First high profile player to make the RL > NFL switch, so makes sense to get him playing RL in the USA if they can.



Could be a huge pool of talent out there too - think of the American Football players that don't make to the NFL!



All those high school kids and college kids that play the game across the country, but only 240 odd get selected to play in the NFL each year, and not all of those actually end up on a team - so RL could be the perfect place for them to move into. They won't obviously get the financial benefits that the NFL offers, but if it's the physical/skill side of the game they are interested in, they have some amazing athletes that could fit right in to most positions on an RL field.



In that way, I'm surprised RL has never really hit American shores until now...

Gateshead! Or as they are now known Hull FC

Hayne has a high profile in the US?? I seriously doubt that.



Wouldn't be surprised to see him go though.

Hayne has had a high profile at the San Francisco 49ers. They probably still remember him. The rest of the USA probably doesn't.

Hayne was a national news story in the US.

Football fans remember him, and those are the people who might take an interest in League.

No other League player has that going for them.

NFL fans in America know names and stats like cricket fans in India - they know every player.

Quote g_balls="g_balls"Gateshead! Or as they are now known Hull FC'" typical east hull response, last time i checked, gateshead, now newcastle are alive and well in league 1 have read if you want news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/rugby_ ... 523145.stm

Quote g_balls="g_balls"Gateshead! Or as they are now known Hull FC'" typical east hull response, last time i checked, gateshead, now newcastle are alive and well in league 1 have read if you want news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/rugby_ ... 523145.stm

Gateshead is a different case, the why's and wherefores of what happened and why they went to Hull is in my opinion completely different to them failing (it was more about the money the rfl were offering).



Celtic Crusaders you could argue sort of wored with there now being to teams.



If New York work than fantastic, but like I said it has to work in terms of forwarding the league over there.



Which raises the question, what do we expect/want from expansion teams? Big crowds? Money? Or establishing the sport in areas. Getting kids etc into the sport. If it the last one, you could say London have been a success.

Quote number 6="number 6"typical east hull response, last time i checked, gateshead, now newcastle are alive and well in league 1 have read if you want news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/rugby_ ... 523145.stm'" To be fair, maybe Heartland clubs shouldn't be threatened by this. Because if they are struggling they could always take an expansion clubs assets, players, coaching staff and relocate them to the city/town they currently play, rename them after their own name and pretend it never happened. Have a read if you want www.independent.co.uk/sport/gene ... 41473.html

Quote number 6="number 6"typical east hull response, last time i checked, gateshead, now newcastle are alive and well in league 1 have read if you want news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/rugby_ ... 523145.stm'" To be fair, maybe Heartland clubs shouldn't be threatened by this. Because if they are struggling they could always take an expansion clubs assets, players, coaching staff and relocate them to the city/town they currently play, rename them after their own name and pretend it never happened. Have a read if you want www.independent.co.uk/sport/gene ... 41473.html

Its getting up the nose of the Aussie press so it has to be a good thing....



[urlhttps://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/opinion/matthew-hall-why-new-york-rugby-league-team-is-doomed-to-fail-with-or-without-jarryd-hayne/news-story/35cff4ed9ea21807e3d30c8d30c85b78[/url



what an absolutely dreadfully negative and pretty staggeringly uneducated piece of Aussie garbage....



they seem to think if the New York Red bulls ( this is a football club i believe) can only pull 20 odd thousand what makes a RL team think they can get half that in its first year ???



not once do they reference the Toronto wolfpack and the fact that in a third tier league in the worst stadium I've seen since owlerton stadium they managed to pull almost half the crowd of the hugely successful Toronto FC soccer club.



in true Aussie style they also fail to note that the Yanks have a general disdain for football almost as much as league fans have for union....



For the Aussies to have a pop at a club not yet formed they would do well to look at their own back yard and see how many empty seats they currently show to the world every weekend.



try and get Perth or even Adeladie in the NRL before you have a pop at New York....

It was........it's now chip paper.



2 Things here. Firstly, NFL players rarely remember anyone other than the top 15% who are generally the make up of the Fantasy leagues. Hayne was a gimmick that didn't work out....ask UK sports fans about what sport Dwain Chambers tried out for.....

