They'll do whatever it takes to sell the game to their target audience, which is very different from the UK audience. That will probably mean taking a different approach. If this means a successful RL comp in the US then I'm all for it.

Quote ="Hull Kingston Bronco"If you're running a global business, this is the sort of thing you do when you seek to develop a new market... www.usarugby.org/media/EDocs/STRATPLANFINAL.pdf Pretty impressive stuff. Goal, strategy, tactics, execution, review. If you're a couple of attention seeking weirdos, you do this... www.nrlus.com/history ...apparently the Northern Union broke away in the 1920's, some 20 years after the player numbers were cut from 15 to 13 in their own dodgy timeline (did Union cut from 15 to 13 and then go back to 15 again later then or something?). The internal logic is nutty, they can't even do something simple like an order of events right The thing that really winds me up about these idiots, is how daft it makes our entire sport look compared to the other lot - I swear we have the best product, but the worst administrators, in the whole of the world sporting landscape.'" whats wrong with ambition if this works it will be fantastic, if it doesnt who cares lofty goals get people excited, when selling an entertainement product thats what you need to get people excited

Quote ="Hull Kingston Bronco"If you're running a global business, this is the sort of thing you do when you seek to develop a new market... www.usarugby.org/media/EDocs/STRATPLANFINAL.pdf Pretty impressive stuff. Goal, strategy, tactics, execution, review. If you're a couple of attention seeking weirdos, you do this... www.nrlus.com/history ...apparently the Northern Union broke away in the 1920's, some 20 years after the player numbers were cut from 15 to 13 in their own dodgy timeline (did Union cut from 15 to 13 and then go back to 15 again later then or something?). The internal logic is nutty, they can't even do something simple like an order of events right The thing that really winds me up about these idiots, is how daft it makes our entire sport look compared to the other lot - I swear we have the best product, but the worst administrators, in the whole of the world sporting landscape.'" whats wrong with ambition if this works it will be fantastic, if it doesnt who cares lofty goals get people excited, when selling an entertainement product thats what you need to get people excited

Quote ="Hull Kingston Bronco"If you're running a global business, this is the sort of thing you do when you seek to develop a new market... www.usarugby.org/media/EDocs/STRATPLANFINAL.pdf Pretty impressive stuff. Goal, strategy, tactics, execution, review. If you're a couple of attention seeking weirdos, you do this... www.nrlus.com/history ...apparently the Northern Union broke away in the 1920's, some 20 years after the player numbers were cut from 15 to 13 in their own dodgy timeline (did Union cut from 15 to 13 and then go back to 15 again later then or something?). The internal logic is nutty, they can't even do something simple like an order of events right The thing that really winds me up about these idiots, is how daft it makes our entire sport look compared to the other lot - I swear we have the best product, but the worst administrators, in the whole of the world sporting landscape.'" Rugby Union is a joke sport in America. Played by upper class 'college boys' who are more interested in drinking that playing, and quit as soon as they finish college. RL needs to distance itself from Union to avoid being labeled as a joke, and this initiative seems to be doing that. The AMNRL are doing a great job and to be negative and label them as 'idiots' is pathetic.

Quote ="Hull Kingston Bronco"If you're running a global business, this is the sort of thing you do when you seek to develop a new market... www.usarugby.org/media/EDocs/STRATPLANFINAL.pdf Pretty impressive stuff. Goal, strategy, tactics, execution, review. If you're a couple of attention seeking weirdos, you do this... www.nrlus.com/history ...apparently the Northern Union broke away in the 1920's, some 20 years after the player numbers were cut from 15 to 13 in their own dodgy timeline (did Union cut from 15 to 13 and then go back to 15 again later then or something?). The internal logic is nutty, they can't even do something simple like an order of events right The thing that really winds me up about these idiots, is how daft it makes our entire sport look compared to the other lot - I swear we have the best product, but the worst administrators, in the whole of the world sporting landscape.'" Rugby Union is a joke sport in America. Played by upper class 'college boys' who are more interested in drinking that playing, and quit as soon as they finish college. RL needs to distance itself from Union to avoid being labeled as a joke, and this initiative seems to be doing that. The AMNRL are doing a great job and to be negative and label them as 'idiots' is pathetic.

Erm, yeah

Union is focusing on growing participation, and diversifying the player base. Feel free to stick your head in the sand and write them off as posh frat boys, maybe they were but they won't be eventually - because they have a plan to change, and the resources to do it. I can't stand the game personally, but if you think that's a worse long term strategy than having a few clubs on the East coast for a few years and then pretending a pro league wil just spring out of nowhere like magic in 2010, then good luck to you mate. I loved that Kevin Costner movie too, but I reckon in the real world they won't just come if you build it - you need a step-by-step, organic approach. Step one? Get amateurs playing the game for fun. The obsession with professionalism and illusory business opportunity is stupid - first things first, get people to enjoy the game through participation. That then becomes the platform for later pro growth. If the US guys had spent more time since 1994 focused on that, and less on grandiose schemes and bizarre press releases, who knows we might have a bridgehead now to kick on from. As it is, we've got vapourware. A great job indeed!

