Ireland rugby league

The RFL have announced that they are to set up a scouting camp in the Irish city of Limmerick, with some of Super leagues top clubs attending, with a view of setting up a super league team within 5 years.  They are again showing their plans for the sports expansion, into new countries aswell as counties.

Although Rugby union is dominant in Ireland, along with Gaelic football and hurling, Union play a winter season, with clubs breaking over summer.  Having a summer league may be a good way for the RFL capitalise on this, bringing players across from the other code, and improving the quality of the Irish game.

Judging from the report, interest was high, which is encouraging to hear.  They have 5 leagues running for this season, each with 4 teams, an increase on last years competition, and also have the 2013 world cup to look forward to.

But will that be enough to create  a sustainable Rugby League fan base in Ireland? I don't know, but certainly not in 5 years.  This year Magners league RU games in Ireland have attracted about 15000, and sometimes more at the Hurling and Gaelic football games.  To expect any core crowd over 2000 would be optimistic for me, with less away fans travelling aswell.

That's before taking into consideration weather it would be taken in by the Irish media, how sponsorship and TV deals may work, and the cost of transporting the team.  This without knowledge of weather the team will be success off the pitch with fans and their participation, and on it with the players.

At least with Catalans they have a solid fan base, providing 8000 at home games they can try to cover some of these costs.  Crusaders have lower travel costs and help from the RFL, which a new super league team would undoubtedly need, but would it be throwing money at nothing?

I'm usually all for expansion, but this seems to me like they want to force a wedge of Rugby League into a very small hole.  Lets hope at least for a increase in participation and interest in their current league, before making a misguided punt.



http://www.rli.ie/

Big Willies bandwagon halted?

So it looks like by many accounts that Big Willie will be moving on after a year with Hull KR to play union in France with Toulon.

First reprted by Aussie Telegrpah post The big prop has been earmarked by the French outfit as an inside centre, moving at the end of the year on a reported 450,000 Euros.  This comes on the back of Hull KR preparing a press release about Mason and injured half back Micheal Dobson that is due today at 2pm.

Mason, who has more nationalities than a secret agent in being Kiwi/Aussie/Tongan is waiting for his Tongan passport to be cleared, freeing up the space for Dobson on the overseas quota.  But what if he couldnt find it?  Reports suggest he isnt moving until the end of the year, so would he keep the quota place? Id be more inclined to keep Dobson, although Clint Newton recently picked up an injury, so they could deregister him and use his place.

Opinion seems to be split as weather this is a rumour generated just before the announcement is made, or if this is genuinely going to happen.  I think that its certainly plausible.  Rugby's Man City have also signed some massive names in Jonny Willkinson, Matt Giteau and Bakkies Botha so maybe this is another marquee signing to add to the list.  Mason is a mercenary, so wouldnt suprise me if he did leave, and reports on both sides of the world suggest he was seen having dinner with Toulons president Mourad Boudjellal.

I hope though that the Mason circus doesnt push Dobson out.   He is a quality half back, and Rovers have missed him this year.  Mason has been on a steady decline over the last few years, and to me looks lathergic and unmotivated.

Come 2 oclock we should have some more info after Hull Kr's press release, but after all said and done, you cant deny that Big Willies bandwagon has been a quality marketing tool for Kr, if nothing else.

Wigan's Wane Gamble.

Micheal Maguire has announced that he will be leaving the Wigan Warriors at the end of the season to head back down under to take charge of Russel Crowe's South Sydney Rabbitohs side.

Shaun Wane

The usual name of Shaun Edwards was thrown into the mix very early on, but Wigan chairman Ian Lenagan stated that assistant coach Shaun Wane was in pole position to take the job.  I know nothing of Wade and his achievements going up through the ranks at Wigan, but are assistants moved to quickly in from assistant coaching to head coach?

Coaches such as Brian Noble and Rob Powell were also produced internally, and although Powell is still somewhat unproven in super league, he has started out well, with Harlequins playing some decent rugby.

But other recent appointments that follow similar decision paths seem to suggest they are, with Richard Agar currently unloved at Hull KR, Jimmy Lowes' unsuccessful stint as head of the Warrington and Steve McNamara's uninspiring job at Bradford before taking the England mantle.

But if not promotion from within, what other options do Wigan have? In terms of Englishman, current Championship coaches i think could be better choices that internally promoting.  Daryll Powell is doing a great job at Featherstone, and has experience at different levels.  Dennis Betts may have been mentioned before Widnes' successful application to Super League, but he has not really been touted. Australian Ian Millward may not be the best choice after his ill fated stint with them a few years ago, but i think that some kind of club experience is necessary when leading a top side.

The positives are that they may be settled in the area and have affiliation with the players but I think that the risk in internally promoting a coach is huge.  Players will never know how they will respond to a coaches training techniques, team talks, press conferences and tough losses, and fans may also take a dislike, which can cause increased tension.

I think Edwards would be a better choice, but best of look to Wane if we does get the job.  It will be interesting to see what players they sign, if any, and in Wane's case, if he can handles the pressure of Super League.  Other s haven't...

Widnes to superleague

Firstly congratulations to Widnes for gaining a place in super league.  Like I have mentioned before, I thought it harsh that they didn't make it in last time around, so could not see past them for this license.

They have announced during the last few days that they are to setup the ‘Viking stronghold’ whereby you can sign up for a monthly direct debit of between £14 and £18 (depending on when you sign up) instead of paying out for a season ticket.  You also get some extra perks, such as a 'retro' home top, electronic programme and team sheets via your mobile and other discounts.  Although not maybe as ground breaking as Steve O’Connor announced (Keighley and Saints have similar packages, less evolved), i think this is the model that super league clubs will probably use moving forward.

Steve Oconnor

It makes commercial sense for clubs to do so, but does also increase risk.  It should provide  sustainability, as it will stop them from overspending their early season ticket sales money, meaning that they can make monthly projections more precise.  I also expect it will increase ticket sales,  although maybe not increasing crowd sizes by too much.  Alot of Rugby fans will not have money to make a large one-off purchase like a season ticket, but a small direct debit coming out each month isn't as noticeable.


The downside for the club is that the new deal is non-committal. If the club were to go through a  rough patch on the field direct debits can be cancelled, taking the income out of the club and  potentially pushing them over their monthly projections, although if you do cancel during the off  season you are subject to a rejoining fee at the start of the next. Price freeze season tickets last year  for the Vikings were £156 and are still available, but fans are encouraged to join the new scheme, which at its most expensive would make around £216 per year.
 
I think the system should work, as long as fans stay committed.  The T-shirts, electronic programme and Team sheets by text are also a nice touch that should encourage fans to sign up, and as most  programmes now are jammed full of adverts, it seems a good way for them to market other products to fans.

The difference now is that the packages are now being pushed and promoted on the back of the license decision, and may be able to carry on the media wave that has risen since the franchise  announcement.  This will not only improve Vikings sales through advertising, but gives us another  chance to show that Rugby League is not just about our great sport on the field, but that it has great innovations off it too.

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 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