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Post by arh21980 on Feb 24, 2010 12:43:52 GMT 10
Expand World Club Challenge to six teams: Gary Hetherington
By John Marsh
League Central
LEEDS chief executive Gary Hetherington has demanded the NRL and Rugby Football League be "more proactive" and expand the World Club Challenge to six teams from next year.
After describing Sunday's clash with Melbourne as the most important in the Rhinos' recent history and offering players the entire STG50,000 ($A86,700) winners' pot, Hetherington says it's time for the respective leagues to treat the WCC concept with the same respect.
"My understanding is that this is the final year of a three-year contract between the RFL and the NRL to play the game here in England at this time of year," said Hetherington, who first floated the six-team idea in 2008.
"Now is the time to develop it further. I know it is on the agenda and I know it has been discussed with a number of NRL club chief executives to expand it.
"The Champions' League in soccer and the Heineken Cup in rugby union have shown the potential for proper international club competitions."
Hetherington's proposal involves the third-placed sides from each hemisphere playing on a Friday night in the UK next February, with the second-placed sides meeting on Saturday and the top teams on Sunday.
The Super League would pause for an entire weekend - instead of using the split round which currently operates - and there would be a prize to the league which won the best-of-three as well as the normal "world champion" title on the line in the final match.
"The NRL and the RFL need to be more proactive in promoting things like this," he said.
"This property would develop its own sponsorship and television rights income and eventually become valuable enough so that places like Singapore or Dubai or cities in Australia could bid for it."
Rhinos utility Greg Eastwood said Hetherington called the players together recently and offered them the whole WCC prize pool if they win at Elland Road on Sunday. That's around A$5200 per man.
"Gary had a chat to the boys and went through the bonuses, about what the club would give us," Eastwood told Rugby League Week.
"It's good money - but we've got to win first."
The former Brisbane and Bulldogs star said the focus on the match in the Leeds camp was so intense that it might have distracted them from their domestic campaign.
"(Coach) Brian McClennan, all he's been talking about since I got here is Melbourne and what we're going to do against them," he said.
"That's good in a way but on the other hand, maybe it's possible to focus too much on Melbourne and let our guard down and we have lost against Wakefield and Castleford."
In team news, Melbourne prop Jeff Lima has erased any doubts over hamstring and foot injuries by training fully in London before the Storm travelled to Leeds by train late today.
Rory Kostjysn and Gareth Widdop are believed to be fighting it out for one Melbourne bench spot.
Leeds have a number of injury doubts, headed by centre Brett Delaney (hamstring) and winger Scott Donald (shoulder).
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Post by Druzik on Feb 24, 2010 16:50:08 GMT 10
which 6 though? If you will go down this path it has to be at least
NRL champions & runners up, ESL champions & runners up, Catalans and NZ warriors if we will have a proper spread across nations.
It should be consistent of two groups of three
Group 1
NRL Champions
ESL Runners up
Catalans
Group 2
ESL Champions
NRL Runners up
Warriors
Then a final of the top two teams... all up 4 weeks of matches, and each year they should oscillate between the two hemispheres.
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Post by Marv on Feb 24, 2010 18:40:23 GMT 10
Catalans and Warriors should be in by default, it gives the comp a better world feel IMO
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Post by kingboy on Feb 25, 2010 5:06:40 GMT 10
It's all very well and good saying expand the WCC, but where exactly would this bigger tournament fit into the calendar?
I'd love to see it happen though. Personally I'd expand it to four teams consisting of one group with the two NRL Grand Finalists, the Challenge Cup winners and Super League Grand Final winners (SL Grand Final runners-up in the event a team wins that and the Challenge Cup).
Play it as a round robin tournament, with each side playing the other once and the top two playing in a final.
