Meaningful International Competition
Firstly, I acknowledge that this won't happen in the short term due to the financial hit the game would take for 5 years or so whilst things got up and running, but, the long view should be taken here and regular and meaningful internationals a la rugby union should be played.
What we need is a four year cycle.
Year 1:
Southern Hemisphere tours Northern. Team play 6 or 7 other nations, these games double as qualifiers for world cups.
Year 2:
Northern Hemisphere Cup:
England, Ireland Scotland, Wales, France, Italy, USA, Lebanon, Russia, Canada, Greece - all these teams are now apparently playing internationals
Southern Hemisphere Cup
Australia, NZ, PNG, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Cook Islands, South Africa. Thailand, Phillipines, Vanuatu
This could be done one of two ways, either a two tier system with relegation, or a qualifying system based on rankings. These games double as qualifiers for world cups.
Year 3:
Northern Hemisphere teams tour here. the same system is in place as when the Southern teams tour the North. Again, these games are World Cup qualifiers.
Year 4:
World Cup. The top 16 team play in four pools of 4. The top team in each pool automatically qualifies and team 2 in each pool will play team 3 from another for the quarter final positions. This hopefully offsets a strong third placed team missing out for a weak second placed one as they get a further chance.
Over time, hopefully, the lesser nations will come along and challenge the big 3.
I realise that there are hurdles to overcome here:
1. Payments. A way needs to be found to pay all nations a similar match fee, that will stop many players from jumping ship to Australia, NZ and England.
2. Halves. Solving the payment problem will help here. The main reason why the minnows don't beat the big nations is not a lack of talent, it is a lack of quality playmakers because they tend to defect at a young age to get their opportunities. Solve this problem and you get better quality matches.
3. Time. A dedicated time needs to be found each year for international competition which probably mean shortening the NRL and Super League seasons to accommodate this and maybe losing meaningless games like city/country, Auckland nines and All Stars.
4. Revenue. Find a way to generate enough revenue to cover the start up and the game will eventually make money in these areas. Here is where the AFL model could be a loose guide maybe. Get the game strong globally and I believe it will thrive as it is a great product.
5. Attitude. We Aussies need to get over Origin, It should NOT be the pinnacle. Internationals should!
The potential is there. Just look at our own club and the internationals we have produced/almost produced (been named in a squad but not played) and even a couple of other nations our players may have been eligible for.
I've done some research and found that our 153 senior players and a few of our NYC players, plus 1 recruit for next year have been eligible for a total of 21 different nations :
Australia - multiple
Cook Islands - Fred Makimare has played for them and Matt Rua and Paul Whatuira apparently had a dual eligibility to qualify.
England - Gareth Widdop has played, Ian Sibbit played for England A and Keith Mason had a dual eligibility.
Fiji - Waqa and Tadulala have played with Aseri Laing being eligible.
France - Dane Chisholm has played.
Greece - Matt Constantinou has played and Glenn Lazarus was apparently eligible too.
Ireland - Kostjasyn, Tandy, White, Williams.
Italy - Aidan Guerra is playing for them at this World Cup.
Lebanon - Travis Robinson, who will join us next year has played for Lebanon on multiple occasions.
NZ - multiple
Niue - Junior Langi was apparently eligible.
PNG - Aston, Bai, Wilshere.
Phillipines - Paul Sheedy was recently named for them.
Russia - Rory Kostjasyn was named one year.
Samoa - multiple
Scotland - the MacDougall brothers and Clint Newton have been eligible.
Solomon Islands - Dane Nielsen was recently named.
Tonga - multiple
USA - Clint Newton is due to debut tonight, Australian time.
Vanuatu - Justin O'Neill has been named in the past.
Wales - Keith Mason.
I know we have probably had more nations than most and that some of these players qualify for up to 4 nations through some dodgy rules but, it is still 21 countries from just 1 club.
Let's find a way to make this happen as it alienates a lot less people than Origin does and, as a Victorian, I care about Australia and other internationals a lot more than Qld vs NSW!
I know our game's administrators are too short sighted to allow the game to grow properly, but, let's find a way because we can dominate the Pacific Landscape if nothing else and build to owning a large slice of World Sport from there. Come on.
Rant Over.
What we need is a four year cycle.
Year 1:
Southern Hemisphere tours Northern. Team play 6 or 7 other nations, these games double as qualifiers for world cups.
