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Post by England 3 Lions on Mar 28, 2009 1:07:52 GMT 10
American rugby league competition wants to attract Australia's starsBy Dean Ritchie
March 27, 2009Source: Fox Sports AustraliaAn American professional rugby league competition will be announced within weeks and they want NRL stars like Anthony Minichiello, Nathan Hindmarsh, Craig Fitzgibbon and Petero Civoniceva on board.US officials are ready to offer NRL players the chance to finish their playing careers overseas on $130,000-a-season deals. They also want Australian coaches to help educate locals in the intricacies of the game. The competition, due to kick off next year, will have eight teams in eight cities, with a 14-week season leading up to a grand final on July 4, America's Independence Day. Competition commissioner and former St George Dragons half-back David Niu hopes to have a television deal nailed down in coming weeks. Veteran Bulldogs half-back Brett Kimmorley on Thursday threw his support behind any rugby league competition in the US. "A lot of blokes would jump at the chance to play in America," Kimmorley said. "England isn't as great as it was with the dollar coming down and I'd rather live in New York. "It would be a great working holiday where you could travel the US." Franchises are ready to be announced in Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Jacksonville and Boston, with two more to be named. "This is something we will achieve. "We are about one deal away from it coming off," Niu said. "We want to build a comp and we might only have one chance here to develop a professional game. "It would give players the chance to play league outside Europe. "We would be looking at players towards the end of their careers, players who have maybe been internationals. "They could help grow a new sport in a different country." Niu believes attracting top-level coaches from Australia was crucial to rugby league's success in a foreign field. "We want world-class coaches," Niu said. "The players over here have tremendous raw talent but some of the skills are missing. "But there are athletes everywhere." Brian Lowe, from American Rugby News, believes rugby league would be a hit in the US and have more appeal than rugby.
"The fact of the matter is that while league possesses all the qualities the football fan craves, it's also a much faster game with fewer stoppages," Lowe said.
"Although those purists might not like to hear it, rugby union is way too stop-start, it's way too over-officiated, and it has become a kick-fest.
"Rugby league, on the other hand, offers end-to-end action, big hits, and for the most part is played at breakneck speed."
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Post by Druzik on Mar 28, 2009 1:15:22 GMT 10
Yes this has been going everywhere on the other forums. I have made my own enquiries and kept out of it as there seems to be some mis infoprmation going round from what I have been told.
The LA bids seem a bit far fetched, and from what I have been told its still going to be a est coast centric league and the Aus NRL players will not be targeted yet.
There is hope that a Jamaican Franchise will be asked to joing in a few years.
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Post by England 3 Lions on Mar 28, 2009 1:37:02 GMT 10
Yes this has been going everywhere on the other forums. I have made my own enquiries and kept out of it as there seems to be some mis infoprmation going round from what I have been told. The LA bids seem a bit far fetched, and from what I have been told its still going to be a est coast centric league and the Aus NRL players will not be targeted yet. There is hope that a Jamaican Franchise will be asked to joing in a few years. Interesting. Expansion into Texas is vital. |
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Post by Druzik on Mar 28, 2009 1:43:50 GMT 10
explain?
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Post by England 3 Lions on Mar 28, 2009 16:33:07 GMT 10
It's a very large state and its people share a lot in common with Queenslanders. A strong, on-camera working relationship could be made between the Dallas Cowboys and the North Queensland Cowboys. The relationship between the two clubs would help them gain more popularity in one another's respective areas. |
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Post by Druzik on Mar 28, 2009 18:12:25 GMT 10
OK
Fair enough point.
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Post by England 3 Lions on Apr 1, 2009 0:13:02 GMT 10
The other good thing about spreading the game to Texas is it leaves option the possiblity of expanding into Mexico. |
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Post by Druzik on Apr 1, 2009 0:35:34 GMT 10
The other good thing about spreading the game to Texas is it leaves option the possiblity of expanding into Mexico. ;D Gee dude... dont get ahead of yourself there. Look from what I am hearing behing the scenes is that despite what has been said on the website(s) its going to be a east coast venture for now with minimal OS player 'poaching'. Players will still have to come through the try outs. |
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Post by England 3 Lions on Apr 1, 2009 0:44:01 GMT 10
The other good thing about spreading the game to Texas is it leaves option the possiblity of expanding into Mexico. ;D Gee dude... dont get ahead of yourself there. Look from what I am hearing behing the scenes is that despite what has been said on the website(s) its going to be a east coast venture for now with minimal OS player 'poaching'. Players will still have to come through the try outs. Makes sense for the NRL USA to focus on its heartland area. I think the majority of Americans live in the eastern states. The NFL is primarily contested by franchises who are from the eastern states. USA Map of NFL FranchisesThe league needs to focus on keeping the amount of imports as low as possible. Just bring in a few quality players who are no longer fit enough to endure a full NRL/ESL season. They can aid the development of the American players. |
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Post by England 3 Lions on Apr 3, 2009 23:10:54 GMT 10
