International RL Blog

On the eve of the first and long planned RL competition in the Philippines, Typhoon Karen hit landfall with Legazpi City and therefore Bicol University and the Albay Sports Complex directly in its path. Fiftyone RL pioneers had travelled for 13 hours by bus to get from Manila to Legazpi City and not even Typhoon Karen could stop them from playing.  The results for the inaugural Erick Paul Estepa Elefante Cup are as follows: Game 1 - full time 6-0, Manila Storm 6 v UB Toros - 0 Game 2 - full time 16-0, Central Luzon Crusaders 16 v Albay Vulcans - 0 Game 3 – full time 10-4, Albay Vulcans 10 v UB Toros 4 Game 4 – full time 4-0, Central Luzon Crusaders 4 v Manila Storm 0

After watching the Wigan v Castleford  Challenge Cup game on Saturday most people would have been talking about the farce the obstruction rule has become rather than a very exciting match. Castleford were great and thankfully the poor decisions didn't affect the result. Surely spectators and viewers want to watch players play rather than referees adjudicate and action needs to be taken soon because the current interpretation of the obstruction rule is yet another over complicated system which cannot possibly work. As our hero Stan said to his mate Oli, "The fish will catch themselves, the people who buy the fish won't have to pay and all the profits will go to the fish" Perfectly put and I personally would abolish the video referee altogether but this won't happen. We should at least say that the referee decides on obstruction as with a foward pass. Just as Castleford were great, Leigh (playing Leeds on Thursday) were absolutely magnificent. Unfortunately,...

In real life, I have sat through numerous work based meetings and wearily listened to inexperienced colleagues describe over complicated systems that could not possibly work. I often found my mind wandering to the scene in the Laurel and Hardy film where Stan describes how they will improve their latest money making scheme by buying a boat I had similar thoughts when I first heard the outcome of the RFLs restructuring scheme involving the 12 x 2 and 3 x 8 option.....etc. It seemed massively over complicated but we're stuck with it now so we'll have to make do and hope for the best.  (Let's not even think about the current interpretation of obstruction) Before it's even had the chance to be implemented we're faced with a ludicrous situation as a direct result. Little old Keighley Cougers (... yes, Keighley Cougers) feel the need to play a weakened team in a televised Challenge Cup quarter final against (little old) Widnes. This was probably the biggest and mo...

RL has been sanitised to the point where at times it is difficult to recognise it as the same tough game played just a few years ago. Let's face facts and be realistic, RL is a contact sport and tempers are bound to become frayed at times but by and large it is honest which is more than other bigger sports (e.g. soccer) can say. I do not condone fighting or bad behaviour but unfortunately we have let media organisations (SKY and News Corp preaching to us?) impose their inconsistent standards upon us and our sport has lost some of it's character. Those same media organisations (certainly in the UK) now ignore us because we are obviously not interesting enough

Last week I watched some of the England v Wales RU match on TV. The action on the pitch was very dull but I quite enjoyed the numerous shots of the coaching staff where ex-Rugby League stars Mike Ford, Shaun Edwards and Roly Phillips were very much in evidence. The match itself featured ex-NZ RL international Shontayne Hape (playing for England ???) and the undoubted star was ex-Wigan player Chris Ashton. If Rugby League players/coaches are in such great demand does the sport itself have any reason to look at the future with anything other than great confidence? These people have not been missed and if RU cannot produce it's own talent, isn't that a problem for them? It's brings to mind the enternal, internal debate between the optimists and pessimists within us. Is the glass half empty or is it half full? This weekends Millenium Magic event was certainly entertaining stuff althought the huge stadium was nowhere near full. Surely the aim of playing these games in Cardif...

The new RL season started yesterday (did anybody notice the publicity?) and one of the first matches will see Toulouse entertain Dewsbury in the Northern Rail Cup. The Toulouse RL team represent a large, vibrant city in southern France while Dewsbury come from a small Yorkshire town in the traditional English RL heartlands. Throughout the season Toulouse will travel to and from similar small towns in the north of England and most of their away matches will take place in front of pitifully small crowds. The English RFL are paying the travel expenses but is this money well spent? Surely it would be much better to use this money spent subsidising travel arrangements to relaunch the French Championship. It certainly needs it because the removal of two of the strongest teams in UTC (renamed Les Catalans) and Toulouse has decimated a once strong competition. There aren't many clubs left, most are struggling...

