My rant on the international game in Australia

I thought I'd post it here. I posted this in the SL war thread on the main forum. Don't worry, this isn't the typical negative article you hear of in the media bagging out international RL. Infact, the exact opposite, also highlighting my hopes for the 2017 RLWC after the successful 2013 RLWC:



http://ift.tt/1EODnVZ

Quote:

IMO, one of the biggest tragedies of the SL-war was the effect it had on the international game. It still is frustrating to see how many years it took for the international game to regain it's credibility. Even now, despite the close 4-nations tournament we had last year with Samoa giving England and NZ a run for their money, and England were just centimetres away from potentially eliminating Australia from the tournament with seconds to go, international RL is still fighting for it in the media against those who keep saying test matches are a waste of time etc. Back in 1994, it was considered an honour to wear the Kangaroos jersey. The vast majority of RL supporters weren't bitching or complaining about those matches. The one-off test at Parramatta Stadium against France sold out (got 27k). And also what about those old Kangaroos tours (which will never happen again since the Super League season now runs parallel with the NRL). The 3-test Ashes series definitely need to be reintroduced and a big shame we haven't had one since 2003. The mid-year test vs NZ needs to be AFTER Origin (forget about all this B.S. about not wanting to play it after Origin because it gives the Australian team an unfair advantage of having played Origin matches just before the test). Infact, I'll go a step further and say it should be a mid-year 3 test series like what it was in 1995, the last time it was held. The apathy shown by Sydneysiders in recent times - as epitomised by the 25k that turned up to Allianz Stadium for the mid-year test against NZ - is an example of the long-term damage that SL has done (ppl being brainwashed by the media mocking the credibility of international RL, whilst talking up international Rugby Union), and why the ARL is reluctant to play tests in Sydney. Also, the ARL are to blame as well: they are not helping the promotion of the international game when they wrap their players in cotton wool and refuse to play tests so their players can remain fresh for the World Cup the following year (like what happened in 2012 and also this year). The international game was really savaged post-SL. To give you some idea, the first test match we played against Great Britain post-SL in the 1999 tri-series at Suncorp only got 12k. We've come a hell of a long way since then. Murphy's Law - everything that can go wrong, will go wrong - really took effect in the disasterous 2000 RLWC and as a result we never had another World Cup for 8 years and had to have 3 tri-series (2004, 2005, 2006) to help raise funds for the RFL so that we could have that 2008 RLWC and even when we had it, there were provisions: games held in smaller venues like Rockhampton, and a superpool to ensure more marquee matchups between the 'big 3' so the RLWC could make a profit. Now with the resounding success of the 2013 RLWC in the UK, I do hope this next RLWC in Australia/NZ in 2017 is played in larger venues and that Ch9 aren't anywhere near the broadcast. It was a breath of fresh air to see Ch7 (or more accurately, 7Mate) give the World Cup the respect it deserved with live broadcasts of every match, detailed pre and post-match analysis of the games, as well as match replays and regular exposure in the nightly sports bulletin on Ch7. OH, and how good it was to hear Andrew Voss commentating rather than Rabs and Gus that would've bagged the tournament out 5 mins into the broadcast. Ch9's treatment of the 2008 RLWC was a disgrace: games (excluding the final) were on 1-2 hr delay (even the opening Australia vs NZ match was so riddled with ads that the Fox Sports replay at 9:30pm finished earlier than the Ch9 delayed broadcast which has started an hour earlier), and also 2GB denigrating the tournament with Ray Hadley smirking at the purpose of the tournament etc. One of the best things the ARLC ever did was keep the rights to international tournaments seperate from the NRL tv rights. In conclusion, international RL has come a long way since the SL-war. It is a behemoth waiting to be unleashed and reach its full potential. If NRL expansion occurs in 2018, the comp does need to be reduced as 24 matches in 26 rounds is too long (should be 20-22 max) so that international footy can be accommodated.

In addition to this.....



The four-nations tournament last year was a step in the right direction that the gap is closing. I know it will still be at least another generation before one of the countries outside of the big 3 - Australia, New Zealand and England - makes a World Cup Final. However, it was a big success and Samoa really gave NZ and England a run for their money (scored same amount of tries as England, but goalkicking cost them. A late try in the last few mins for NZ got them out of jail to avoid an embarrassing loss). I do hope those Pacific Island nations - especially Samoa and Fiji - continue to develop and improve.



I'm also happy to see that this upcoming 2017 RLWC will be the most geographically diverse, and great to see a more thorough qualification process being implemented. 12 automatic qualifiers were in the 2013 RLWC, this time around only 7 which is much better.



Finally, based on the potential success of the 2017 RLWC, there's a chance either the 2021 or 2025 tournaments could be taken to a non-RL heartland.

My rant on the international game in Australia