International island hoppers

As you may be able to tell, i have been blogging alot on the expansion of Rugby league, and wanted to touch on international Rugby and the island hoppers that are jumping from one nationality to another.

Forgive me, but I'm English, and wouldn't like to play under another countries name, but it is increasing popular now with a number of internationals switching from one nation to another.  Some that have raised eyebrows in recent times are Pat Richards for Ireland, the Henderson's for Scotland, and Clint Greensheilds playing for France.  These are all Internationals who have decided to change allegiances because they wouldn't make their own national sides, but since GB dissolved a couple of years ago, there seems to be more of the island hopping back and to than before.

It was only when Rhys Evans, born and bred in Brigend made the switch to the English national side that i realised why this was.  If Rhys listens to everyone else in Rugby, he will probably think he is going to be a  big deal (and rightly so because he looks a great prospect so far).  Now if i knew that i was going to be a good super league standard player, i wouldn't be to impressed with the prospect of me playing international rugby for Wales against Scotland and Ireland in home nations matches, knowing full well that the English will be taking on the Aussies and the NZ'ers and being competitive.
 

Evans in Wales National shirt

This may be fine for some, but for others the incentive, playing against the best teams in the world, is to much.  That's why players move clubs and why clubs sign players, to be the best.  The only option for players like Rhys who are obviously better than their compatriots is to jump ship in order to play world class rugby.

Personally, i don't think you should be able to swap nationalities, and don't think it should be so easy to move from one to another.  GB isn't perfect (look at the 'Briers for Britain' debate in previous years) but at least it gives ALL of GB's top talent to come together and play rugby.  The game needs to grow in other nations before they become appealing and they become competitive against other nations. 

On a broader international scale, The Irish Wolfhounds travelled to meet the US Tomahawks in the Donnybrook cup.  The Irish 'B' side (all from Irish domestic clubs) beat the US team 26-8, but it shows far the sport is coming, not just in GB but further afield.  I also read that the Norwegian national team are looking to play a friendly in Malta later in the year, and the European Rugby league site (http://www.rlef.eu.com/index.php) has recently been updated and gives some great insight into how far reaching the sport has become since super league.  I still think we are moving in the right direction ......

The Exiles and the 30th of March

So, I think by now everyone has twigged that the eerie looking E badge Below is for the Exiles, a team of UK based foreigners coming together to take on the England team early in June.  Others have said it could be the England knights teams badge, but if it is, its not very ... 'Englandy'.

A potential stumbling block for the exiles is the selection criteria squad.  It would be unfair if all of one teams players were used.  One idea is that only one man per SL team could be picked in order to make sure it is fair and even flirted with the idea of letting fans pick.  I think that would be a great idea to get fans involved and could put additional pressure on the exiles.  I hope an international freindly like this that can be done every year.  It will give us a great benchmark to see how we would fair against the full squads of Aussies and New zealanders, but may take some of the edge off the England squad, and the reason why this has been put in place.  Especially if we get badly beaten.  

There had been some rumours (mostly from Championship fans) that this ‘E’ was going to be a new franchise team, coinciding with the super league license review which is due to be announced on the 30^th of the Month.  On this day we will find out which team(s) are going to be coming up, and going down to the championship.  If the RFL were to overlook all of the currently touted Championship teams and start a new franchise elsewhere there would be uproar, so I find this very unlikely.  Besides that, I can think of many place names that start with an E.  

For what it’s worth, I think that Widnes will get the spot, and I have no qualms with that at all.  They have a cracking stadium, good coaches, youth development and infrastructure.  They will still be seething from missing out on the space last time around, and it would be tough for them to take another setback like that.  

 

Unfortunately, I feel the comically named ‘Big Fellas Stadium’ In Featherstone is probably holding Fev back more than the fact that they are in close vicinity to other clubs.  Hopefully they will be able to rectify this and crack on building their new stadium and continue with their great performances in the league and cup over the last few of years.  On the other hand, a team like Barrow may be better for the expansion of RL, which I have spoken about below, and am a strong advocate of.  

Guess we will find out soon enough.

