Quote: Wirefan "I just don't see, long term anyway and once the novelty wears off, Toronto being sustainable as a SL team. In fact I think it's ridiculous to have a domestic-international league. Catalan and Toulouse are about bearable but bringing in teams from across the Atlantic is a joke, regardless of their initial success. It's also another home game with no atmosphere for SL clubs.
RL doesn't have an international presence and never will have. It just isn't strong enough. It's not even strong enough in the heartlands. The best we can hope for is a return to a british and Irish lions type offering but even then we'll do something to ruin it. Like marketing it as some kind of WWE event.
Bradford may not have been abandoned but in fact the RL buying their ground has been more a hindrance not a blessing. I do agree their owners are to blame but to see a club with some 15000 fans to languish in the lower tiers isn't acceptable to me. The RFLs recent sanctions have made it impossible for them to rebuild. Just my opinion.
We also missed a trick at the end of the last world cup. It was marketed really well, was successful in attracting fans to all games and gerenally was a success. The RFL then did sod all to keep the momentum going.'"
Sport is becoming global so I see no reason why the 'Toronto model' cannot work. As for 'no atmosphere' sports like NFL in USa and to a great extent NRL do not enjoy big 'away' attendances.
What we do need is a completely new management team at the RFL. I think Roger Draper ( providing he's given a budget and sticks to it ) is the sort of character who can think big. RL DOES have an international tradition focused around GB v Aus test matches (not unlike cricket in that regard) and, though we ballsed up the opportunity to seize the name, we did have the first Rugby World Cup. You are right about the way we wasted a big opportunity at the end of the last one ( but that's my point about the RFL management ). Bradford had poor attendances for years - really SuperLeague was an aberration over their long-term record - and, in the end, overspent, as did Wigan in the 1980s. That the RFL bought Odsal may have proved a hindrance to their chances of a quick revival but, had they not done so, the club would not exist at all, now.
Union has increased in popularity by making the game more like rugby league (blind eyes to technical offences in play, reinterpreting the rules about releasing the ball when tackled to allow for 'placing' the ball, behind you for a team mate to pick up ) and by building on their 'establishment' base in the corporate sector. It's not an easy thing for smaller, established clubs to accept, but, to expand, direct investment by the governing body is necessary. In Aus, NRL competes with AFL in a parallel with RL v RU in UK ( RU meaning little there). Establishing Melbourne Storm in
[iAFL [/iheartlands took lots of investment, and (despite the club's later issues over salary cap offences) it has been a success. Could not have happened if NRL had stayed with a 'heartlands only' approach.
Get rid of big Nig and move on.
