So with the Super League season having started this weekend there is great news involving the super league coming out of Norway. There is also movement in the USA from both the AMNRL and USARL. The Kiwis also have some news coming out with counties Manuka having their General Meeting.
Norwegian TV broadcaster TV2 Sport will be showing the Super League this year. This is exciting news and Warren Heilig’s work getting the sport into the public eye is paying off. The sport will be broadcast right from the get go, with Millennium Magic being shown live into Norway. But the real excitement is not just that the Super League is being broadcast but that during the St Helens game there will be three opportunities given to Rugby League Norway to promote the sport Locally.
So we are getting a tantalizing glimpse of one of the new WAMNRL teams names. On Thursday 10 February on twitter David Niu tweeted:
So it looks like the Las Vegas team will be know as the Vipers and not the Blackjacks as previously thought.
Last week I had a shot at both the AMNRL and USARL for not doing anything with their websites. In my usual bi-daily search through all the websites I have come across some movement on the USA websites. So now the http://www.amnrl.com website is completely down with a “Oops we think that this link is broken” message while the USARL have a new news item up on their site. It still looks unfinished and not very professional but there is new news at least. The Inaugural USARL 9s tournament has been announced and looks like there will be touring New Zealand teams from the defence forces and Police as well as the GB police.
Though its not all bad news I guess for the AMNRL will Marcus Vasilokopolous or better known by most as Vassy now has his own column in the We Are Rugby website. His first column he interviews his old mate Adrian Morley. Also the Orange County Outlaws in California have got a website up and running and there seems to be some movement from the Chicago Stockyarders with heavy tweeting that they will have a big season and also the website getting updated.
With the restructuring of the sport in New Zealand there are now 7 zones that the game has been structured into. On of these, Counties Manuka held its inaugural AGM on the 24th January where they announced the 4 elected directors for the Zone Board. Wally Dumper, Cathy Friend, Alan Johnson and Russell Preston were the successful candidates, and we congratulate them. They join Ken Lotuliga, Trevor Gill and Emile Va’afusuaga, the Appointed Directors, to form the inaugural Zone Board.
Staying in the Counties Manukau zone, it is at the critical stage of recruiting the inaugural Zone General Manager. The GM is accountable to the Zone board and will also be responsible to the NZRL CEO for consistent delivery of the national ‘Game Plan’.
The Auckland Zone also held its inaugural Annual General Meeting on the 24th and announced three of the four Elected Directors for the Zone Board. Evelyn Brooker, Peter Douglas and Mark Wallace were the successful candidates. They join Sam Sefuiva, Brian Lythe & Luke Gagamoe, the Appointed Directors. The fourth position was a tie between Tania Brown and Wayne Urquhart. A further election will be held between these two candidates only with the candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected.
On Saturday the NZRL Community Roots Camp was in Rotorua. Skills & Fun Games, a Rugby League Carnival and backyard footy were all part of the camp and was open to all 5 – 12 year olds. The day finished at 1pm which was in plenty of time to see the Junior Warriors and Warriors play at the International Stadium. Ruben Wiki was there to meet the kids and some of the Vodafone Warriors were there as well as photo opportunities with the World Cup & the Four Nations trophy’s. Great to see the NZRL and Kiwis going round and using their new status to promote the sport.
OK so at the request of some of my readers I have started to dig for info in South Africa and PNG about what is happening in their countries with the sport. South Africa of course will be competing in the World Cup qualifiers this year and so are gearing up for that now, where as PNG are at the other spectrum with the sport in a bit of a crisis with their board split and law suits being threatened left right and centre. So I hope that soon I will have enough information to be able to at least shed a bit of light in both countries.
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