick x 50?
El Gamba
Roar Guru
Pman, you've summed it up perfectly with "Well there won’t be demand if there is no supply!". This speaks to so much of the issues with the NRC, live streams, marketing etc etc. the comparison to the big bash that others have expressed is also of interest. I'm quietly hoping, and this may work for Sheek, is that the ARU are that committed to this comp that they are taking slowly slowly. Get the structure right (maybe over a season or two), get the involvement right and then get into the marketing of an existing, credible product. Under promise and over deliver (which the "rugby diehards" will then buy into) rather than over promise and under deliver. I hope someone has a strategy!
Eddard
Roar Guru
Who knows Sheek! Why not get behind it and give it a couple of years. But I can tell you one thing I'm pretty sure of - the teams that become successful and develop a strong fan base aren't going to do so because of the conception of their team name! Half of the NRL team names have no connection to their local communities or tradition. Do you think some 10 year old kid in Canberra or the inner west of Sydney is going to care that their team is not called the Kookaburras or the Fleet? The Vikings obviously have a huge challenge to unite the Canberra rugby community, and the Stars to broaden their brand beyond being uni. But these are not insurmountable. The bigger challenge for all the teams, and the NRC in general is to become more visible. Whether they have a tradition appropriate name or not.
James
Guest
" Its is interesting that Ch9 started running Thursday night league around the same time as the NRC kicked off." the first game of the NRL season was on a thursday. it's comical beyond belief that you think the NRL would change anything because of the NRC.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
Regarding the promotion side of it. Yes, I agree on that front. What I don't understand is why they aren't doing little things like email bursts etc. Inexpensive marketing exercises utilising existing data bases.
TONY
Guest
Hi Stu, I live on the Central Coast and will travelling down to see the next couple of games at Brooky. Are there any games prior to the NRC games kicking off or is it just the 1 game.
Pman
Roar Rookie
That's not really the point of my post WCR. It was an observation of a peculiarity. My point is that the whole comp is relying on a few diehards to drive the popularity of it, rather than those who have the financial and controlling interest. It has a minimal supporter base, perhaps because it hasn't invested significantly enough in garnering the fans through promotion. The Big Bash League should be a case study of how to drive support for brand new entities from scratch and of what to benchmark against. If Fox are going to do a half arsed job (or quarter arsed) promoting it, then why bother having it televised at all? But let me say this using the traditional marketing mix: I don't believe the product is flawed - I think it is exceptional rugby and entertainment. It's not the price, it's cheap to attend and watch. It's not the place - all the main Rugby nurseries and areas are represented. I think clearly the promotion is seriously flawed, and that belongs to the controlling bodies. I fear it will be the death knell of the competition too. I don't think it's been given a fair chance to blossom by those who should have the most interest in it.
Working Class Rugger
Guest
You may notice something about the ITM Cup broadcast. It's entirely produced by Sky Sports NZ. That means it cost Fox Sports nothing apart from a nominal fee to broadcast. The NRC is different. They are covering the production costs. If you want more of the NRC on our screens then tune in. Tell anyone who will care to listen to do so as well. Build the ratings and force Fox Sports to meet the demand.
Rugby stu
Guest
They are brisbane's colours though. Queensland country's jersey is brilliant in my opinion.
Rugby stu
Guest
That's aimed at Sheek
Rugby stu
Guest
It's good to see you being positive if only a backhander we'll take it.
Pman
Roar Rookie
Sheek we need to have a beer together! I too bemoan the rise of rubbish cricket (T20), but I am desperate to see this comp do well. Never a truer word spoken as "Appealing predominately to The Roar diehards & a few other diehard fans here or there is sadly not going to do the trick." This comp needs support where the money is. Fox Sports (apart from their commentators, particularly Gerard Middleton and Sean Maloney) have done very little, and the ARU have done little more to promote this. I have spoken to several coaches and players from different franchises who are wondering why their mates are texting them trying to find out where they can watch their games online. Why isn't it covered in the Herald, promoted on Fox Sports etc? You can't buy any supporter gear unless you go to a game. That's a considerable barrier. The ARU has an online shop. How hard is it to have a NRC section? They will argue supply and demand. Well there won't be demand if there is no supply! Bizarrely we can watch Hawkes Bay play Bay of Plenty live on a Saturday, but can't watch our own equivalent. If the ARU were so determined to create the third tier, why aren't they promoting it? The BBL only works because Cricket Australia and their state franchises got behind it, promoted it, showed every game live, got a free to air deal done and gave it everything. That's why it works - plus there is a market for it. Why won't the ARU and Fox Sports do the same with the NRC? If you want to create something, don't keep it underground, have a massive swing at it! But perhaps there is not a market for it, so why bother having it? I watched my beloved Rays play last night in a tremendous match of running Rugby against an excellent Eagles team. I think at least two future Wallabies were on show last night, and a few more future Super Rugby players. That to me is why this comp is so important. Nathan Grey and Tim Kelaher were in the stands last night watching. I bet they will be chatting to players such as Kellaway, Windsor and Angus, often over the next few months. I love it, but you're 100% correct. "Appealing predominately to The Roar diehards & a few other diehard fans here or there is sadly not going to do the trick." The ARU needs to invest much much more, and so does Fox Sports.