We ‘international rugby league is the future’ types have been getting a bit smug lately.
Even the really rusted-on “you’re delusional’ commenters at the bottom of columns like this have gone away of late. Andrew Fifita and Jason Taumalolo scared them off.
And, to dot the final I and cross the last T, a New Zealand side that was shockingly beaten by Tonga and Fiji in the space of a week last year (and 12 months before, drew with Scotland) actually defeated Australia only a fortnight ago.
And then on Saturday, England beat them! What a great scene it is, international rugby league. Oh yes, we were right all along … haha.
Except, er, that New Zealand-Australia match attracted 12,763 people to Mt Smart Stadium. And that Test on Saturday at KC Stadium only convinced 17,649 to brave the Hull chill.
If promoter Jason Moore got into difficulty after getting a bigger crowd than each of June’s competing teams can draw on home soil in their respective hotbeds, perhaps he can go down as optimist of the year.
International rugby league might be enjoying a surge in profile but it still can’t pay for itself.
In Australia, individual home Tests are reportedly covered by the existing television deals, which means they are kinda played for free. In Britain, two of England’s most recent internationals were streamed on a app – at least in part because TV had no interest in them.
And Tonga might seem a singular cultural phenomenon but TV rights in the tiny country aren’t going to make anyone rich.
A lone Australian flag is seen in a sea of Tonga fans (AAP Image/David Rowland)
Next week, the Rugby League International Federation will meet in York to “finalise a calendar”. Now, just substitute York for some other place name and tell us how many times you’ve read that sentence.
They face many complex problems but the most significant is one perhaps you’ve stared down before: not enough money.
Australia want to travel to the northern hemisphere at the end of the year but if Great Britain are to be revived and sent to Botany Bay, there are suggestions the Aussies don’t want a bar of them.
The last two internationals I’ve attended have been Serbia-Spain in Belgrade and Ireland-Scotland in Dublin. I loved every minute of each experience but the combined crowd for the two of them was around 600.
That, realistically, is where international rugby league is – a bag search because the venue’s a police academy, a game listed in Fox League’s schedule covered by a bloke with a hand-sized camcorder and a fella supposed to be starting on the bench knocking on at the kick-off.
We previewed the previous RLIF meeting with a gag about Singapore (Mud) Sling. I sacrificed accuracy for a cheap joke there – it actually seemed to work out OK with the newish Aussie leadership of Peter Beattie being brought up to speed on what the rest of the world had been planning for more than a year after the ARLC put out its own make-believe schedule.
The World Cup seems a long, long time ago – not just 12 months. But it was clear that if economically developing countries are successful and economically developed countries keep getting beaten, once we stop cheering the upsets, we’ll have less money.
James Tedesco of Australia on the charge during the International Test match against Tonga. (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)
Money comes from TV networks in rich countries and spectators in same.
It’s an important meeting next week – the RLIF needs more revenue streams and it can’t milk the north of England dry over the next three years in the lead-up to a World Cup that will be based there.
Somehow, the NRL need to be convinced they’re in control so the sport gets their financial assistance – but actually have them not in control all all.
Perhaps the Italian delegate, Mr Machiavelli, needs to take control.
MikoRebz
Guest
Bro can't we just enjoy it without thinking about how much better union or the AFL is doing? They are not going to stop playing the game because its a niche sport instead of the global game we all want it to be. There will always be good rugby league going on and i'll find it. I'm sick of caring if everyone else likes it as much as I do
swamprat
Roar Pro
How do you plan and negotiate broadcasting fees or Stadium deals for fixtures against Tonga? They may be useless next year. If Serbia or Whoever do well because they’ve got some expats playing how do you attract Investment? There is no continuity. Why are the IRL surprised by fundamental economics? Every time.
Ghost Crayfish
Roar Pro
Steve, comments on your most recent article are closed...so I've put it here instead! If we can ever get one happening, I think winning an Ashes series would be a bigger achievement for Wayne. A World Cup win basically just requires beating Australia in a one-off game. A big effort for sure, but he almost did it last year with England, and helped do it in 2008 with NZ. Winning a three game series would be a much bigger effort. And as for your other points, I don't understand why the World Cup has to be promoted by an Ashes series in 2020. I think following this year's NZ win with an Ashes next year builds much better momentum for the international game in England. That will be a great series, and then they can keep that momentum rolling in 2020 with another series, rather than having to start again after 2 years without a home game. To promote the World Cup, wouldn't inviting teams like Tonga and Fiji or Samoa have a bigger impact? Tonga would give them a genuine contest - putting them on the BBC would be a far better promotion of a World Cup than Australia would, because it would show the general public more countries can compete. Similiarly, given the growing popularity of NFL in England, wouldn't Jarryd Hayne in a Fiji jersey offer a good marketing hook? The biggest criticism people have of the RLWC is that it's a two or three horse race, so host a 4 Nations in 2020 to dispel the notion. If an Ashes-winning England came up against Tonga in 2020, and lost in a quality game in a full ground on the BBC, imagine what that would do for the World Cup's credibility!
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
plus the Warriors on a commercial & membership sense are the number one sporting club in NZ. The Auckland RL, which I think has around 40 clubs under its umbrella are also one of the most cashed up sporting bodies in the country.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Experience with more NRL based players and some with ESL experience.Which wasn't the case years ago. For a code barely niche,Sky NZ pays around $25m pa for the NRL in a country of 5m.
duecer
Guest
It may be barely niche in NZ, but most of the players are in the NRL and a large proportion are PI's, many who reside in Australia. As my previous posts attest, my views align with this article. Everything possible should be invested into getting France back, even if a little, to it's former glories. Unfortunately, they seem to be doing everything to stop this, with loose eligibility rules ensuring France are stuck in group stages in the RLWC.
