Why must we move?

By Daniel Andruczyk

This week we saw that the NRL and AFL were in “negotiation” about which grounds need to be used for the Soccer World Cup if Australia were to win the hosting rights. Some news from Russia and Estonia on some competition and Jamaica and the USA have some news on their respective competitions. Also I answer a readers question from last week.

State of Origin

So this week there was the announcement that The NRL along with other football codes, sat down with the FFA to discuss which Stadiums can be used for their world cup. It then came out that Rugby Leagues Show piece may be moved to smaller stadiums like Parramatta or WIN. No I don’t know about you but that is just ludicrous! So does this mean that the FFA are deliberately targeting the disruption of the State of Origin and our competition?

Why the hell cant the FFA work around us, do they need to schedule a match in Sydney or Brisbane the same night as State of Origin? See for our sport it can be a huge opportunity to show case our sport to the rest of the world, who knows how many overseas soccer fans could have a stab at seeing the State of Origin as something else to do to experience Australian Culture and get hooked on the sport?

COO of the NRL, Graham Annesley, said that if we did move then he would ask for compensation. I am sorry but there is no amount of compensation to make up for the fact that the sport will be exposed to such a massive world wide audience. If we want to promote our sport then we have to have it in the biggest and best stadiums we can. Thank goodness that we will have two Rugby League World Cups in that time to get our sport bigger and more exposed to the international audiences.

Russia

The Russians are looking to revive the Victory Cup. This will most probably be in a 7s or 9s format. It will be held on the 29 and 30th May and the deadline for teams to register is 30th April. For teams that may want more information on the Victory Cup and may be interested in participating they can contact Rasul Sharipov via email on rasulsharipov@yandex.ru

Estonia

Word from John that a small 4 team domestic competition has got under way in Tallinn. The four teams involved are, Tallinn, Saku, Narva and Tartu, though no results have come in yet.

Jamaica and the United States of America

So some news from across the Atlantic, or Pacific. First from Jamaica, where I got word from Romeo Monteith that the Jamaican Domestic comp will start on Saturday May 29th.

David Niu has been quite active on twitter this past week and let slip a few things. He is deep in negotiation with a network for the Major Rugby League (NRLUS), also there will be a new AMNRL website being launched in conjunction with a new logo and also the AMNRL season schedule will be announced. The Atlantic Cup has been confirmed so far with the USA and Jamaica playing once again, most probably in Jacksonville once again. The word from the Jamaicans is that they are more than happy to do this.

Also Planning is advanced on the Italian tour by the USA and also the Italian tour later in the year to the USA.

Where to buy?

So its no great secret that I write on occasion for Rugby League Review Magazine in Australia. A couple of weeks ago I was asked “Which news agents can I buy RLR in Brisbane” Well I have managed to find the list of places, well a website with them. So here they are the newsagents for the ACT, for QUEENSLAND and for VICTORIA. There doesn’t seem to be a list for NSW but it says that it available right throughout NSW.

But remember the best way to ensure your copy is to do as I do and subscribe to the Magazine, just as I do as well for Rugby League World Magazine in the UK.

Daniel Andruczyk’s email: daniel@rugbyleagueinternationalscores.com