Lofty goals that are repeatedly unrealised get people bored, and diminish your chance of ever building anything real - cry wolf anyone? That's my point - this is not a one-off, this has been said time and time again

what a load of poop.

the NZRU recently helped one of their clubs sign michael witt.

1. hes not a kiwi
2. he doesnt play union.

and this is the nation where RU is a strong sport.

even talking about union having junior development is just one big laugh

i dont fully believe these RL stories but im sure the RU efforts in the US are a load of poop too.

union fans have been talking up the US for years.

a few stuck up kids playing some union hardly comprises much of a sport

funnily enough union have managed to trick the world into believing that places like australia even care about the sport.

and georgia, russia, romania, half of africa, canada, japan, much of asia, uruguay, chile....
none of these countries have made it into the top nations.
argentina were in this list, but fair play to them, there's no way you could say they haven't made it.

Negative crap

havent made what?

no one gives a s** there.

have a look how the sport is almost gone from australia without worrying about places like argentina etc.

the way soccer has over taken union in australia theres a fair chance the sport could go back to semi pro within a decade.

the failure of union in australia is going to have a big impact on union as a world wide sport.

the S14 faces a lot of problems and on top of it the kiwis are losing all their best players to france.

www.nrlus.com/nrl2010 seems like they do have some sort of strategy, and they are hinting at having broadcasting arrangements in place.

www.nrlus.com/nrl2010 seems like they do have some sort of strategy, and they are hinting at having broadcasting arrangements in place.

there are hundreds of millions of people in the us, the couple of thousand max who could possibly be disenfranchised if this fails are inconsequential in the bigger scheme of things

You might want to take a look at [url=http://www.playrugbyusa.com/THIS[/url before making assumptions like that.

Quote ="Hull Kingston Bronco"Meanwhile, rational earthlings just get on with working hard and organising their sport without talking fruit loop nonsense - see www.usarugby.org/ and use the "find a club" tool, where there's more clubs with names beginning with "B" than the AMNRL have in their entire organisation! '" Wow, they have more clubs beginning with 'B' than there are in MLB and the NFL combined. Rugby union must be the powerful sport in the US. Meanwhile, rational earthlings do not compare the number of clubs in a single league with every single club that play a sport no matter how small or at what level thinking it proves anything. Quote ="Hull Kingston Bronco"If you're a couple of attention seeking weirdos, you do this... www.nrlus.com/history'" That is simply a bad copy and paste effort. Amateurish, for sure, but having seen the earlier version of the page when it was first linked on this thread they had those same paragraphs but in the correct order. That is the problem with making a site public before it has been developed, which is clearly the case as it seems to change every time someone mentions it. Quote ="Hull Kingston Bronco"I loved that Kevin Costner movie too, but I reckon in the real world they won't just come if you build it - you need a step-by-step, organic approach. Step one? Get amateurs playing the game for fun. The obsession with professionalism and illusory business opportunity is stupid - first things first, get people to enjoy the game through participation.'" So the only real world approach is to totally ignore different cultures and just do things they way the British way irrespective of how people relate differently to sports in other countries. While American football is played at high school and college it is not a club sport, it does not have hundreds of amateur clubs playing for fun. It was around for decades before television brought it to the masses, from where it has grown to be the biggest sport. Maybe you should tell the NFL how stupid their approach is. I also never knew that people who enjoy watching sport only do so through participation. Michael.

Quote ="Hull Kingston Bronco"Meanwhile, rational earthlings just get on with working hard and organising their sport without talking fruit loop nonsense - see www.usarugby.org/ and use the "find a club" tool, where there's more clubs with names beginning with "B" than the AMNRL have in their entire organisation! '" Wow, they have more clubs beginning with 'B' than there are in MLB and the NFL combined. Rugby union must be the powerful sport in the US. Meanwhile, rational earthlings do not compare the number of clubs in a single league with every single club that play a sport no matter how small or at what level thinking it proves anything. Quote ="Hull Kingston Bronco"If you're a couple of attention seeking weirdos, you do this... www.nrlus.com/history'" That is simply a bad copy and paste effort. Amateurish, for sure, but having seen the earlier version of the page when it was first linked on this thread they had those same paragraphs but in the correct order. That is the problem with making a site public before it has been developed, which is clearly the case as it seems to change every time someone mentions it. Quote ="Hull Kingston Bronco"I loved that Kevin Costner movie too, but I reckon in the real world they won't just come if you build it - you need a step-by-step, organic approach. Step one? Get amateurs playing the game for fun. The obsession with professionalism and illusory business opportunity is stupid - first things first, get people to enjoy the game through participation.'" So the only real world approach is to totally ignore different cultures and just do things they way the British way irrespective of how people relate differently to sports in other countries. While American football is played at high school and college it is not a club sport, it does not have hundreds of amateur clubs playing for fun. It was around for decades before television brought it to the masses, from where it has grown to be the biggest sport. Maybe you should tell the NFL how stupid their approach is. I also never knew that people who enjoy watching sport only do so through participation. Michael.