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Post by Druzik on Feb 25, 2010 10:19:06 GMT 10
It's all very well and good saying expand the WCC, but where exactly would this bigger tournament fit into the calendar? I'd love to see it happen though. Personally I'd expand it to four teams consisting of one group with the two NRL Grand Finalists, the Challenge Cup winners and Super League Grand Final winners (SL Grand Final runners-up in the event a team wins that and the Challenge Cup). Play it as a round robin tournament, with each side playing the other once and the top two playing in a final. Completely legit points mate... yeas finding time will be an issue. Unless the comps decide to reduce the number of regular season weeks by 2-3. |
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Post by arh21980 on Feb 25, 2010 10:34:17 GMT 10
Catalans and Warriors should be in by default, it gives the comp a better world feel IMO I'd have to be different as I feel these sides have to earn the right to get into it |
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Post by Druzik on Feb 25, 2010 11:35:15 GMT 10
Catalans and Warriors should be in by default, it gives the comp a better world feel IMO I'd have to be different as I feel these sides have to earn the right to get into it That is a fair enough point too. |
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Post by sportsmad on Feb 25, 2010 13:31:58 GMT 10
It's all very well and good saying expand the WCC, but where exactly would this bigger tournament fit into the calendar? I'd love to see it happen though. Personally I'd expand it to four teams consisting of one group with the two NRL Grand Finalists, the Challenge Cup winners and Super League Grand Final winners (SL Grand Final runners-up in the event a team wins that and the Challenge Cup). Play it as a round robin tournament, with each side playing the other once and the top two playing in a final. Completely legit points mate... yeas finding time will be an issue. Unless the comps decide to reduce the number of regular season weeks by 2-3. ha! thats not going to happen with the most important tv deal in NRL history approaching |
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Post by arh21980 on Feb 27, 2010 19:56:21 GMT 10
Rhinos chief eyes challenge expansion
Friday 26th February 10
Leeds Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington is calling for an expansion of the annual Gillette World Club Challenge into a six-team tournament, starting in 2011.
As the Rhinos prepare to do battle in a one-off fixture with Australian champions Melbourne Storm at Elland Road on Sunday, Hetherington believes the time is right to throw the tournament open to the top three clubs from Engage Super League and their NRL counterparts.
Hetherington would like to see this weekend set aside every year for the enlarged challenge, with the third-placed finishers meeting on the Friday, the two Grand Final runners-up clashing on the Saturday and the respective champions doing battle on the Sunday.
“I’d like to think the RFL and the NRL could grasp the opportunity that has been given to them by the clubs that have competed in this tournament, particularly over the past five years, and grown its credibility and status,” said Hetherington.
“On Sunday we are going to see a crowd in excess of 25,000, which is fairly unique because this is the only cup final you get with only one set of supporters.
“The level of crowds in recent years has been quite outstanding and shows there is terrific interest.
“Now is the time to extend it further to a six-team tournament. You would still have the World Club Challenge but it would reward another four teams.
“It’s effectively Leeds Rhinos’ game on Sunday but it needs to be more representative of Super League.
“If you look at the way sport has gone in general, there is a real appetite for internationalised club games.
“In soccer there is the Champions League and in rugby union you’ve got the Heineken Cup. This is rugby league’s opportunity - and its only opportunity - to internationalise the club fixtures.”
Hetherington’s proposal would be a scaled-down version of the 1997 World Club Championship which featured all 22 Super League clubs in both Europe and Australia and produced a host of one-sided matches.
The Leeds boss believes Engage Super League clubs have narrowed the gap since then and points to recent results in the World Club Challenge, which has been won by British clubs 11 times out of a possible 15 since 1987.
“We believe we will be able to compete,” he said. “We’ve shown that year on year. We were miles adrift in 1997 but now we can certainly compete.”
The innovative Hetherington, who was one of the main movers in the switch to summer rugby in 1996, believes an expansion of the annual clash of the champions could eventually lead to a new, exciting venue.
“The challenge for the game would be over the next two or three years to actually build it so that it has got such commercial value that it would attract other cities and destinations,” he said.
