ROCHDALE – If you’ve enjoyed this World Cup, you might be hoping for more international rugby league in the pipeline. I’m sorry to tell you that you might be disappointed, for a while at least.
Neither Samoa nor Australia, nor the Jillaroos or the Kiwi Ferns, have a match scheduled beyond this weekend due to the lack of an international calendar.
Rugby League has no Future Tours Programme, like the one cricket has to let everyone know who they’re scheduled to play and none of the elite teams need to play qualifiers for the next World Cup (all quarter-finalists qualify automatically), like FIFA does the second that their competitions end.
There’s not even a continental championship, like the European Cup or Pacific Cup, because International Rugby League is unable to release their calendar.
The IRL officials have got one done, written, ready – just waiting for approval from members. All the members are ready – except one. Care to guess which?
The reasoning is the same thing it usually is, namely the major players in international footy are beholden to the most major player before they can do anything.
It’s a problem that speaks to the unequal dynamics in the Southern Hemisphere and the afterthought that international rugby league can take there, especially when it comes to who gets to make money out of it.
The situation is pretty simple: the NRL is yet to agree on a Collective Bargaining Agreement with its own players – who are, of course, also the players who would play international games – and thus it has no idea of salary caps, insurance, scheduling or really anything else for next year.
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That means everyone else who requires those sorts of things to plan their own events is currently twiddling their thumbs and waiting.
To be clear, there’s no real issue with the NRL or the Rugby League Players’ Association getting into a stoush about pay, as is their prerogative as a league and a trade union.
(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images for RLWC)
But it is a particularly annoying time for it to happen, given the success of this World Cup, given the clear public demand for more international games and given the necessity of planning forwards to make them possible.
The IRL has been promising an international calendar for months now, with the hope that it might have been announced at some point during this tournament.
Instead, the ongoing pay dispute means it hasn’t got a clue when and under what conditions talent based in the NRL (and the NRLW, for that matter) will be available for fixtures. The IRL is waiting for the NRL just like everyone else.
They could just unilaterally schedule games, of course, but the spirit of cooperation is there and they know that keeping the Australians on side is vital. There’s no point adding a third party to the argument, either. So the IRL waits.
At this stage, it’s traditional to blame the NRL and their member clubs for being out-of-touch boomers who care more about Leagues Club revenue and when they can hold pre-season trials than if Samoa play Tonga ever again.
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
That characterisation isn’t completely true, but it’s not based on nothing either. NRL club bosses would probably cancel Origin tomorrow if it didn’t make them so much money.
International footy doesn’t do anything for them other than give their players a place to get injured, so even though it is clearly the obvious way to grow the game, that logic won’t fly with the most important men.
The IRL isn’t asking the NRL to do anything, though. It’s just asking them to sort out its own internal dispute and then allow the IRL a window in which to plan.
They’ve already scratched mid-season Tests in the Southern Hemisphere – despite being wildly popular with fans – to placate NRL clubs, with an international window agreed for October-November.
In the Northern Hemisphere, England are already booked in to face France in both men’s and women’s in late April. They’d love to be able to pencil in a Kiwi tour too, if someone would tell them when their opponents will be free.
(Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images for RLWC)
Both Tonga and Samoa are in discussions about when they might play each other after the end of the NRL season, but the respective governing bodies don’t know who will be able to play or if they will be able to use stadiums in Australia.
Tonga coach Kristian Woolf and Samoa coach Matt Parish have been discussing a double header, with one game in Tonga and another in Samoa, but nothing is currently possible.
“Kristian and I have been talking for a couple of years now about one of the things we would both like to do is play a Test in Tonga and a Test in Samoa against one another,” said Parish.
“I would like to think that one day it might happen. That would be unreal for Tonga and Samoa (to play next year).
“I can’t imagine how crazy that would be and how unreal it would be. Not only that, I am sure that both sets of players would love to do that.
“You talk about leaving legacies and all that. That would be unbelievable.”
