Thanks for the offer, mate. So far, I've watched 2 NRL Grand Finals, and some other NRL regular season match, as well as some Super League final highlights from Manchester, England. After having watched Tri Nations, Six Nations, Super 12, World Cup in Rugby Union, I came to the conclusion that Rugby League is not my cup of tea. I shall be diplomatic, and won't say any more about the subject. P.S. The Bulldogs scandal in NRL last year somehow reaffirmed my position, as far as Rugby League's general image issue is concerned. P.P.S. OK, so if I had a choice of choosing between American Football, Canadian Football, American Arena Football (indoor version), or Rugby League : I would prefer watching Rugby League among these 4 codes. There, does that make you feel better?
Hello, since you seem to support StEtienne, you may be interested by rugby in France, so i tell you we simply call the sports by the number of players per team. XIII rugby (rugby league). XV rugby (rugby union). XV rugby is, by far, the main version in Europe. It's the version played by national teams (6nations, world cup) and big leagues (zurich premiership in England, Top16 in France).
Re: Questions on Cricket/Rugby/Aussie Footy A tackle in Aussie Rules Football must be between the thighs and shoulders, however a tacle can also consist of a grab of the opponents jumper, and taking him down in a slinging action. It must not be a slam into the ground though, with the jumper. The tackle can be made head on, on the side, or from the back, but if tackling from the back, you must not propel the opponent forward The holding the ball / holding the man / ball up situation is probably the greyest area of footy, it's open to interpretation
Yep, Umpire interpretations of the grey areas of the laws (rules) are a feature of Aussie Rules football. When you get a big crowd roaring "baaall" the crowd is telling the umpire that the player with the ball is holding it in their opnion. Great stuff.
A great site I used to answer all my questions about Rugby and Aussie rules was www.wikipedia.com. I just typed in a search for rugby and just kept clicking on links for hours learning about the rules, history, and numerous competitions; I'd have to say that I spent at least 3-4 hours reading up on Rugby(both codes) and Aussie rules. The site is updated daily so it is never outdated with old info.
i just saw that Leeds won the Powergen cup. Is the Powergen Cup like the FA Cup of the Zurich Premiership?
Re: Questions on Cricket/Rugby/Aussie Footy http://www.worldstadiums.com/oceania/countries/australia.shtml Thats a good page that should answer most of your Q's
Re: Questions on Cricket/Rugby/Aussie Footy Can you expand on this? I am curious how much bargaining power do these players have. Here in the US with MLS we have something called single entity whereby the league holds all contracts and if you are not a star you basically have to take whatever deal they give you. My question is do these non stars have contracts with the national rugby associations as well or only national level players?
Re: Questions on Cricket/Rugby/Aussie Footy Depends on who they are & how well their agents/managers can negotiate at ALL LEVELS of management & playing capacity. This is similar to Rugby Union & Cricket. Rugby League players are MOST bound by their clubs, although they do get paid for representative games (origin & country) by the state & national associations. In cricket there's no such thing as a salary cap. A player can be remunerated (any amount) by country, state, club & sponsor(s). In Rugby, it's almost the same as cricket (except there's another layer - Super 12/14 entity). In Rugby League there's a salary cap per club, so what a club can offer a player (directly & indirectly through non arms-length sponsorships) is closely monitored by the League's police. That doesn't stop League players being paid by personal sponsors to perform genuine work. "Stars" are well looked-after, but "non-stars" can do OK for themselves, as well. BTW, it's well understood in all 3 sports in AUS, that if a player gets injured playing for one of the multiple layers of administration, then they pick up the tab until that player has been rehabilitated. That's the stumbling block in club football (soccer) versus country, etc. The club owns the player and any associated risks totally & takes a hit when the player is injured, even when they are on national duty.
Re: Questions on Cricket/Rugby/Aussie Footy Well I finally have some time for some more indepth follow up questions. I guess what I am curious about is what kind of money do players make at each level? Has there ever been a case where a player who was selected for the international side "held out" for better terms. For example say I was a good Aussie player and the national association wnated me to play for the country. They would have to sign me to some sort of contract right? Do players ever get into protracted negotiations? Does the national asscoiation have limts that they adhere to and refuse to break for any player? More importantly how many players are under contract to the associations at any one time? Furtehrmore who governs the international tournaments? Are they all played to Union Codes? What do you mean by most bound? Do Rugby Union associations spend more money on national level players? Is Rugby Union a "bigger deal" overall worldwide? Is Heiniken Cup a Rugby Union competition? I assume there are different Rugby Leagues all over the world. Do these caps you speak of only exist in Australia or Great Britain as well? Thanks for the patience.
