International RL Blog

For the last few weeks I have been searching through various on-line and off-line media outlets to find some information about the series of RL Nines festivals which are currently taking place in the UK. To put it mildly, it has been very difficult but if organised and marketed correctly, these festivals could provide a significant boost to international RL and provide new opportunities for players. I suggest that the international element is emphasised with a core group of countries taking part and it wouldn't be difficult to make a commitment that teams representing England, Wales, France, Australia, NZ would compete throughout. The festivals should be held with as wide a geographical spread as possible with an intention to expand and (at least) England, Wales and France would be a good starting point. Invitations could be issued to other teams, nations or organisations such as BARLA, NZ Maoris, Australian Aborigine, Jacksonville Axemen, Queensland Residents, GB Army etc or per...

The next Four Nations competition is scheduled to take place this Autumn in the UK and should involve England, Wales Australia and NZ. There is a major problem. No dates/venues have been confirmed and thus it is impossible to to buy, or even plan to buy, tickets. It is less than four months until the scheduled start and potential spectators throughout the world are still in the dark. This is our annual opportunity to put our sport and our fantastic athletes in the shop window and show the world what they are missing. There have been rumours of a double header at Wembley but nothing has been confirmed. The RLIF met recently and I have been waiting for some news to no avail. There is nothing on the RLIF website which just directs visitors to other sites and the Four Nations link wasn't working the last time I tried Other sports plan their showcase events years in advance and then concentrate on high quality promotion/marketing in to order gain the maximum possible exposure a...

I'm still unhappy with the "Exiles" name and would prefer "ANZAC XIII" or even "Other Nationalities. I don't like the "International Origin" title either because it most definitely is not an "International" or an "Origin" match. Despite these reservations, I thought the International Origin Match was reasonably entertaining although it seemed quite shallow and false but a reasonable crowd meant that it could be judged as a success. As always happens in internationals, the play the balls were much slower than normal and I don't understand why this should be so. It produced a close scoreline and an exciting match but all the players involved are used to playing SL interpretations and this should have continued. The Exile Dad Army were more committed than I expected and gave England the tough game they were looking for although the defeat will not impress our Australian and NZ opponents who will field much stronger (an...

The RFL will continue their nines competition on 7/6/11 at a series of venues across the north of England involving various established clubs and others including Cumbria. I can remember enjoying similar ventures including the British Coal nines (won by Warrington and shown on BBC 1 on Sportsnight) and the World Nines played in Fiji. It is a good showcase for our game, an excellent way of introducing newcomers and great way of spreading the word It is hoped that nines will become a popular vehicle for the sport in the same way 20-20 has helped boost the popularity of cricket. Some clever and effective marketing will be needed to achieve this and TV coverage will be vital. I suggest that the competition should be given an international flavour rather than relying on club teams with the addition of some interesting guests e.g. Cumbria, GB Police, GB Army ... etc. It would be easy to organise teams to represent England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, Australia and NZ while the partic...

I was looking forward to reading about the career of one of the leading British Rugby League players of his generation but the subtitle of the book should've provided a warning. "Booze, Brawls, Sex and Scandal -  The Autobiography of the Wild Man of  Rugby  League" It's undemanding but interesting enough, Sean does his best to provide minor league celebrity gossip and in the process feed his vanity and live up to his self description. He seems to think that everybody is interested in tittle tattle about his sex life and booze inspired juvenile pranks. Sorry Sean, we're not. I would be surprised if some his family, friends and equally famous colleagues are not embarrassed to have their antics recorded for posterity. I suspect that Sean himself might regret some of the information divulged in the not too distant future Sean does write in detail about his distinguished Rugby League career including the notorious betting scandal and the famous "wide to West"...

England are due to play the "Exiles" next month in a match dubbed an international and evisaged as necessary preparation for the end of season, Four Nations competition. I am personally uneasy about the concept and would prefer international matches to be competitions between sovereign nations but I am also unhappy about the name because, even allowing for the way use of language changes, the word "exile" has connotations of penal servitude which is obviously insulting to our Australian friends. The concept actually deomonstrates how history has a habit of repeating itself England's first International RL match took place in 1904 when they  defeated the Other Nationalities 9-3 at  Bradford. It was not a spectacular start for International RL as the game was played in poor weather on a Tuesday afternoon at the same time as a Broughton Rangers v Bradford cup tie which caused player withdrawals and affected the attendance. Only 6000 spectator...

I was born in Salford and worked for many years within the City but after a long absence I returned there recently for a brief visit. In reality, I visited Swinton which is a separate location within the City of Salford and is home to a small but busy shopping centre and the administrative offices of Salford council. Famous Salford resident LS Lowry, who painted famous pictures of "match stalk men and match stalk cats and dogs" was actually a life long resident of Swinton and lived on Station Road nearby. Swinton, and particularly Station road, are also famous for a Rugby League team who were once one of the biggest names in the game and in 1927/28 were one of only three clubs to win all four cups played for in one season. Their successful team of the 1960's won the Championship twice with stars such as Alan Buckley, John Stopford and Ken Gowers. Station Road was the venue for numerous international matches between Great Britain and other nations in particular Australi...