Rugby Unions International popularity in comparison to their club game is remarkable. One thing that they have on their side that we don't is the 6 Nations. A competition that everybody wants to win and everybody wants to attend that can be won arguably by 4 of the 6 teams in competition.
Its hard for Rugby League to develop an International Game when it would be landslide victories over Ireland, Wales, Scotland and France and the only competition is against Aus or NZ which cannot even be done every year and will not attract a signification opposition crowd.
They should work out a way to do Lancashire vs Yorkshire again and really start to drum up some rivarly and passion in the Sport. It would be a hard thought game, it could be marketed very well and it would be attended very well. The issue is, what about players from Cumbria (Who?), Catalans and London who fall outside of the Lancashire and Yorkshire. It also goes against the RFL trying to expand the sport.
The Exiles vs England was a great idea but sadly, nobody cares the exiles so it fails to drum up rivarly, interest and attendance. Looking on Wikipedia it was only attended by 14, 11, 8 and 8k fans the times it was held. Imagine a Lancashire vs Yorkshire 3 series of tests held at Wigan, Leeds and then a potential decider in Manchester? It would be great wouldnt it.
Salary Cap
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Re: Salary Cap
Bomhead - "Lockers to prop."
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Re: Salary Cap
Rugby Union already has its casual audience too and is well advertised and supported by broadcasters.nathan_rugby wrote: ↑Thu Jun 20, 2019 1:34 pm Rugby Unions International popularity in comparison to their club game is remarkable. One thing that they have on their side that we don't is the 6 Nations. A competition that everybody wants to win and everybody wants to attend that can be won arguably by 4 of the 6 teams in competition.
Its hard for Rugby League to develop an International Game when it would be landslide victories over Ireland, Wales, Scotland and France and the only competition is against Aus or NZ which cannot even be done every year and will not attract a signification opposition crowd.
They should work out a way to do Lancashire vs Yorkshire again and really start to drum up some rivarly and passion in the Sport. It would be a hard thought game, it could be marketed very well and it would be attended very well. The issue is, what about players from Cumbria (Who?), Catalans and London who fall outside of the Lancashire and Yorkshire. It also goes against the RFL trying to expand the sport.
The Exiles vs England was a great idea but sadly, nobody cares the exiles so it fails to drum up rivarly, interest and attendance. Looking on Wikipedia it was only attended by 14, 11, 8 and 8k fans the times it was held. Imagine a Lancashire vs Yorkshire 3 series of tests held at Wigan, Leeds and then a potential decider in Manchester? It would be great wouldnt it.
I am aware that non-england players have played for england but in union this is 1 or 2 players max per team not basically entire teams made up of B side players from the main 3 nations. In addition if you want to play for England you need to play in the premiership unless there is a massive exception - this is another thing the RFL could look at only picking England players from the Superleague. In football its the same if you want to play for England you pretty much need to be in the premiership - there are obvious exceptions sometimes but thats generally the rule of thumb
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Re: Salary Cap
Your idea re-ALL Stars is a good idea.Wigan_forever1985 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 20, 2019 11:58 am The all star game was just an idea my preferred option would be a top 3 vs top 3 SL vs NRL to replace the international game
Lets face it the international game will never grow past 3 teams i just dont see as it brings anything to the game except making it look more small time because it highlights how only 3 countries play rugby league (france have made decent progress but are no where near winning anything)
In addition England is now mainly picked from NRL talent so this further creates a gulf between the casual public and the game. you can imagine it watching with a casual if they got excited about watching a player they liked he probably doesnt even play in our league. It also re-enforces the idea that the NRL is a Superior league
The only way we can fight that is by a marker - and i dont mean the WCC because we know thats not on a level field. If we want to get respect for the comp there needs to be a time we can compete against theirs. England doesn't gain that at all if 50% of your squad don't play in SL and 10% of your squad are there because of their grandparents
It wouldn't be difficult to engender a strong competitive edge similar to say Wigan and Saints.
The maxim being "the Comp I play in is better than your Comp. The players in SL Comp would want to prove a point whatever their place of Origin for many and varied reasons.
I can envisage a full blooded battle of SOO proportions between players I would love to see. The idea isn't fanciful. It would be a good watch. It's certainly worth consideration or so I believe
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Re: Salary Cap
That would be the key to the endeavour really to try and give Superleague a platform to compete against the NRL for the "standard of comp" argument. At the moment i dont think the WCC holds any water when comparing the 2 competitions personally.SJ wrote: ↑Fri Jun 21, 2019 9:23 amYour idea re-ALL Stars is a good idea.Wigan_forever1985 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 20, 2019 11:58 am The all star game was just an idea my preferred option would be a top 3 vs top 3 SL vs NRL to replace the international game
Lets face it the international game will never grow past 3 teams i just dont see as it brings anything to the game except making it look more small time because it highlights how only 3 countries play rugby league (france have made decent progress but are no where near winning anything)
In addition England is now mainly picked from NRL talent so this further creates a gulf between the casual public and the game. you can imagine it watching with a casual if they got excited about watching a player they liked he probably doesnt even play in our league. It also re-enforces the idea that the NRL is a Superior league
The only way we can fight that is by a marker - and i dont mean the WCC because we know thats not on a level field. If we want to get respect for the comp there needs to be a time we can compete against theirs. England doesn't gain that at all if 50% of your squad don't play in SL and 10% of your squad are there because of their grandparents
It wouldn't be difficult to engender a strong competitive edge similar to say Wigan and Saints.