I don't normally go in for self pity and always prefer people who count their blessings. However, I do admit to feeling sad when I see Wigan born, product of the Wigan Academy and ex-Wigan player Chris Ashton pursuing a successful RU career. It's a free country and I don't blame him for following the money but things could've been handled so much better. Wigan have a long tradition of ex-international players becoming coaches at the club and I fully expected Shaun Edwards and Andy Farrell to follow. It's a free country but it makes me feel extremely sad when I read about their coaching exploits in RU. RL has traditionally been integrated into local communities and many prominant players have followed fathers (e.g. Shaun Edwards) and other family members into the game. It is particularly galling to watch Owen Farrell (son of Andy) playing RU successfully when he should be playing for Wigan. Watch out for George Ford (son of ex-Wigan player Mike...

The 2010 Atlantic Cup continued in Jacksonville, USA. The second match of a closely fought competition took place between Canada and Jamaica Mug White " USA Rugby League Football / MAP " Sports

The recent Atlantic Cup took place in Jacksonville, USA and involved USA, Jamaica and Canada. The opening game was between the host nation USA and Jamaica We should all support RL in the USA

Consider this. The USA sets up a professional RL comptition with professional marketing and promotion. It is successful, achieves significant growth and becomes fashionable. Interest developes throughout the world and RL starts to be taken seriously rather than a regional sport. A successful, fully professional USA RL competition is very possible. The USA could then export RL to other countries (including the UK and Australia) as they do with much of their lifestyle, culture etc… It would give us much needed credibility. RL could no longer be portrayed as a minority sport played by northerers/antipodeans. We should all suppport USA RL.

There has been much talk recently of England players such as James Graham and James Roby joining Sam Burgess and Gareth Ellis in the NRL and how this will improve their game and also make our international team more competitive. It is a free country and if any player wants to play in the NRL I wish them well but to suggest, as some have, that this is the only option open to England and it's players is silly. There are some big clubs in the SL with big budgets. With or without injuries, we should be able to compete with Australia and NZ. Anything else is defeatest talk Steve McNamara was an unsuccessful SL coach with Bradford and the same is true with England. I accept that some young players gained some good experience but coaches are judged on results. St Helens have been very succesful in the SL era with their cavalier, off-the-cuff, keep the ball alive style of rugby which is a joy to watch at home but suicidal in the international arena. We must be mor...

I thought the English players in the recent Four Nations looked  very tired. The RFL should look to ways to reduce their workload and a reduced number of matches in SL is an obvious option. The clubs would complain about reduced turnstile receipts with some justification but in reality, scarcity adds value and this should improve revenues in the medium/long term in addition to providing more the intense, competitive matches the players need. Fewer imports are another obvious modification we could easily introduce especially in crucial positions e.g. half back. To be fair though the RFL have addressed this issue A squad system as used in cricket/RU and cricket is another possible alternative where selected players are on central contracts but the number of club matches they can play is severely limited. Kevin Pietersen is an extreme example of a centrally contracted cricket player who doesn't seem to...

So, our national side was defeated yet again and it's time for English RL's annual self appraisal. We're depressed and down hearted and some of us might be thinking, is this really more trouble than it's worth? In 1817, while living in Venice Lord Byron wrote a famous poem called "So, We'll Go No More a-Roving" expressing doubts about his hedonistic lifestyle Maybe we should stay at home too and concentrate on club competitions. We could quit international RL and allow our friends down under to continue to develop their NRL code of football with two referees and no corner flags. We could continue to proclaim how good SL is every year and forget about beating the Aussies. Absolutely not. Like Lord Byron, we must go a-roving. He carried on and died seven years later We must continue to participate and develop International RL or the sport will wither and die. I was alarmed at the lack of coverage g...

I remember saying to a friend of mine a few years ago that you couldn't beat International RL for drama in sport. I'm deliberately writing this in the middle of the competition and I still think this is true. We could do with some more variety and more unpredictability but for sheer entertainment, International RL is great When, when, when will the English team perform to their true potential. Sam Burgess and Gareth Ellis have been stars in NRL this year and there are plenty more like them. Graham, Roby, Westwood, Tomkins etc are great players in SL if they can just do themselves justice on an international stage. Greg Eastwood has been very ordinary all year in SL but he performed well when it counted. Australian administrators please note. I’ve just said that Greg Eastwood performed when it counted i.e. in an international match. They are the pinnacle of any sport and should be treated as such. Anybody who treats a...

A leaked e-mail has recently come to my attention written by GB RL boss and Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) board member Richard Lewis. It concerns International Rugby League eligibility rules and part of it is shown below:- "the international eligibility rules are totally wrong. I and the whole of the RFL have tried on numerous occasions to get the rules changed at international board level. We have failed because Australia (in particular) and New Zealand have an advantage by keeping the rules as they are, so changes are constantly filibustered out" It is from a reliable source and contains no great surprises. It certainly explains a lot. It is very silly that Jarad Hayne should be allowed to play for Fiji in the World Cup then a year later turn out for Australia. Likewise Chris Bridge played for Ireland then England and many other examples could be given. Players should not be able to swap nations like they swap clubs. This sort of...