WORLD RUGBY LEAGUE

2008-03-15T06:39:00.000Z

a few months ago a rugby league video appeared on good old youtube,it looks like it is the video russell crowe made to show to the american press in the build up to the australia day challenge game in jacksonville between russell crowe's south sydney & leeds rhinos..

while the video is good it lacked something....SOUND!

now, not that i'm trying to tell a multi award,oscar winning actor how to make a film but surely sound is a must...lol

anyhow, i took rusty's film and re-edited it,added abit of music (which fits perfectly,i'm really pleased with the vangana touchdown bit which i'll admitted was a complete fluke) added abit of text at the end to re-direct our american friends,who love league but just don't know it yet..

so...enjoy

ps, the AMNRL have no involvement in this production so don't go suing them..

the WORLD CLUB CHALLENGE

2008-02-23T18:38:00.001Z

What to do with a problem like....THE WORLD CLUB CHALLENGE?

Lets not beat about the bush...as long as the WCC is held in February the aussies will always have an excuse,rightly too....we (the english) are 3 or 4 games into our season,the aussies are still 3 weeks away from the start of theirs..and there lays the problem, to the aussies,maybe not the players but defo the fans the WCC is a PRE SEASON COMP.....so no matter how much the english side wins by it does'nt matter because the aussies will brush it under the carpet...unless of course the aussies win it like the melbourne storm & roosters did a few years ago....but thats another matter..

Right, so what do we do??? what do we do to make the world club challenge (championship) the pinnacle of the club game?? it really should be above both the NRL & ESL grand finals..heres my plan

we sync the ESL & NRL seasons so one finishes 1 week before the other, as a result the final 3 weeks of the club season would look like this..

WEEK ONE - THE ESL GF - WINNERS TRAVEL TO AUS
WEEK TWO - NRL GF
WEEK THREE - WORLD CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP @ SFS/SUNCORP/TELSTRA DOME

theres absolutely no reason why both the leagues can't finish like this, IIRC both the ESL & NRL inish on the same weekend this season so why can't they be arranged so they finish like i've mentioned above????

Ireland to cast the net far & wide

2008-02-04T05:53:00.000Z

from the BBC sport.

"Ireland have stepped up their bid for World Cup glory by urging all players with Irish ancestry to get in touch.
Ireland must include at least six players from their domestic league in their squad for Australia, but coach Andy Kelly is keen to widen his net.
"With an 'open door' policy, players who have missed out through no fault of their own can come forward," he said.
Ireland open their World Cup campaign against Tonga on 27 October before meeting Samoa on 5 November"

say it ain't so......
now,i don't begrudge ireland adding 2 or 3 quality "irish - aussies" to their world cup squad but anymore than that will undo all the hard work & development the RLi have done in recent years.
also what message does it send out to the players who got ireland to the world cup in the first place?
if theres one thing that international rugby league lacks it's loyalty, most of the current ireland squad have been there for the long run,are these new players going to commit to ireland after the world cup? if not don't bother..infact i'd ask them that question
the RLi need to ask themselves "what do they want to get out of the world cup?" ,they are'nt going to win it,they've been put in the group of death too and unlikely to make it out of there anyway no matter what shape the irish team takes..
if i was on the RLi board i'd limit andy kelly to 2 or 3 quality "imports" in addition to the squad that got them there..they have to look at the bigger picture.

spread the word

2008-01-30T12:04:00.000Z

only 268 days to go

CLOSED FOR CHRISTMAS

2007-11-26T19:56:00.000Z

SEE YOU NEXT YEAR..

starting with the world club challenge in February.

bye bye

WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT....

2007-11-07T05:04:00.000Z

the rugby league world cup....

far better than that farty little gold thing the union tarts use.....lol

just 1 question though.... WHAT THE HELL IS JAMIE PEACOCK DOING TOUCHING THE BLOODY THING.....

picture from the daily telegraph.au

International results round up

2007-11-06T07:03:00.000Z

2008 world cup qualifying results,

lebanon 16 - 16 Ireland @ dewsbury att 850... IRELAND QUALIFY FOR WORLD CUP.

Scotland 16 - 18 Wales @ old annisland,glasgow att 900+... SCOTLAND QUALIFY FOR WORLD CUP.

