NRL: Considering a Raid on 'Vulnerable Rugby'?

[RedsHappy]

Looks like there's more NRL undercurrents surrounding the QC (Quade Cooper) dramas than perhaps was first realised:

The Australian, 20 August 2010:

"The ARU is very vulnerable at the moment, absolutely vulnerable," former Balmain and NSW captain Ben Elias said....

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...e-says-ben-elias/story-e6frg7mf-1225907488177

 

[RugbyFuture]

it is a very real threat, though i still find it extremely funny that leagueys dont seem to have a memory of the code wars before 1995 (including ray price, surprisingly) nonetheless, if this was to happen to rugby in australia, it could spark the IRB to go head on with the RLIF and NRL and provide the ignition of a full fightback.

 

[TOCC]

it is a very real threat, though i still find it extremely funny that leagueys dont seem to have a memory of the code wars before 1995 (including ray price, surprisingly) nonetheless, if this was to happen to rugby in australia, it could spark the IRB to go head on with the RLIF and NRL and provide the ignition of a full fightback.

the IRB wont involve themselves in such matters... it sets a dangerous precedent and detracts there attention from other areas in the game.

 

[Sully]

I thought none of the Union players were good enough to play league.

 

[Ruggo]

Union just needs to focuss on Union. It is like our whole proffessional existance has been tit for tat nonsense with the NRL. We need to focus on the juniors. I mean primary school ages and expand our base. Rugby has many great selling points for kids to aspire too. Let's get out and sell the brand. As a proffessional code we are a dumb kid amongst men. It is time for us to grow up.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Ruggo, I totally agree. All good sporting organisations get that way by developing junior talent and bringing them up through the levels. If nothing else, it's a lot cheaper that way. If I look at all the successful clubs over the years, they haven't bought in the majority of their teams. Most of them have come from junior development and if you look at periods when the Wallabies have been successful I think we'd find the same thing. That grand slam in 1984 would never have happened without those legendary schoolboys teams of the late 1970's and early 1980's for instance.

So yep, let's focus on get our own backyard in order, identify and develop the good young players and make sure the structures for them to be successful are in place.

 

[wamberal]

The mungoes are being a teensy weensy bit presumptuous. If Ioane and Horne wanted to earn big money, they could play rugby in France or Japan. Who says they are busting to play loig?


For every rugby player that goes to the dark side, a Will Chambers will come back to the light.


Ray Price, of all people, should understand that money is not everything. The guy is still playing rugby.


They can huff, and puff, all they like. But rugby has been through far worse times and survived. The Super 15, the RWC, and the Lions tour will all be huge successes, on and off the field.


Eat your little hearts out, mungoes. Some of us actually prefer the game played in heaven, to the game played in Campbelltown.

 

[Thomond78]

Lads, constantly worrying about the boofballers is like a thirteen year old wondering if Plain Jane From Balmain next door fancies him when there's a whole world of supermodel hot young ones eager to make his acquaintance.

I mean, sure, it seems like a big deal at the time, and it probably is a big deal locally. But in the bigger scheme of things? Forget it. Jane will always be plain, always stuck in Balmain, and will never get out to have fun with the rest of the world. You will.

So, as far as the turf-humpers are concerned, fuck'em. They'll never be more than a trivial sideshow in a world that, when it hears "rugby", thinks "15 players a side", and a slight labour-saving device for the parole officers in that they get 26 offenders all in one place instead of having to track them individually.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

T78, that is gold. Well played Sir.

 

[farva]

If Ioane and Horne wanted to earn big money, they could play rugby in France or Japan.

Exactly. If they want big money its available to them in rugby.
There must be another reason for them staying (and in Ioane's case I know its because he wants to be at home).

And by making a name in rugby there are far bigger dollars available to them than if they jump ship now.

 

[DPK]

The mungoes are being a teensy weensy bit presumptuous. If Ioane and Horne wanted to earn big money, they could play rugby in France or Japan. Who says they are busting to play loig?

If they go to league for big money, they dont have to up and move overseas.

 

[Aussie D]

Why would FOX want to spend $1bn on league when only people in NSW and Queensland watch it? Think Murdoch has more sense than that. Good idea calling for league to raid rugby ranks when it is fairly common knowledge that most of the clubs in the NRl are struggling for survival.

 

[wamberal]

If they go to league for big money, they dont have to up and move overseas.

True. They won't have to leave East Coast of Australia, except for an annual trip to play the Worriers in front of three men and a dog.


On the other hand, they will have the chance to end up talking like Darren Lockyer. That must be worth hundreds of thousands a year.

 

[Ruggo]

The mungoes are being a teensy weensy bit presumptuous. If Ioane and Horne wanted to earn big money, they could play rugby in France or Japan. Who says they are busting to play loig?


For every rugby player that goes to the dark side, a Will Chambers will come back to the light.


Ray Price, of all people, should understand that money is not everything. The guy is still playing rugby.