Rugby League Expansion

Don't get me wrong, i understand why the RFL wants rugby in London.

Its good for corporate sponsorship, its good for Sky, and if it works, it is great for British Rugby League.  But it doesn't work.
A shocking 1766, there lowest attendance since 2001, turned up to watch their first home game of the season.  Its a shame considering a team like Widnes aren't in Super League with such great support.


Quins commercially is suicide, but one that is necessary.  Plonking a rugby league team in the middle of London is crazy.  The grass roots they put in place are great, and this has started to show with players like Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrooke, Tony Clubb and Will Sharpe, but as a business, there is no way they can steal fans from RU and the 30 or so football teams in the area surrounding the Stoop and make it financially viable.  Put simply, you cant get customers in a market so saturated.

The RFL made a great move by moving the crusaders to Wrexham in my opinion.  The great asset to Rugby League in North Wales, is that there are no other competing teams in the area to take away competition.  All rugby league fans are passionate, but it is no coincidence Warrington, Hull  and Wigan have got high crowds and no successful Football teams.

 

www.billsportsmaps.com Rugby teams UK Map

Rugby League is growing.  Attendances have almost doubled in ten years mainly thanks to Sky tv promotion, and we now show the Friday night game live in Norway,  but to continue expansion the rfl have to be careful about which areas they go into.  The map above shows the rugby clubs in the uk as of 2009.  I think a far better expansion strategy would be to try and create a competitive team in Scotland next, followed by a Cumbrian based team.  Whitehaven seems the best shout for the Cumbrian, with a strong RL background, and literally NO sports teams for miles.  Scotland have a  Four nations teams, and amateur teams, and i think geographically they would work better than more southern teams.

I hope we do see another expansion team in the next few years, but i don't know if it would have the desired effect if the team was put in the Championship rather than Super League.  That's not to say i want some of the current teams out of the competition, but the bigger the catchment area is and the more Rugby League can be promoted to new players, the higher the quality of the game will be overall.

Rugby League Ref James Child joins Twitter

Neatly following on from the last post about football refereeing, Super league referee James Child was made the bold move to joining the twitter community.



The Part-time chartered surveyors last assignment, who started Rugby League refereeing at the age of 11 in his home tome of Dewsbury, was running the line at Warrington's defeat of Wakey at the Jungle.



He is one of the 7 full time super league officials who started tweeting earlier this year but has kept quietly under the radar. Although some tweets have given an insight into super league refs and their training regimes, little has been posted on specific games as of yet.





I have a lot of time for Refs, as they are never going to be able to please everyone, but you rarely hear them complain. Referee's engaging with fans is always something that I feel should be done more, as anything that can help fans understand why calls are being made (like the refs wearing microphones) and how the rules work is going to be better for the promotion of the game, and promotion of officiating within rugby.



James was kind enough to answer a few questions i asked him, which you can see below

Paul (@paull3v) - Im doing a small bit on you joining twitter as part of my blog, do you think you could answer a couple of Q's ?



James Child (@jamescchild) - I'll do my best depending on their nature!



PL - Thnx! Did you have to get RFL authorisation to join Twitter or any other social networking sites? Do they given you guidelines on what you can and cant put out?

JC - Match officials are allowed to join social networking sites but must adhere to a RFL code re posting etc



PL- Whats your relationship like with the players?

JC - Player relationship is on professional level & generally limited to matchday & occasional club visits/training sessions



PL – What would say that your greatest achievement is so far?

JC - Greatest achievement: TJ Challenge Cup Final 2006 (youngest ever CC Final official) & TJ World Cup Final 2008.



Pl – Which ground do you feel has the best atmosphere in super league?

JC - Best atmosphere: not always ground can be game-Wak v Cas '06 last game of season, losing team relegated - as good as Grand Final!



Pl – is it hard balancing the 2 roles of reffing then touch judging?

JC - Balancing ref & TJing is not that hard - it's 2 very different roles that also complement each other - I enjoy both



Pl – How much criticism do you get and does it affect you?

JC - Criticism goes with the job! You learn to be thick skinned from a young age so it doesn't affect you



PL - Really appreciate you answering the Q's!