WARM UP GAME..

cumbria 70 - 0 USA @ barrow, att 1200

TOUR MATCHES

Great Britain 44 - 0 NZ @ hull, att 20,000

France 36 - 28 PNG att 7000

INTERNATIONAL RESULTS ROUND UP

2007-10-29T21:12:00.000Z

GREAT BRITAIN 20 - 14 NEW ZEALAND @ huddersfield att 16,550

FRANCE 46 - 16 SCOTLAND @ perpignan att 7000

WALES 50 - 10 PNG @ bridgend att 1456

RUSSIA 0 - 48 LEBANON @ prozan att ???? wikipiedia has the attendance as 14,689?? not sure about that...i hope that true through.

JACKSONVILLE AXEMAN RL SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

2007-10-29T20:23:00.000Z

thanks to spinner howland of the axeman for providing the world with this video..

some monster hits and some great offloads there from the axeman, god if the americans ever get a grip of RUGBY LEAGUE the brits,kiwis and aussies better watch out..

the USA national team play samoa in widnes a week of friday, the winners of that goes to the repechage final for the final berth in the 2008 rugby league world cup held in australia..

if we look back to richard lewis' 10 year international plan for a second,we really need to involve the americans more on the international stage which is why i propose that the USA should be added to the 'pacific cup' along with PNG,tonga,samoa,fiji,cook island to form a 6 team comp and a chance to play with the big boys in the southern hemisphere 4 nations..

richard lewis' 10 year international plan

2007-10-23T10:44:00.000+01:00

as revealed in the league weekly paper this week

heres richard lewis' 10 year plan

2008 - world cup australia

2009 - 4 nations - aus,nz,eng,france played in northern hemisphere
- pacific cup - png,fiji,samoa,tonga & cook islands (5 teams?)

2010 - 4 nations - aus,nz,eng + winners of pacific cup played in southern hemisphere.

2011 - 4 nations - aus,nz,eng,france played in northern hemisphere.

2012 - full GB tour of down under (australia)

2013 - world cup UK

2014 - same as 2009

2015 - same as 2010

2016 - full GB tour down under (NZ)

2017 - world cup (southern hemisphere)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
i like the fact that the "2nd tier" nations in the pacific have the chance to play with the big boys in the "southern hemisphere 4 nations" by winning the pacific cup..at last we have a well defined structure for international teams to progress onto the next level which they have earned..and while i'm on about the pacific cup why not add the USA to the 5 teams mr lewis mentions to form a 6 team competition? that sort of competition will bring on the americans no end.
as for the "northern hemisphere 4 nations",france are to be given a automatic 4 spot,what about wales,scotland,ireland even lebanon & russia..why can't the 4th place in the "northern hemisphere 4 nations" be decided by a 'euro cup'? why can't the european teams have the same well defined structure the pacific teams have?, if france win the euro cup then atleast they will have earned it and surely that would be better for the overall development of our international game? and seeing as mr lewis is head of the RLEF i find it staggering that he has'nt included such a tournament for "2nd tier" european nations..

also in mr lewis' plan from 2015 we will see england playing down under in the SH 4nations,then GB on tour down under and then a world cup down under..thats 3 years with a series at home...is that wise considering how much the RFL makes from internationals at home??

his plan is better than what we have, i commend him for that but it needs serious tweeking...well not really serious tweeking, just and a euro cup as a 4 nations qualifier....it's not much to ask is it?

PNG name squad

2007-10-22T12:27:00.000+01:00

PNG name squad for upcoming tour of france & wales

The Kumuls squad is: Paul Aiton, Porian Bal, Makali Aizue, Trevor Exton, Steve Franciscus, Rodney Griffin, Nigel Hukula, Jessie Joe, Benjamin Joe, Gimapau Keimelo, George Keppa, Nickson Kolo, Tuu Maori, Michael Mark, George Moni, James Nightingale, Joseph Omae, Keith Peters (captain), Rodney Pora, Kevin Prior, Nicko Slain, Charlie Wabo, John Wilshere, Menzie Yere.

it's a big year for the kumuls, 2 tests against france & 1 v wales will help set out the stalls for PNG's world cup challenge next year in the group of death with australia,new zealand & england..