Republican
Guest
.......& the anomaly that the code is barley niche in NZ, population around 5 mill, yet they can match it with the Kangaroos time and again. Whats this say about the standard of the code here?
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Prone to exaggerate Clip with your ant rl agenda "They're in terminal decline".Another stab in the dark. Facts /reality: 1) Whilst Wales is struggling at senior level, the area is extremely active at youth level.Such that almost all of the Welsh U16 team who beat England in 2017, have signed up with Super League clubs.Guardian Sport 16th March 18. 2) Catalans of course won the Challenge Cup. The French U19 side won't the European Championship beating England. You should realise the importance of academies, that your code promotes. If you are not performing at grassroots level ,then you have a real problem.
clipper
Roar Rookie
A realistic article, Steve - it may be great to see the fantastic tribalism Tongans have from NZ and Australia, but the reality is they wouldn't contribute a fraction of what a strong France of Wales would do, but as you know, they're in terminal decline.
In Brief
Guest
It could be worse, thank your blessings you don't have Rugby Australia in charge ;)
bbt
Guest
I'm impressed that it even happened. Let's walk before running.
Loosehead
Guest
Geez Steve, what sort of crowd number did you expect at a Spain/Serbia game. 20,000 maybe?
Pillga
Guest
The 2015 rugby World Cup made up profit of $350m,next years in Japan is to make a profit of$450m and France was the successful bidder for the 2023 World Cup of $626m all of this profit is above what the host nation makes in England’s case it was approx $45m The money that is available to development programs is mind blowing with aims of 1 million extra registrations a year at the moment repotably. Rugby league needs to be so targeted where they spend their money or risk all their efforts being swamped by rugby union. The Denver test being a good case in point with no net gain despite the loss of an obscene amount of rugby league dollars
Adz Sportz
Roar Guru
The hype surrounding Tonga has probably blinded many to the fact that international rugby league is not as strong as recently though. If Tonga want to compete consistently against the top tier nations, as an international team, they need not only world class halves, but depth in the halves and quality utilities. As stated in the article, Fiji also defeated New Zealand, but the hype surrounding them hasn't got anywhere near that of Tonga. Yet, Fiji are a quality team as well, but like Tonga, they're also lacking world class halves. The current Tongan team might be stacked with quality forwards and reasonable outside backs, but what is in place to ensure they stay competitive years from now, post Taumalolo and Fifita? For international rugby league to thrive, we need a stronger NRL and ESL competitions and more quality talent from tier 2 nations being nurtured and developed
Adz Sportz
Roar Guru
Wales should realign with England to reform Great Britain.
bbt
Guest
Growing an international game is a long, long haul. Everyone seems to be looking for the "sugar hit". Playing NRL or Test games in the USA for example. Useless in IMHO. Better to give the money lost to the USARL to help grow their game. Only the passionate people on the ground can grow the game. The rest is fantasy. I think the progress is impressive. If you look at it through NRL eyes, of course, the developing countries look amateurish. But help them improve, give them the support, and let them grow the grassroots. I like Steve Mascord's post, but he has to start telling the positive stories or I am going to get sick of his negativity. The only positive that I got from this post is that Serbia and Spain played an international. Was it a first?
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Steve.Its' the age old false dawns, rugby league has provided us with on the International scene for yonks. From the SOO on West Coast USA, to the Moores of this world, to the going to play in the ME Dubai or Hong Kong or New York,it's either the gonna do or no follow ups. The 2025 RLWC provisionally set down for the USA looks like being in extreme doubt. The lack of money was, is ,and will be the factor holding development back.The lack of promotion for the Test in Hull was a classic example.The resultant poor crowd was thus unsurprising.Lack of money is what is holding back development in the USA. The irony is, growth (small though it be)appears to happen in countries which are not exactly wealthy ,the Serbias,Lebanons,Czech,Jamaicas and Ukraine and the South Americas.For which in many instances the RLEF is to be commended. Wales had at least mainly locals involved in their recent game, which is something on the positive side. IMO the whole shebang is a long ,long haul.The one bit of light on the horizon was the Tongan effect. The real test of where the code is heading up ,down, sideways whatever, will be the RLWC 2021 in England .It needs to be a crowd and profitable success full stop.And leave a long term legacy.
Sam
Guest
Look at the Italy vs Niue match last weekend at Marconi Stadium.Where was James Tedesco?? Because he didn’t get picked for Kangaroos at last years WC,he trundles off to play for Italy. Which is why I love what Fifita & Taumalolo have done,they have pledged their allegiance to Tonga and not to Kangaroos.When players like Teddy pledge to play for one country,and then not jump to another country simply because you don’t get picked by a 1st tier RL country,int’l RL will not be treated below SOO.And please don’t tell me that there are more than 3 contenders to win a RL WC.These 2nd tier teams at a RL WC are just there to make up the numbers,nothing more.
Ghost Crayfish
Roar Pro
Everything that comes close to the RFL's domain is strikingly amateurish. Given years of underperformance and clear mismanagement, it was baffling when they promoted from within to replace Nigel Wood. This is an organisation that is unaccountable, out of touch and out of its depth. Thank goodness the Super League club bosses have moved to rectify this by seeking more power for their competition, and recruiting from outside. Robert Elstone has already been pretty impressive, moving away from a system that was actually dragging Super League down to a semi-pro level, and offering the most clear and decisive public voice the English game has had in a long time. Unfortunately the RFL still runs the international setup though!
Cathar Treize
Roar Guru
Wales are certainly in a rebuilding phase & the team had 12 Welsh-born players out on the field that day & certainly not many Super League level guys either, thus Wales are as development like as Ireland, Serbia etc. People want true national teams, well Wales are delivering in that respect. The more Welsh born players that get into the SL system will be great for Wales RL in the long run.