“That could be Singapore, Dubai, Australia, South Africa or wherever there is an appetite to stage the tournament. At present it’s not big enough to attract international destinations but it could be one day.”
Hetherington says he has already gained support for his idea from Australian clubs, who have been notorious in the past for their insular attitudes, and says it could be introduced in time for 2011.
“There is no reason why it couldn’t happen next year,” he said.
“The chief executives I’ve spoken to over the last 12 to 15 months have all been supportive of the concept,” he said.
“The Australians are now looking at broadening their horizons in terms of internationalising their brand as well.”
Meanwhile, Australian centre Brett Delaney has been passed fit to take his place in the Leeds line-up for Sunday’s game.
“We were always confident he would be right,” said coach Brian McClennan.
The return of Delaney, the former Gold Coast Titan who injured a knee on his home debut, will enable teenager Kallum Watkins to switch to the left wing in place of Scott Donald, who is out for three months with a shoulder injury.
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Post by arh21980 on Feb 27, 2010 20:00:55 GMT 10
The more I hear of this Hetherington fellow I like. He must be the ESL version of Michael Searle (Titans CEO, someone who thought of the idea of an indpendent commission in Australia and the Allstars game)
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Post by sportsmad on Feb 27, 2010 22:34:23 GMT 10
no one can top michael searle!!
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Post by Druzik on Feb 28, 2010 8:46:58 GMT 10
The more I hear of this Hetherington fellow I like. He must be the ESL version of Michael Searle (Titans CEO, someone who thought of the idea of an indpendent commission in Australia and the Allstars game) Many a Hull FC fan would disagree with you I think  |
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Post by arh21980 on Mar 1, 2010 2:01:32 GMT 10
Bellamy doubtful over WCC expansion
Posted February 28, 2010 14:43:00
Two-time premiership-winning coach Craig Bellamy has rejected calls for the World Club Challenge to be expanded.
The Melbourne mentor has long advocated moving the annual fixture so that it is played alternately in Australia and England and shortly after both grand finals in aligned seasons.
But he does not see a future for the proposal by Gary Hetherington, chief executive at reigning Super League champions Leeds, to include six teams in the WCC from 2011.
"I can't see it happening," Bellamy said in Leeds ahead of the Storm's WCC clash with the Rhinos on Sunday (Monday AEDT).
"It's not my decision, and it's someone else's idea, but I just can't see it happening, three teams coming over here.
"We'd all be a lot keener on the concept as a whole if we played in Australia every now and then, or every second year.
"Without making excuses, it's a big thing to travel over here."
Hetherington recently rekindled an idea he first floated in 2008 to involve the top three teams in each competition in a WCC to be played over an entire weekend.
Under the plan, the third-placed sides from each hemisphere would play on a Friday night in the UK next February, with the second-placed sides meeting on Saturday and the top teams on Sunday.
The Super League would pause for the weekend to make way for the fixture, rather than the current split-round system.
But problems remain in the timing and location, with Australian sides having to make a long-haul flight and compete in English conditions shortly before their new season starts.
"That's not an excuse, because we enjoy coming over here and to play in a big game like this, it's a prestigious event," Bellamy said.
"We're only too happy to come, but ... having your teams that finish second and third in the competition coming over and playing as well, I'm not quite sure what that's going to prove to be quite honest.
"The ideal thing, if we had time and you wanted to go with the top three teams, is to play a bit of a round-robin type thing, but with the schedule we've got and the schedule the English have got too, you just wouldn't be able to fit that in."
Another problem for both teams is that the WCC is a clash of grand final-winning sides that are often without several grand finalists because it is played the following year.
Storm captain Cameron Smith believes that takes away some of the charm.
"Maybe the timing could be a bit better if we aligned both competitions and play a couple of weeks after each grand final and then play it that way," Smith said.
"If you do it like that, each club can try and keep their same team that won the grand final.
"Playing with your side that won the grand final versus the English Super League premiers, their side, and if you beat them, well that's a true indication of who's the best team in the world."
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