wales name squad

2007-10-13T12:08:00.000+01:00

Mark Lennon (Celtic Crusaders)
Damien Gibson (Halifax)
Grant Epton (Celtic Crusaders)
Dave Halley (Bradford Bulls)
Bryn Powell (Dewsbury Rams)
Anthony Blackwood (Celtic Crusaders)
Geraint Davies (Celtic Crusaders)
Luke Dyer (Celtic Crusaders)
Adam Hughes (Oldham)
Iestyn Harris (Bradford Bulls)
Ian Watson (Halifax)
Lee Briers (Warrington Wolves)
Robert Roberts (Oldham)
Phil Joseph (Halifax)
Andy Bracek (Warrington Wolves)
Jordan James (Celtic Crusaders)
Chris Morley (Swinton Lions)
Sean Penkywicz (Halifax)
Ian Webster (Celtic Crusaders)
Phil Cushion (Celtic Crusaders)
Hywel Davies (Celtic Crusaders)
Gareth Dean (Celtic Crusaders)
Paul Highton (Salford City Reds)
Matt James (Bradford Bulls)
Craig Kopczak (Bradford Bulls)
David Mills (Harlequins)
Gareth Price (Widnes Vikings)
Byron Smith (Rochdale Hornets)
Aaron Summers (Celtic Crusaders)

good to see oldham players 2bobs (robert roberts) and star centre adam hughes who scored an astonishing 22 tries in just 16 games for oldham in their run in to the national league 2 grand final..also good to see loads of celtic crusaders players in there not bad for a "team for of aussies"

will we see the star halfback partnership of harris & briers against scotland?? for me both have to play if wales are to overturn the 8 points they need to beat scotland by to automatically qualify for the world cup otherwise they are likely to have to face lebanon in the repechage semi final and a "star studded" samoa side (assuming samoa beat USA) in the repechage final which will be a tough ask for wales with or without harris & briers.

ALL GOLDS 17 named

2007-10-10T07:24:00.000+01:00

as follows

1. Sam Perrett (Sydney Roosters),
2. Tame Tupou (Bradford),
3. Nigel Vagana (South Sydney),
4. Clinton Toopi (Leeds),
5. Francis Meli (St Helens),
6. Chase Stanley (St George Illawarra),
7. Stacey Jones (Les Catalans),
8. Ruben Wiki (capt. Warriors),
9. Thomas Leuluai (Wigan), 10. Steve Price (Warriors),
11. Ali Lauitiiti (Leeds),
12. David Kidwell (South Sydney),
13. Louis Anderson (Warriors).
Interchange: 14. Jason Cayless (St Helens), 15. Epalahame Lauaki (Warriors), 16. Greg Eastwood (Brisbane), 17. Awen Guttenbeil (Castleford)

not a bad side i guess....

Keiron Cunningham quits wales

2007-10-08T10:44:00.000+01:00

keiron cunningham has confirmed that he will not be playing for Wales in the upcoming
world cup qualifcation games and that his international career is "100% over"

from league express

is this a story?? it's not as if he's ever really done anything for wales is it, in fact i can't remember the last time he played for wales? was it in 2002 or 2001?? it might even have been in the 2000 world cup?....anyhow it's hardly commitment is it...

SCOTLAND name squad

2007-10-05T06:45:00.000+01:00

Scotland provisional squad:

Alex Szostak (Bradford),
Danny Brough, Andrew Henderson (both Castleford),
Wade Liddell (Eastern Suburbs),
Jamie Benn, Dean Colton (Featherstone),
Lee Patterson (Halifax),
Paul Jackson (Huddersfield),
Graeme Horne (Hull),
Gareth Morton, Jon Steel, Iain Morrison, Ben Fisher (all Hull KR),
Dave McConnell, Mike Wainwright (Leigh),
Iain Marsh (Rochdale),
Jack Howieson, James Morrow (both Sheffield),
Richie Hawkyard (Swinton),
Kevin Henderson, Duncan MacGillivray (both Wakefield),
Spencer Miller, Richard Fletcher (Whitehaven),
Mick Nanyn, Oliver Wilkes (Widnes),
Neil Lowe (York).

not sure if gareth morton is ment to be in that squad?? he was on loan at my club,oldham, but left us to go play rugby union in italy..also where is ian henderson,the NZ warriors bound bradford bulls hooker??

again,apart from wade liddel,who to be honest i've never heard of,they have'nt gone all scottish-australian on us...