The maxim being "the Comp I play in is better than your Comp. The players in SL Comp would want to prove a point whatever their place of Origin for many and varied reasons.
I can envisage a full blooded battle of SOO proportions between players I would love to see. The idea isn't fanciful. It would be a good watch. It's certainly worth consideration or so I believe
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure
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Re: Salary Cap
What will it achieve by only selecting players from Super League? We would be seriously harming our quality without any clear benefit?Wigan_forever1985 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 20, 2019 2:26 pmRugby Union already has its casual audience too and is well advertised and supported by broadcasters.nathan_rugby wrote: ↑Thu Jun 20, 2019 1:34 pm Rugby Unions International popularity in comparison to their club game is remarkable. One thing that they have on their side that we don't is the 6 Nations. A competition that everybody wants to win and everybody wants to attend that can be won arguably by 4 of the 6 teams in competition.
Its hard for Rugby League to develop an International Game when it would be landslide victories over Ireland, Wales, Scotland and France and the only competition is against Aus or NZ which cannot even be done every year and will not attract a signification opposition crowd.
They should work out a way to do Lancashire vs Yorkshire again and really start to drum up some rivarly and passion in the Sport. It would be a hard thought game, it could be marketed very well and it would be attended very well. The issue is, what about players from Cumbria (Who?), Catalans and London who fall outside of the Lancashire and Yorkshire. It also goes against the RFL trying to expand the sport.
The Exiles vs England was a great idea but sadly, nobody cares the exiles so it fails to drum up rivarly, interest and attendance. Looking on Wikipedia it was only attended by 14, 11, 8 and 8k fans the times it was held. Imagine a Lancashire vs Yorkshire 3 series of tests held at Wigan, Leeds and then a potential decider in Manchester? It would be great wouldnt it.
I am aware that non-england players have played for england but in union this is 1 or 2 players max per team not basically entire teams made up of B side players from the main 3 nations. In addition if you want to play for England you need to play in the premiership unless there is a massive exception - this is another thing the RFL could look at only picking England players from the Superleague. In football its the same if you want to play for England you pretty much need to be in the premiership - there are obvious exceptions sometimes but thats generally the rule of thumb
Football isn't a good comparison as not many English players have played abroad so there isn't the best sample to average from unless you have any clear examples. None are springing to my mind of a player who deserves to be in the squad has been omitted because he plays abroad.
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- Wigan_forever1985
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Re: Salary Cap
Well the idea is that you essentially are adding an incentive to stay in super league - so if you want to play for England you need to play in England. A lot of football players and rugby union players don't move abroad while they are still in a shout of playing in the England team, Rooney for example only went to the MLS after he was told he was not in the England equation anymorenathan_rugby wrote: ↑Fri Jun 21, 2019 10:54 amWhat will it achieve by only selecting players from Super League? We would be seriously harming our quality without any clear benefit?Wigan_forever1985 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 20, 2019 2:26 pmRugby Union already has its casual audience too and is well advertised and supported by broadcasters.nathan_rugby wrote: ↑Thu Jun 20, 2019 1:34 pm Rugby Unions International popularity in comparison to their club game is remarkable. One thing that they have on their side that we don't is the 6 Nations. A competition that everybody wants to win and everybody wants to attend that can be won arguably by 4 of the 6 teams in competition.
Its hard for Rugby League to develop an International Game when it would be landslide victories over Ireland, Wales, Scotland and France and the only competition is against Aus or NZ which cannot even be done every year and will not attract a signification opposition crowd.
They should work out a way to do Lancashire vs Yorkshire again and really start to drum up some rivarly and passion in the Sport. It would be a hard thought game, it could be marketed very well and it would be attended very well. The issue is, what about players from Cumbria (Who?), Catalans and London who fall outside of the Lancashire and Yorkshire. It also goes against the RFL trying to expand the sport.
The Exiles vs England was a great idea but sadly, nobody cares the exiles so it fails to drum up rivarly, interest and attendance. Looking on Wikipedia it was only attended by 14, 11, 8 and 8k fans the times it was held. Imagine a Lancashire vs Yorkshire 3 series of tests held at Wigan, Leeds and then a potential decider in Manchester? It would be great wouldnt it.
I am aware that non-england players have played for england but in union this is 1 or 2 players max per team not basically entire teams made up of B side players from the main 3 nations. In addition if you want to play for England you need to play in the premiership unless there is a massive exception - this is another thing the RFL could look at only picking England players from the Superleague. In football its the same if you want to play for England you pretty much need to be in the premiership - there are obvious exceptions sometimes but thats generally the rule of thumb
Football isn't a good comparison as not many English players have played abroad so there isn't the best sample to average from unless you have any clear examples. None are springing to my mind of a player who deserves to be in the squad has been omitted because he plays abroad.
Union did the same;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/32626996
Im not saying it will work but these are things you "could" do to try and make Superleague draw bigger, the minimum we should aim for is to keep the very best of our own talent. Imagine how good Superleague would be if all the English players playing in the NRL were still in it.
Aussie do the same - they wouldnt pick a player who chose to play in Superleague nor will SOO
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure
Re: Salary Cap
I remember asking ages ago if anyone had got a Kangaroo cap whilst playing for an English club. ISTC the answer was someone I'd never heard of, many years ago.
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Re: Salary Cap
Us playing "summer" rugby doesn't help that. Neither hemispheres fans/game benefits from off-season loans/signings now that our seasons have been married.
I don't accept player burn-out as an excuse.