Year 2:
Northern Hemisphere Cup:
England, Ireland Scotland, Wales, France, Italy, USA, Lebanon, Russia, Canada, Greece - all these teams are now apparently playing internationals
Southern Hemisphere Cup
Australia, NZ, PNG, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Cook Islands, South Africa. Thailand, Phillipines, Vanuatu
This could be done one of two ways, either a two tier system with relegation, or a qualifying system based on rankings. These games double as qualifiers for world cups.
Year 3:
Northern Hemisphere teams tour here. the same system is in place as when the Southern teams tour the North. Again, these games are World Cup qualifiers.
Year 4:
World Cup. The top 16 team play in four pools of 4. The top team in each pool automatically qualifies and team 2 in each pool will play team 3 from another for the quarter final positions. This hopefully offsets a strong third placed team missing out for a weak second placed one as they get a further chance.
Over time, hopefully, the lesser nations will come along and challenge the big 3.
I realise that there are hurdles to overcome here:
1. Payments. A way needs to be found to pay all nations a similar match fee, that will stop many players from jumping ship to Australia, NZ and England.
2. Halves. Solving the payment problem will help here. The main reason why the minnows don't beat the big nations is not a lack of talent, it is a lack of quality playmakers because they tend to defect at a young age to get their opportunities. Solve this problem and you get better quality matches.
3. Time. A dedicated time needs to be found each year for international competition which probably mean shortening the NRL and Super League seasons to accommodate this and maybe losing meaningless games like city/country, Auckland nines and All Stars.
4. Revenue. Find a way to generate enough revenue to cover the start up and the game will eventually make money in these areas. Here is where the AFL model could be a loose guide maybe. Get the game strong globally and I believe it will thrive as it is a great product.
5. Attitude. We Aussies need to get over Origin, It should NOT be the pinnacle. Internationals should!
The potential is there. Just look at our own club and the internationals we have produced/almost produced (been named in a squad but not played) and even a couple of other nations our players may have been eligible for.
I've done some research and found that our 153 senior players and a few of our NYC players, plus 1 recruit for next year have been eligible for a total of 21 different nations :
Australia - multiple
Cook Islands - Fred Makimare has played for them and Matt Rua and Paul Whatuira apparently had a dual eligibility to qualify.
England - Gareth Widdop has played, Ian Sibbit played for England A and Keith Mason had a dual eligibility.
Fiji - Waqa and Tadulala have played with Aseri Laing being eligible.
France - Dane Chisholm has played.
Greece - Matt Constantinou has played and Glenn Lazarus was apparently eligible too.
Ireland - Kostjasyn, Tandy, White, Williams.
Italy - Aidan Guerra is playing for them at this World Cup.
Lebanon - Travis Robinson, who will join us next year has played for Lebanon on multiple occasions.
NZ - multiple
Niue - Junior Langi was apparently eligible.
PNG - Aston, Bai, Wilshere.
Phillipines - Paul Sheedy was recently named for them.
Russia - Rory Kostjasyn was named one year.
Samoa - multiple
Scotland - the MacDougall brothers and Clint Newton have been eligible.
Solomon Islands - Dane Nielsen was recently named.
Tonga - multiple
USA - Clint Newton is due to debut tonight, Australian time.
Vanuatu - Justin O'Neill has been named in the past.
Wales - Keith Mason.
I know we have probably had more nations than most and that some of these players qualify for up to 4 nations through some dodgy rules but, it is still 21 countries from just 1 club.
Let's find a way to make this happen as it alienates a lot less people than Origin does and, as a Victorian, I care about Australia and other internationals a lot more than Qld vs NSW!
I know our game's administrators are too short sighted to allow the game to grow properly, but, let's find a way because we can dominate the Pacific Landscape if nothing else and build to owning a large slice of World Sport from there. Come on.
Rant Over.
Mattpoet I agree wholeheartedly. Look at Rugby Union it is not just the Wallabies and All Blacks set to commence their European tours. Teams like Fiji, Tonga and Japan are also touring. Countries like Romania, Spain and Russia are playing matches at this time.
There needs to be a Pacific Nations Cup staged at the same time as the four nations. There are a number of European comps but perhaps they need to be moved so they are held at a time that NRL players can play.