They can huff, and puff, all they like. But rugby has been through far worse times and survived. The Super 15, the RWC, and the Lions tour will all be huge successes, on and off the field.


Eat your little hearts out, mungoes. Some of us actually prefer the game played in heaven, to the game played in Campbelltown.

This might be tongue in cheek but this is the cause of unions problems. We need cut the fucking superiority complex and grow our game

 

[louie]

The ARU should be spending all it's money on funding youth and club development.

i'd tell QC (Quade Cooper) to stick.. then give the money parra rugby club. A club strength is better then QC (Quade Cooper).

or i'd take the money and give it equally to the clubs so that they can give some of their key players full time contracts making club rugby stronger.

ARU might not have the money to match NRL but it will always have the money to develop youth and that's far more importent.

 

[Rob42]

Looks like there's more NRL undercurrents surrounding the QC (Quade Cooper) dramas than perhaps was first realised:

The Australian, 20 August 2010:

"The ARU is very vulnerable at the moment, absolutely vulnerable," former Balmain and NSW captain Ben Elias said....

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...e-says-ben-elias/story-e6frg7mf-1225907488177

Come on. A couple of old leaguies (no disrespect to you, nonetheless, Ray Price) wish they had the money to buy some union players, and suddenly it's a Very Real Threat to rugby and all it stands for? Just ignore them. Benny has his own financial problems to deal with in court - not someone to go to for a strategic business plan. The NRL can talk all it likes - most of their clubs have more issues with the salary floor rather than the salary cap.

Just ignore them. They might not go away, but they're not doing themselves any favours.

 

[HG]

The ARU should be spending all it's money on funding youth and club development.

i'd tell QC (Quade Cooper) to stick.. then give the money parra rugby club. A club strength is better then QC (Quade Cooper).

or i'd take the money and give it equally to the clubs so that they can give some of their key players full time contracts making club rugby stronger.

ARU might not have the money to match NRL but it will always have the money to develop youth and that's far more importent.

Your joking right!
Thank god your not running rugby, we would be fucked within a month.

 

[louie]

Your joking right!
Thank god your not running rugby, we would be fucked within a month.

What you think it's a waste of time developing players?

 

[wamberal]

[/B]

This might be tongue in cheek but this is the cause of unions problems. We need cut the fucking superiority complex and grow our game

Oh. That's the problem. We need to grow our game.:



Any suggestions, champ?

 

[RugbyFuture]

AUSTRALIAN captain Darren Lockyer has urged NRL clubs to use the new salary cap provisions to strike back at rival codes.

And the Brisbane captain says former Broncos teammate Berrick Barnes should be the next Wallaby player targeted, following Parramatta's bid to sign Reds playmaker Quade Cooper.

Lockyer says Cooper's signature would be a "coup" for the NRL and declared the code should now try to strike back after becoming "too accepting" that some of the code's best players were being lured away.

The Kangaroos skipper has felt the brunt of cross-code poaching, losing former teammates Wendell Sailor, Lote Tuqiri and Barnes to union, as well as Israel Folau and Karmichael Hunt to AFL.

But Lockyer said the chase for Cooper showed the tables have turned.

"The NRL and Parramatta have sent a good, ambit- ious message by having an almighty crack at luring Quade Cooper from rugby union," Lockyer wrote in his column in Queensland's Courier Mail.

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"Potentially, a guy of [his] stature in another code coming to us would be a coup for rugby league."

Lockyer said the NRL's decision to lift private sponsorship from $150,000 to $300,000 and relax third part sponsorship "opened the doors" for the NRL to again compete on a level field.

And he says Barnes should be a priority for NRL clubs as a potential represent- ative halfback.

The former Broncos junior was poached by the ARU in 2006, signing just days after making his first grade debut aged 19, and Lockyer says he always hoped the now 24-year-old would return.

"Berrick Barnes would be a great halfback in the NRL," Lockyer said.

"He wanted to see how far he could go in rugby. Wayne Bennett thought he had to get it out of his system and several of us made it clear we hoped he would see his way clear to coming back to the NRL one day.

"It was unfortunate timing for Berrick in his time at the Broncos because Brett Seymour was playing really good football around then."

Lockyer said Barnes had the perfect game to excel.

"He has a good kicking game, defends well, is a gutsy player and a busy talker, but above all he has a great attitude - an ideal combination of attributes for guiding an NRL team," he said. "He impressed us as a terrific kid in his short time at the Broncos." Lockyer backed Cooper to succeed in league.

"Cooper would take time adjusting to our game, but he has good skills with his hands and has good vision. He's a bit of an entertainer and I'm sure he would help Parramatta on and off the field," he said.





Lockyer also took aim at critics who questioned Brisbane's signing of Melbourne superstar Greg Inglis.

"When there was the outcry in the Sydney media over the signing of Greg Inglis by the Broncos, people tended to forget the rules are changing. The marquee allowance played a big part in being able to get Greg."

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...-back-says-locky/story-e6frexnr-1225908009587

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