IRELAND name squad

2007-10-05T06:40:00.000+01:00

Squad: S Grix, G Dodd, B Beswick, D Blanch, L Doran (all Widnes),
S Littler, K Fitzpatrick (Salford),
T Stewart (Leigh),
C Bridge, B Harrison (Warrington),
E O'Carroll (Wigan),
L Finn (Dewsbury),
S Gleeson (Wakefield),
G Corcoran (Sheffield), K O'Riordan,
M Brodie (both Treaty City Titans),
S Gibbons, W Kerr (Carlow),
C Gee (Port Laiose),
B Rush (Tullamore).

fantastic to see some of the irish league boys in there and it's great to see ireland have'nt resorted to calling up australian-irish players...

MOIMOI & TUIAKI CLEARED TO PLAY FOR NZ

2007-10-04T07:41:00.001+01:00

keep praying.....

2007-10-03T10:23:00.000+01:00

Moimoi, Tuiaka still not cleared to play

October 3, 2007 - 6:28PM

Kiwis pair Fuifui Moimoi and Taniela Tuiaki face a nervous wait to be cleared for their Test debuts after the Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) summoned lawyers to examine the eligibility rules.

Both represented Tonga last year and need RLIF clearance to play the trans-Tasman Test against Australia on October 14, but that hadn't been granted when the RLIF executive meeting adjourned in Sydney on Wednesday night.

Australian Rugby League (ARL) chief executive Geoff Carr said lawyers would study the eligibility rules on Thursday morning before a decision was made.

"We're taking legal advice on it," Carr said.

"The rules have to be applied correctly. It will be resolved in the morning."

Carr wouldn't comment further, or expand on what part of the rules were unclear.

The RLIF executive comprises ARL chairman Colin Love, New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) chairman Andrew Chalmers and British Rugby Football League (RFL) chairman Richard Lewis.

Carr said last week he expected no dramas in clearing the pair to face the Kangaroos.

Tuiaki qualifies for the Kiwis as he was being born in New Zealand while Moimoi represented New Zealand A in 2002 and lived in Auckland for seven years, thereby satisfying the residency qualification.

Both were named in coach Gary Kemble's 19-man Test squad on Sunday.

It's almost a year since the Nathan Fien drama saw him pulled from the Kiwis team during the Tri-Nations series, when it was revealed his grandmother wasn't New Zealand-born as the NZRL previously claimed.

from the SMH...

it's upto the lawyers,

lets all pray.....

2007-10-02T11:48:00.000+01:00

Oct 2, 2007

Kiwis coach Gary Kemble faces a nervous wait ahead of an international league meeting on Wednesday as two of his squad bid for eligibility to play for New Zealand.

Fuifui Moimoi and Taniela Tuiaki are desperate to make their debuts for the Kiwis against Australia later this month in Wellington.

However the in-form NRL pair are not eligible yet after playing for Tonga last year in a bid to help the country qualify for the World Cup.

"All the Tongan boys, they want to play for Tonga but they always want to play for the Kiwis first," said Moimoi.

But international rules do allow players to switch countries under special circumstances.

A ruling in their favour would cap a remarkable season for Moimoi, who signed a new two-year deal with the Eels on Tuesday. He even declined an approach from the Kangaroo selectors thanks partly due to some "gentle" persuasion from Kiwis selector Darrell Williams and his Tongan flatmate.

"I already told Darrell I'd sort him out for the black and whites so it's all good," said Tuiaki.

from http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1387668

i hope for the sake of the development of international rugby league that moimoi & tuiaki are de-selected from the NZ squad by the RLIF..

France train on squad

2007-10-02T09:42:00.000+01:00

France have announced their train-on squad for the upcoming games against Scotland,New zealand & the 2 game series v PNG.

David Ferriol (Dragons Catalans), Adel Fellous (Dragons Catalans), Jean-Christophe Borlin (St Gaudens), Rémy Casty (Dragons Catalans), Mathieu Griffi (Dragons Catalans), Julien Rinaldi (Harlequins RL), Kane Bentley (Dragons Catalans), Olivier Elima (Wakefield), Eric Anselme (Albi), Cyril Gossard (Dragons Catalans), Grégory Mounis (Dragons Catalans), Laurent Carrasco (Villeneuve), Sébastien Raguin (Dragons Catalans), James Wynne (FC Lézignan), Christophe Moly (AS Carcassonne), Maxime Grésèque (Pia), Teddy Saddaoui (AS Carcassonne), Cyril Stacul (Dragons Catalans), Sylvain Houlès (Toulouse), Sébastien Planas (Dragons Catalans), Justin Murphy (Dragons Catalans), Frédéric Vaccari (Toulouse), Thomas Bosc (Dragons Catalans).

from http://www.ffr13.com

that squad contains an impressive 14 super league players and the series against PNG should be a cracker..also look out for the french upsetting the kiwis in paris at the end of november..

good times are ahead for the french....

