International rugby league has slowly been over shadowed by State of Origin and fallen into the darkness of irrelevancy.
Last Saturday night we saw two fantastic games of footy that displayed as much passion and emotion that it did talent and skill.
The RLIF needs to implement a proper yearly schedule and one that showcases much of the Pacific Nations as well as the European countries.
For international rugby league to be considered the top level of rugby league, more Tests need to be played by nations other than Australia, New Zealand and England.
Many have criticised Semi Radradra’s eligibility and his decision to play for Australia instead of Fiji, but the fact is there is no incentive to play for these kind of nations when they play just one Test in the middle of the year.
The way to increase interest is to increase the amount of international games.
For this to happen, I would suggest the NRL to decrease their season to 22 or 23 games. This is something the Players Association is trying to introduce also.
A shorter season would also encourage players to actually compete in these games at the end of the year rather than making themselves unavailable like we see so often.
My proposal includes a simple three-year schedule. The mid-year rep weekend would be scrapped and saved for the end of the year (which makes sense in regards to Origin).
With the World Cup happening next year that seems like a good time to start this cycle.
The schedule will cycle through the World Cup, Test series and then a Six Nations tournament.
At the moment, the World Cup is the only real ‘competition’ between the nations and the only real time where international rugby league gets global publicity. This is why I would have it every three years instead.
This would increase awareness, and hopefully popularity in the junior ranks around the world. Many players would have a higher chance to actually compete in a World Cup also, by having it three times a decade.
So for example, in 2018, there would be a five-game Australia versus New Zealand series played over five weeks. While this is happening, there would the Pacific Cup played between Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa and also a European Cup played between France, Ireland, Wales and Scotland. For this to work though, networks would have to be on board to broadcast these games.
The winners of these tournaments will qualify for the Six Nations alongside the Big Three, while the last spot being deciding between the two finalists of the Pacific and European Cup before the competition. This Six Nations will be held in 2019 and will alternate between Australia, New Zealand and England for hosting rights every three years.
Then in 2020, the next World Cup will commence.
What are your thoughts on my idea? Would it work, or is it just wishful thinking?
QConners
Roar Pro
Thanks, Matt!
Brucey
Guest
I always liked the idea of expanding the 4 Nations to 6 Nations. To be played every year (except World Cups) including Eng, Aus, NZ, Samoa, Fiji and a rotating 6th participant based on qualification. The tournament format can borrow from rugby union's 6 nations. Such a move would provide context and prestige for the tournament. Also it will give emerging nations more profile.
Matt
Guest
Sounds a LOT better than what happens at the moment
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
He is moving the goal posts. Turbo's dream is to see Canberra play NSW in a Jurisdiction of Origin match.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
I hope Canberra go well and the Blues select J Reynolds. But that doesn't mean it would be good for the code. Even if you don't like Tests, surely you can understand why successful Test football is the best thing for the code itself?
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
This.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
International rugby league does have an appeal, it does rate well enough on TV and there are many nations that actually want to play Tests and be part of the rugby league community.. It's fine if you only care about the Raiders and the Blues. But your views on rugby league would keep the code trapped within a bubble, with bells and whistles and fairy floss for everyone holding hands inside. That's it.
Maroon Blood
Guest
Foxtel has been showing a few classic matches lately and I was luck enough to catch the 2nd Test of the 1990 Kangaroo tour the other day between (for the uninitiated) Australia and Great Britain and, WOW, what a game. Easily in my personal top five League games EVER, in front of a packed Old Trafford, two teams playing outstanding Rugby League with the Ashes on the line....just awesome. And then, there was the boring, grinding, unemotional, pointless rubbish on Friday night. Comparing those two games in a nutshell shows that IRL really needs SOME sort of shake up to make it great. The sad thing is that it WAS great once, and not that long ago.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
"if we had 3 tests in a row would the ratings persist?" Maybe, maybe not. It works for Origin, so why not Internationals? "to beat Eels v Bulldogs by that margin is a bit modest frankly" Eels v Bulldogs is one of the biggest rivalries in the NRL, and yet it still had the test beat it by 200k (around 20% increase if my maths is correct). You claimed that internationals have no appeal and don't rate well, so they aren't on TV. I've just shown you that they can actually rate much better than the club games that the networks have paid through the nose for. Now you're saying that it's only a "modest" increase. Sounds like you're moving the goalposts there turbo. "doesn't rate" and "rates better than NRL games, but not as much as it could" are two very different statements with very different meanings for the game!