Carting it up with StevoWritten by: Geoff Stevenson Apr 3, 2009 9:33am Source: LeagueUnlimited.com Are we seeing the beginning of a brand new era or a false dawn? I’m talking, of course, of one of the biggest stories in Rugby League - the story of a new professional era in the USA. A Sydney Sunday newspaper recently picked up a story that had been lying dormant on the American Rugby League website (did someone say ‘slow news day’?) of the announcement that a professional league will kick off in the US in 2010. The eight team comp will play a regular season of 14 weeks and will be based mainly on the east coast. What’s likely to affect the code in Australia is the quoted average player salaries of $130,000 a year. The competition will, wisely, target current US Rugby Union fans, who may be open to a new sport, but also understand the fundamental rules that both games share. Remember, thanks to a large population of sports fans, the USA is able to sustain niche sports in a professional structure. The plan is ambitious to say the least, and if anyone is going to do it will be AMNRL boss David Nui. The former Dragon has dedicated 15 years of his life to establishing the code in America. The current AMNRL competition may be amateur, but it has established teams, decent corporate support and encouraging crowds (especially considering the glut of competition they face from other sports). Of course a salary of over $100,000 isn’t going to convince a first grade NRL star to depart to the US, nor will it compete with the big bucks of English Superleague. What it will do is keep some adventurous fringe first graders in the game and provide another avenue for young stars that still aspire to play Rugby League professionally, but may need a few years to further develop their game. Maybe one of a number of halfway houses for 21 year olds who have nowhere to go post Toyota Cup. But who, you say, is going to develop these players? Well the up and coming coaches it will attract. There aren’t enough competitions to adequately develop our young coaches and another professional league adds another option to the mix. The idea of a professional competition in the US sounds so crazy that it just might work. Nui appears to be modelling the new competition on a mixture of US and UK sporting leagues that have rich benefactors that ‘own’ franchises. If the benefactors he has in line are still rich (and not in the banking or car industries), then the US competition could provide another reason for a young boy to play Rugby League ahead of another code.
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Post by Druzik on Apr 3, 2009 23:34:05 GMT 10
I still have my reservations... but I truly hope I am wrong.
This would be huge and may lead to the French, Russians and Kiwis finally pulling out their fingers and getting tehir comps upto some sort of scratch.
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Post by England 3 Lions on Apr 3, 2009 23:40:03 GMT 10
I still have my reservations... but I truly hope I am wrong. This would be huge and may lead to the French, Russians and Kiwis finally pulling out their fingers and getting tehir comps upto some sort of scratch. I'm going to advise Network Ten Australia to invest in the NRL USA. They desperately need as many sporting events as they can obtain to fill up their 24-hour HD sport channel. The only football they have on it is Australian rules football. Only the southern states are keenly interested in Australian rules football. Broadcasting the NRL USA would allow their 24-hour HD sport channel to draw a niche among the rugby league followers in Queensland and NSW. |
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Post by Druzik on Apr 3, 2009 23:53:17 GMT 10
I would not be surprised if they havent already looked at theta. While your at it tell then about the LER that they get at leats one game a week, and that the Championships in England alos have their thursday game televised through sky sports.
Also the QLR and JBC/NSW cup need coverage... there is soo much there that can be shown.
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Post by Kiwi fan on Apr 6, 2009 18:51:06 GMT 10
I still have my reservations... but I truly hope I am wrong. This would be huge and may lead to the French, Russians and Kiwis finally pulling out their fingers and getting tehir comps upto some sort of scratch. NZ will never have a strong domestic competition. Personally, I perfered the bartercard cup to the current one because the bartercard cup you got to see lots of up and coming and players. It was good seeing guys like Ben Matulino play before most other people. The NRL is too close to have a real domestic competition but the bartercard cup was good.. France is a different story. It is a bit bigger so could probably get a proper league running. |
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Post by deludedpom on Feb 3, 2010 22:34:40 GMT 10
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- rugbyleague.com/rugby-league-news/international-stars-in-us-rl.htmlInternational stars in US RL launch Wednesday 3rd February 2010 By STEVE MASCORD Stacey Jones and Daniel Wagon will be among the stars invited to the official launch of professional rugby league in the United States on Independence Day weekend this July, it has been announced. AMNRL chief executive David Niu has revealed to rugbyleague.com that while a full-scale pro league will not start until 2011, July 4 will see a high profile lauch of the concept in conjunction with a US Tomahawks international. "We probably won't see the week-to-week league start up until early next year but we will definitely have events which will ensure professional rugby league is launched this year," Niu said. "We'll have a Tomahawks international and other events over a weekend which will introduce the public to our organisation and announce our intentions to everyone. "The date we are looking at is the fourth of July." No city has yet been decided upon for the gala launch. Niu said many of the players and coaches who had been lined up for the new competition would be invited to the US. He had already named former Golden Boot winner Jones as one recruit. "Some of the other players would not like me using their names but (former Australia international) Daniel Wagon is another, he is happy to be named," Niu said. "These are people whose commitments elsewhere are finished and are available to come. It will be their initiation to what we are doing." Niu did not want to discuss what role the players would take, what the "other events" consisted of or who the US would play in the international. "I don't want to give too much away," he told rugbyleague.com. Niu had hoped to launch an eight team competition, played over six weeks and featuring up to 40 overseas players, in late May. Each round of matches was to be played at the same stadium over the same weekend, moving from city to city. That will now happen in early 2011, he said. "I know for a fact we have a model that is sustainable and which will have an enormous benefit for rugby league worldwide," he said. |
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