World cup qualifying dates & venues

2007-10-02T09:10:00.000+01:00

the dates,times & venues of the remaining RLWC 08 qualifying games have been announced,they are....

saturday 20th october
Euro group 2
Ireland v Russia @ carlow,ireland - kick off 4pm.

Russia v Lebanon @ penza,russia - (not sure of date or time?? i'll edit it when confirmation comes through)

friday 2nd november
Euro group 2
Lebanon v Ireland @ dewsbury,england - kick off 7:30pm

Sunday 4th november
Euro group 1
Scotland v Wales @ glasgow,scotland - kick off 2pm

Friday 9th november
Repachage semi final - double header @ widnes
Lebanon/Ireland/Russia v Scotland/wales - kick off 5:45pm
USA v samoa - kick off 8pm

Wednesday 14th november
Repachage final @ featherstone - kick off 7:30pm

just a reminder of how it works.

the winners of Euro groups 1 & 2 go straight throught to the world cup..

the runners up in Euro groups 1 & 2 play each other to face the winners of the USA v samoa match in the repachage final and the winner of that game becomes the final team to qualify for the 2008 rugby league world cup in australia next october/november...

i think.... :lol:

Australia name test 17

2007-10-02T06:30:00.000+01:00

hot on the heels of the kiwi squad announcement australia have released their 17 man team for the wellington test..

Kangaroos
1. Brett Stewart (Sea Eagles), 2. Greg Inglis (Storm), 3. Mark Gasnier (Dragons), 4. Justin Hodges (Broncos), 5. Jarryd Hayne (Eels), 6. Greg Bird (Sharks), 7. Cooper Cronk (Storm), 8. Brent Kite (Sea Eagles), 9. Cameron Smith (Storm) (c), 10. Petero Civoniceva (Broncos), 11. Nathan Hindmarsh (Eels), 12. Ryan Hoffman (Storm), 13. Paul Gallen (Sharks)
Interchange: 14. Kurt Gidley (Knights), 15. Willie Mason (Bulldogs), 16. Steve Price (Warriors), 17. Michael Crocker (Storm)
Coach: Ricky Stuart.

after seeing both teams...i'm going with australia by 16..

kiwis name squad

2007-10-02T06:29:00.000+01:00

NZ have announced their squad for the upcoming test in wellington against the aussies.

so here it is

Kiwis squad:- Backs: Krisnan Inu (Parramatta), Luke Covell (Cronulla), Taniela Tuiaki (Wests Tigers), Chase Stanley (St George-Illawarra), Shontayne Hape (Bradford), Paul Whatuira (Wests Tigers), Simon Mannering (Warriors), Steve Matai (Manly), Ben Roberts (Bulldogs), Jeremy Smith (South Sydney).

Forwards: Roy Asotasi (captain, South Sydney), Jeff Lima (Melbourne), Fuifui Moimoi (Parramatta), Sam Rapira (Warriors), David Faiumu (North Queensland), Dene Halatau (Wests Tigers), Louis Anderson (Warriors), Frank Pritchard (Penrith), Jeremy Smith (Melbourne).

the confirmation of Taniela Tuiaki & Fuifui Moimoi in the NZ ranks has caused much consternation in international RL circles because both players played for Tonga last year in the World cup qualifiers and the 4 team, federation shield in england,which tonga reached the final against england with tuiaki & moimoi playing staring roles....

regardless of the fact that tuiaki & moimoi are eligible for NZ, tuiaki by birth & moimoi by residency (he is tonga born ) both have already played test matches for Tonga,that in itself should rule them out of ever playing international RL for anyone else.not to mention the NZRL complete disregard for the development of international RL by raiding the tonga squad for players they don't really need..

the RLIF are meeting sometime this week so hopefully they will see sense and tell the NZRL to de-select tuiaki & moimoi...

welcome

2007-10-02T06:27:00.000+01:00

welcome to my world rugby league 'blog'

here you can read comments & reactions on all the latest grumblings that surround
the international aspect of the great game we call rugby league...

keep your eyes peeled..