turbodewd
Guest
sure, but if we had 3 tests in a row would the ratings persist? to beat Eels v Bulldogs by that margin is a bit modest frankly
Agent11
Guest
yes, you have told everyone a thousand times before, you are not interested in International league. Plenty of people are though.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Hey Simon, was able to get some fox numbers too. I couldn't get any NZ figures or regionals so these are just combined 5 city metro numbers for Nine and national figures for Fox: Kangaroos Test: 853,000 Eels v Bulldogs: 666,000 Considering that a million is a good result for a primetime Sunday slot, these are impressive numbers for the RL Test.
Up the Wahs
Roar Guru
When we include Gem and the Regionals that number gets well over a million, The Pacific Tests didn't do too badly either.
Simon
Guest
I agree that International matches have plenty of appeal and every effort should be made to make and keep it relevant. In regards to your TV figures Epi, would the numbers be skewed at all as Fox didn't show the game live? It would be interesting to compare the Aus v NZ numbers against a combined Channel 9 and Fox total for the Dogs v Eels match.
QConners
Roar Pro
Agreed.
Bearfax
Guest
We're always looking for something different, something out of the box, exciting. A single test match against NZ each year just doesnt cut it. Your ideas QConnors are innovative and promise something different from the tired old yearly three Origin matches and one test. I've often thought the NRL series is too long and even if cut back to 22-24 rounds would give some time to be innovative concepts on spare weekends. The PNG, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga matches have shown that if you experiment and promote what is an exciting series, it can work. The popularity of those matches showed that this needs to be encouraged, financed, given more media time. This will enhance the concept and help promote the game in those nations. Expanding is not just innovative, its imperative. Another concept that could be considered would be a knockout comp involving Australia, NZ, PNG, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji. Australia could be divided into Qld, NSW and Best of the Rest including English players playing in Australia at the time because of the wealth of talent in Australia. That makes 8 teams for a knockout or two round robin comps of four with a final between the two winners of their group.. This would enhance Island experience against some of the best teams and raise the standard. Just one idea and probably not practicable. But we need to think outside of the box and not have NRL, Origin and one test match the only form of RL available.
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Whatever the format, I think that more nations need to be playing more tests more often.
QConners
Roar Pro
Thanks for the comment Epi, The only reason I thought 5 tests would be good, is because it 1. Makes it different from Origin and 2. Would correlate well with the other Cups going on at the same time. In regards to your comment about the higher ranked sides versing the lower ranked, it does have its merits (ie. we still get to see the stars of the top nations, which ultimately draws broadcasters, and we still get to see developing talent), however I think that's where the Six Nations and World Cup would work. The year before would still be useful, as the matches would essentially be a lot closer I think then they would against The Big 3. As much as I would love to see International footy be played over the course of the year, I just don't think it's smart. Leave Origin to be played throughout the season and leave the end of the year specifically for International matches. I think one of the reasons international footy is considered so irrelevant now is because of the way it's been scheduled.
Renegade
Roar Guru
I have no idea where Turbo gets his information from.... does news travel slow to Canberra?
Epiquin
Roar Guru
Not bad, I think 5 tests is way too many between Australia and New Zealand. I'd make it a two-test series with aggregate scoring, or a best of 3. I think it would be better to have the top 3 playing more tests against lower ranked sides. I actually had a proposal for a six nations that had 3 northern hemisphere and 3 southern hemisphere teams played over the year: http://www.theroar.com.au/2014/11/13/rugby-league-should-expand-the-four-nations/