You can also add Will Naitoro to the Solomon Islands and we recruited Tu'u Maori at one stage and he played for PNG.
There needs to be a Pacific Nations Cup staged at the same time as the four nations. There are a number of European comps but perhaps they need to be moved so they are held at a time that NRL players can play.
You can also add Will Naitoro to the Solomon Islands and we recruited Tu'u Maori at one stage and he played for PNG.
I thought I would follow on from some of Mattpoet's work above and give you some stats around the Storm players that have played internationals (some of these matches aren't official tests). Of the 153 players who have represented the Storm in first grade 63 of them have represented the following 12 countries:
New Zealand 22 (A. Blair, J. Bromwich, Chan, Duffie, Harris, Kearney, Kidwell, Koopu, Tasesa Lavea, Lima, Lomax, Manu, Nikau, Perenara, Proctor, Rua, Sa'u, J. Smith, Stanley, Swain, Webster, Whatuira)
Australia 18 (Crocker, Cronk, Folau, Hill, Hoffman, Howe, Inglis, Johnson, A. Kaufusi, Kearns, Kimmorley, King, Lazarus, Ross, Ryles, Slater, Cam Smith & White)
Samoa 8 (Isa, Lima, Manua, Moors, Samau, Sa'u, Setu, Tagataese)
Tonga 7 (Fa'aoso, Fonua, A. Kaufusi, Manu, Moala, Vave, Vea)
Ireland 4 (Kostjasyn, Tandy, Williams, White)
Fiji 2 (Tadulala, Waqa)
Papua New Guinea 2 (Bai, Wilshere)
England 1 (Widdop)
France 1 (Chisholm)
Philippines 1 (Sheedy)
USA 1 (Newton)
Wales 1 (Mason)
Sub-total 68
less: Players with more than one country 5 (A. Kaufusi, Lima, Manu, Sa'u, White)
Total 63
As Mattpoet has already mentioned we have signed Travis Robinson for next year who has played for Lebanon.
In terms of first grade squad members, Storm contracted NSW and Qld Cup and Under 20s players the following have represented their countries:
Papua New Guinea 2 (Aston, Maori)
Cook Islands 1 (Makimare)
Greece 1 (Constantinou)
Italy 1 (Guerra)
Solomon Islands 1 (Naitoro)
Mattpoet happy for you to add any that I have missed.
I also have a query for you or anyone else from left field. I stumbled across a player profile of Chris Tuatara-Morrison on the Western Force website that says he signed with the Storm in 2005. I remember him playing with the North Sydney Bears but didn't realise the Storm had signed him. The profile also says he played a rugby league test for Samoa in the same year. Is he one we have to add to the list? Does anyone remember him signing with the Storm or did he just play with the Bears who were partially aligned with us at the time?
New Zealand 22 (A. Blair, J. Bromwich, Chan, Duffie, Harris, Kearney, Kidwell, Koopu, Tasesa Lavea, Lima, Lomax, Manu, Nikau, Perenara, Proctor, Rua, Sa'u, J. Smith, Stanley, Swain, Webster, Whatuira)
Australia 18 (Crocker, Cronk, Folau, Hill, Hoffman, Howe, Inglis, Johnson, A. Kaufusi, Kearns, Kimmorley, King, Lazarus, Ross, Ryles, Slater, Cam Smith & White)
Samoa 8 (Isa, Lima, Manua, Moors, Samau, Sa'u, Setu, Tagataese)
Tonga 7 (Fa'aoso, Fonua, A. Kaufusi, Manu, Moala, Vave, Vea)
Ireland 4 (Kostjasyn, Tandy, Williams, White)
Fiji 2 (Tadulala, Waqa)
Papua New Guinea 2 (Bai, Wilshere)
England 1 (Widdop)
France 1 (Chisholm)
Philippines 1 (Sheedy)
USA 1 (Newton)
Wales 1 (Mason)
Sub-total 68
less: Players with more than one country 5 (A. Kaufusi, Lima, Manu, Sa'u, White)
Total 63
As Mattpoet has already mentioned we have signed Travis Robinson for next year who has played for Lebanon.
In terms of first grade squad members, Storm contracted NSW and Qld Cup and Under 20s players the following have represented their countries:
Papua New Guinea 2 (Aston, Maori)
Cook Islands 1 (Makimare)
Greece 1 (Constantinou)
Italy 1 (Guerra)
Solomon Islands 1 (Naitoro)
Mattpoet happy for you to add any that I have missed.
