International RL Blog

“Rugby league is going global and there’s no turning back,”   claims former Wigan and Wakefield great and ex-Penrith, Sydney, back rower Bill Ashurst, after visiting Serbia. Ashurst, who made three appearances for Great Britain in the early 1970s before heading to play in Australia, was a part of the England Lionhearts (North West) U18 coaching stuff that participated in the Belgrade Trophy recently, a four nation tournament for U18s. “I never imagined that rugby league would bring me to places like Serbia,” he said. “The game has so much grown since my playing time and it’s a wonderful thing, I’m glad that I can still be part of it.” A professional player for almost 20 years, Ashurst was man of the match, winning the Harry Sunderland Trophy, in the 1970-71 Championship final when at home-town Wigan and was signed by Penrith for a then record fee. He was subsequently voted into the Panthers’ ‘Team of Legends’ in 2006, and also played at Wembley in the 1979 Challenge Cup fi...

The RLIF has approved that if Australia qualifies for a Quarter-Final, it will play in Darwin.  If New Zealand qualifies for a Quarter-Final, it will play in Wellington.  If Australia and New Zealand were to play each other in a Quarter-Final or Semi-Final, whoever finishes higher in the pool stage will get the home advantage.  The full Quarter-Final fixture will be finalised at the conclusion of the pool stages, taking in to consideration hosting requirements. If Australia and New Zealand make the Semi-Finals they will play in Brisbane and Auckland respectively. Rugby League World Cup 2017 Tournament Draw *Kick off times to be announced ahead of tournament Date           Match Type      Match-Up                   Venue 27/10/2017 Pool – Round 1 Australia vs England Melbourne Rectangular Stadium 28/10/2017 Pool – Round 1 PNG v Euro Q1 Port Moresby (venue TBA) 28/10/2017 P...

http://www.rlif.com/article/8118/watch-the-official-rlwc-video

The RLWC2017 has announced the draw for the tournament to be co-hosted by  Australia,  New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.  Melbourne Rectangular Stadium will host a blockbuster opening match of the RLWC2017,  when the home nation – the Kangaroos – begin their campaign under  lights against England  on Friday, October 27.  The following day the Kiwis first pool match will be played at the home of Rugby League in  New Zealand – Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium – when they take on  Pacific rivals Samoa.  Port Moresby will host the PNG Kumuls' three pool matches against two European Qualifiers  and the USA. The first match is scheduled for Saturday, October 28 and  in a country where  Rugby League is the national sport, the passionate fans of PNG  are sure to embrace the  sport's pinnacle event.  The World Cup Final will be decided at Brisbane Stadium on Saturday December 2, as the  two fina...

Canada made an impressive start to the new America’s Championship, with a comprehensive, seven-try win over the Reggae Warriors in Levittown, Pennsylvania, USA, home of the Bucks County Sharks.   Both sides were very different to the squads that played in the World Cup Qualifiers seven months ago, the Wolverines forced into further last minute changes which saw coach Jamie Lester come out of retirement after young half Barak Pauls failed his fitness test at the captain’s run a few hours before the game.   “ Our forwards laid the platform with some strong running and the whole team defended well which was most pleasing,” said Lester.  “To keep your opposition from scoring a try is always what you hope to achieve."  The match was disrupted by a thunderstorm which forced the sides to leave the field for half an hour, by which time Canada were 24-0 ahead. The power of prop Denny McCarthy close to the line opened the scoring, Josh Kelly converting, Ro...

Professional sports club seeks athletes for playing contracts  All Suitable Applicants Welcome The Toronto Wolfpack are the newest professional sports club in North America and they are seeking athletes to play one of the most demanding and spectacular sports on the planet – Rugby League. They are hosting open trials in eight separate venues across the USA and Canada in August, September and October 2016 The Toronto Wolfpack are based at Lamport Stadium, Toronto Canada and are a brand new club which has been admitted to the British Rugby League for the 2017 season.  Visit http://lasttacklemedia.com/  to sign up for this unique opportunity

Marc Palanques is the new Federation Française de Rugby a Treize president, the federation’s 15th leader, following elections held this weekend. Twenty-four directors have also been elected from whom an executive committee will be appointed under Palanques, who will resign his seat on the AS Carcassonne XIII board as he replaces Toulousain incumbent Carlos Zalduendo. Monsieur Palanque won 218 of 332 votes following a three-month campaign that promised to prioritise the French Elite championship and the national team, and he will now work to re-unify what amounts to two blocs within the electorate. FFRXIII will nominate a new director to the RLEF Board in due course. Monsieur Zalduendo will also step down from the Rugby League International Federation Board, where he sat as one of two RLEF-nominated directors, alongside Graeme Thompson.

The NRL and Digicel have come together in a three year partnership with the aim to use RL as a tool to educate and empower countries in the Pacific. NRL Pacific Outreach Program: educating youth and women across the Pacific with a focus on achieving real social change. Sponsorship of the Australian Prime Minister’s XIII tours Introduction of a ‘Pacific Warrior’ program to uncover RL talent in the Pacific The announcement of the partnership was made on Tuesday at the National Football Stadium in Port Moresby. The two player ambassadors of the partnership are captain of the Australian Jilaroos, Ruan Sims and PNG’s very own Stanton Albert who is playing for the Penrith Panthers in the New South Wales Cup. The partnership has three priorities: More than 200, 000 students and 1,000 teachers across a 100 schools in PNG, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga will benefit from this partnership with the NRL implementing tailored educational resources and health and awareness programs. CEO ...

The RLIF is set to review eligibility criteria for international RL and is considering allowing players from Australia ,  New Zealand  and  England  to nominate a second country for which they qualify. Australia ,  New Zealand  and  England  would be classified as "Tier One" nations and all other countries "Tier Two."  An eligible player could swap from a Tier One nation to a Tier Two nation but could not swap between two Tier One nations.  The aim of the move is to increase the chances of Tier Two nations and make them competitive at international level. It would also still give players who qualify for Tier Two nations e.g. Tyson Frizzel the chance to play SoO. As the Kangaroos players receive approximately $20 000 (Australian) per game, the financial incentive of playing for  Australia  are obvious b ut the RLIF want to expand international RL and do not want to reduce the chances of  Fiji ,  Samoa , ...