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Before looking to the NRL, we’re reflecting on another brief but brilliant international rugby league period and considering what needs to happen to finally build from one year into the next.
As one rugby league season ends, we start looking to the next.
There is only so much we can assess this far out from Round 1 of the NRL. Players are only just starting to get into preseason training. Many still won’t until closer to Christmas or even later depending on their representative duties.
It’s those representative games I want to touch on first and foremost for two reasons:
a) International Rugby League once again proved how much it is undervalued this season. The Kiwi Ferns picked up a huge win. Tonga touring England whether they won a game or not is a significant achievement. The second tier of the Pacific Championship did they do best to produce chaos and excitement in every game. The Kiwis ended it all with a historic win over the Kangaroos.
b) Why can’t we set the tone and have an idea of the 2024 International calendar already? Despite all of the above, history suggests we’re going to be waiting until the second half of the NRL season to find out who plays and when in the next international calendar, if at all. Show the game the respect it deserves and plant the seed early.
The Kiwis performance was incredible. From the haka to the final whistle, they dominated the best team in the world. Like Tonga and Samoa have done in recent years, the Kiwis have shaken up the international game in their own way and wiped away one of the most common negative narratives that hold it back.
“Why bother when the Kangaroos are just going to win anyway?”
As a Kiwi and international rugby league fan you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face on Saturday afternoon. Not even the usual comments below a positive tweet could bring the occasion down.
Once again, we’re sitting here in November and wondering when the next big opportunity will come to grow international footy. We’ve blown it in 2017 and 2019 already. New Zealand Rugby League always seems to be trying to get out in front, but those that make the big decisions in international rugby league didn’t manage to harness Samoa making the 2021 Rugby League World Cup final into anything more than a hastily put-together two-game tri-series. As frustrating as it is to see the game never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity, the game keeps producing those opportunities.
It’s a testament to the potential of international rugby league that it can still produce the goods despite all of its shortcomings.
There are obvious issues with adding 3-5 more games at the end of a long NRL season, but the players are clearly prepared to buy in and that is what matters more than anything. You only needed to see the passion on display in recent weeks and the quotes following Saturday’s game.
“I don’t know why they got rid of Anzac Tests, like, I don’t know why we don’t play them anymore.” – James Fisher-Harris
“Regardless of how many games in the year you play, I’ll play for Australia or Queensland whenever I can. More tests, even during the year – like an Anzac Day test or something like that – would be pretty cool.” – Cameron Munster
Cameron Munster played through illness to avoid giving anybody else the opportunity to take his jersey.
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad played with a broken rib and put in a superhero performance in the Pacific Championship final.
The players care.
Sure, the crowd of 13,000 may not have been as big (or looked as big on TV) as many would have hoped for ahead of the final, but tell those fans singing Tūtira Mai in the stands after a historic win that they don’t care.
I’m not fussed about what international rugby league does next year. I’ve learned not to hope for or expect too much. Perhaps start small with one of the four bigger nations involved with England while the other three play each other twice before a final?
Just plan something early and give fans something to look forward to following the NRL season. We spend every round of the first half of the season discussing State of Origin squads. Let’s add Kiwis, Samoan and Tongan squads to the discussions at the very least.