Depending on which side of the Pacific fence you are on, the last two rounds of the Rugby League World Cup have either been a cataclysmic breakthrough for international rugby league or an abysmal failure resulting in bringing a giant to its knees.
Though the Kangaroos have been an ever-present dominant force of the rugby league world, there has been optimism in the last decade that the Kiwis would be a constant challenge to push that rivalry closer to the Bledisloe Cup’s benchmark, gaining valuable market share across the Tasman in the process.
That optimism has been well and truly put to bed after the Kiwis suffered consecutive losses to Tonga and Fiji, resulting in being bundled out of the World Cup finals. Jason Taumalolo, Manu Ma’u, David Fusitu’a et al’s infamous defections to the second-tier rugby league nations have exposed a wide chasm in depth between the Kangaroos and Kiwis, which in hindsight was always present.
The Kangaroos could potentially field a third-string team and still be favourites at any tournament, and the reasons why are obvious. Currently the NRL does the heavy lifting for professional rugby league, and 15 out of 16 of the NRL’s teams are based in Australia. This makes it truly comical to believe that the Kiwis could ever be constantly competitive having only one professional rugby league team to foster and draw talent from. There are Kiwi players at many NRL clubs, but numbers count, and one versus 15 is unfair any which way you spin it.
Keeping those numbers in mind you could easily say that the Kiwis have been overachieving for the last decade. So how to stem the bleeding and save the limb?
(Image: NRL)
New Zealand as a nation are in possession of an enormous amount of the world psyche in rubgy terms, and this makes the Kiwis a very precious commodity for rugby league. Yet while you have an NRL competition managed by an Australian commission composed of board members from Queensland Rugby League and New South Wales Rugby League, the Kiwis will never be prioritised. New Zealand Rugby League needs to be inducted into the commission if rugby league is serious about standing up to union internationally.
Additionally, the commission needs to re-table expansion talks post haste. The expansion counter-arguments are long, tired and stagnant. That negativity and bias usually implode the conversation, but considering the Kiwis plight, pragmatism must prevail.
NZRL requires one or even two more NRL franchises to even the talent pool and begin to tackle the All Blacks behemoth. Unfortunately the level of rugby league altruism required to rubber-stamp that expansion makes it a very unlikely prospect, which leaves NZRL facing a massive task with little to no resources.
There are silver linings for the Kiwis in this World Cup campaign disaster if they wish to see it. The passion and support for Tonga in New Zealand and the sold-out Hamilton game must be an eye-opener to the potential that Pacific rivalries could hold for the Kiwis.
Lucrative mid-season representative matches could be held in New Zealand to mimic the experience and financial benefits the Kangaroos receive from Origin. This would greatly strengthen their own playing stock and help to create a clearer Pacific representative picture, so time and effort are not needlessly invested into players who won’t be wearing black and white for their entire career. The precious funds received from these matches would also be a strong platform to push for the extra NRL franchises they require.
Either way, whether you think that the future for the NZRL is bright or gloomy, get the ‘I told you so’s’ ready, because one of you is about to be right.
republican
Guest
........& League in NZ is hardly niche while they have been ranked number one in the world and more recently two as well as being competitive with Australia. Ah, the anomalies of international League. I reckon both NZ and Oz rely heavily on PI nations to raise their respective pedigree in both Union & League today - truth be told......
Pickett
Guest
Give it a rest In Brief Just look at every international league article on this tab - inundated with Union fans with their two bob about how bad league is. Stop being so precious. You don't see this many leaguies go on the rugby tab to attack union.
republican
Guest
.......I believe most of the 'Union boys' are Kiwi actually.......
republican
Guest
......there appears to be enough interest on this thread, to indicate Kiwis do care about League.......
republican
Guest
......concur chappy. This is certainly so of recent times but then Australia have fostered League in NZ especially affording them membership of our elite domestic comps, while over 30% of NRL players are Kiwi apparently. The same cannot be said of NZ who covet their status way to highly to reciprocate, by allowing us to have a presence in their NPC.......
republican
Guest
.......akin to Union here in Oz I suppose.......
Shinobi
Guest
Reality is that the majority of Samoan/Tongan players view themselves as Tongan/Samoan first, then Kiwis second. Did you not watch any of the games in NZ? Largely Samoan crowd booing the haka? Sea of Red at the NZ Tonga game? Read any of the comments on Facebook? Check the Mate Ma'a Tonga league page and you will see a massive percentage of Tongans who were born in or reside in NZ cheering on the Tongan team and hoping to see the Kiwi team fail. On the other hand i love it as it creates a real rivalry there so while people keep bringing up NZ equivalent of Origin divided by North and South Island. the more passionate route to go would be just to have a triseries between NZ, Tonga and Samoa.
mikeT
Guest
"league eligibility rules are fluid like that"... And that's why its a joke. Pick yr team and stick to it.
Mack
Guest
Cathar... at least the 30k plus knew they were watching Canadians play for Canada. Unlike the wolfpack and who would know with their national team.
Mack
Guest
tevita, Chappy, Fred and others are happy to decry the current state of the wallabies at home (tv viewership/crowds etc), they are also happy to spruik the growth of the game internationally (without evidence), so those crowds for rugby union put some context to the discussion (outside of Aus). A tonga and fiji stacked with NRL players beating nz does not illustrate 'growth' or new horizons in these countries, what it does illustrate is the dire depth of talent outside Aus.
In brief
Guest
can I be Tongan too? Maybe play tiddlywinks for Tonga? I've never been to Tonga but if you guys will have me I'm all yours.
In brief
Guest
It demonstrates that rugby is a great game that people around the world love. It is not defined by the lies of league supporters who claim it is dying and boring. The hate and prejudice against rugby in Australia needs to be challenged.
In brief
Guest
Union's doing well despite the ARU incompetence. It's just a better sport- simple really. When the current dinosaurs in the media die off and the publicity drops off so will the sport (rubbery crowds and fabricated ratings hopefully will hopefully die with them).
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
Yeah apparently Canadian rugger fans love coming out & being thrashed by a third string NZ team LOL. Get fed slop, will expect slop is the rugby union mantra it seems
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
Ok you've got that off your chest now for the 1000th time, we get it, rugby league shouldn't be played anymore, union is king, is that make you feel better? So RL fans, get that, we are the new black slaves, we must know our station so these union guys can feel superior in something in life. Now off to sleep Mack, you should have a good one now!
Terry Tavita
Guest
so rugby has good following in the south of france and british columbia..so what?
Mack
Guest
This comment has been removed for breaching The Roar's comments policy.
Terry Tavita
Guest
the whole tongan team are made up of tongans..
Mack
Guest
Chappy s gutted that the wallabies crowd size on the wkd was more than 4x that of the kangaroos World Cup quarterfinal crowd... embarrassing.
frnq
Guest
That is why its a farce. The FARCE Tonga team is made up NSW Blues and Kiwi players. I wish this Blues and ex kiwi teams get whooped by a legitimate English side. And can wait to see our Captain and GOAT lift up the cup for Australia. This will make RL irrelevant outside Australia.