Secondly. NFL fans take an interest in NFL......if they want more violence they look at MMA. RL is as insignificant in the USA now as it was before Hayne joined the 49ers



Nope....NO RL PLAYER has that going for them....and if you think a failed trialist with the SF49ers will "ignite a frenzy of interest" in NYC (or Jersey) then you reall are of the belief that "seeing one games makes you an addict"











No...as I said, they know the top 15% and that's because of fantasy football.....A few "NERDS" will remember Hayne, but not a friggin soul in NYC/Jersey....



I called my best mate who has lived in NYC and now Jersey since 1994 and he reckons it would take 10+ years of steady investment and free tickets etc to establish a new NFL/NBA/NHL side in the region and whilst we might get all gooey over 5k gates.......they will need to fill all 25,000 seats for every game year 1 to stand any chance

True. The crowds in the NRL are dismal except Brisbane and Melbourne. 11/16 clubs have a sub-15k average attendance and last year was the worst since 2004 in the league.

Rugby Union trolls always get so insecure around League world cup time.

If the league expands to include 2 french and 2 north american teams (with a possibility for others to join) and Leigh (and possibly London) being worthy of a SL spot I wonder if the SL will split into 2/3 conferences, say a Yorkshire conference, a NW conference, and a non-'heartlands' conference



Yo could run it a bit like the Super Rugby, where you play teams in your conference home and away, but maybe only play the other teams once, then make up a top 8 playoffs with the conference winners and the 5 highest runners up



Or alternatively you take 18 full time teams and split the league into SL1 and SL2 with promotion and relegation between the 2 and then make part-time clubs compete in their own separate league system (only meeting in the CC), sort of a mix between licensing and promotio relegation



Just a though

So make SL a 9 team league, rename the Championship and hope Sky don't notice?



Good plan.

Sam Burgess wants to play for New York in the SL.!! www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/rugb ... z240t.html

Sam Burgess wants to play for New York in the SL.!! www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/rugb ... z240t.html

Quote JEAN CAPDOUZE="JEAN CAPDOUZE"Sam Burgess wants to play for New York in the SL.!! www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/rugb ... z240t.html'" Proves my point that NRL and SL are likely to become feeder leagues for North American rugby league clubs.

Quote JEAN CAPDOUZE="JEAN CAPDOUZE"Sam Burgess wants to play for New York in the SL.!! www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/rugb ... z240t.html'" Proves my point that NRL and SL are likely to become feeder leagues for North American rugby league clubs.

Does it?

Quote JEAN CAPDOUZE="JEAN CAPDOUZE"Sam Burgess wants to play for New York in the SL.!! www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/rugb ... z240t.html'" Yes he will be 30 then and money talks after all the game is short for the players so make it wile you can

Quote JEAN CAPDOUZE="JEAN CAPDOUZE"Sam Burgess wants to play for New York in the SL.!! www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/rugb ... z240t.html'" Yes he will be 30 then and money talks after all the game is short for the players so make it wile you can

How many Super League clubs average over 15k? We shouldn’t throw stones in glass houses.

If it really takes off in North America you can see the salary cap both in the NRL and Superleague being far too restrictive, they only need to form a small league of 6 teams with a 10 million salary cap and the american/canadian dollar will be too much to resist for the top players in OZ and the UK for what is a short sporting career.

If the New York bid is serious, and the club is successful, then expect Sam Burgess to join, possibly along with his twin brothers, but then on retirement from the game to return to live in Australia.

IF, they can get it to take off, the money they would receive from TV deals from several networks that could be interested, and sponsorships would far outweigh anything SL or even the NRL could offer!

Don't want it to become a place for mercenaries. People just looking to leave at end of career because the lifestyle of New York and a nice pay packet.

Yes but rugby league is the top sport in NSW and QLD. I don't think anyone would argue that crowds should not be better.

People in NSW, especially Sydney, are worse sports attendees than people in Melbourne for example. The 2017 AFL Grand Final attracted over 100,000 to the MCG, as it usually does, while the NRL Grand Final (admittedly involving two out of town teams) did not fill the 83,500 capacity ANZ Stadium, and attracted just over 79,000 in 2017. Remember Sydney has a population of 4.8 million and Melbourne 4.4 million. In other sports like cricket the attendances in Melbourne far exceed the attendances in Sydney for Test matches. People in Sydney are far less sports attendees than Melbourne people. Sydneysiders are more happy to watch their sport on TV.