Re: Questions on Cricket/Rugby/Aussie Footy I don't know but there may be some details on this in the various sports' national web sites. In cricket the top AUS stars are reputed to earn over 1 million AUS dollars a year, comprising ALL kinds of remuneration. Next would come AUS Rugby Union, then AUS Rugby League. Aussie Rules have a similar setup to the MLS. Not reported in any public forum(s) to my knowledge, but there have been a few suspect "injuries" at key moments. The fans here would probably lynch a player who pulled that kind of trick. Some AUS football (soccer) players have the English disease and think about their pocket rather than the game they "love". Most major sports in AUS have a players association (players' union) that negotiates a collective agreement on their behalf, at least with the governing bodies. They negotiate their individual sponsorships through their personal agents/managers. Yes. Not publicly, like in English Soccer. Yes, but see my comment on the players' associations. Varies by sport & level. See their web sites, as they list their contracted players there, most times. The international codes' governing bodies (eg The ICC - International Cricket Council - governs all aspects of cricket, world wide; the IRB - International Rugby Board - govern Rugby Union world-wide; there's a similar International Rugby Football League board which governs Rugby League world-wide). Unsure what you mean by this. Rugby League clubs in AUS hold their contracted players closer under their control than other sports. Also, the clubs are very closely managed under the salary cap, so any money or kind of sponsorship & games played tend to be more closely scrutinised. This then leads to Rugby League players being more closely linked to their clubs, for all manner of matters. Don't know, but I would guess YES. Yes, more countries play Rugby Union seriously than Rugby League. Yes. Look it up in google. In AUS, NZ, ENG, FRA, PNG, and a few other minor places. I only know a little about the setup in AUS. Don't know if there are salary caps in other countries. OK, but by all means check out the sports' web sites.
Re: Questions on Cricket/Rugby/Aussie Footy Sorry I wasn't clear but all my questions are concerning Rugby. When I ask who governs the international tournaments and are they palyed by union rules I mean are all international tournaments played by Rugby Union rules (15 players etc) From you repsonse it appears that it is. Thanks I assume these are the respect sites correct? http://www.rleague.com/ http://www.rfu.com/
Re: Questions on Cricket/Rugby/Aussie Footy Cricket: see the folowing site & go to the International & national sites www.cricinfo.com Rugby Union: see the international site and also go to the national web pages www.irb.com Rugby League: AUS national site: www.australianrugbyleague.com.au AUS premier competition: www.nrl.com English Rugby League: www.rfl.uk.com Aussie Rules: www.afl.com.au Aussie football (soccer): www.footballaustralia.com.au Check out from these, for the international boards/councils/governing bodies.
Check out this site. NSW (New South Wales - an Australian State level team) has given one of their 18 contracts out (in the top article): http://www.cricinfo.com/db/NATIONAL/AUS/ No probs & good surfing.
Appaently they have 25 man rosters with 18 full contracts and 7 rookie contracts. MLS has something similar with 18 full roster spots and 10 developmental player spots. Thanks. Interesting stuff.
More of a cultural question: do any Old School VFL/AFL fans dislike having clubs outside of Victoria?
I'll defer to those who have been in this country for much, much longer than I have; they'd possess the proper perspective for this very good question. However, with last year being the first 100 per cent all-interstate Grand Final played at the hallowed MCG, there was a bit of emotion taking place, ranging from disappointment to downright acrimony. Yet, there was no overwhelming sense of real anger on the part of most Victorian fans. Passion, maybe, but not anger. But still, in the week's lead-up to the big game, not as much as I might have thought there would be. Maybe because the year before, all six interstate teams had made the finals series. So perhaps in the eyes of the dyed-in-the-wool fans, those living here in Victoria, that was a sign that the tide had turned.
Nah William, they seem still to be in denial about the tide turning wrt the AFL being a national game and non-VIC teams have some influence, rights and say about & in the game. FWIW, this is just a north-of-the-border (ie a non-Victorian) view.
From what I've witnessed, Andy, these same Victorian fans have become a bit more accepting of the sport as a national spectacle and not just a native Victorian-based game. And as I said, maybe last year's Brisbane v Port Adelaide Grand Final was a testament to that. You know what all the cynics were saying if a non-Victorian Grand Final were ever to happen, that there would be empty seats in the hallowed MCG? Didn't happen... was still a sell-out, with Victorians still buying up tickets. Maybe if I can convince my wife to come on this thread, maybe Jen can give the unflinching viewpoint of a Victorian native.
It is pretty much the same sort of thing in every state. You have plenty of supporters of all the teams in the local leagues and therefore all the news on those teams as well as the AFL team(s) in the newspapers. In Victoria we don't really get to see what happens up in Brisbane or over in Perth or in Adelaide or Sydney. We get mainly news from the victorian teams.
Does anyone know of a deccent website to follow 2007 World Cup qualifying? The official IRB site lists fixtures in one way, and results in another but doesn't have a way to look at the progress of qualifying, a la FIFA's site or rsssf.
As I'm watching the Brisbane-Port Adelaide match, I notice that it is a night match. I thought that it was a Friday Night Football match. However, it looks as though it's on Ten, not Nine. I guess Ten shows night matches as well, on Saturday perhaps? With that in mind, have they considered playing the Grand Final at night?