I hope that fans of rugby league will welcome James to twitter, and treat him with the same respect that is shown to officials by our players. Rugby League is now getting great momentum on twitter, with new coaches, players and staff joining all the time. It is making Rugby League and players more accessible and relatable to fans, and this could lead to new revenues from sponsorships, live appearances, and monetization through advertising.



Follow him on twitter @jameschild

Refs: 'He never played at the top level'

Why is it that so little proffesionals, Football or otherwise, decide to referee after they finish playing.

After watching Arsenal and Barcelona yesterday, I listened to the interveiw of Wenger, who kept mentioning the ref 'couldn't have played at the highest level'

True, but I can't think of an example of any top level sportsman becoming a ref after retirement.

So why?

http://bit.ly/hix2QL  is the only thing I have found with the suggestion of ex-player refs.  It hardly looks like they are pouring off the field.  Refereing may not be appealing as going into coaching or scouting , but I'm sure much more respect would be commanded from ex-player refs and it would be a great advert to young refs who would have role models.  The main problem seems to be that, to ref at the top level, you need to have experience reffing in the lower leagues, sometimes for a number of years.


According to the Huddesfeild Examiner (http://bit.ly/ijDgtE), Steve Harper, the current Newcastle keeper is qualified to a certain level, but that level isnt even football league standard, never mind Prem/Champions league level.  But with years of knowledge watching football and being invloved, shouldnt this be encouraged and not stifled?


Maybe its time for people to stop using the 'ex-player for pro-refs' calls as they seem to be in a catch 22.  After all, I could hardly imagine Kammy or most others picking up the whistle or running the lines.  Or maybe if Wenger feels so strongly about it, he could recommend a player or 2?

Maybe Roy Keane .....

The magic Weekend

Please, move Millennium Magic weekend to the last match of the regular season, Rfl, Please.

I was speaking with my Step dad, Roy, at the first home game at the HJ about the magic weekend and why he had chosen not to go.  Roy is an avid fan, and rarely misses a game or 'event' like the grand final, magic weekend etc.

It has since been playing on my mind, and have decided to vent my views through this blog.  Would it not make a lot more sense to move the RL weekend to the last match of the regular season?
There were 3 main reasons why i think this would be better.

1. Teams have something to fight for (IE Not the first game, a game that has implications to the league table)
2. Its in summer, which will ultimately make it more marketable and appealing to fans
and 3. It would be a great prelude to the Playoffs.

Look at the amount of people that travel to Wembley in summer for the challenge cup final.  85,000 came to one single game, as opposed to the 30,000 per day that travelled less distance to watch 3 or 4 games that the magic weekend offered.  74,000 can pack into the Millennium stadium, and for all but Quins (and maybe Hull) fans, it is a closer.  Thousands travel to London for a one off game, and this could only be rivalled if there was some kind of prize at the end of that game, and if it took place in summer months.

Im sure alot more fans would turn up if it makes the difference between 1st and 2nd, or 8th or 9th in the regular season.  The run up to the event could then be built up more, to make the regular season more of a competition than a formality, and crowning the regular season winners at the Magic weekend would encourage more to stay to the end of the day, which has been a problem in recent years.  Rivalry's such as Wigan/Saints, Hull/Hull would have additional spice when spectators know that a win or loss could move them in or out of playoff contention.  I know i would much rather watch a game that has implications to the league table and there are still possibilities to have it around school or bank holidays.


Each year the weekend is put down as a 'Astounding success' or words to that affect, but when the average attendance is less that of a normal super league game, why is it?  Wigan and Leeds have the largest attendances, and Warrington still regularly get 15k in there stands.  Crusaders get on average 11k this year and they have the lowest attendance.  Yet still only 30k went to the Sunday of the Magic weekend, when Warrington and Leeds were on, among the 6 other teams.


Get your heads screwed on and make it happen RFL! It makes so much more commercial sense that i cant understand why it has not been considered already.  Its for this reason that i felt compelled to start a blog and write about rugby ... we will see how much i actually do but i liked putting my ideas onto the screen so hopefully it shall continue !

Paul Leatherbarrow
FortyTwentyBlog