I also have a query for you or anyone else from left field. I stumbled across a player profile of Chris Tuatara-Morrison on the Western Force website that says he signed with the Storm in 2005. I remember him playing with the North Sydney Bears but didn't realise the Storm had signed him. The profile also says he played a rugby league test for Samoa in the same year. Is he one we have to add to the list? Does anyone remember him signing with the Storm or did he just play with the Bears who were partially aligned with us at the time?
I see a couple of Tongan reps missing - Kite and Maile (NYC)
If you count players who were selected but did not play then you can add:
Russia 1 (Kostjasyn)
Solomon Islands 1 (Nielsen)
Vanuatu 1 (O'Neill)
Also, lesser international reps:
England Lions 1 (Sibbit)
New Zealand Maori 9 (Cahill, Kidwell, Koopu, Nikau, Perenara, Proctor, Stanley, J.Smith, Whatuira)
Rest of the World 1 (Bai)
Scooter, when did Manua play for Samoa, I wasn't aware of that one?
If you count players who were selected but did not play then you can add:
Russia 1 (Kostjasyn)
Solomon Islands 1 (Nielsen)
Vanuatu 1 (O'Neill)
Also, lesser international reps:
England Lions 1 (Sibbit)
New Zealand Maori 9 (Cahill, Kidwell, Koopu, Nikau, Perenara, Proctor, Stanley, J.Smith, Whatuira)
Rest of the World 1 (Bai)
Scooter, when did Manua play for Samoa, I wasn't aware of that one?
I forgot about Kite and Maile.
Clifford Manua played for Samoa in 2005. I remember reading about it when he joined with the Storm.
The only information I could find about it was:
http://www.leagueunlimited.com/news/sho ... a-preview/
http://www.thekennel.net.au/forum/archi ... 11022.html
The second link may not work (I can access it on my phone but not my computer).
Interestingly the top link also shows Tevita Metuisela and Richie Fa'aoso in the Tongan squad. The second link has Chris Tuatara playing for Tonga and being linked to the Storm (a la the Western Force profile I noted above), Richie Fa'aoso and Antonio Kaufusi are in the Tongan side in the second link but there is no Metuisela. Henry Perenara, Jeff Lima, Jeremy Smith, Jack Afamasaga, Sam Tagataese and Clifford Manua are all named in the Samoan side in the second link. This is the only information I could find on this match.
Clifford Manua played for Samoa in 2005. I remember reading about it when he joined with the Storm.
The only information I could find about it was:
http://www.leagueunlimited.com/news/sho ... a-preview/
http://www.thekennel.net.au/forum/archi ... 11022.html
The second link may not work (I can access it on my phone but not my computer).
Interestingly the top link also shows Tevita Metuisela and Richie Fa'aoso in the Tongan squad. The second link has Chris Tuatara playing for Tonga and being linked to the Storm (a la the Western Force profile I noted above), Richie Fa'aoso and Antonio Kaufusi are in the Tongan side in the second link but there is no Metuisela. Henry Perenara, Jeff Lima, Jeremy Smith, Jack Afamasaga, Sam Tagataese and Clifford Manua are all named in the Samoan side in the second link. This is the only information I could find on this match.
Some other players to be named in (extended) squads but not play are:
Jack Afamasaga 2009 Samoan Pacific Nations squad
Sam Joe 2008 PNG Preliminary squad for RLWC
Sinbad Kali 2008 Tongan Preliminary squad for RLWC
Tevita Metuisela 2008 Tongan Preliminary squad for RLWC
Glen Turner 2005 NZ Tri-Nations train-on squad
Mattpoet here is another interesting link that says Aseri Laing played an international (but not a test) for Fiji in 2006 as a prop.
http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/playe ... mmary.html
Jack Afamasaga 2009 Samoan Pacific Nations squad
Sam Joe 2008 PNG Preliminary squad for RLWC
Sinbad Kali 2008 Tongan Preliminary squad for RLWC
Tevita Metuisela 2008 Tongan Preliminary squad for RLWC
Glen Turner 2005 NZ Tri-Nations train-on squad
Mattpoet here is another interesting link that says Aseri Laing played an international (but not a test) for Fiji in 2006 as a prop.
http://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/playe ... mmary.html