They might play the Kangaroos, too, but that’s all for the birds at the moment. Whisper it quietly, the Kangaroos might play New Zealand too, something that will excite everyone involved.
This isn’t a dispute that just affects non-Australians: the Kangaroos and Jillaroos also haven’t got a fixture scheduled beyond next Saturday. The crucial difference for the NRL and ARLC is that they already have their pinnacle in Origin, so it doesn’t affect them as much.
The impasse that has set in over in Sydney isn’t about international footy, which everyone basically agrees is a good thing, but it does show how low down the list of priorities it is for powerbrokers in the NRL.
Tellingly, the RLPA is set to send reps to the World Cup final this weekend in Manchester, but Peter V’landys and Andrew Abdo have already pulled out of the trip.
Had they come, they could have sat in the back of O’Sheas bar, mere footsteps from where the trade union movement was founded in 1868, and had a long discussion about industrial relations.
Then, they might have thought about the hold-up they’re causing for everyone else and decided to get around the table and work something out.
It’s hard to imagine the PFA – the RLPA for soccer players in the UK – getting into a dispute with the Premier League that stopped the FIFA World Cup in its tracks. But at this nascent stage, that’s where International Rugby League is situated.
There’s a lot of talk about how the IRL doesn’t have any cash and needs the NRL to fund it, but that really isn’t the case.
The IRL has plenty of opportunity to make its own cash, independent of the NRL, if only the NRL would let them know when and where its employees will be available.
There’s a 10-year plan ready to go. There’s much more action to sell to broadcasters, sponsors and fans. The chance to enter into a new era of international footy is here: we just need the NRL to get its own house in order.
Mick P
Roar Rookie
Hi Mike, i realise i am very late to this conversation, but didn’t NRL head office further close the window on international footy by increasing the length of the NRL season and now the multi year Vegas gambling cash grab? I realise Vegas doesn’t extend season length, but it means greater pre-season planning and impost on 4 clubs… and NRL head office still shows no interest in finalising an agreement with the RLPA.
The Riddler
Guest
A Great Britain Lions tour will draw the crowds, with perhaps warm up games against the sides knocked out of final contention and then the three tests in October. The real issue is scheduling and it has been ever since Super League moves to the Summer season overlapping with our own NRL.
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
Too many ego's involved in Sydney clubs hoping someone will bite the bullet and pull up stumps . If Penn ever decides to sell I'm sure there's plenty of interstate bidders queueing up .
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
Actually they do play in those countries, and they all selected players from local leagues. Granted those leagues are mostly amateur, but they do play there, and they’re supplemented by NRL layers by heritage.
woodart
Roar Rookie
your post shows that league is a doomed game. unfortunatley. either it grows internationally, or it shrinks back down to the nth of england and sydney. when your final is constantly in sydney, no matter who the teams are, it shows very little honest appreciation for out of sydney clubs or fans.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Well if they’re going on about taking the whole international rugby league thing more seriously, it needs to be recognised that the WC is largely a con job. No one plays league in countries like Samoa, Jamaica or Lebanon, let alone in Ireland or Scotland. Bit hard to take it seriously when the final is essentially between two Aussie teams.
Nick Lindenberg
Roar Rookie
If we want to grow the international game, have a World Cup every two years to keep the excitement and engagement up. That way those countries that miss qualification can re-group and push harder for entry.
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
Maybe. I've moved on. Lots of character in those days, in the players and character in the game. Too much like a machine for me these days.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
They were, and I still believe they can be
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
Fine, if being “right” is so important to you
Lionheart
Roar Rookie
I remember going to Great Britain - Australia test matches in the 1960s. They were great, with players like Tommy Bishop a real draw card. I don't know what the crowds were like but to me as a kid, they felt great. They were bigger than the Kiwi tests, played as part of a national tour. Those days will never return.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
It absolutely is the games heartbeat. It is the centre of the RL universe, and the Sydney clubs are the games most bankable brands. I know for a fact that the three teams the Broncos most want to play at home are the Dragons, Eels & Tigers because they always draw big crowds, they don’t however want to play the lines of the Knights, Raiders or Warriors because those clubs don’t draw big crowds. The only reason they want to play the Cows or the Titans is because of the Qld rivalry. The Sydney clubs would rather not play any of the interstate teams, they just don’t pull in the crowds the way Sydney derbies do. Mergers have proven they don’t work and relocating clubs isn’t the answer. Im all for expansion, and I believe there’s more than enough talent to go round. You move the Dogs from Sydney and you can say goodbye to a significant fan base, as much as I hate them as an Eels fan. There is no dead weight in Sydney.