Seems that some people are having difficulty grasping the concept that some things are done very differently over here and sport is one of those things.

I would do, but they are American....and the reason that US footie was popular before TV is simple....gambling.
Now, if you want to tell Lou Cabrazzi to stop swimming with fishes and start supporting RL.....good luck.
TV Cash rules and the sheer aggression of RL will appeal to the US Market.........and good luck to them.
Bottom line is they will throw some cash behind it.....more than my club will ever do

Does anyone think it's a bit confusing the whole two NRLs? Will that help or hinder this in America?

You would be right if it weren't for the fact that every single RL club in the USA plays in the AMNRL

Quote ="Hull Kingston Bronco"STOP PRESS: This story just gets better and better - have a look at this stuff we were hearing in 1997 FFS www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4370954.html I'd forgotten all about that! The sooner our sport stops getting wound up by these jokers, the sooner we can just get on developing real opportunities'" Also the West American Rugby League are supposed to be starting a new league almost every single year but the most they ever got was a scratch one off Utah Vs Arizona game a few years back

Quote ="Hull Kingston Bronco"STOP PRESS: This story just gets better and better - have a look at this stuff we were hearing in 1997 FFS www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4370954.html I'd forgotten all about that! The sooner our sport stops getting wound up by these jokers, the sooner we can just get on developing real opportunities'" Also the West American Rugby League are supposed to be starting a new league almost every single year but the most they ever got was a scratch one off Utah Vs Arizona game a few years back

I haven't seen or heard any 'grandiose schemes', and the article you plucked out from 1997 was from the same time that we had the 'World Club Challenge', PSG in Super League, clubs being encouraged to merge, two competitions in Australia and a heck of a lot of other backwards ideas - it's not relevant at all, and you could easily have picked out an old article and derided the efforts of Super League or the NRL in a similar way. The AMNRL competition has been running for 12 years, and has expanded in that time. I'm not suggesting that a pro comp will be an automatic success, or that it will even happen, but Americans are far more open-minded than the British and there is nowhere near the same level of upper class corruption in the media. America also has roughly 240,000,000 more people than the UK, so there is a lot more room for other sports and there are also a lot more wealthy businessmen looking to get involved in pro sport. There are 4 new professional American Football leagues set to start in the next 2 years. An insignificant, by American standards, RL comp could be massive in comparison with the rest of the RL world. Even if it wasn't in the big cities, there are thousands of towns bigger than Castleford with no sport at all and 84 cities in California alone that are bigger than Wigan. An RL comp could be set up for relatively peanuts and still be bigger than the Super League.

Hopefully a team can be started here [urlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castleford,_Idaho[/url

Quote ="Wellsy13"Does anyone think it's a bit confusing the whole two NRLs? Will that help or hinder this in America?'" It is no more confusing than the National Football League being the top flight of Gaelic football, or even Super League being the top flight of rugby union in the US. The Australian NRL has not got any profile with the general public to have any impact at all, which those knowledgeable enough who already follow the game will be able to tell the difference. Quote ="bowes"You would be right if it weren't for the fact that every single RL club in the USA plays in the AMNRL'" The Universities of North Florida and South Florida do not, and they have teams. Apparently. www.americanrugbynews.com/artman ... lege.shtml Michael.

Quote ="Wellsy13"Does anyone think it's a bit confusing the whole two NRLs? Will that help or hinder this in America?'" It is no more confusing than the National Football League being the top flight of Gaelic football, or even Super League being the top flight of rugby union in the US. The Australian NRL has not got any profile with the general public to have any impact at all, which those knowledgeable enough who already follow the game will be able to tell the difference. Quote ="bowes"You would be right if it weren't for the fact that every single RL club in the USA plays in the AMNRL'" The Universities of North Florida and South Florida do not, and they have teams. Apparently. www.americanrugbynews.com/artman ... lege.shtml Michael.

someone said about confusing but what the heck is this?


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That's fantastic! That's got to be in the U.S. and as Hull Kingston Bronco has illustrated, it must surely be union as it's televised.