[Hillsborough Lad]

Irish want a Championship slot : Mon Mar 02, 2009 4:22 pm  

Apologies if already discussed http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 918798.stm

Apologies if already discussed http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 918798.stm

: Mon Mar 02, 2009 4:25 pm  

I'm all for expansion, but one of these days the small domestic leagues in France and Ireland etc are just going to become feeder leagues like New Zealand's. Is that what the RLEF are after?

: Mon Mar 02, 2009 4:34 pm  

Ireland's league is only a short RU off-season amateur comp anyway (although not every player is a RU player), so while in itself not a problem it is not something you could run a national side out of. France's national league is far stronger and semi-pro, a full season with two further national divisions plus 6 regional leagues below that, Ireland just has one small league, a merit league and a Northern Ireland league.

Or in short, Irish teams in the Championship if viable makes perfect sense, but I think in future French teams should either play SL or French league to stop that becoming a feeder to the Championship

[tb]

Re: Irish want a Championship slot : Mon Mar 02, 2009 4:41 pm  

Hillsborough Lad wrote: Apologies if already discussed Not for a while (ps that's not a dig) Be interesting how much the two threads follow each other

Hillsborough Lad wrote: Apologies if already discussed Not for a while (ps that's not a dig) Be interesting how much the two threads follow each other

: Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:02 pm  

are ireland ready? i dont really know to be honest,

if they could get someone like leighton samuel on board then it is definately worth investigating much further

ideally we would see this club structure and position itself like the crusaders have done, as a country team rather than a city/town team, with the league and structure below that set up to feed the championship/SL side

players like Kerr and Gibbons have shown there are already a couple of players from the irish leagues who could make the step up to the semi-pro level, and im sure a few more could/would if the opportunity and financial backing was there,

plus there is always the possibility of getting someone like Carney involved which would raise the profile in ireland

: Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:07 pm  

SmokeyTA wrote:

are ireland ready? i dont really know to be honest,

if they could get someone like leighton samuel on board then it is definately worth investigating much further

ideally we would see this club structure and position itself like the crusaders have done, as a country team rather than a city/town team, with the league and structure below that set up to feed the championship/SL side

players like Kerr and Gibbons have shown there are already a couple of players from the irish leagues who could make the step up to the semi-pro level, and im sure a few more could/would if the opportunity and financial backing was there,

plus there is always the possibility of getting someone like Carney involved which would raise the profile in ireland

Probably more a provincial side than a national one. If it was based in Munster and called Munster you would get more support because of the natural affinity there is with the provinces.

: Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:15 pm  

hey...that'll be 2 codes of rugby we can dominate you at
Seriously, I would have taken MM to Dublin before Edinburgh....there's more similarity between GAA and League than there is between RU and RL. Also, there is a (underlying) resentment as Union is seen as a ruling class game, whereas League would be seen as a "game for everyone"
Sod the championship....get em in Superleague (sorry widnes, your day will come )

: Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:16 pm  

tim2 wrote:

Probably more a provincial side than a national one. If it was based in Munster and called Munster you would get more support because of the natural affinity there is with the provinces.

maybe so, but where does that leave the rest of the island?

an all Ireland team would represent the whole of ireland, like the irish national side does, putting one in munster and calling it munster means we lose representation for the other 3 provinces

and means we dont have any in northern ireland,

with Union the way it is there, i dont think a munster team would attract anyone outside of munster, which means we either give representation to the other provinces and northern ireland in terms of having 4 or 5 sides in Championship/SL rugby, or we give up those places outside where we have representation to RU

: Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:36 pm  

SmokeyTA wrote:

maybe so, but where does that leave the rest of the island?

an all Ireland team would represent the whole of ireland, like the irish national side does, putting one in munster and calling it munster means we lose representation for the other 3 provinces

and means we dont have any in northern ireland,

with Union the way it is there, i dont think a munster team would attract anyone outside of munster, which means we either give representation to the other provinces and northern ireland in terms of having 4 or 5 sides in Championship/SL rugby, or we give up those places outside where we have representation to RU

Ulster Unicorns, Leinster Lions, Munster marauders and Connaght cougars. Job Done!
play a 4 province comp in the summer and attract the bored union fans, curious soccer/GAA fans and the fervant province supporters. Serious opportunity if the powers that be really want to expand. 4 teams (franchises) packed with aussie/irish players to start with, but over the years reduce the quota and eventually you end up with 4 pretty good teams knocking on the door of NL1/SL.

: Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:59 pm  

"If we can get the finances in place"

And there is the big hurdle that Ireland face or anywhere the RFL are looking to expand the game. Celtic Crusaders could not have got to super league without the financial backing they have got.

I suspect an Irish franchise would be exactly the game. However if you can find a backer then I am all for it.