Nat
Roar Guru
Baaaahahahahahahaha!!! Nope. It is hilarious how offended you get because someone won't just take your word. Keep coming. You're well past falling over a point of interest but your persistence in bluster is amusing.
andyfnq
Roar Rookie
Sydney is not the heartbeat of the NRL. That's nostalgia talking. There are obviously too many teams in Sydney, which dilutes talent and inhibits expansion. You can't bd for expansion and 9 Sydney teams, it's just not realistic. Time to make tough but good decisions and move the dead weight out of town
andyfnq
Roar Rookie
Offer them a squillion bucks and see what happens :laughing: lot of blokes might be tempted to take even a 2 or 3 year deal for twice what they could get anywhere else, especially with such low cost of living while living and playing there
Rob9
Roar Guru
‘No it doesn’t’ – yes it does. Comprehension- use (learn) it. ‘Not mine’ – it’s what you’re using to support your opinion and the fact it’s error-ridden doesn’t do much for its validity or help your cause. ‘Your opinion, not fact’ – No, but the facts are there. Just keep your head in the sand though- it’s the one thing you’ve proven to be quite good at.
Nat
Roar Guru
"It suggests there are 77 players in the NRL who are born overseas" No it doesn't. "Your error-ridden pdf " Not mine. "Given the likelihood", "it would also suggest" Your opinion, not fact - you're done.
Rob9
Roar Guru
It suggests there are 77 players in the NRL who are born overseas. Given the likelihood that 90% of those were born in NZ- it would also suggest that 116 of the NRL’s 500 players being born in 116 different countries isn’t possible. Your error-ridden pdf is good enough for you but to break it down you want accept an alternate article and want observations of 500 birth certificates. You won’t even entertain the idea of going through a team sheet and identifying where they’re all from. It’s a 3 minute exercise and it paints a very clear picture as to how improbable it is that there are 116 different nationalities represented by birth across the league. You are that close-minded and determined to maintain your unwinnable position. At this point I’ve come to the conclusion that you’re a troll robot that is void of all logic and self-awareness. Surely there aren’t people that have to suffer you in reality…
Nat
Roar Guru
Wow, now it's "hard evidence"!! :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: If I ever have to go to court, please be the bloke I'm up against. Yes, 100% I'm ignoring it because in no way does it prove or disprove anything. That is a fact. You got nothing and no amount of bluster changes that. Now, jump back in your 2014 Audi, sculpt the little beard and come back with something to argue my boy.
Rob9
Roar Guru
‘because there is no way you can prove otherwise’ The article I’ve linked to you proves otherwise. May be try opening it without your eyes closed and your fingers in your ears frenetically screaming ‘la la la la laaaaa’. ‘Formatting’ I pointed out issues with spelling and punctuation. Stuff that a document of any sort of significance should be all over if it means anything. I know you won’t be able to identify any of these issues, so may be put it up on the family teacher group chat to get some pointers. ‘You have produced nothing’ Again; cept the article that you’ve been provided. That’s not ‘nothing’. Can you at least accept that? You carry on about ego and the rest of it (Nat’s hot air) but you’re completely ignoring the fact that you’ve received hard evidence that counters your position. It’s equal parts amusing and astonishing. You won’t draw comment on it- and not only pretend it’s not there, try and convince others that it’s not there too. You telling anyone to ‘grow the fk up boy’ is hilarious. You’re melting away bud!