Victoria - Disappointed

[Ryan N]

OK so I went to Victoria for Rugby Union as you all know. Anyway, the "Southern States Championship" was held at Whyndam City Rugby Club. I met people involved with the club and etc. 2 years ago they used to be a Rugby League club but they switched to Union because the competition down there isn't great and they do not get any support from VRL or ARL. I brought up the question about the Under 20's Melbourne squad and so much for Victorian players, 2 of them, who never start anyway. Now the Rugby Union down there is really strong with plenty of Pacific Islanders and the Victorian teams (Vic and Vic A) gave us and Canberra and other sides a beating. They have potential to field two full junior squads (Under 16s) that could dominate junior comps in Rugby League but because of the lack of support and help League has hardly took off other then there being a Melbourne team. Another reason the club switched to Union is because the players have more of a chance to make it to the next level. Now I think since there is a Melbourne team there should be more done for grassroots development because the Western Suburbs (where I was staying) are full of a lot of Islanders and Rugby seems to be more popular than AFL there. So I think there should be more done down there because those Union boys have plenty of potential. I can get you a DVD/Video of our game against Vic A to show you the players. Also you can see me fall on my neck after tackling some giant islander, which is quite humorous (I do a backwards roll haha). Anyway if you want the Video for curiosity or whatever just tell me I will be able to get it to you soon. Another point i might add is that the field is two Rugby fields with a club house and other stuff int he centre so it isn't converted AFL showing again rugby's presence in the west. A lot of kids are sick of AFL so they take up Rugby. So League needs to get in and do some bloody work or the NRL puts penalties on Melbourne until they start to field more Victorians. I am very, very disappointed and we have been fed a lot of shit about Rugby League's state down there because most of what is said is just not the case.

[jim]

well that says it all doesn't it.

I have been a bit suss over the VRL ever since I went to contact them about RLBoA and found they didn't even have their own web-site. The WARL even have their own dedicated website. So even though support is growing down there playing numbers etc. aren't being looked into very well?

I read somewhere that the Melbourne U-20 squad had 7 victorians, in fact I think that was Wikipedia so no suprises there, 2 is shit. FFS even if there are only 2 atleast give them a run, just for the sake of the experience and if and when they make the NRL they will be recognised as locals and that will promote a good image.

I have a friend that I went to school with that is a ref. He went down 2 years ago to ref the U-14 state championships, he said that WA and Vic had very competitve sides and both went down to NSW and QLD in the semis to reasonable scores. This leads me to think that most of the junior reps are both league and union reps. I know a guy i played with last year made the australian U-16 Union team and the Queensland U-16 League team, he is signed with the broncos until the end of 2009.

I have to say I have only ever been to Victoria once, and my stay in melbourne was very brief, I got off a plane and onto a bus to Mt Hotham for a ski trip. So I didn't really get a gauge as to where RL was down there, Most of the other people at the resort weren't from victoria. They did play State Of Origin 3 live on TV.

I have to say from what you have said it is very dissapointing. Makes WARL look good, after all Melbourne is twice the size of Perth yet what NRL players today are victorian? On the other hand WA have alot of players playing NRL; Corey Patterson, Matt Peterson, Daniel Holdsworth, Bronx and Bryce Goodwin, Justin Poore, Jon Green. That is the makings of a half decent WA origin side. Maybe when the reds get into the NRL again we can see a Victoria V WA State Of Origin, It might give young locals a bit more to aspire to.

[Druzik]

Jim on those grounds hard do argue with you... its very dissapointing that that is the way things are going with league. Seriously someone needs to give these guys a kick up the arse. I have said it previously and will say it now... the Aussie RL fans are insular to the nth degree (except us ofcourse).