You’re expecting a rant, I know.
When the news broke that Australia and New Zealand had withdrawn from the World Cup, Rugby Football League chair Simon Johnson went on the BBC and called the decision “selfish, parochial and cowardly”.
My colleague, journalist Tony Hannan, recounted how the 1946 Great Britain Lions Indominables braved a long voyage through mine-infested waters to help get the Australian game started again after the war. He said the 2021 Australians and New Zealanders would go down as the “chickenshits”.
But I want to come at this from a different angle.
Within an hour of Australia and New Zealand pulling out of the Rugby League World Cup, Cricket Australia confirmed a tour of Bangladesh was going ahead.
The Wallabies and All Blacks will be here at the same time as the World Cup. The New Zealand women’s cricketers will be in the UK in September. There’s an Olympics on now.
You can only draw one conclusion: rugby league is just not an international sport. It’s not.
It can’t meet its commitments, it can’t stage like-for-like events to compete with its rivals in the marketplace. I could say it was “a joke” but not many people are even talking about it outside of its own community.
I mean, rugby union people – they’ve been laughing for 126 years, the way money-grubbing, narrow-minded, stay-at-home Mungos shoot themselves in the foot every time they come up with a decent idea.
For sure, it must be bloody hilarious to them. Did you say ‘Wolfpack”? Hahaha.
Rugby league is not an international sport because of the money, power, industrial relations situation, geography and general attitude of the NRL, right? No matter what you think of the rights and wrongs of this particular decision, it is a clear example of the sport not being capable of doing what other sports do.
OK, once we establish that, we have to ask ourselves: how do we make it an international sport?
The IRL thought it could make headway by giving the ARLC a couple of places on its board and appointing the former deputy premier of NSW as its chair. Pretty big move; hasn’t worked. He is today, in his own words, “picking up the pieces of International Rugby League’s tarnished reputation”.
Postponing the World Cup just kicks the can with “dysfunction” on it further down the road. Remember the Denver Test? Undermined by NRL before it was played and when the players insisted on going, the clus retaliated by completely killing the mid-season international window.
How long must this “consultation” and “partnership” with the NRL continue?
To me, if the NRL and its clubs are removed from the equation then the dysfunctional becomes functional. The obstacle is finally gone. There are sports at the current Olympics with no professional component at all. They get their government funding, they’re recognised by the IOC and GAISF and they get by.
International Rugby League (not yet recognised as a sport, by the way) should learn from these sports, in my view. Yes, big events involving the big three are the only way they can make money.
So they’re going to have to live on less money and cut their cloth like handball or synchronised swimming.
How?
It’s no secret the IRL has been talking to possible Private Equity partners. That needs to become a priority.
There are Nines tournaments every weekend now, usually multiple events at the same time. Take over that sector before it becomes too big, like sevens did.
Brand it, stream it and aim for a small circuit with national teams featuring non-NRL players by year three or four.
And legally protect your right to grant Test status to matches. The IRL went to the International Court of Sports Arbitration to fight for its right to recognise a different body in Tonga. It needs to take similar measures to stop the NRL setting up alternative Tonga, Samoa and Fiji teams and calling its trans-Tasman games “Tests”.
The Australia Kangaroos line up at the 2017 Anzac Test (Image: NRL)
Only the IRL decides what is an international and what isn’t. Everything else is an All Star game.
Finally, announce a calendar for international tournaments that is reasonable, that gives pro players every chance to show up, and negotiate directly with the players.
You know, the decision to proceed with RLWC 2021 was taken after a huge number of players were surveyed and said they wanted it to proceed. It was ‘on’ because players told the organisers they wanted it on.
And the players have been saying that publicly in recent days, no doubt making the clubs tetchy and forcing the hand of the ARLC and the NZRL.
But after you have announced the matches and told the NRL players, don’t expect them to show up. That’s the key.
Don’t rely on them. International Rugby League should, in my opinion, now pivot to being the organiser of matches for amateur and semi-professional athletes, start again and build up from scratch.
Once it makes that decision, the call on whether this year’s Rugby League World Cup should proceed will be an easy one. All those games on the BBC and £25 million in government funding is a mighty springboard for a part-time and amateur sport.
andyfnq
Roar Rookie
NRL does not need to be an international sport to be successful. The NRL needs to disassociate completely from IRL and continue to focus on developing the game in Australia. International League can stand on its own merits or sink without a trace, as long as it does it by itself without asking anything from Australia. I would be happy to never see the Kangaroos play again as long as League continued to build domestically and Origin was supported passionately by players and fans.
fiwiboy7042
Roar Rookie
In any case, the RLWC can't field Australian and NZ Indigenous sides without the approval of the national governing bodies. It's a bad look all round and the RLWC will be in hot water legally. Just like the IRL says only it can sanction tests, the ARL and NZRL can say only they can delegate a national representative side. Rugby has gone though this and same issues apply.
