Rugby league is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, despite what many of the local rugby league journos would have you believe.
However, it is now beginning to look at infiltrating some of the toughest markets in the world, including the United States - a country that has a unique sporting landscape. The NFL sits king for 21 weeks of the year. The NBA sits in second with the NHL and MLB also among the ranks.
No other country in the world as a sporting landscape like it. Australia has the NRL and AFL battle it out for winter supremacy, although the country is split there, with QLD and NSW a dominant NRL market, while Victoria, SA and WA are AFL states.
In summer, cricket is king with a sprinkling of tennis courtesy of the Australian Open. The A-League and rugby union battle for survival, really only gaining large amounts of coverage during world cup years.
Over in England, football is the most dominant sport and covers the largest time period, with the regular season running for 38 weeks virtually uninterrupted, coupled with tournaments including the Euros, World Cups and Nations League. There can be in excess of 40 weeks of football in a year. Rugby union for the most part sits second while league is the second most dominant sport in the north of the country, courtesy of areas such as Merseyside.
For league to grow, it needs to appear as a more attractive and lucrative sport than union. Rugby has not really evolved in the past 120 years, while league has. Union has relied on things such as its heritage, upper class roots and government deals to remain above league.
The US provides an opportunity to grow league beyond the interesting sideshow it currently is. The Toronto Wolfpack will play in the Super League this year - the first fully professional, first grade North American team in history. There is currently a bid to have a New York City rugby league team admitted into League One of the EFL. Rugby league is growing.
But how to make it even more attractive?
First, the number of players could be dropped to 11. Warren Ryan has always maintained that the best rugby league is between 11 players on each side. You could maintain a six man bench with 8 interchanges permitted, allowing for situations where a specialist goal kicker could be brought on at the end of a match or a super sub. This opens the game up and provides more excitement for fans.
Second, professional teams should be scouting US college set ups. There are thousands of athletes who, each year, try to enter the NFL. Only a few hundred will. Some will depart for Europe, others will head to the CFL and soon some will no doubt head to the XFL.
But this presents an opportunity to swoop in and offer these incredibly talented and hard-working athletes a chance to make it in a professional sport. The NRL could offer a form of scholarship deal for say 16 handpicked players. They receive a wage and train for 12 months in an NRL run program. At the end of those 12 months they are effectively put up for a draft to the NRL. Each club will get a chance to have one of these players on their rosters for another 12 months, salary cap exempt and paid directly by the NRL. It's up to the clubs if they want to extend them after that period.
It's a low risk option for the clubs and provides a path to become a professional athlete for the players. Something many of them train their whole lives for.
Is it time to hit the US?
Replies
It's been tried to death over in the US and it's been tried when the game was at a much better standard and when you could shoulder charge and punch and it still failed, it has no hope today with all the rule changes and poor standard of players.
I would pay big money to see Super talk to Vlandys .
I think you use the Nines as a way to infiltrate new markets the way Rugby has with Sevens. Ideally, you'd set up the Nines as its own competition. Use it as a way to recruit new players, teach them the rules away from the spotlight of week in, week out NRL.
Listening to Peter Peters on the weekend said he has just spent 2 weeks in Perth and said there has been NO interest what so ever in the nines and also said did not see much interest in th S O O being taken there as well .as I have always said . Our game has been tried over there and failed. Why they keep going back and trying is beyond comprehension in my humble opinion
Everyone loves high scoring games yes, but in the same way non football(soccer)fans think its boring because there may be only one goal, real fans of both games appreciate the grind.look how exciting the gf was last year, the defensive battle only cracked open at the death, great stuff.taking away 2 players each will kill that and it will just be a glorified game of touch.changing something to make it appeal to others at the detriment of the people who love it for what it is, makes no sense to me.
The key to me is for the NRL to shorten the club season down to at least 20 rounds, if not 18 or even 16, tighten the Origin schedule and allow International League to breathe.
I think we could move to a conference system with two conferences. Split the competition into two groups of 8. You play the teams in your conference home and away (14 games). Play the other 8 once. Total of 22 games. You've now knocked 3 weeks off the season. And you get more of an even competition regarding home/away season.
Ive been hearing this BS for years, its all pie in the sky stuff and the thought of changing the game to 11 players for the usa is ridiculous.
Youve been telling us for years hiow much league is growing, reality is its never going to make an impact in the states or china.
We should be putting our time and money into pacific nation countries and consolidating the game there.
Remember you were telling us how big the games getting in malta lol? its all BS mate, a few micky mouse teams doesnt mean its getting bigger anywhere.
Hahahahahaha I remember when Super was going on about how big the game is in Malta , it still don't compare to him telling us how great Steve Sharp and Parra first were going to be for the club .
Malta recently won the Emerging Nations World Championships. The country's only world title in any sport. European rugby league is growing fast. There are teams in Serbia, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Spain.
Rugby league will never make an impact in the biggest markets if it's never given the chance. The establishment of the Wolfpack in Toronto shows that with the right investment and the right amount of ambition, you can crack the market.
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