I'd focus on the dangers of any sport with international aspirations taking an insular and blinkered approach rather than an open, "willing to learn" approach, with particular reference to Rugby League in the UK.

Great Britain last won the Rugby League Ashes v Australia in 1970 and also won the Rugby League World Cup in 1972. After that, there was something of a player drain from the UK to Australia (Phil Lowe, Mal Reilly, Cliff Watson etc).

The error was that GB sought and won an "international transfer ban". We here in the UK then thought all was rosy whilst, unnoticed, the Aussies went to the USA to learn from American Football.

Result? The Aussies came here in 1982 and we didn't know what had hit us. We lost the Test series 3-nil and the Aussies won every match of the tour. British Rugby League has arguably never recovered. The only slight improvement of late has been as a result of British players and coaches exposing themselves to the top level of Rugby League in Australia.

The lesson is not be become blinkered and insular with a 'closed shop' approach, but to have open eyes and open minds and learn from other globally successful sports.

AustrIan Rugby League, like Australia generally, still tends to look to the USA for inspiration. Eg considering the NRL adopting a game of 4 quarters with more time for TV advertising etc.

Could the answer as regards the future success of British Rugby League, be to watch, work with and learn from Soccer? The most successful global sport in the world, something Australia doesn't really have and a game where the English Premier League arguably sets the global standards.

On the back of a beermat was it?
Go to the last page of the SPOTY thread......you'll see a map that pretty much explains why the media consider RL a minor and regional sport

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I like your ideas. Mostly administration and media based so I wonder as a journalist if comparing sports is the best way to go. Focusing on rugby league would be interesting for a RL fan but comparisons with other sports (football being the most likely) gives you more breadth and allows you to vary your examples and conclusions depending on which way your research goes.

Just to throw in another angle for you, you could also do a dissertation on what makes a great player great. Lots to work with there.

Good luck either way

If a journalism degree, I would have thought a dissertation on the marginalisation of the game by the national media. Compare the exposure it gets by comparing it to other sports and separating it into regions. For example, compare it's participation and spectator and viewing figures in the industrial north against other sports. David Hinchcliffe MP wrote a very good book called Rugbys Class War. Gary Schofield's Rugby League Masterpieces is also very good.

Fundamentally, it's an issue of class, so it takes it beyond sport.

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