GregM
Roar Rookie
yeah but they were ony banned for what - 1 or 2 tests. And yes that is the thing with the AB's, the players toe the line because they know if they get dropped there's 3 or 4 blokes chomping at the bit ready to take their place.
fiwiboy7042
Roar Rookie
Problem, Greg, is that the NZ Cavaliers were banned when they returned from that tour and the next gen players who had to step in to fill their absence quickly became legends of the game so those Cavaliers players' higher game honours were soon over.
GregM
Roar Rookie
yep, every game was chokka block with spectators even when the lesser nations were playing each other
AJ73
Roar Rookie
Yes with the RWC, however in Australia it is not doing much really. The Shute shield though has gained in popularity, maybe because of the Super rugby sides (Waratahs especially) not doing well. This isn't good for attracting TV deals in Australia The ARU really blew their chance after the 2003 RWC - it was popular everywhere, even Melbourne had pubs packed out for games. That was their chance to become a big player.
GregM
Roar Rookie
they can be the "Cavaliers" like the New Zealand Cavaliers who toured South Africa during the Apartheid era.
GregM
Roar Rookie
yeah but thats why the Wallabies have struggled, the ARU focused on rugby 7's, the womens game etc (nothing wrong with that) but the big money earner is the mens 15's - that is the one with the most bums on seats at games, commands the TV deals, sponsorships, merchandise. etc
Yes even AFL stands for Aus football league. Rugby League needed to be smarter :laughing:
Mycall
Roar Rookie
TA, out of interest, what is your criteria for a "proper"international sport?
Mycall
Roar Rookie
Yep Jacko, it's annoying that the sport has such a generic term... The French name is not that bad though; Rugby a xiii = Rugby for 13 and shortened to treize (13) or the players are treizists. 13 players is actually a unique number of participants so makes for a good name compared to league...
AJ73
Roar Rookie
That ain't going to happen any time soon. If you look at participation rates, NRL had barely anyone outside NSW and QLD. The AFL figures from 2019 have 100k+ participants in QLD alone. The NRL has struggled for what ever reason. The reason PVL has chosen QLD for expansion is that he is worried about the AFL. Personally I don't see a problem going to Perth etc, but I do think the growth of League has stopped, the UK league is struggling financially and Rugby 7's at the Olympics and Comm games is the growth area.
GregM
Roar Rookie
and no doubt the BIL players are staying in exclusive hotels, ride to training in private busses, play in empty stadiums – Capetown is how many hundreds / thousands of kays away from Natal?
fiwiboy7042
Roar Rookie
the point is that riots are massive super-spreaders. They tend to spread disease never mind virulent viruses. No-one needs to be a genius to figure that out (much like the protestors today).
GregM
Roar Rookie
ok – it was a protest that ended 7 days ago, and in a different state to where the BIL are and the 1st test, so what is your point?
GregM
Roar Rookie
and it has nothing to do with the lions tour - it has to do with the political corruption along with the economic crisis there. what do the players do - go from the hotel to the training paddock, the gym, etc, back to the hotel on private busses, the only people they come in contact with is other players, there are no crowds in the stadiums - similar to the English superleague except they will be cucooned in hotels where no one else is allowed access to. I was in Glenelg South Australia when there was a riot, but it pales compared to other riots as seen on the TV
fiwiboy7042
Roar Rookie
Ever been in a riot? I have. What happened in Sydney and the other cities today was an absolute picnic in comparison and they were NOT RIOTS. They were protests. Very big difference.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
You always know you're going to get good value from NZ rugby players. We're lucky Australia has a nice warm climate.
THREE tim THREE :laughing: :laughing: Geez imagine how good NZ would be if it didnt have the NRL stealing all its School boys rugby stars eh! Yep League is a domestic comp in two countries.
GregM
Roar Rookie
do you honestly think the players are exposed to the unrest there? the riots that ended 7 days ago, the ones that started in KwaZulu Natal & Gauteng while the Lions are in Capetown? Thats like riots in Vic & NSW while the players are in WA. pretty sure the players will be staying in the posh hotels with suitable security forces for protection